Daniel 4:35
“And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Context
After a season of madness sent to humble his pride, King Nebuchadnezzar's reason returns and he praises God in these words, acknowledging the sovereignty he once denied.
What Does Daniel 4:35 Mean?
These are the words of a humbled king. Once the proudest man on earth, Nebuchadnezzar now confesses that before God "all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing." Not worthless, but weightless in comparison -- no human power can rival the One who rules heaven and earth alike. The God Daniel served is shown to govern "the army of heaven" and the nations together, doing "according to his will" in both realms. This is the climax of a chapter in which a king who claimed greatness for himself learned where greatness truly lies.
The verse ends with two unanswerable questions: "none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" No one can stop God's purposes, and no one stands in a position to call Him to account. Yet this is not cold tyranny; the chapter shows that God humbled the king precisely to restore him. His sovereignty serves His mercy. For the reader, the confession is both sobering and freeing -- sobering because human pride is exposed as small, freeing because the hand no one can stay is also the hand that lifts up the lowly. Nebuchadnezzar found peace only after he stopped contending with that hand and bowed to it.
In the Original Language
The Aramaic image behind "stay his hand" (macha bideh) is of slapping or striking against -- no one can knock God's hand aside or block what He sets out to do.
Cross References
“How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.”
- Daniel 4:3
“All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.”
- Isaiah 40:17
“And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:”
- Daniel 2:21
Application
Lay down the illusion of control and rest in the God whose purposes cannot be thwarted and whose authority is matched by His mercy.