The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,
Parallel translations
- WEB As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,
- KJV This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
- BSB The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,
- NKJV This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
- NLT The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The statue's head is gold, chest and arms silver, belly and thighs bronze. The descending metals picture successive kingdoms.
Overview
Each metal section represents a kingdom, beginning with Babylon as the head of gold. The diminishing value of the metals depicts the decline of human empires over time. The vision surveys history as a sequence of rising and falling powers under God's hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 51:7Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh’s hand, who made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Dan 4:22it is you, O king, that are grown and become strong; for your greatness is grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
- Dan 11:2–20Now will I show you the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and when he has grown strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.
- Rev 17:4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth.
- Dan 7:4–6The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I saw until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand on two feet as a man; and a man’s heart was given to it.
- Isa 14:4that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!”
- Dan 2:37–39You, O king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;
- Dan 4:30The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?
- Dan 8:3–8Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 2:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.