Daniel 2:31

31 "Your majesty had a vision of a statue, very large and extremely bright; it stood in front of you and its appearance was terrifying.

Daniel 2:31 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 2:31

Thou, O king, sawest
Or, "wast seeing" F26; not with the eyes of his body, but in his fancy and imagination; as he was dreaming, he thought he saw such an appearance, so it seemed to him, as follows: and behold a great image;
or, "one great image" F1; not painted, but a massive statue made of various metals, as is afterwards declared: such, though not so large as this, as the king had been used to see, which he had in his garden and palace, and which he worshipped; but this was of a monstrous size, a perfect colossus, and but one, though it consisted of various parts; it was in the form of a great man, as Saadiah and Jacchiades observe; and represented each of the monarchies of this world governed by men; and these being expressed by an image, show how vain and delusory, how frail and transitory, are the kingdoms of the earth, and the glory of them: this great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee:
right over against him, and near him, as he thought; so that he had a full view of it, and saw it at its full length and size, and its dazzling lustre, arising from the various metals of gold, silver, brass, and iron, it was made of; which was exceeding bright, and made it look very majestic: and the form thereof was terrible;
either there was something in the countenance menacing and horrid; or the whole form, being so gigantic, struck the king with admiration, and was even terrible to him; and it may denote the terror that kings, especially arbitrary and despotic ones, strike their subjects with.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 (tywh hzh) "videns fuisti", Montanus, Michaelis; "videns eras", Vatablus.
F1 (aygv dx Mlu) "imago una grandis", Pagninus, Montanus; "imago una magna", Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius; "simulachrum unum magnum", Michaelis.

Daniel 2:31 In-Context

29 "Your majesty, when you were in bed, you began thinking about what would take place in the future; and he who reveals secrets has revealed to you what will happen.
30 Yet this secret has not been revealed to me because I am wiser than anyone living, but so that the meaning can be made known to your majesty, and then you can understand the thoughts of your own mind.
31 "Your majesty had a vision of a statue, very large and extremely bright; it stood in front of you and its appearance was terrifying.
32 The head of the statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its trunk and thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.