Bible Strands
Daniel 2:38
Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Daniel addresses King Nebuchadnezzar while interpreting the statue dream, marking the king's current reign as the first phase of a divinely ordered sequence of empires.
The words — The Aramaic בְּֽנֵי\־ אֲ֠נָשָׁ/א (benei-anasha) literally means "sons of humankind," and דָֽיְרִ֣ין (dayarin) translates "are dwelling," together identifying the living creatures over which God has granted the king authority.
The thread — This motif of delegated dominion over creation recurs in Jeremiah 27:5, where God asserts the right to give the earth to whom He wills, and aligns with the universal scope of sovereignty noted in Psalms 50:10.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to view political power as a conditional grant from God, demanding accountability and humility from those who wield authority over others.
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
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
Cross-references
- Daniel 4:21 whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested—
- Psalms 50:10 for every beast of the forest is Mine—the cattle on a thousand hills.
- Jeremiah 27:5 By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.