30aBut 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, band that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
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.
32aThis image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and1 thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of1 clay.
34 You watched while a stone was cut out awithout hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35aThen the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became blike chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that cno trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image dbecame a great mountain eand filled the whole earth.
36 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
37aYou, O king, are a king of kings. bFor the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
38aand 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—byou are this head of gold.
39 But after you shall arise aanother kingdom binferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
40 And athe fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, thatkingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
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.
42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, aso the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly1 fragile.
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.
44 And in the days of these kings athe God of heaven will set up a kingdom bwhich shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; cit shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
45aInasmuch 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.”
Daniel and His Friends Promoted
46aThen King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering band incense to him.
47 The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly ayour God is the God of bgods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”
Not much is written in Daniel 2 in explanation of the third world-ruling empire represented in Nebuchadnezzar's image. Other than its position on the image and its bronze appearance, the only interpretation of the "belly and thighs of bronze" (verse 32) within this chapter is found in verse 39: ". . . then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth."
Such paucity of detail suggests the relative unimportance of this third empire in the march of prophetic events. Falling "between the Testaments," this kingdom played a lesser role in the history of God's people than Babylon or Persia, although it did indeed "rule over all the earth." From this one detail, as well as from its position between the "chest and arms of silver" (already identified as Medo-Persia) and the fourth kingdom of iron (generally accepted as Rome), we can safely name it as Greece.
Another factor that assists in its identification is the parts of the body by which it is represented. The belly, a single body part, represents a monolithic government, and the thighs, two body parts, represent a division of power. The Greek Empire, built upon the remains of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great, began with a single leader. But after Alexander's death in 323 BC, his generals carved out kingdoms of their own. From the resultant wars among them, two major powers emerged: Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria.
In the succession of world-ruling empires envisaged by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the second to appear is represented by a "chest and arms of silver." Both the metal and the body parts help to describe the nation referred to. Without doubt, the chest and arms of silver represent the Medo-Persian Empire (c. 539-330 BC). The explanation of the chest and arms is found in Daniel 2:39.
Several important details surface immediately. First, it is an image. The second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6) describes God's revulsion of images of any kind used in worship. Although no one is seen worshipping this image, the idea that what this image represents is contrary to God is definitely present.
Second, the image's body parts are formed from different materials in descending value (Daniel 2:39). Gold is more valuable than silver, which is more valuable than bronze, etc. Finally, it ends in iron mixed with clay, an amalgam that is practically worthless and useless. However, the order of these materials increases in hardness with the exception of the iron-clay mixture (verses 40-43). This symbolizes two aspects of the same idea: While the spiritual, moral, or cultural qualities of these empires decline, their military or political power increases as one empire overthrows another.
Third, the progression from head to toes conveys the movement of time. Though these empires overlap to a small degree as one rises and another falls, their dominance in world affairs is successive. This is clearly shown in Daniel's explanation: "But after you shall arise another kingdom . . . then another" (verse 39). Thus, we should expect to be able to follow this prophecy on a historical time-line except where it continues into the future.
Fourth, the body parts themselves describe traits of the empires they symbolize. The head of the image shows a monolithic structure of government which determines the course of the body, just as in the symbolism of Christ being the Head of the body, the church (Colossians 1:18). The two arms and two legs indicate divisions of government or bases of power. Ten toes of inconsistent materials symbolize a weak-strong and possibly short confederation.
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