Daniel 2:35
King James Version (1769)
Other translations
| Verse | KJV | BSB | ASV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. | Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. | Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. |
In context
AI-assisted, sourcedDaniel is retelling Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great image made of gold, silver, brass, iron and clay. A stone cut out without hands strikes its feet, the whole image is smashed together and blown away like chaff, and the stone grows into a mountain that fills the earth. Daniel then explains that the stone is a kingdom the God of heaven will set up, which will break all these kingdoms and stand for ever. Daniel 2:31Daniel 2:32Daniel 2:33Daniel 2:34Daniel 2:35Daniel 2:44Daniel 2:45
SpeakingDaniel, a captive from Judah named Belteshazzar, speaks to the king. God revealed the dream to him in a night vision. Daniel 2:19Daniel 2:25Daniel 2:26Daniel overview
ToNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who had dreamed the dream and demanded that his wise men tell it to him. Daniel 2:1Daniel 2:5Daniel 2:31
Also involvedThe kingdoms pictured by the metals. Daniel says the gold head is Nebuchadnezzar, followed by a second, third and fourth kingdom, which this chapter does not name. All of them are broken by the kingdom God sets up. Daniel 2:38Daniel 2:39Daniel 2:40Daniel 2:44
The whole image, every metal and the clay, is broken to pieces together and blown away until no place is found for it. The stone that struck it becomes a great mountain covering the whole earth. Daniel explains the stone as a kingdom set up by the God of heaven, which breaks in pieces all these kingdoms and stands for ever. Daniel 2:35Daniel 2:44Daniel 2:45
At the royal court of Babylon, where the king had ordered all the wise men killed if no one could tell the dream. Daniel 2:12Daniel 2:24Daniel overview
The eventsThe dream came in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. The dream itself looks ahead to "what shall be in the latter days." Daniel 2:1Daniel 2:28Daniel 2:29
WrittenTraditional: written by Daniel in the 500s BC. Scholarly: many critical scholars date the book's final form to about 167-164 BC, while others keep the 500s BC date. Daniel overview
HereThe dream shows that the God of heaven removes kings and sets up kings. Every human kingdom, even one given power and glory, will be broken, and his kingdom will stand for ever. Daniel 2:21Daniel 2:37Daniel 2:44Daniel overview
In the whole of ScriptureOther Scripture uses the same pictures. Hosea speaks of chaff driven out of the floor (Hosea 13:3), and Isaiah of hills made into chaff that the wind carries away (Isaiah 41:15-16); Psalm 37:10 and Revelation 20:11 also speak of things whose place is gone. Isaiah says the mountain of the LORD will be exalted above the hills with all nations flowing to it, and the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD (Isaiah 2:2-3; 11:9). Hosea 13:3Isaiah 41:15Isaiah 41:16Psalms 37:10Revelation 20:11Isaiah 2:2Isaiah 2:3Isaiah 11:9
For readersGod's people living under powerful foreign rulers are told that those powers will not last and God's kingdom is certain. Daniel says "the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." Daniel 2:45Daniel overview
Christians read this differently
The text says the stone is the kingdom God sets up "in the days of these kings" (2:44), but it does not say how the stone's growth into a mountain unfolds. Some read it as God's kingdom beginning small and growing through history until it fills the earth. Others read it as a sudden future act of God that ends all earthly kingdoms at once. Daniel 2:34Daniel 2:35Daniel 2:44
The word means "one" and is rendered "as one" here. The stone struck only the feet (2:34), yet every part, from the iron and clay up to the gold, is broken together. Strong's H2298Daniel 2:34Daniel 2:35
- chaffעוּר
The word means "chaff," here the chaff of the summer threshing floors. Hosea and Isaiah use the picture of chaff driven from the floor or carried off by the wind (Hosea 13:3; Isaiah 41:15-16). Strong's H5784Strong's H0147Hosea 13:3Isaiah 41:15Isaiah 41:16
- mountainטוּר
The lexicon defines it as "mountain" and gives it as the Aramaic of the Hebrew word for "rock." Here the stone itself becomes the great mountain. Strong's H2906Daniel 2:35
- filledמְלָא
The word means "to fill," and what the mountain fills is the whole earth (the word for earth also means world or ground). Isaiah likewise says the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD. Strong's H4391Strong's H0772IDaniel 2:35Isaiah 11:9
Takeaway
Every human kingdom in the image, from gold to clay, is swept away like chaff until no place is found for it. The kingdom God sets up fills the earth and stands for ever. Daniel 2:35Daniel 2:44Daniel 2:45
Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.
The world around the text
About 605-536 BC. King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). Where Daniel lived and served for about seventy years. The capital of the Babylonian empire, on the Euphrates south of modern Baghdad, in the land the Bible calls Shinar and Chaldea.
Who ruled
- King of BabylonNebuchadnezzar605-562 BC
The king who besieged Jerusalem, carried Daniel and the temple vessels to Babylon, and later destroyed the city and temple. His own building inscriptions boast of the Babylon he built. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 24:12 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 25:1Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- Last king of Babylon, and his son who ruled in his placeNabonidus and Belshazzar556-539 BC
Nabonidus spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar could only offer Daniel the place of "third ruler in the kingdom": he was himself second. Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:7Daniel 5:29Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Verse Account of Nabonidus
- Received the kingdom after Babylon fellDarius the MedianFrom 539 BC
Daniel says he "took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" and set 120 princes over it. Records outside the Bible do not name him; he has been identified with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon, or with Cyrus himself. Daniel 5:31Daniel 6:1Daniel 9:1Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)
- King of PersiaCyrus559-530 BC
He united the Medes and Persians, took Babylon in 539 BC, and let the exiles go home to rebuild the temple, as Isaiah had named him beforehand. Daniel 1:21Daniel 6:28Daniel 10:1Ezra 1:1-4Isaiah 44:28-45:1Cyrus Cylinder
- King of JudahJehoiakim609-598 BC
Judah's king when Daniel was taken. Jeremiah warned him and his people that the land would serve Babylon seventy years. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 23:36-24:6Jeremiah 25:1-11
What was happening, 612 BC to 167 BC
- 612 BCWarNineveh falls
Babylon and the Medes destroyed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as Nahum and Zephaniah had foretold. Babylon became the great power of the region. Nahum 3:7Zephaniah 2:13Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)
- 605 BCWarBattle of Carchemish
Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates, in Jehoiakim's fourth year. The same year he came against Jerusalem and took the first captives, Daniel among them. Jeremiah 46:2Daniel 1:1-4Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 597 BCWarJerusalem surrenders
Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his nobles and craftsmen to Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel went into exile with them. 2 Kings 24:10-17Ezekiel 1:2Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 586 BCWarJerusalem and the temple destroyed
Babylon's army burned the temple and the city and broke down its walls. Daniel later prays over "the desolations of Jerusalem" and asks God to shine on his "sanctuary that is desolate." 2 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 52:12-14Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17
- c. 575 BCBuildingBabylon rebuilt in splendor
Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great walls, palaces and the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate, and his inscriptions praise his own work. Compare his boast: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?" Daniel 4:30Nebuchadnezzar's East India House InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 1.178-183
- 562 BCRulersNebuchadnezzar dies
His son Evil-merodach became king and released Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 2 Kings 25:27-30Jeremiah 52:31-34
- c. 553-543 BCRulersNabonidus leaves Babylon to Belshazzar
King Nabonidus stayed at Tema in Arabia for about ten years, and the yearly New Year festival in Babylon was not held. Belshazzar governed in Babylon. Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Daniel 5:1Daniel 7:1
- 550 BCWarCyrus unites the Medes and Persians
Cyrus of Persia defeated Astyages king of the Medes, joining the two peoples in one kingdom. Daniel's vision names the ram's two horns as "the kings of Media and Persia," the higher coming up last. Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:20Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.127-130
- October 539 BCWarBabylon falls to Cyrus
Cyrus's army entered Babylon without a long siege. Herodotus says the people were feasting when the city was taken. Daniel records that "in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.191Cyrus Cylinder
- 538 BCGod's peopleCyrus lets the exiles return
In his first year over Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could go back and build the LORD's house in Jerusalem. Daniel "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Ezra 1:1-42 Chronicles 36:22-23Daniel 1:21Cyrus Cylinder
- c. 536 BCGod's peopleThe temple's foundation is laid
The returned exiles rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple. In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel was still in the east, mourning and praying. Ezra 3:1-11Daniel 10:1-3
- 334-331 BCWarAlexander the Great conquers Persia
Alexander of Macedon crossed into Asia and overthrew the Persian empire within four years. Daniel 8:21 names the rough goat as "the king of Grecia" and its great horn as "the first king." Daniel 8:5-8Daniel 8:21Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1-3
- 323-301 BCWarAlexander's empire is divided
Alexander died young, and after twenty years of war his generals divided his empire, chiefly into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:22 says "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8Daniel 8:22Daniel 11:4Diodorus Siculus, Library 18-20Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30
- 167 BCWarAntiochus IV defiles the temple
The Greek king Antiochus IV banned Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering. 1 Maccabees calls it "the abomination of desolation." Two centuries later Jesus spoke of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" as still to come. 1 Maccabees 1:54-59Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4Matthew 24:15
The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records of these years (the Babylonian Chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Diodorus, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.
Original Aramaic words
This passage was written in Aramaic, the common language of the Babylonian and Persian empires, which the Jews of the exile also spoke. It uses the same alphabet as Hebrew.
| English | Aramaic | Say it | Strong's | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in then | בֵּאדַ֣יִן | be-DA-yin | H0116 | thenאֱדַ֫יִן (e.da.yin) then, afterwards, thereupon, from that time Aramaic of az (אָז "then" H0227A) |
| they were shattered | דָּ֣קוּ | DA-ku | H1855 | to break upדְּקַק (de.qaq) 1) to break into pieces, fall into pieces, be shattered 1a) (P'al) to be shattered 1b) (Aphel) to break into pieces |
| as one | כַחֲדָ֡ה | kha-cha-DAH | H2298 | oneחַד (chad) 1) one (number) 1a) one 1b) a (indefinite article) |
| iron the | פַּרְזְלָא֩ | par-ze-LA' | H6523 | ironפַּרְזֶל (par.zel) iron Aramaic of bar.zel (בַּרְזֶל "iron" H1270) |
| clay the | חַסְפָּ֨א | chas-PA' | H2635 | clayחֲסַף (cha.saph) clay, potsherd |
| bronze the | נְחָשָׁ֜א | ne-cha-SHA' | H5174 | bronzeנְחָשׁ (ne.chash) copper, bronze Aramaic of ne.chu.shah (נְחוּשָׁה "bronze" H5154) |
| silver the | כַּסְפָּ֣א | kas-PA' | H3702 | silverכְּסַף (ke.saph) 1) silver 1a) as metal 1b) as money |
| and gold the | וְדַהֲבָ֗א | ve-da-ha-VA' | H1722 | goldדְּהַב (de.hav) gold Aramaic of za.hav (זָהָב "gold" H2091) |
| and they were | וַהֲווֹ֙ | va-ha-VO | H1934 | to beהֲוָא (ha.va) 1) to come to pass, become, be 1a) (P'al) 1a1) to come to pass 1a2) to come into being, arise, become, come to be 1a2a) to let become known (with participle of knowing) 1a3) to be |
| like chaff | כְּע֣וּר | ke-'UR | H5784 | chaffעוּר (ur) chaff |
| from | מִן־ | min- | H4481 | fromמִן־ (min) 1) from, out of, by, by reason of, at, more than 1a) from, out of (of place) 1b) from, by, as a result of, by reason of, at, according to, (of source) 1c) from (of time) 1d) beyond, more than (in comparisons) |
| threshing floors of | אִדְּרֵי־ | 'i-de-rei- | H0147 | threshing floorאִדַּר (id.dar) threshing floor |
| summer | קַ֔יִט | KA-yit | H7007 | summerקַ֫יִט (qa.yit) summer Aramaic of qa.yits (קַ֫יִץ "summer" H7019) |
| and it carried away | וּנְשָׂ֤א | u-ne-SA' | H5376 | to liftנְשָׂא (ne.sa) 1) to lift, bear, take, carry 1a) (P'al) to take 1b) (Ithpael) to make a rising, make an insurrection |
| them | הִמּוֹן֙ | hi-mOn | H1994 | theyהִמּוֹ (him.mo) 1) they, them 1a) they (subject) 1b) them (object) |
| wind the | רוּחָ֔א | ru-CHA' | H7308 | spiritרוּחַ (ru.ach) 1) spirit, wind 1a) wind 1b) spirit 1b1) of man 1b2) seat of the mind |
| and any | וְכָל־ | ve-khol | H3606 | allכֹּל (kol) 1) all, whole, the whole 1a) the whole of, all 1b) every, any, none |
| place | אֲתַ֖ר | 'a-TAR | H0870 | placeאֲתַר (a.tar) track, place |
| not | לָא־ | la'- | H3809 | notלָא (la) no, not, nothing Aramaic of lo (לֹא "not" H3808) |
| it was found | הִשְׁתֲּכַ֣ח | hish-ta-KHACH | H7912 | to findשְׁכַח (she.khach) 1) to find 1a) (Aphel) to find 1b) (Ithp'al) to be found |
| and stone the | וְאַבְנָ֣א׀ | ve-'av-NA' | H0069 | stoneאֶ֫בֶן (e.ven) 1) stone 1a) a (the) stone 1b) stone, material of idols and buildings |
| which | דִּֽי־ | di- | H1768 | thatדִּי (di) part of relation 1) who, which, that mark of genitive 2) that of, which belongs to, that conj 3) that, because |
| it struck | מְחָ֣ת | me-CHAT | H4223 | to smiteמְחָא (me.ach) 1) to strike, smite, kill 1a) (P'al) to strike 1b) (Pael) to hinder 1c) (Ithp'al) to allow to be stricken |
| obj. image the | לְצַלְמָ֗א | le-tzal-MA' | H6755 | imageצְלֵם (tse.lem) image, idol Aramaic of tse.lem (צֶ֫לֶם "image" H6754) |
| it became | הֲוָ֛ת | ha-VAT | H1934 | to beהֲוָא (ha.va) 1) to come to pass, become, be 1a) (P'al) 1a1) to come to pass 1a2) to come into being, arise, become, come to be 1a2a) to let become known (with participle of knowing) 1a3) to be |
| into a mountain | לְט֥וּר | le-TUR | H2906 | mountainטוּר (tur) mountain Aramaic of tsur (צוּר "rock" H6697H) |
| great | רַ֖ב | rav | H7229 | greatרַב (rav) adj 1) great 1a) great 1b) great (fig of power) n 2) captain, chief |
| and it filled | וּמְלָ֥ת | u-me-LAT | H4391 | to fillמְלָא (me.la) 1) to fill 1a) (P'al) to fill 1b) (Ithp'al) to be filled |
| all | כָּל־ | kol- | H3606 | allכֹּל (kol) 1) all, whole, the whole 1a) the whole of, all 1b) every, any, none |
| earth the | אַרְעָֽא׃ | 'ar-'A' | H0772I | earth: soilאֲרַע (a.ra) : soil earth, world, ground Aramaic of e.rets (אֶ֫רֶץ ": soil" H0776H) |
Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.