Bible Strands
Daniel 2:34
As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Daniel is interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great statue. This is the moment the stone strikes the iron-and-clay feet, the lowest and most brittle part of the image.
The words — הִתְגְּזֶ֤רֶת (hit.ge.Ze.ret), "it was cut out," uses the hitpael stem, a reflexive-passive form that presents the stone as coming into being without a human agent, which is the theological point of the phrase "not by human hands."
The thread — Daniel 2:44 identifies the stone as the kingdom God will set up in the days of those kings, never to be destroyed. Zechariah 12:3 reverses the image, making Jerusalem itself a heavy stone that breaks the nations.
Why it lands — The stone strikes the feet, the weakest joint of the empire, not the golden head. The reader is asked to see that human power is most vulnerable where it is most mixed and compromised, and that its end comes from outside itself.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Cross-references
- Daniel 2:44 In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.
- Daniel 8:25 Through his craft and by his hand, he will cause deceit to prosper, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In a time of peace he will destroy many, and he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken off, but not by human hands.
- Zechariah 12:3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.
- Isaiah 60:12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed.
- Daniel 7:13 In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.
- Daniel 7:27 Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.’
- Zechariah 4:6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Psalms 118:22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
- Isaiah 28:16 So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
- Matthew 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.