Daniel 2:33

33 but the legs were of iron; forsooth some part of the feet was of iron, some was of earth. (and the legs were made of iron; and a part of the feet was made of iron, and a part was made of clay.)

Daniel 2:33 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 2:33

His legs of iron
A coarser metal than the former, but very strong; and designs the strong and potent monarchy of the Romans, the last of the four monarchies, governed chiefly by two consuls: and was divided, in the times of Theodosius, into the eastern and western empire, which may be signified by the two legs: his feet part of iron and part of clay
^F2; or some "of them of iron, and some of them of clay" that is, the ten toes of the feet, which represent the ten kingdoms the western empire was divided into, some of which were potent, others weak; for this cannot be understood of the same feet and toes being a mixture, composed partly of one, and partly of the other; since iron and clay will not mix together, ( Daniel 2:43 ) and will not agree with the form of expression. Jerom interprets this part of the vision of the image to the same sense, who lived about the time when it was fulfilling; for in his days was the irruption of the barbarous nations into the empire; who often speaks of them in his writings ^F3, and of the Roman empire being in a weak and ruinous condition on the account of them. His comment on this text is this,

``the fourth kingdom, which clearly belongs to the Romans, is the iron that breaks and subdues all things; but his feet and toes are partly iron, and partly clay, which is most manifestly verified at this time; for as in the beginning nothing was stronger and harder than the Roman empire, so in the end of things nothing weaker; when both in civil wars, and against divers nations, we stand in need of the help of other barbarous people.''

And whereas he had been blamed for giving this sense of the passage, he vindicates himself elsewhere by saying ^F4,

``if, in the exposition of the image, and the difference of its feet and toes, I interpret the iron and clay of the Roman kingdom, which the Scripture foreshows should be first and then weak, let them not impute, it to me, but to the prophet; for so we must not flatter princes, as that the truth of the holy Scriptures should be neglected; nor is the general disputation of one person an injury;''

that is, of any great moment to the government.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (Pox yd Nwhnmw lzrp yd Nwhnm) "ex illis quidam ex ferro, et excillis quidam ex luto", Gejerus.
F3 Opera, tom. 1. in Epitaph. Nepotian. fol. 9. I. ad Gerontiam, fol 32. E. & in Epitaph. Fabiolae, fol. 68. H.
F4 Prooem. in Comment. in Esaiam. I. 11. fol. 65.

Daniel 2:33 In-Context

31 Thou, king, sawest, and lo! as one great image (Thou, king, sawest, lo! one great image, or one large figure); that image was great, and high in stature, and stood before thee, and the looking thereof was fearedful.

32 The head of this image was of best gold, but the breast and arms were of silver; certainly the womb and thighs were of brass, (The head of this figure was made of the best gold, and the chest and the arms were made of silver; the belly and the thighs were made of bronze,)

33 but the legs were of iron; forsooth some part of the feet was of iron, some was of earth. (and the legs were made of iron; and a part of the feet was made of iron, and a part was made of clay.)

34 Thou sawest thus, till a stone was cut down (out) of the hill, without hands, and smote the image in the iron feet thereof and earthen, and all-brake those. (Thou sawest it so, until a stone was cut down from the hill, without the use of any hands, and it struck the figure on its iron and clay feet, and broke them all in pieces.)

35 Then the iron, tilestone, either earthen vessel, brass, silver, and gold, were all-broken (al)together, and driven as into a dead spark of a large summer hall, that be ravished of wind, and no place is found to those; forsooth the stone, that smote the image, was made a great hill, and filled all earth. (Then the iron, the tilestone, or the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were all broken in pieces, and driven like dead sparks on a threshing floor in the summer, that be carried away by the wind, and there is no place where they can be found; and then the stone, that struck the figure, was made into a great mountain, and it filled all the earth.)