Daniel 2:5. Ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
See also chapter 3:29.
Cutting into pieces was a punishment common to many ancient nations. It was known to the Hebrews, and was inflicted by Samuel upon Agag. See 1 Samuel 15:33. Some think that dichotomy, or sawing asunder, is the punishment here referred to. See note on Hebrews 11:37 (#883).
According to Babylonian customs the house in which the criminal lived was sometimes destroyed, and the very land on which his dwelling stood considered cursed forever. The custom was also known among the Persians. See the decree of Darius in Ezra 6:11. It was likewise practiced at Athens. There were many spots in the midst of that populous city which were kept perpetually vacant by reason of a decree similar to that referred to in the text.