Passage

Daniel 2.32

Book: Daniel · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"30. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that thou mayest know the thoughts of thy heart. 31. 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."

"32. As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,"

"33. its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay. 34. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces." (Daniel 2:30-34, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"30. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. 31. You, O king, saw, and behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and its aspect was awesome."

"32. As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,"

"33. its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay. 34. You saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces." (Daniel 2:30-34, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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. ^{but for: or, but for the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king} 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. ^{sawest: Cald. wast seeing}"

"32. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, ^{thighs: or, sides}"

"33. His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. ^{without: or, which was not in hands}" (Daniel 2:30-34, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"30. As to me, not for [any] wisdom that is in me above any living hath this secret been revealed to me; but for the intent that the interpretation to the king they make known, and the thoughts of thy heart thou dost know. 31. '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."

"32. This image! its head [is] of good gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass;"

"33. its legs of iron, its feet, part of them of iron, and part of them of clay. 34. Thou wast looking till that a stone hath been cut out without hands, and it hath smitten the image on its feet, that [are] of iron and of clay, and it hath broken them small;" (Daniel 2:30-34, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Daniel, interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream
Audience: Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon); Daniel's later readers
Location: Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar's court
Time period: events c. 603 BC (second year of Nebuchadnezzar); composed sixth century BC (traditional) or second century BC (critical)

Theological reading

The fourfold metallic image (gold head, silver chest/arms, bronze belly/thighs, iron-mixed-with-clay legs/feet) is the OT's most-discussed prophetic schema for the succession of world empires. The traditional Christian-conservative reading takes the four metals as Babylon (gold head, explicitly identified in v. 38), Medo-Persia (silver), Greece (bronze), and Rome (iron) culminating in the divided iron-clay state; the critical reading splits Medes from Persians to terminate at Greece. Either way, the rosh of fine gold names Nebuchadnezzar's empire as the apex of human imperial glory, and the stone-cut-without-hands (vv. 34-35, 44-45) names the messianic kingdom that ends the imperial succession by divine, not human, action. The chapter is one of the cornerstone texts of biblical eschatology and Christian political theology: every human empire passes; the divine kingdom is the only enduring one.

Key words

H7218 - rosh, rosh (Strong's H7218; Aramaic cognate re'sh). Here the head of the image as the apex and beginning of the imperial-succession schema.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.