and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he killed, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down.
Parallel translations
- KJV And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
- BSB Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished.
- NKJV And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down.
- NASB Now because of the greatness which He granted him, all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages trembled and feared in his presence; whomever he wished, he killed, and whomever he wished, he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated, and whomever he wished he humbled.
- NLT He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace.
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
Daniel describes how all nations feared Nebuchadnezzar, whose power to kill or spare was absolute. He shows that even that immense authority was a gift held under God.
Overview
Daniel recalls the trembling of nations before Nebuchadnezzar's word, a power so great it determined life and death. Yet the point is that this authority was granted by God and accountable to Him. The greatest earthly might remains derivative, a stewardship that can be withdrawn by the One who bestowed it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Dan 2:12–13For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
- Dan 3:6and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace.
- Dan 3:4Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages,
- Dan 3:29Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god who is able to deliver after this sort.
- Prov 16:14The king’s wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
- Rom 13:1Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.
- Jer 25:9–14behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says Yahweh, “and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around. I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
- Hab 2:5Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. A haughty man who doesn’t stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is like death, and can’t be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples.
- John 19:11Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.”
- Dan 3:20–21He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
- Jer 27:5–7‘I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the surface of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to me.
- 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.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 5:19 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
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