Daniel 2:28-38

28 "However, there is a ¹God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the ²latter days. This was your dream and the ³visions in your mind while on your bed.

29 "As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and ⁴He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place.

30 "But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any ⁵wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the ⁶thoughts of your mind.

The King's Dream

31 "You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was ⁷awesome.

32 "The ⁸head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,

33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

34 "You continued looking until * a ⁹stone was cut out ¹⁰without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and ¹¹crushed them.

35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became ¹²like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that ¹³not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great ¹⁴mountain and filled the whole earth.

The Interpretation--Babylon the First Kingdom

36 "This was the dream; now we will tell ¹⁵its interpretation before the king.

37 "You, O king, are the ¹⁶king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the ¹⁷power, the strength and the glory;

38 and wherever * the sons of men dwell, or the ¹⁸beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.

Daniel 2:28-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIAL 2

The subject of this chapter is a dream which Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed, but had forgot; upon which he calls his magicians and astrologers together, to tell him it, and the interpretation of it; threatening them with death if they did not, and promising them great rewards and honour if they did, Da 2:1-6, they urge the unreasonableness of the demand, and the impossibility of the thing; which so highly incensed the king, that he ordered their immediate destruction, Da 2:7-13, Daniel and his companions being in danger, he goes in to the king, and desires time, and he would show him what he had dreamed; which being granted, he spent it in prayer to God, Da 2:14-18, and the thing being revealed to him, he gave thanks to God, Da 2:19-23, and being introduced to the king, he both told him his dream, and the interpretation of it; which concerned the four monarchies of the world, and the everlasting kingdom of the Messiah, Da 2:24-45, upon which he was highly honoured, and greatly promoted by the king, Da 2:46-49.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 40:8; Genesis 41:16; Daniel 2:22, 45
• 2. Genesis 49:1; Isaiah 2:2; Daniel 10:14; Micah 4:1
• 3. Daniel 4:5
• 4. Daniel 2:23, 47
• 5. Genesis 41:16; Daniel 1:17
• 6. Psalms 139:2; Amos 4:13
• 7. Habakkuk 1:7
• 8. Daniel 2:38
• 9. Daniel 2:45
• 10. Daniel 8:25; Zechariah 4:6
• 11. Psalms 2:9; Isaiah 60:12
• 12. Psalms 1:4; Isaiah 17:13; Isaiah 41:15, 16; Hosea 13:3
• 13. Psalms 37:10, 36
• 14. Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1
• 15. Daniel 2:24
• 16. Isaiah 47:5; Jeremiah 27:6, 7; Ezekiel 26:7
• 17. Psalms 62:11
• 18. Psalms 50:10, 11; Daniel 4:21, 22

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "end of the days"
• [b] Lit "of your head"
• [c] Lit "came up"
• [d] Lit "after this"
• [e] Lit "which is"
• [f] Lit "know"
• [g] Lit "heart"
• [h] Lit "its splendor was surpassing"
• [i] Lit "were"
• [j] Lit "like one"
• [k] Or "sovereignty"