Dan 2:1 Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled that his sleep left him.
Second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign
We see this was early on in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom; in fact Nebuchadnezzar at this time, was a new king of an almost brand-new empire.
Nebuchadnezzar’s dad, Nabopolassar, was the first king of the so-called Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Before that the area was ruled by the Assyrians. Nabopolassar defeated the Assyrians and destroyed Nineveh, the Assyrian capital city.
Nebuchadnezzar had dreams
Some people take the plural dreams to mean that these dreams were occurring over a longer period.
Stephen Miller in the New American Commentary takes a slightly different approach saying:
“Had dreams” probably should be understood to indicate that the king was in a state of dreaming rather than that he dreamed several dreams, for the text only reports one.
And his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.
Ancient peoples believed that dreams were messages from the gods, and Nebuchadnezzar apparently feared that the strange revelation contained some kind of message for him.
It’s hard to say what troubled him about them, but it could be that he understood that the statue that he saw represented his kingdom and he wondered if it was an omen of its destruction, or it could be that he knew nothing of its interpretation but just knew that it was important.
Nebuchadnezzar might have even known this dream was from God. We see later it indeed was from God, and God has a way of making sure we know that a dream from him was not a normal dream.
Dan 2:2 Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
Dan 2:3 And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”
The magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans
So he calls the people together that he thought might be able to help him interpret this dream. They were all occultists of one form or another. These types of occult advisors are also seen in Genesis with Pharaoh as well. This was apparently a common group of people to have at the Kings service in those days.
To tell the king his dreams
Miller points out that archeologists have found dream interpretation books from the time period in the region.
It is likely, based on the initial reaction of these guys, that they planned on using the methods laid out in books like Miller references to interpret his dream.
But as we will see, Nebuchadnezzar has decided this dream is far too important to be given the usual treatment, and he has come up with a plan to make sure that he finds out what it really means.
Dan 2:4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”
Dan 2:5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap.
Dan 2:6 However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.”
Dan 2:7 They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.”
Dan 2:8 The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm:
Dan 2:9 if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.”
Dan 2:10 The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.
Dan 2:11 It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever!”
The mention of the word Aramaic here doesn’t mean that these guys all of a sudden started speaking a different language. The use of this word here is probably a parenthetical notation placed in the text to mark the change in the written language, because at this very point in the text until the end of chapter 7, the language is not Hebrew but Aramaic.
Some people postulate that the reason it is in Aramaic from here until chapter 7 is because it deals with gentile history, and Aramaic was the gentile language of the time.
Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation
At first these advisors weren’t blinking an eye about this. Interpreting dreams is actually pretty easy, because when you’re speaking in symbols it is impossible to say you have the wrong interpretation.
Make known the dream to me, and its interpretation
It’s possible that Nebuchadnezzar grew up watching these guys interpret his father’s dreams, and that he had his doubts about their methods. It also could be, as one commentator said, a kind of “professional development program.” In other words Nebuchadnezzar was using this as an opportunity to weed out the dead weight on his staff.
The Chaldeans
In this verse we have the first mention of Chaldeans as a class of soothsayers to the king. Critics cite the use of this word as a mistake that only a second century B.C. writer would make. Critics suppose that in Daniel’s day, the term Chaldean was only used as a racial designation, describing what the Chaldeans thought was the “master race” who ruled Nebuchadnezzar’s superpower empire.
“But linguistic research has demonstrated that the Babylonian word for an astrologer-priest, and their word for their supposed master race, were homonyms, both having the sound Chaldean (kas-du in Babylonian), but each retaining their own meaning. This is the same way that the English sound tu can mean to, two, or too.
Daniel’s understanding of this is clear from the text, because he also uses the term Chaldean in its racial sense (Dan 3:8 and 5:30).” – David Guzik
In other words, recent science has once again silenced the mouths of the critical scholars regarding the Book of Daniel.
Dan 2:5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap.
My decision is firm:
I don’t see Nebuchadnezzar saying this with anger, instead I seem him saying it because he has made a logical decision about how to get the correct interpretation of this dream.
You shall be cut in pieces
This means they would be dismembered, a kind of torture, as well as execution.
Your houses shall be made an ash heap
This means that their family was also going to be affected, if not killed.
These were no idle threats by Nebuchadnezzar, whose harsh treatment of King Zedekiah (2 Kgs 25:7), two Jewish rebels named Ahab and Zedekiah (not King Zedekiah; Jer 29:22), and Daniel’s three friends (chap. 3) prove that he would have no qualms about carrying out this cruel threat upon his counselors.1
Dan 2:7 They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.”
Dan 2:8 The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm:
Dan 2:9 if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.”
It’s possible that their second response angered the king because he perceived that his counselors, after hearing his plans, were trying to gain time, or worse, planning on deceiving him in some way.
Dan 2:10 The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.
This was a bad move for these guys. Telling Nebuchadnezzar that no other king would do this or ask such a thing was like saying, “you’re a bad king for asking this,” even though in truth, it was a brilliant, but ruthless plan.
David Guzik puts it this way:
“The strategy of the wise men was to convince the king that he was unreasonable, not that they were incompetent.”
These men’s lives ended a few moments later, but we also read that it was because of them saying this foolish thing to the king that the decree went out to kill all the wise men of Babylon.
Dan 2:12 For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
Dan 2:13 So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
So in other words, when these close advisors to the king were called in it was only their lives that were on the line at that point. But because they offended the king with their response, Nebuchadnezzar decided that all the wise men of Babylon should all be done away with.
Dan 2:11 It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
Except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh:
“As far as these pagan magicians, astrologers, and wise men knew, this was true. They did not know what we know so plainly in Jesus - that He is Immanuel, God with us (Mat: 1:23)” – David Guzik
Dan 2:13 So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
Dan 2:14 Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon;
Dan 2:15 he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel.
Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard
The chief executioner.
With counsel and wisdom
This means Daniel answered Arioch in good taste or in an accepted manner.
Why is the decree from the king so urgent?
Some translations have it as harsh instead of urgent. Both would be true. Based on the timeline this was probably very early in the morning, so it was obvious to Daniel that it was urgent, but it was clearly very harsh as well.
Dan 2:16 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Dan 2:17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
Dan 2:18 that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Dan 2:19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
This is a great picture of faith and prayer. These four friends were probably very young here, and their life was on the line. Daniel goes to them and essentially says, “Guys, we have to pray.”
There was some precedent here because they would have known from their study of the scriptures of Joseph and that interpretations of dreams belong to God (Genesis 40:8), but they would have never heard that God could also tell the dream. They only knew that nothing was too hard for God (Genesis 18:14).
Night vision
There is not too much agreement among commentators as to the exact meaning of this phrase.
“Most likely they continued in prayer until God revealed the dream. A vision may be received when awake (cf. 9:20–23) or asleep (cf. 7:1), and it is difficult to imagine that the young men had gone to sleep with an imminent death penalty hanging over their heads.” – Miller
In other words it was a vision that happened to occur at night in Miller’s view. It is not out of the question however that Daniel could have gone to sleep before they got an answer, perhaps trusting in faith for a sleeping revelation.
Dan 2:20 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His.
Dan 2:21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.
Dan 2:22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.
Dan 2:23 “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand.”
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever
Daniel’s first reaction to receiving the answer to his prayer is praise and worship. This is the same pattern all through scripture and should be ours today as well.
Dan 2:24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.”
Dan 2:25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, “I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.”
Commentators tend to give Arioch a hard time here because of him saying, “I have found,” when he had nothing to do with it. It is true that he was trying to make himself look good here, but we also should note that he was also unnecessarily putting his neck on the line here. He trusted that Daniel had the right answer for some reason. There would have been no way for him to know. There must have been something about the experience at the prayer meeting that made it obvious to everyone, including Arioch.
Dan 2:26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?”
Dan 2:27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king.
Dan 2:28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:
But there is a God in heaven
Daniel used this most amazing opportunity to glorify God.
Has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days
Daniel does not take credit for this. This humility is in contrast to Arioch trying to take credit.
Joseph in Egypt had a similar response when God revealed the dream interpretation to him:
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.” So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” - Gen 41:15-16
Dan 2:29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.
Daniel goes one step further: He tells Nebuchadnezzar what he was thinking before he had the dream, which was what would come to pass after this. Nebuchadnezzar was thinking big thoughts, maybe related to his kingdom, maybe a bigger picture, we don’t know. But God further glorifies himself here by showing that He indeed is as Psalm 139 says:
You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. - Psa 139:2-3
Dan 2:30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
I think Daniel was a great witness to Nebuchadnezzar. Even though at this time the King was ruthless, a case can be made that Nebuchadnezzar gets saved later in his life, he even writes a chapter in the Bible, which is basically the equivalent of his testimony.
And if indeed he was saved it can no doubt be chalked up to Daniel’s faithful witness to him. Every time God presented an occasion for Daniel to witness to Nebuchadnezzar throughout this book, Daniel always made sure Nebuchadnezzar knew it was his God Yahweh that did the miracles that he had witnessed.
Dan 2:31 "You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome.
Dan 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
Dan 2:33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.”
The first part of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream involved a statue which was made of 5 different materials. The head made of gold, the chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
Stephen R. Miller says the following of the phrase “its form was awesome.”
“In verse 31:The word (“awesome”) is from a root word meaning “to fear.” Nebuchadnezzar was frightened by the statue; this certainly is understandable, for the huge image would have stood like a dazzling colossus before the king.”
So we see that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was of a giant statue. We are not told exactly how big the statue was in his dream, but the image Nebuchadnezzar built in the next chapter, (which he forced everyone to worship) may have been patterned after this one, and that structure was ninety feet tall.
Dan 2:34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
There are two things in this verse that are worth noting before we begin reading Daniel’s interpretation of this dream.
The first is that the stone that Nebuchadnezzar watched being cut out was without hands. We will see in verse 44 that this means that this rock is not of human origin, but rather it is from God and distinct from the other elements in this dream in that regard.
The second thing worth noting is that the rock strikes the statue on its feet, not its toes. I will argue later that the feet and toes are described as one cohesive unit, they are still a part of the last empire, that of the legs of iron, but that both the feet and toes together represent a latter part of that kingdom which I think is supported in part because of this verse. I will expand on this in a few moments.
Dan 2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
This is the last verse before Daniel begins his interpretation of this dream. It basically describes the statue’s utter destruction as a result of the rock hitting its feet.
It is also of extreme significance as we will see that this rock began very small, and then became a mountain and filled the whole earth, it was not a mountain when it initially struck the statue. But over some amount of time, not discussed here, it grows to fill the whole earth.
Dan 2:36 "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
Daniel declares that he has accomplished phase one of Nebuchadnezzar's request, he told him what the dream was. He then declares his intention to begin phase two, that is telling the interpretation of the dream.
Oftentimes when there is a symbolic prophecy in the Bible, like in the book Revelation, there is an interpretation given of that symbolism in the Bible. In the book of Revelation an angel would tell us the meaning of John’s vision about the woman riding the beast, for example. Also, later on in the book of Daniel we see angels giving literal interpretations of Daniel’s symbolic visions.
We must make sure that our interpretations of these symbolic visions are consistent with what scripture tells us the interpretation of the vision is. It seems like a simple thing, but it is a sometimes overlooked hermeneutical principal.
Dan 2:37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
Daniel boldly speaks of the sovereignty of God here, telling Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom was really given to him by Daniel’s God. This was not a necessary part of the interpretation of the dream. Daniel takes a risk here in telling the most powerful man on earth that he was really only a servant of Yahweh.
Daniel may have seen this extraordinary circumstance as a perfect way to witness to the king. It is one of many instances in this particular story that Daniel makes sure to let everyone know that the miracles they see are because of God, not Him. We will see later that this seems to have had the effect that Daniel intended because we see Nebuchadnezzar bowing down and offering sacrifices to Yahweh at the end of this chapter.
Dan 2:38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold.”
The first part of this verse is defining the extent of the dominion God had given to Nebuchadnezzar, which is expressed as total, that is all of the known world and everything in it. This is important because I think it shows in part that the following empires will also have a similar dominion, such as that of Babylon; that is, in order for a kingdom to qualify to be one of these parts of this statue, it must be a world-ruling empire.
You are this head of gold.
Here we begin to see that the statue’s various materials represent kings or kingdoms. This is the only instance in this interpretation where Daniel refers to a person, that is to a king instead of a kingdom. For instance, in the very next verse it says:
Dan 2:39 But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
It becomes very clear as we progress in Daniel’s interpretation that kingdoms are meant here and not necessarily kings, though in some cases it may apply to use them synonymously like in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, and even then we can see in verse 39, which says, “But after you shall arise another kingdom.” that Daniel intended to refer to Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom even when he says “you”.
Stephen Miller, in the New American Commentary, writes concerning this next kingdom in verse 39:
“2:39a Daniel disclosed that another “kingdom” would rise after the Babylonian Empire. History is plain that the next great power to appear on the world scene was the Medo-Persian Empire led by the dynamic Cyrus the Great. This empire is symbolized by the silver chest and arms of the great statue…Medo-Persian dominance continued for approximately 208 years (539–331 B.C.)”
The Medes and Persians ruled together as one empire. This is even alluded to in other places in Daniel.
“For example, in Dan 8:20 the two-horned ram (symbolizing one kingdom) represents “the kings of Media and Persia,” and in chap. 6 the author referred to the “laws of the Medes and Persians” (cf. vv. 8, 15), indicating that Darius ruled by the laws of the Medo-Persian Empire, not a separate Median kingdom.”
Daniel was an old man when Babylon was conquered by Cyrus the Great. The night of its conquest is detailed in Chapter 5, with the feast of Belshazzar and the writing on the wall. Daniel’s gifts were noticed by the Medo-Persians as well, and he went on to serve them for the few years before his death.
Cyrus was also notable because it was him that allowed the exiled captive Jews to return to Israel.
There is almost no disagreement among conservative scholars that the Medo-Persian Empire is in view here.
A third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
This third kingdom of Bronze is that of Greece. Alexander the Great conquered the known world, including the Medo-Persian Empire.
This we know not just from secular history, but also because when the angel interprets a vision Daniel has in Chapter 8 of a goat defeating a ram with two horns, it says the following:
The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. - Dan 8:20-21
So not only do we know this from history, we have confirmation of the Bible’s viewpoint from the very same book. Again there is almost no disagreement among conservative scholars about the interpretation of the third bronze section of this statue being Greece.
Dan 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
Again we have near universal agreement among conservative scholars as to the identity of the legs of iron - The Roman Empire.
Before going into the next part about the feet and toes where there are significant differences in belief among conservative scholars, I want to briefly explain the reason I keep saying “agreement among conservative scholars” and not simply “scholars” when referring to the interpretation of these kingdoms.
The reason is that those who believe that prophecy is impossible as a part of their world view cannot see any of this chapter as predictive prophecy, and they do have a different interpretation of these kingdoms as a result. But I won’t be detailing their view here. If you would like to learn more about it, I would recommend the book I have been referencing, that is Stephen Miller’s Daniel from the New American Commentary. He interacts with this view at length.
To make a long story short, since Rome was nothing more than an insignificant village at the time Daniel wrote this, even by their liberal dating, they obviously can’t have the legs of iron being Rome. So by some funny business, they squeeze Greece into this final empire instead of Rome.
But for those of us that can believe that God can see the past, present and future, we are free to stand in awe at the accuracy in which God foretells the future. So let’s move on to the really challenging section of this prophecy.
Dan 2:41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.
Dan 2:42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
Dan 2:43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
This is where there tends to be some disagreement among even conservative scholars.
But before I get into that, let me talk about where everyone tends to agree. That is that these feet and toes are somehow a part of the Roman Empire. In other words, the feet and toes mixed with iron and clay, while different, are not a part of a new kingdom but still a part of the legs of iron of the Roman Empire, just a chronologically later part; the end of the Roman Empire, if you will. Everyone tends to agree on that, but with many variations.
Here are some of the main conservative views people have about the feet and toes:
I used to hold to the 2nd view, that the feet and toes were representing an end times kingdom, and that there would be a need to revive the Roman Empire.
I still believe that there will be an end times kingdom of the Antichrist, but for reasons I will demonstrate here, I am now firmly convinced that the Antichrist’s kingdom is not in view in this chapter. Furthermore, I hold that the belief that Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 are talking of the same events could be one of the more dangerous views held by conservative scholars today, because this view could allow the Antichrist to come onto the world scene almost entirely unnoticed, and even embraced as the Messiah by some.
I will talk much more in depth about this as we continue our verse-by-verse study in Daniel especially in chapter 7 and 11.
I would also agree with Miller, who holds the opposing view to me, that in addition to your view on Daniel 2 and 7, your view about the rock that destroys this statue is the key to any person’s interpretation of this passage, and I would ask you to withhold your judgment on this matter until we get to those verses.
For now, let’s continue this verse-by-verse study, and be very critical of everything I am about to say, because although I am convinced of this interpretation, you need to remember that this will be a minority viewpoint on this passage, and you should be wary anytime someone is teaching something in the Bible that is not widely held.
The kingdom shall be divided
A very important part of this is that the last kingdom at some point will be divided.
Since both views I think rightly presume that the feet and toes represent a chronologically later point of Rome, we can safely say that this is saying that Rome will be divided toward the end of its existence, whether you believe that its end was in the past or will be in the future.
Here we have a few problems for the revived Roman Empire (RRE) view.
The first is that you have an unambiguous fulfillment of this passage in the history of the fall of Rome. We know that Rome was divided into several parts, eventually settling into just two parts, that is the east and west empires. We will see that the other elements of the feet and toes prophecy fit like a glove to the events of that period as well.
And the second major problem here for the RRE view is that forcing this prophecy to the end times means that you have to hold the view that the Antichrist has a divided weak kingdom in the end times.
The descriptions of the Antichrist’s kingdom in the Bible do not give the impression that it will be weak or divided , but rather that he will have absolute power, and that those who do not worship him will be killed. This does not sound like a weak or divided kingdom.
I will now go into some more depth on the first point, that the divided and partly strong-partly weak kingdom describes perfectly the end of Rome in the ancient past.
If you look up the phrase “The Crisis of the Third Century,” you will learn of about a one hundred year or so time period in Roman History where they almost lost everything. It was the first time in Rome’s history that they started to show weakness. All the years of their dominance and absolute iron fisted - or should I say iron legged - rule was starting to slow down during this time.
In 285 Diocletian split the empire into four parts called the tetrarchy, but it didn’t last. It briefly was united again under Constantine, but it quickly split again after his death into three divisions. It was total chaos, everyone claiming to be emperor for a few years.
Eventually, when all the dust settled, there were only two divisions of Rome, that is the eastern half and western half, and that is how it would stay until Rome fizzled out of existence. Rome would never again rise to the prominence it once had after this point, and it will grow less and less powerful until it is a shadow of its former self, constantly sacked by invading barbarians, penniless and powerless.
The exact date of Rome’s fall varies because of the “death by a thousand cuts” nature of its decline, but most historians put its fall at about 480 AD. A mere 100 years after the division of east and west was solidified.
I’m trying to establish that the end of Rome is characterized by weakness and division, and as we noted before, the one thing that both sides of the argument about the feet and toes made of iron and clay agree on is that the passage is saying that the end of the Roman Empire will be characterized by weakness and division.
The only difference is that some say the end of the Roman Empire is in the past, and some say we need to “revive” a Roman Empire first, and then watch its end be characterized by weakness and division.
The toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay
In this verse it seems to suggest that only the toes were of this mixed clay and iron composition, but we know from verse 33, where it only refers to its feet and not the toes being of this composition, that the author is referring to the feet and toes as one unit. This is further demonstrated in verse 34 in which the statue is said to be struck on its feet only, whereas one would think that the toes would be mentioned here if there was an important distinction.
In other words, idiomatically the final empire consists of only two parts, the legs of iron being the first, and the feet and toes of iron and clay being the second. And the words “feet” and “toes” can be used independently and interchangeably to refer to the final stage of the final kingdom.
The kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
Again this is a terrific description of the last 300 or so years of the Roman Empire, there were times during this period, a period often called “the decline of the Roman Empire” in which Rome was partly strong in some ways, but partly fragile in others.
We have seen already to an extent, and will see again in the next verse, that it is grammatically necessary to see that the clay and iron are representative of the divisions of the empire, in this case, the east and the west empires. So in order for this interpretation to be a perfect match, we would need to see a clear description in history of one of these divisions being much weaker than the other.
The so called “final split” of the Roman Empire occurred at a time when it was becoming clear that the western empire was going to be a lot more dangerous place to live than the east. This is when Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople. Eventually Rome would be sacked by Alaric in 410 while Constantinople would not be sacked until the Middle Ages.
Here are a few quotes about the weakness of the Western Empire compared to the Eastern.
“The East, always wealthier, was not so destitute, especially as Emperors like Constantine the Great and Constantius II had invested heavily in the eastern economy. As a result, the Eastern Empire could afford large numbers of professional soldiers and augment them with mercenaries, while the Western Roman Empire could not afford this to the same extent. Even in major defeats, the East could, certainly not without difficulties, buy off its enemies with a ransom.”
“The political, economic and military control of the Eastern Empire's resources remained safe in Constantinople….. In contrast, the Western Empire was more fragmented. Its capital was transferred to Ravenna in 402 largely for defensive reasons.”
“The Western Empire's resources were much limited, and the lack of available manpower forced the government to rely ever more on confederate barbarian troops operating under their own commanders, where the Western Empire would often have difficulties paying. In certain cases deals were struck with the leaders of barbaric mercenaries rewarding them with land, which led to the Empire's decline as less land meant there would be even less taxes to support the military…..As the central power weakened, the State gradually lost control of its borders and provinces, as well as control over the Mediterranean Sea.“
The divided parts of this kingdom were noticeably different in strength. As I mentioned, the eastern empire would survive in some capacity for hundreds of years after the west had long disappeared.
Dan 2:43: As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
There is a lot of confusion about this verse, which I think is due to the English translation of the Aramaic. Remember this section of Daniel is written in Aramaic and not Hebrew.
It should first be noted that other translations such as the ESV render the underlying Aramaic phrase this way:
“As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. (ESV)”
So instead of mingle with the seed of men they mix with one another in marriage.
So the question is: Is the ESV capturing the intent of the Aramaic here?
Let’s first take this word translated as “mingle”:
It is the Aramaic word “Arab” (ar-av) which corresponds to the Hebrew “Arab”. In other words, this word, if you look it up, will be in Aramaic, and its only use is right here in Daniel, because Aramaic is very rare. However, most Aramaic words correspond directly to Ancient Hebrew words, and that is the case here. In fact, they are even pronounced the same.
The Hebrew word “Arab” means: to pledge, exchange, mortgage, engage, occupy, undertake for, give pledges, be or become surety, take on pledge, give in pledge. 2
For example in Genesis 43:9, when Judah was begging his father to let him take Benjamin to Egypt as per Joseph's request, he says that he will become surety for Benjamin. The word “surety” is where we get the word “mingle”.
I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. - Gen 43:9
Another example of its use is in 2 Kings 18:23 where the word “pledge” is the word translated “mingle” in our passage
Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! - 2Ki 18:23
But the same word for “mingle” also can mean “to mix together”. And in fact, of the two times it is used that way in the Bible, it is speaking of the intermarriage of Jewish and pagan tribes.
For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. - Ezr 9:2
Here we have a very similar phrase to the one in our verse. I think this shows some precedent that the translators of the KJV believed that mingling seed was referring to intermarriage with two groups.
But they mingled with the Gentiles And learned their works- Psa 106:35
So I think you can see that the ESV here has a pretty decent rendering of this phrase when it says: they will mix with one another in marriage.
But even if that is true, we still have to determine who they are, and who they are trying to intermarry with, and perhaps more importantly, what is it referring to.
So we need to find out who they are in this verse. And I will suggest the simple method of sentence structure and basic grammar to find out who they are.
If we look just before this in verse 41, we see that Daniel says that the feet and toes of clay and iron are representing a divided kingdom. The next three verses repeatedly refer to these two divisions of the kingdom as iron and clay.
Grammatically there is no other possible plural subject other than the separate, divided parts of the kingdom represented by the iron and clay. This is confirmed in verse 44, when it says “in the days of these kings,” making it clear that the plural subject that was in view in verse 43 must be referring to the kings of the divided kingdom in verse 41.
So what this verse is saying is that the divided parts of the empire will pledge their offspring to one another in an attempt to become strong again, but it will not work.
Now it would be one thing if I had to go looking for some obscure fulfillment of this in Roman history, but the strength of this interpretation is the unambiguous fulfillment of it in the history of Rome, which I think you will see gives the interpretations a great deal more credibility.
Now in order for this to be true, we can’t just go picking any arranged marriages of emperors in Ancient Rome. Almost every senator, general, prefect or any other person with imperial ambitions had arranged marriages to secure their legitimacy to the throne. I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say that you can’t read a single page in the entire history of Rome without reading about an arranged political marriage.
But we are looking for a very specific type of political marriage here. It has to be toward the very end of Rome's existence because it is regarding the feet and toes, it has to be between the eastern and western empires, the two kings of the divided kingdom need to pledge their offspring to one another, and for the specific purpose of trying to unify Rome and keep it from demise. This should narrow it down quite a bit.
There are two instances where this exact thing happened at the end of the Roman Empire.
The first is in 467, only about 9 years before the last Roman emperor. This is a time when the Vandals were posing a major threat to Rome and while Leo was reigning strongly in the east. There had not been an emperor in the west for a few years because a man named Ricimer, who had been ruling behind the scenes by manipulating puppet emperors for many years, had not appointed another puppet emperor and was hoping no one would care or that people would just accept him as the default emperor.
Well this became a problem in the eastern empire because of the threat of the Vandals and the imminent war that they were going to have to have with them.
So Leo decided to choose an emperor of the west for the west. He chose a guy named Anthemius and sent him to the west with a big army so that Ricimer would have to get with the new program.
Here is the marriage connection: The emperor of the east, Leo, gave his daughter, Leontia, to Anthemius' son, Marcian, to legitimize the reign of his new appointee to the west, essentially saying, “Ok, east and west, we are all one big happy family now. So let’s go fight the Vandals or we are all in big trouble.”
In addition, Anthemius also gave his only daughter, Alypia, to Ricimer, which also made Anthemius, who was a Greek-speaking foreigner to the west, acceptable to the Latin-speaking Romans, of which Ricimer had become kind of a ring leader.
This plan actually might have worked, too, but the battle with the Vandals went very badly, and Anthemius would soon be killed, and they would all be right back at the place that they started.
Which brings us to the second attempt of cleaving the east and the west together with marriages. This time it occurs in 474, just two years before the last Roman Emperor, with Julious Nepos. There are actually a lot of people that argue that Nepos was the last Roman Emperor, choosing not to count the child Romulus Augustulus who “ruled” for about a year after Nepos was exiled.
This time Leo married off his niece to Nepos. The surname Nepos actually means nephew. Because he took the surname nephew as his title, referring to his now-nephew status to Leo in the east, it should show us the importance of that marriage in the attempt to unify the east and the west. But it was too late for Rome. There were too many problems. And just like this verse in Daniel says, these two divisions of the final kingdom do not adhere to one another and the fall of the western Roman Empire is put somewhere around this time at 476-480.
But they will not adhere to one another.
I want to briefly speak about the nephilim interpretation of this verse and point out that whatever this is, it will not adhere or cleave together. That is to say, it won’t work. There are many that say this verse is proof of a future nephilim hybrid program in the end times. But even if you were to assume that the word they is speaking of angels, you would have to conclude that it doesn’t work - there would be no hybrids made in this interpretation as they simply do not adhere together..
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Dan 2:45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."
Ok so here we are at the most crucial part, the identification of this stone. Let’s briefly recall what happened with this stone in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in verses 34-35:
You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. - Dan 2:34-35
So this stone strikes the statue on the feet, and it eventually grows to fill the whole earth.
A kingdom
This stone is a kingdom, a kingdom that God will institute during the Roman Empire that will eventually grow to encompass the entire world. This is agreed upon by many scholars, even Miller who holds to a “Revived Roman Empire” view.
There are some that would say that this has to be speaking of Jesus because of Eph 2:20 which says He is a cornerstone, but that would offend the explicit teaching in this verse that this rock is a kingdom in the same way that the others were a kingdom.
This rock is representative of what is known all throughout the Bible as the “Kingdom of God.” I will show you a few verses to demonstrate two points:
1.) That Jesus Christ begins the Kingdom of God in his day:
And saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." - Mar 1:15
But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. - Mat 12:28
Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst." - Luk 17:20-21
It should be here noted that there seems to be a present and future sense of the kingdom of God, in the sense that the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom of God is not here or in this world but rather in the future. But I believe it can be shown with certainty that Jesus considered the Kingdom of God, to have been established with Him on earth during his teaching ministry.
2.) That the Kingdom of God is supposed to start small and then grow large.
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." - Mat 13:31-33
These two parables are describing the small and then growing large aspect of the Kingdom of God.
So this is in a sense a prophecy for all ancient peoples as to a general time the Messiah would come; that is, the Kingdom of God would be established sometime during the Roman Empire. This may be one reason that messianic expectations were so high in Jesus’ day.
Shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people;
Here it contrasts God’s kingdom with the usual fate of the kingdoms of man. It won’t have a successor, nor an end, it won’t be divided among generals or anyone else.
It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
I would suggest that this verse is expressing the different nature of God’s Kingdom to man’s, and it includes all the previous kingdoms here to further drive home that point. That is, when God’s Kingdom is fully and eternally established, there will be no more manifestations of man’s kingdoms.
The great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."
Daniel again makes sure that Nebuchadnezzar, who is probably showing signs of his utter amazement at this point, knows that it was Yahweh who deserves the glory for this feat.
He also adds that the dream and interpretation are certain and sure. This is what will happen, and that God wants Nebuchadnezzar to know it.
Dan 2:46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.
Dan 2:47 The king answered Daniel, and said, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret."
It appears from verse 46 that the offerings were made to Daniel himself as if he were a god. But then in verse 47, it seems to suggest that Nebuchadnezzar was giving this worship to Daniel’s God, which makes more sense as it seems unlikely given the great pains that Daniel went through to make sure that it was not him but God, that Daniel would accept such a sacrifice.
While this was probably the equivalent of planting a seed in Nebuchadnezzar’s heart that Yahweh was God of all and worthy of submission, his worship of Yahweh here is not to be looked at as his conversion, as we will see in the next chapter that this is a short lived piety.
Dan 2:48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
Dan 2:49 Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
David Guzik summarized these verses this way:
“Daniel not only had his life spared, but he was promoted to high office - and he made sure his friends were also promoted. It was fitting that Daniel's friends got to share in his advancement, because they accomplished much of the victory through their prayers.”
Notes
Miller, (p. 81). B&H.
The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon