From a human perspective—and especially before the proud gaze of Nebuchadnezzar—Babylon looked for all the world like an empire that would last forever. But what does the prophecy say would happen next?

“After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours.”
—Verse 39.

In fulfillment of God’s prediction, Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom crumbled into ruins when Cyrus, the Persian general, overthrew the Babylonian empire in 539 B.C. So the chest and arms of silver represent Medo-Persia, another mighty empire, with the Persians becoming predominant.