Daniel 2:31–45

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

A great image, head to toe of four metals and clay — struck by a stone cut without hands, which became a mountain filling the whole earth.

Traditional identification

Head of gold	Babylon	Dan 2:38 (text-identified)
Breast & arms of silver	Medo-Persia	Dan 5:28; 8:20
Belly & thighs of brass	Greece	Dan 8:21
Legs of iron	Rome	Traditional
Feet of iron and clay	Divided kingdoms of Rome / a coming form	Dan 2:41–43
Stone cut without hands	The kingdom of God, breaking in pieces every earthly kingdom	Dan 2:44–45

Alternative identification

Head of gold	Babylon	Dan 2:38
Silver	Media	Alternative scheme
Brass	Persia	Alternative scheme
Iron	Greece under Alexander and his successors	Alternative scheme
Iron & clay feet	The divided Hellenistic kingdoms	Alternative scheme

Both schemes are presented without endorsement. The stone that becomes a mountain filling the earth is the settled kingdom of God (Dan 2:44).

Daniel 7 correlation

Daniel 7 gives the same succession as four beasts arising from the sea — lion (Babylon), bear (Medo-Persia in the traditional reading), leopard (Greece), and a fourth dreadful beast (Rome or the divided Hellenistic kingdoms in the alternative). The stone of chapter 2 corresponds to the Son of Man of chapter 7:13–14.