What Does Daniel 4:3 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse measures God’s rule twice: across the ages and through every generation that lives inside them.
THE MEANING
The signs and wonders disclose a power greater than any one generation can contain. God’s reign spans the ages, and its authority remains present as one generation gives way to another.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that God’s power belongs only to the generation that first witnesses it.
THE ROOT
עָלַם
ʿālam
GROWS FROM
עלם
ʿ-l-m
An age or long span of time, extending toward the distant or indefinite future.
“everlasting” in this verse is ʿālam. The Aramaic speaks in the language of ages. The next phrase, “from generation to generation,” gives that vast span a human scale: the reign is enduring and present through each succession.
ALSO GROWS
ʿālam: Age; a long or distant span of time.
עָלַם
This is the age-language behind “everlasting,” opening the phrase toward the ages.
ʿālmîn: Ages; successive or enduring ages.
עָלְמִין
The plural form makes the verse’s scale easier to hear: the reign spans ages, while the next phrase names generation after generation.
שָׁלְטָן
šolṭān
GROWS FROM
שלט
š-l-ṭ
To rule or exercise authority.
The root points to authority being exercised, not merely to territory possessed. Joined to the ages and generations, dominion becomes an ongoing rule that persists through human change.
ALSO GROWS
šəlēṭ: To rule or have authority.
שְׁלֵט
The verb form makes the word’s active force clear: dominion is authority in action.
šallīṭ: One who has power or authority.
שַׁלִּיט
This related form names the one exercising authority, illuminating the living rule expressed by “dominion.”
THE PATTERN
God’s rule spans the ages and remains present through each generation.
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.THE THREAD
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.Daniel 7:14 repeats the same Aramaic words for “kingdom” and “dominion,” then says this dominion does not pass away. The ages and generations in Daniel 4:3 open into a vision of authority no succession can erase.
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