Daniel 2 · Verse 31

Daniel 2:31

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

Daniel 2:31, King James Version

Daniel 2:31 in other translations

BSB	As you, O king, were watching, a great statue appeared. A great and dazzling statue stood before you, and its form was awesome.
WEB	“You, O king, saw, and behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and its appearance was terrifying.
ASV	Thou, O king, sawest, and, behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the aspect thereof was terrible.
YLT	‘Thou, O king, wast looking, and lo, a certain great image. This image is mighty, and its brightness excellent; it is standing over-against thee, and its appearance is terrible.
DARBY	Thou, O king, sawest, and behold, a great image. This image was mighty and its brightness excellent; it stood before thee, and its appearance was terrible.
BBE	You, O King, were looking, and a great image was there. This image, which was very great, and whose glory was very bright, was placed before you: its form sent fear into the heart.
Webster	Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and its form was terrible.

What does Daniel 2:31 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

31. The world power in its totality appears as a colossal human form: Babylon the head of gold, Medo-Persia the breast and two arms of silver, Græco-Macedonia the belly and two thighs of brass, and Rome, with its Germano-Slavonic offshoots, the legs of iron and feet of iron and clay, the fourth still existing. Those kingdoms only are mentioned which stand in some relation to the kingdom of God; of these none is left out; the final establishment of that kingdom is the aim of His moral government of the world. The colossus of metal stands on weak feet, of clay. All man's glory is as ephemeral and worthless as chaff (compare 1Pe 1:24). But the kingdom of God, small and unheeded as a "stone" on the ground is compact in its homogeneous unity; whereas the world power, in its heterogeneous constituents successively supplanting one another, contains the elements of decay. The relation of the stone to the mountain is that of the kingdom of the cross (Mt 16:23; Lu 24:26) to the kingdom of glory, the latter beginning, and the former ending when the kingdom of God breaks in pieces the kingdoms of the world (Re 11:15). Christ's contrast between the two kingdoms refers to this passage. a great image--literally, "one image that was great." Though the kingdoms were different, it was essentially one and the same world power under different phases, just as the image was one, though the parts were of different metals.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 31 A great image - Representing the four great monarchies.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Daniel 2:31-45

This image represented the kingdoms of the earth, that should successively rule the nations, and influence the affairs of the Jewish church. 1. The head of gold signified the Chaldean empire, then in being. 2. The breast and arms of silver signified the empire of the Medes and Persians. 3. The belly and thighs of brass signified the Grecian empire, founded by Alexander. 4. The legs and feet of iron signified the Roman empire. The Roman empire branched into ten kingdoms, as the toes of these feet. Some were weak as clay, others strong as iron. Endeavours have often been used to unite them, for strengthening the empire, but in vain. The stone cut out without hands, represented the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which should be set up in the kingdoms of the world, upon the ruins of Satan's kingdom in them. This was the Stone which the builders refused, because it was not cut out by their hands, but it is become the head stone of the corner. Of the increase of Christ's government and peace there shall be no end. The Lord shall reign, not only to the end of time, but when time and days shall be no more. As far as events have gone, the fulfilling this prophetic vision has been most exact and undeniable; future ages shall witness this Stone destroying the image, and filling the whole earth.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Daniel 2:31 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אַ֣נְתְּ'an.tahyouH607

מַלְכָּ֗אmal.Ka'king OH4430

חָזֵ֤הcha.ZehseeingH2370

הֲוַ֙יְתָ֙ha.Vay.tayou wereH1934

וַאֲל֨וּva.'a.Luand lo!H431

צְלֵ֥םtze.Leman imageH6755

חַד֙chadoneH2298

שַׂגִּ֔יאsa.Gi'greatH7690

צַלְמָ֨אtzal.Ma'image theH6755

דִּכֵּ֥ןdi.KenthisH1797

רַ֛בrav[was] greatH7229

וְזִיוֵ֥הּve.zi.Vehand splendor itsH2122

יַתִּ֖ירya.TirextraordinaryH3493

קָאֵ֣םka.'Em[was] standingH6966

לְקָבְלָ֑ךְle.ka.ve.Lakh<to> before youH6903

וְרֵוֵ֖הּve.re.Vehand appearance itsH7299

דְּחִֽיל\׃de.Chil[was] terribleH1763

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Daniel 2:31

Habakkuk 1:7
They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
Ezekiel 28:7
Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
Daniel 7:3-17
And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. …
Isaiah 13:11
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Matthew 4:8
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Luke 4:5
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Isaiah 25:3-5
Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

sawest. Chal. wast seeing. and the.
7:3-17; Mt 4:8; Lu 4:5
terrible.
Isa 13:11; 25:3-5; Eze 28:7; Hab 1:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Daniel 2:30
But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
Daniel 2:31
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
Daniel 2:32
This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

Read all of Daniel 2

Daniel 2:31 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Tú, oh rey, veías, y he aquí una grande imagen. Esta imagen, que era muy grande, y cuya gloria era muy sublime, estaba en pie delante de ti, y su aspecto era terrible.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Toi, ô roi, tu voyais, et voici une grande statue: cette statue était grande, et sa splendeur, extraordinaire; elle se tint devant toi, et son aspect était terrible.
German Elberfelder 1871	Du, o König, sahst: und siehe, ein großes Bild; dieses Bild war gewaltig, und sein Glanz außergewöhnlich; es stand vor dir, und sein Aussehen war schrecklich.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Tu, rex, videbas, et ecce quasi statua una grandis: statua illa magna, et statura sublimis stabat contra te, et intuitus ejus erat terribilis.