complete verse (Daniel 2:32)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 2:32:

  • Kupsabiny: “The head of that thing was made of gold only/pure and the chest and arms were made of silver, but the stomach and hips were made of bronze.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The head of the statue was of fine gold, the chest and arms were of silver, the torso and thighs were of bronze” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Its head (was) pure gold and its chest and hands (were) silver, and from his stomach down to the feet (were) bronze.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The head of the statue was made of pure gold. Its chest and arms were made of silver. Its belly and thighs were made of bronze.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Daniel 2:32 - 2:33

These two verses consist mainly of the names of body parts and of different kinds of metals. The names of the body parts usually present few problems except for the distinction between thighs, legs, and feet. In some languages a single word normally includes all three of these. In order to distinguish them it may be necessary to say something like “upper leg,” “lower leg,” and “the bottom (or end) of the leg.”

Fine gold: in those cultures where the refining of metals is well known, there will be special terms for the purest form of gold. If such concepts are known it will be appropriate to use that terminology in this case.

The words for the various metals may be impossible to translate in some languages without recourse to borrowing foreign words for gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Or in some cases it may be necessary to attempt to show the differences by reference to the relative value or strength of the different metals. In that case gold can be “the most precious metal”; silver can be “another very precious metal,” bronze “a less precious metal,” and iron “an ordinary metal.” In verse 40 it becomes clear that the strength of iron is as important as its value. So it may be wise to translate iron here as “a very strong metal.” The word translated bronze may possibly mean “copper” (see New English Bible note, “Or copper”), so translators should not be unduly worried if they have to translate it that way.

Clay: the Aramaic term used here probably indicates ceramic material or baked earth rather than clay, which would seem to refer only to the raw material used to make ceramic objects. If a language distinguishes between raw clay and baked clay, the latter should be used in translation here. New American Bible translates “tile,” New International Version “baked clay,” and Anchor Bible has “terra cotta.”

Some commentators describe the combination of iron and clay as ceramic decoration on a basic metal structure, but others think it was a ceramic object covered with metal plates. In fact we do not know how the iron and ceramic material were thought of as being joined. And the translator should try to avoid giving such details. It was, in fact, only what was seen in a dream—which does not lend itself to the logical analysis of material reality.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .