Daniel 2:42

And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. WHEREAS THOU SAWEST THE FEET AND TOES, PART OF POTTER'S CLAY, AND PART OF IRON - explained presently, "the kingdom shall be partly strong, partly broken" (rather, 'brittle,' as earthenware); and , "they shall mingle ... with the seed of men" - i:e., there will be power (in its deteriorated form iron) mixed up with that which is wholly of man, and therefore brittle; power in the hands of the people having no internal stability, though something is left of the strength of the iron (Tregelles). Newton, who understands the Roman empire to be parted into the ten kingdoms already (whereas Tregelles makes them future), explains the...

31-45 This image represented the kingdoms of the earth, that should successively rule the nations, and influence the affairs of the Jewish church. 1. The head of gold signified the Chaldean empire, then in being. 2. The breast and arms of silver signified the empire of the Medes and Persians. 3. The belly and thighs of brass signified the Grecian empire, founded by Alexander. 4. The legs and feet of iron signified the Roman empire. The Roman empire branched into ten kingdoms, as the toes of these feet. Some were weak as clay, others strong as iron. Endeavours have often been used to unite them, for strengthening the empire, but in vain. The stone cut out without hands, represented the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which should be set up in the kingdoms of the world, upon the ruins of Satan's kingdom in them. This was the Stone which the builders refused, because it was not cut out b...

AND AS THE TOES OF THE FEET WERE PART OF IRON AND PART OF CLAY, SO THE KINGDOM SHALL BE PARTLY STRONG, AND PARTLY BROKEN - Margin, “brittle.” The margin is the more correct rendering of the Chaldee word (תבירה _t__e__bı̂yrâh_). It means “frail, fragile” - easily broken, but not necessarily that it was actually broken. That did not occur until the stone cut out of the mountain impinged on it. It has been commonly supposed (comp. Newton “on the Prophecies”), that the ten toes on the feet refer to the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire was ultimately broken up, corresponding with the ten horns seen in the vision of Daniel, in Daniel 7:7. In regard to the fact that the Roman empire was ultimately broken up into ten such kingdoms, see the extended notes at...

EXPOSITION DANIEL 2:1 DANIEL FIRST BECOMES DISTINGUISHED. DANIEL 2:1 AND IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR NEBUCHADNEZZAR DREAMED DREAMS, WHEREWITH HIS SPIRIT WAS TROUBLED, AND HIS SLEEP BRAKE FROM HIM. The versions only differ verbally from the Massoretic text as represented by the above. The Septuagint renders "And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he chanced to fall into dreams and visions, and to be troubled with his vision, and his sleep went from him." The differences here that may evidence a difference of text are slight. Theodotion and the Peshitta are very close to the Massoretic. The Vulgate renders, "In the second year of

AND AS THE TOES OF THE FEET WERE PART OF IRON AND PART OF CLAY,.... Or some of them of iron, and so were strong and powerful, as some of these kingdoms were; and some of clay, and so were weak and easily crushed, and did not stand long: SO THE KINGDOM SHALL BE PARTLY STRONG, AND PARTLY BROKEN; this is not unfitly interpreted by some of the two fold power which has prevailed in these ten kingdoms, through the policy of the pope of Rome, the secular and ecclesiastic power; the latter often encroaching upon and prevailing over the other, which has tended to the weakening of these states....

CHAPTER 2 NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM AND ITS INTERPRETATION _ 1. The forgotten dream (Daniel 2:1)_ 2. The prayer meeting in Babylon and the answer (Daniel 2:14) 3. Daniel before the king (Daniel 2:24) 4. The revelation and interpretation of the dream (Daniel 2:29) 5. The promotion of Daniel and his companions (Daniel 2:46) Daniel 2:1. The king had a dream which was occasioned by thinking concerning the future ...

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM. According to Daniel's interpretation the colossal statue is a pictorial representation of the course of history. Four empires succeed each other and are finally destroyed by a fifth which is of Divine origin (not made with hands), and ultimately dominates the world. We can identify these empires with practical certainty, and the identification proves that the statue depicts the history of 450 years, roughly speaking from 600 to 150 B.C. It will be observed that, according to the figure, history degenerates through this period. The gold becomes silver, the silver brass, and the brass iron. The golden empire is undoubtedly the Babylonian. Nothing could exceed the unstinted praise which the writer lavishes upon Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:37 f.)_._ The silver kingdom is that of the Medes, which the Book of Daniel interposes between the Babylonian and Persian Em...

PART. a portion [of them], or some of them. Chaldee. _min_. PARTLY. in part, or at the end. Chaldee. _ketzath,_ as in Daniel 4:29 (Hebrew, verse 26), Daniel 4:34 (Hebrew, verse 31). Occurs only in these three places. Compare the Hebrew _kezath_ (Daniel 1:2 with Daniel 1:5; Daniel 1:15; Daniel 1:18). PARTLY BROKEN. part [of it shall be] broken. BROKEN. fragile, easily broken. Chaldee. _tebar._ Occurs only here....

The interpretation of the dream. The four parts of the image signify four kingdoms, the first being represented by its present and greatest ruler, Nebuchadnezzar....

THE FOURTH KINGDOM SHALL BE STRONG AS IRON, &C.— This description agrees well with the Roman empire, and the event answered this prediction; for the Roman was vastly more strong and extensive than any of the preceding three. Daniel seems to divide it into three periods. The first is this kingdom, in its strongest and flourishing state, which seems to be denoted by the _iron legs:_ the second is the same kingdom, weakened by the divided state of the empire, denoted by the _feet,_ which were _part of potter's clay, and part of iron;_ for which reason the prophet tells us, _the kingdom shall be divided, though there should be in it something of the strength of iron, because the iron was mixed with the clay:_ the third is the same empire, in a yet farther state of declension, denoted by the _toes,_ the extremity of the image; and of consequence the last period of this fourth empire. As the t...