DAN 2:31 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)

2:31 Note: Marks an anomalous form.

2:31 Note: We have abandoned or added a ketib/qere relative to BHS. In doing this we agree with L against BHS.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT You, O King, were looking and behold, a great statue. This statue, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you. Its appearance was terrifying.

UST O King, in your vision you saw in front of you a huge and terrifying statue of a man. It was shining very brightly, and it was frightening and awesome.

BSB § As you, O king, were watching, a great statue [fn] appeared. A great and dazzling statue stood before you, and its form was awesome.

2:31 Or image; here and through the rest of Daniel 2

OEB ‘You, O king, had a vision and saw a great image. That image was large and it was exceedingly bright as it stood before you, and its appearance was terrifying.

WEBBE “You, O king, saw, and behold,[fn] a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and its appearance was terrifying.

2:31 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.

WMBB (Same as above including footnotes)

NET “You, O king, were watching as a great statue – one of impressive size and extraordinary brightness – was standing before you. Its appearance caused alarm.

LSV You, O king, were looking, and behold, a certain great image. This image [is] mighty, and its brightness excellent; it is standing before you, and its appearance [is] terrible.

FBV Your Majesty, as you looked, there before you stood a great statue. The statue standing in front of you was huge, and blazingly bright. It looked terrifying!

T4T O King, in your vision you saw in front of you a huge and terrifying statue of a man. It was shining very brightly, and it was frightening and awesome.

LEB “You, O king, were looking and, look, there was one great statue. This statue was huge and its brilliance extraordinary, standing there before you, and its appearance was frightening.[fn]

2:31 Or “dreadful”

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.

Moff No Moff DAN book available

JPS Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was surpassing, stood before thee; and the appearance thereof was terrible.

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.

DRA Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was as it were a great statue: this statue, which was great and high, tall of stature, stood before thee, and the look 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.

Drby 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.

RV 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.

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

KJB-1769 ¶ 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.[fn]
(¶ Thou, O king, sawst, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee/you; and the form thereof was terrible. )

2.31 sawest: Chaldee, wast seeing

KJB-1611 ¶ [fn]Thou, O King, sawest, and behold a great image: this great image whose brightnesse was excelleut, stood before thee, and the forme thereof was terrible.
(¶ Thou, O King, sawst, and behold a great image: this great image whose brightness was excelleut, stood before thee/you, and the forme thereof was terrible.)

2:31 Cald. wass seeing.

Bshps Thou king sawest, and beholde, there was a great image: this great image whose brightnesse was excellent, stoode before thee, and the fourme therof was terrible.
(Thou king sawst, and behold, there was a great image: this great image whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee/you, and the fourme thereof was terrible.)

Gnva O King, thou sawest, and beholde, there was a great image: this great image whose glory was so excellent, stood before thee, and the forme thereof was terrible.
(O King, thou/you sawst, and behold, there was a great image: this great image whose glory was so excellent, stood before thee/you, and the forme thereof was terrible. )

Cvdl Thou kynge sawest, and beholde: there stode before the a greate ymage, whose fygure was maruelous greate, and his vysage grymme.
(Thou king sawst, and beholde: there stood before the a great image, whose fygure was marvellous greate, and his vysage grymme.)

Wycl Thou, kyng, siyest, and lo! as o greet ymage; thilke ymage was greet, and hiy in stature, and stood bifore thee, and the loking therof was ferdful.
(Thou, king, siyest, and lo! as o great image; that image was greet, and high in stature, and stood before thee/you, and the loking thereof was ferdful.)

Luth Du, König, sahst, und siehe, ein sehr groß und hoch Bild stund vor dir, das war schrecklich anzusehen.
(Du, king, sahst, and look, a very large and hoch Bild stood before/in_front_of to_you, the what/which schrecklich anzusehen.)

ClVg Tu, rex, videbas, et ecce quasi statua una grandis: statua illa magna, et statura sublimis stabat contra te, et intuitus ejus erat terribilis.
(Tu, rex, videbas, and behold as_if statua una grandis: statua that magna, and statura sublimis stabat on_the_contrary you(sg), and intuitus his was terribilis. )

TTN Tyndale Theme Notes:

Four World Empires

Two panoramic visions in Daniel present God’s sovereignty over history. Nebuchadnezzar had the first vision (ch 2), and Daniel had another like it (ch 7). In each of these visions, four of the kingdoms of the world are presented.

There have always been questions about the identities of the four empires, but historically there has also been considerable consensus. Hippolytus (AD 170–236), one of the early church fathers, identified the four kingdoms as Babylonia, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The church father and historian Eusebius of Caesarea (AD 260–340) initially identified the first kingdom as Assyria (which once also controlled Babylon), but he later agreed with Hippolytus, as did most of the church fathers. Later, Jerome and Augustine accepted this same understanding, and conservative interpreters largely still agree.

In antiquity and in our era, some interpreters have argued that Greece is the fourth empire, treating Media and Persia as separate kingdoms. This interpretation is due in part to denying the possibility of prediction, assuming the book was written before the Roman Empire had arisen. But Media and Persia are usually regarded as one empire, and the Median kingdom had been mostly assimilated by the Persians by the time Cyrus II conquered Babylon in 539 BC.

Rome is then seen as the fourth kingdom, but the bestial, demonic, and inhumane characteristics of the vision extend beyond the historical Rome. The visions also represent a panorama of the whole world and its governments; all will be destroyed and replaced by the Kingdom of God, the “rock . . . cut from a mountain” (2:34). The metals of the statue become progressively less valuable in chapter 2, while the animal imagery of chapter 7 becomes more menacingly fierce, violent, and inhumane. These features represent a deterioration of human civilization across the centuries, even as the Kingdom of God grows in power and stature (2:35).

Passages for Further Study

Dan 2:1-49; 7:1-28

Parallel DAN 2:31