Daniel 2:31-35

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 ¹awesome.

32 "The ²head 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 ³stone was cut out ⁴without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and ⁵crushed them.

35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became ⁶like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that ⁷not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great ⁸mountain and filled the whole earth.

Daniel 2:31-35 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. Habakkuk 1:7
• 2. Daniel 2:38
• 3. Daniel 2:45
• 4. Daniel 8:25; Zechariah 4:6
• 5. Psalms 2:9; Isaiah 60:12
• 6. Psalms 1:4; Isaiah 17:13; Isaiah 41:15, 16; Hosea 13:3
• 7. Psalms 37:10, 36
• 8. Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "its splendor was surpassing"
• [b]. Lit "were"
• [c]. Lit "like one"