DAN 2:32 Parallel Verse View

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

Key: .
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 The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and its thighs of bronze,

UST The head of the statue was made of pure gold. Its chest and arms were made of silver. Its belly and thighs were made of bronze.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET As for that statue, its head was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze.

LSV This image! Its head [is] of fine gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze;

FBV The head of the statue was gold, the chest and arms were silver, its middle and thighs were bronze,

T4T The head of the statue was made of pure gold. Its chest and arms were made of silver. Its belly and thighs were made of bronze.

LEB The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,

BBE As for this image, its head was made of the best gold, its breast and its arms were of silver, its middle and its sides were of brass,

Moff The head of this image was made of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,

JPS As for that image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,

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

DRA The head of this statue was of fine gold, but the breast and the arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs of brass:

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

Drby This image's head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,

RV As for this image, his head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
(As for this image, his head was of fine gold, his breast/chest and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, )

SLT This image, its head of good gold, the breasts and arms of silver, and the bowels and thighs of brass:

Wbstr The head of this image was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

KJB-1769 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,[fn]
(This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast/chest and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, )

2.32 thighs: or, sides

KJB-1611 [fn]This images head was of fine gold, his breast and his armes of siluer, his belly and his thighes of brasse:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

2:32 Or, sides.

Bshps This images head was of fine gold, his brest and armes of siluer, his belly and his thighes of brasse.
(This images head was of fine gold, his breast/chest and arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass.)

Gnva This images head was of fine golde, his breast and his armes of siluer, his bellie and his thighs of brasse,
(This images head was of fine gold, his breast/chest and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, )

Cvdl The ymage heade was of fyne golde, his brest and armes off syluer, his body ad loynes were off copper,
(The image head was of fine gold, his breast/chest and arms off silver, his body and loins were off copper,)

Wycl The heed of this ymage was of best gold, but the brest and armes weren of siluer; certis the wombe and thies weren of bras,
(The heed of this image was of best gold, but the breast/chest and arms were of silver; certainly/surely the womb and thighs were of brass,)

Luth Desselben Bildes Haupt war von feinem Golde; seine Brust und Arme waren von Silber; sein Bauch und Lenden waren von Erz;
(Desselben images/picturess head what/which from fine gold(n); his Brust and arms/poor/unfortunate_(one) were from silver(n); be belly and lumbar were from ore;)

ClVg Hujus statuæ caput ex auro optimo erat, pectus autem et brachia de argento, porro venter et femora ex ære,
(Huyus statues the_head from with_gold optimo was, chest however and brachia from/about with_silver, besides/further belly and femora from to_be, )

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

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:1–49: Daniel explained the king’s dream

These Notes interpret Daniel 2:1–49 as a complete narrative unit. However, in some languages it may be helpful to divide this chapter into more than one section and to give each section a separate heading. For example:

The BSB has four sections.
1. Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream (2:1–13)
2. The Dream Revealed to Daniel (2:14–23)
3. Daniel Interprets the Dream (2:24–45)
4. Nebuchadnezzar Promotes Daniel (2:46–49)
The GNT has three sections:

(a) Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (2:1–13)

(b) God shows Daniel what the dream means (2:14–23)

This section tells how Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream. He asked his advisers to tell him what he had dreamed and its meaning. They were unable to do so, and the king threatened them with death. But God revealed the meaning of the dream to Daniel. Daniel then told the king what he had dreamed and what it meant. The king honored Daniel and Daniel’s God.

The climax of this narrative occurs in 2:47. There the king declared that the God whom Daniel worshiped was the greatest of all gods.

Special Translation Problems:

1. Lists: The author of the book of Daniel liked to use lists (2:2, 10). However, the author did not intend for these lists to be complete or exact. The lists usually provide examples of the types of people or things that belong in a certain group or category. The Notes will suggest options on how to translate these lists.

2. Synonyms: The text often uses different terms for similar ideas. For example, there are several verbs that mean “to reveal” or “to make known.” There are three different Aramaic verbs in 2:40 that mean “crush, break to pieces.” In some languages it may be difficult or confusing to use several different words for similar ideas. The Notes will suggest how you might translate these similar words and terms.

3. Poetry: You will need to think carefully about how you will translate the poetic section in this chapter (2:20–23). Authors of Hebrew poetry usually wrote using matching pairs of lines. The relationship between these parallel lines differs. Sometimes the second line repeats the information in the first line using different words. Sometimes the second line contrasts with the first line. Hebrew poetry also has word plays, figurative speech, and alliteration. It may not always be easy to translate these literary features into your language. The Notes will suggest ways of translating the different features of Hebrew poetry. For more information about how to translate Hebrew poetry, see the Bible Translation Handbook of the Psalms. The poetry in 2:20–23 is a song of praise or thanksgiving. If your language has a special poetic form that fits this song, you can use it here.

4. Ambiguity: In the section where Daniel interpreted the last part of the king’s dream, there are a number of ambiguous references. For example, in 2:44a Daniel referred to “those kings” without identifying who those kings were. In 2:44b Daniel spoke of “all these kingdoms.” The ambiguity may be deliberate, since the dream itself is a mystery. It will be important not to over-interpret these passages by assuming a particular historical context. The Notes will suggest several options for how to translate these verses.

5. Repetition: Daniel interpreted the meaning of the first three kingdoms in a very brief way. He used many more words to describe the fourth kingdom (2:36–45). In this section he also repeated much of what was described before. In this way, Daniel emphasized the fourth kingdom as the most important. Some of the repetition in this section emphasizes specific ideas. Sometimes the repetition has another function. You will need to evaluate if this kind of repetition is natural in your language. If not, you will need to find another way to emphasize these ideas.

Paragraph 2:31–2:35

Daniel told the king what he had seen in his dream.

2:32a

The head of the statue was pure gold,

The head of the statue was made of the best gold.
The head of the statue was high/top quality gold.

Daniel described the statue from the top down to the bottom. The top parts had greater value than the lower parts.

The head of the statue was pure gold: See the Notes on “image” at 2:31a. The Aramaic verb that the BSB translates was is the past tense of the verb “to be.” However, your language may have a different way to translate this idea. Some possibilities are:

Use a passive verb. For example:
The head of this statue was made of fine gold. (GW)
Use an active verb with an indefinite subject. For example:
They had made the head of fine gold.
Use only a form of the verb “to be,” as in the Aramaic, as the BSB does. For example:
The head of this image was of fine gold. (RSV)
there was a pure gold head

pure gold: The Aramaic phrase that the BSB translates as pure gold is literally “good gold.” It was easy for people to bend and form this metal. As a result, people were able to make coins and jewelry from gold. It is the heaviest and most valuable of the four metals that Daniel mentioned in this section. Other ways to translate this include:

the finest gold (GNT)

fine gold (RSV)

If you do not have a word for gold you may have to borrow a term in the national language. Another possibility is to describe gold as “the most precious metal.”

2:32b

its chest and arms were silver,

The chest and arms of the statue were made of silver.
The chest and arms were silver.

its: Most English versions use the neuter pronoun its. Use the pronoun that is most natural in your language to refer to a statue that represents a male figure.

chest: Each language has its own way of describing the different parts of the body. The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as chest refers to the part of the body between the shoulders and the stomach. Some English versions say:

breast

Use the term that is natural in your language to refer to the upper part of a man’s body.

silver: This metal is valuable but less valuable than gold. In that culture silver was a standard of trade and a symbol of wealth. People used silver to make jewelry, coins, decorations, and coverings for cups. If you do not have a word for silver, you may:

Borrow a national language term.
Use a general expression such as “a less precious metal.”

2:32c

its belly and thighs were bronze,

The belly and thighs of the statue were made of bronze,
From the waist to the knees was bronze,

belly and thighs: Each language has its own way of describing the different parts of the body. Use the expression that most naturally describes this part of the body in your language. Here is another way to translate this:

from its waist down to its knees (CEV)

If your language has only one word to describe both the belly and the thighs, you can use that word here.

belly: This word describes the middle of the body, the “abdomen.” It is the part of the body that extends from just below the chest to the hips.

middle (NRSV)

stomach (GW)

waist (GNT)

thighs: This word describes the part of the human leg between the hips and the knee. Here is another way to translate this:

upper part of the legs (NCV)

bronze: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as bronze can refer to either bronze or copper. Most English versions say “bronze.” Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. It is stronger than copper and has a reddish-brown color. People used this metal to make tools and weapons. If your language does not have a word for bronze, other possibilities for translation are:

Borrow a national language term.
Use a general expression such as “an even less precious metal.”

Parallel DAN 2:32

Section 2:1–49: Daniel explained the king’s dream

Paragraph 2:31–2:35

2:32a

2:32b

2:32c