Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Daniel 2:40 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 40. 40And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Daniel 2:40 develops this movement with “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and…”.
Read It With
- Daniel 2:36–45
Read Daniel 2:40 with 2:36–45. Daniel 2:40 develops this movement with “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and…”. The complete unit establishes this movement: Daniel interprets successive kingdoms and a divided final phase before announcing a kingdom God establishes and no people inherit.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The interpretation refuses imperial self-eternity: even a God-given kingship is temporary and cannot own the final kingdom. “Four Kingdoms Yield to God's Enduring Kingdom” opens that larger movement. This completes the present movement before the next larger development: The king honors Daniel and promotes him and his companions, while the book continues to test royal recognition. Within that movement: Daniel 2:40 develops this movement with “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and…”.
Follow the Context
- Daniel interprets successive kingdoms and a divided final phase before announcing a kingdom God establishes and no people inherit.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and…”
In plain language: This wording develops this movement.
Daniel interprets successive kingdoms and a divided final phase before announcing a kingdom God establishes and no people inherit. Daniel 2:40 develops this movement with “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and…”.
Why it matters: This wording carries a material lexical, historical, theological, reception, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Daniel 2:40 does not stand alone from Daniel 2:36–45. God's kingdom does not authorize political violence, Christian nationalism, Jewish erasure, or forced conversion. Its verse-specific role is: develops this movement with “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and…”.
What Remains True
Every human regime is accountable, mixed, and temporary; hope in God's enduring rule should restrain rather than inflate political certainty. Daniel 2:36-45 keeps that truth tied to this claim: Daniel interprets successive kingdoms and a divided final phase before announcing a kingdom God establishes and no people inherit. In this unit: Daniel 2:40 develops this movement with “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and…”.
How It Can Shape Life
- Evaluate governments without treating any one nation, party, or church structure as the final kingdom. In Daniel 2:36-45, respond specifically to this movement: Daniel interprets successive kingdoms and a divided final phase before announcing a kingdom God establishes and no people inherit. For Daniel 2:40 specifically, keep this reviewed contribution in view: develops this movement with “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and…”. Read it inside 2:36–45; do not convert its wording into an unsupported modern identification.
Teach It Back
Explain Daniel 2:40's role in 2:36–45. Name the ancient setting, quote or paraphrase “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and…”, state one material uncertainty, and name one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Daniel 2:36-45 — Four Kingdoms Yield to God's Enduring KingdomSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Daniel 2:40 must be read with this unit-level uncertainty: The identity of kingdoms two through four, the timing of the stone, and messianic or corporate readings differ. The package prefers a first-horizon sequence culminating in Hellenistic oppression while preserving the influential Rome and Christological reception as later interpretation.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Daniel 2:36-45, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew aramaic text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Daniel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew-Aramaic wording, morphology, language boundary, names, repeated roots, clauses, and lexical controls.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Dan.xml, 2:36-45; Hebrew 1:1–2:4a and 8:1–12:13, Aramaic 2:4b–7:28
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Daniel with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew-Aramaic, textual, historical, translation, chronology, angelic-language, and duration notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Daniel PDF, printed pp. 1645–1648, translation and translator notes on 2:36-45
Open source ↗