Daniel 2.42-The Final Stage Of The Fourth Kingdom Will Be Strong Yet Part Of It Will Be Fragile As The Toes And Feet Were A Mixture Of Iron And Clay
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday May 1, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:42- The Final Stage Of The Fourth Kingdom Will Be Strong Yet Part Of It Will Be Fragile As The Toes And Feet Were A Mixture Of Iron And Clay
Lesson # 67
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:31.
This evening we will continue with our study of Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream by noting Daniel 2:42.
In this verse, Daniel tells the king that as the toes of the feet of the statue in his dream were composed of a mixture of iron and clay so the divided form of the fourth kingdom will be strong yet part of it will be fragile.
Daniel 2:31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37 “You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory. 38 And wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40 Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41 In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. 42 “As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.” (NASB95)
“As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), which is not translated but followed by the feminine plural construct form of the noun ʾěṣ∙bǎʿ (אֶצְבַּע) (ets-bah´), “the toes” and the feminine plural form of the noun reḡǎl (רְגַל) (reg-al´), “the feet” and then we have the preposition min (מִן) (min), “partly” which is followed by the third person feminine plural pronominal suffix -henā(h) (־הְנָה) (hane-naw), which is not translated and is followed by the masculine singular noun pǎr∙zěl (פַּרְזֶל) (par-zel´), “iron” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and,” which is followed by the preposition min (מִן) (min), “partly” and then we have the third person feminine plural pronominal suffix -henā(h) (־הְנָה) (hane-naw), which is not translated and then we have the masculine singular noun ḥǎsǎp̄ (חֲסַף) (khas-af´), “clay.”
The conjunction wa is used in a comparative sense meaning that it is introducing the protasis of a comparative clause which states that the toes of the feet of the statue that appeared to Nebuchadnezzar in a vision in a dream were composed of a mixture of iron and clay.
This statement is compared to the statement in the apodasis which says that the latter stages of the fourth kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile.
Therefore, with this word, Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar that “just as” the toes of the feet were composed of a mixture of iron and clay, so it (the kingdom represented by the feet and toes) will be partly strong and partly fragile.
The noun ʾěṣ∙bǎʿ means “toes” which is a digit of the human foot.
The noun reḡǎl means “feet” and indicates that the statue that appeared to Nebuchadnezzar in his dream was human in form.
Unlike the head, chest, arms, belly, thighs and lower legs of the statue, the feet and toes of the statue do not represent any past empire in human history.
The feet and ten toes refer to the ten nation confederacy which will compose the yet future Revived Form of the Roman Empire, which will be led by the Antichrist during the Seventieth Week of Daniel.
The fact that this is a yet future empire is indicated by the fact that Daniel 2:34 says that a rock but cut of a mountain but not by human hands struck the feet of the statue and destroyed it.
This rock represents the Second Advent of Christ, which has not yet taken place in human history.
The third person feminine singular pronominal suffix -henā(h) means “them” referring to the toes of the feet of the statue and it is the object of preposition min, which means “part” since it functions as a marker of the relation of a part to the whole indicating that part of the toes of the feet of the statue were composed of iron.
The noun pǎr∙zěl means “iron” and is used with the noun ḥǎsǎp̄, “clay” to describe the yet future Revived Form of the Roman Empire under Antichrist, which is represented by the feet and toes of the statue.
The iron describes this yet future empire as possessing some of the character of authority in rulership of the Roman Empire, depicted by the lower legs on the statue.
Also, the iron describes this yet future state of the fourth kingdom, i.e. the Roman Empire, as possessing some of the power or strength of the Roman Empire.
The third person feminine singular pronominal suffix -henā(h) means “them” referring to the toes of the feet of the statue and it is the object of preposition min, which means “part” since it functions as a marker of the relation of a part to the whole indicating that part of the toes of the feet of the statue were composed of clay.
The noun ḥǎsǎp̄ means “clay” and is used to describe the yet future stage of the fourth kingdom, which the Scriptures reveal will be a Revived Form of the Roman Empire.
The clay feet and toes describe the fragility of this yet future Revived Form of the Roman Empire.
“So some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle” is composed of the preposition min (מִן) (min), “some” and then we have the feminine singular construct form of the noun qeṣāṯ (קְצָת) (kets-awth´), which is not translated and followed by the feminine singular form of the noun mǎl∙ḵûṯ (מַלְכוּת) (mal-kooth), “the kingdom” and then we have the third person feminine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active imperfect form of the verb ḥǎwā(h) (חֲוָה) (khav-aw´), “it will have” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the adjective tǎq∙qîp̄ (תַּקִּיף) (tak-keef´), “strong” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the preposition min (מִן) (min), “part” and its object is the third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hî(ʾ) (הִיא) (he), which is not translated and followed by the third person feminine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active imperfect form of the verb ḥǎwā(h) (חֲוָה) (khav-aw´), “it will be” and then we have the feminine singular peʿil (Hebrew: qal passive) passive participle form of the verb teḇǎr (תְּבַר) (teb-ar´), “brittle.”
The noun qeṣāṯ means “end” and in Daniel 2:42, it means “the final stage” since it is describing the final stage of the fourth kingdom which is represented by the toes and feet of the statue, which were composed of iron and clay.
The word has a similar meaning in Daniel 4:34 where it is used to denote the “end” of a period of time.
Some of the English translations don’t even translate this word such as the ESV while others render the word “some” such as NASB95 or “part” as in the GNB and LEB.
Only the NET Bible translates it and does so accurately by rendering the word “the latter stages.”
The noun qeṣāṯ is the object of the preposition min, which is a marker of a block of time or a time when something occurs.
Here it denotes that “during” the final stage of the fourth kingdom, it will be partly strong and partly fragile.
The noun mǎl∙ḵûṯ means “kingdom” and denotes the territorial sphere of this divided final stage of the fourth kingdom’s authority or control.
It refers to the political boundaries of this empire, which were determined by the extent to which this empire exercised its authority.
This word denotes that the final, divided stage of the fourth kingdom will consist of the nations, cities, villages and farmland it controlled.
The Scriptures teach it will be a world-wide kingdom (Daniel 7:23; 9:27; 11:36; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:7, 14-15).
The verb hǎwā(h) means, “to possess a certain characteristic” indicating that this yet future final and divided stage of the fourth kingdom represented by the feet and toes of the statue which were composed of a mixture of iron and potter’s clay “will possess the characteristic of being” strong.
The adjective tǎq∙qîp̄ means “strong” and is derived from the Aramaic cognate of the Biblical Hebrew verb tā∙qǎp̄, which means “to overpower.”
In Daniel 2:42, the adjective tǎq∙qîp̄ is describing the yet future, final and divided stage of the fourth kingdom as possessing some of the power or strength of the Roman Empire.
This time the conjunction wa means “yet” since the word is used in a adversative sense meaning it is introducing a clause which stands in contrast with the previous statement, which records Daniel telling Nebuchadnezzar that during the final stage of the fourth kingdom, it will be strong.
This conjunction is introducing a clause which records Daniel telling the king of Babylon that part of this kingdom will be fragile.
Therefore, the contrast is between the strength of the future, final stage of the fourth kingdom and its weakness or fragility.
The pronominal suffix hî(ʾ) means “it” referring to the future, final stage of the fourth kingdom.
The word is the object of the preposition min, which means “part” since it functions as a marker of the relation of a part to the whole indicating part of the future, final stage of the fourth kingdom.
The verb hǎwā(h) means, “to possess a certain characteristic” indicating that this yet future final and divided stage of the fourth kingdom represented by the feet and toes of the statue which were composed of a mixture of iron and potter’s clay “will possess the characteristic of being” fragile.
The verb teḇǎr means “fragile” referring to that which can easily be broken or separated.
Thus, the word describes the future, final stage of the fourth kingdom as being “fragile.”
In Daniel 2:41, Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that he saw that the feet and toes of the statue in his dream were composed of a mixture of iron and clay and thus they represent a form of the fourth kingdom which will be characterized by division.
That this is a form of the fourth kingdom is clearly indicated by the fact that the lower legs of the statue were composed exclusively of iron, which represents the Roman Empire according to history whereas the feet and toes of the statue are composed of a mixture of iron and clay.
Daniel goes on to say in verse 41 that this form of the fourth kingdom will possess some of the strength of iron since the king saw that the feet were composed of iron mixed with wet clay.
Now, here in Daniel 2:42, we see that Daniel presents to the king of Babylon another description of this fourth kingdom by stating that during its final stage it will be strong yet part of it will be fragile.
This description corresponds with the description in verse 41 that a form of the fourth kingdom would be characterized by division.
The divisiveness of this form of the fourth kingdom results in it being fragile.
The iron denotes the strength of this stage of the fourth kingdom and the clay denotes its fragility.
The mixing of iron with clay represents the attempt to join the two distinct and separate materials into one combined whole as in vain.
This weakness extends to both feet of the image; and, correspondingly, the division and fragility.
The divided stage of the fourth kingdom will include diverse elements such as race, politics and other interests, which will prevent this stage of the fourth kingdom from achieving true unity.
Thus, Daniel describes this divided stage of the fourth kingdom as fragile.
The iron describes this divided and final stage of the fourth kingdom as possessing some of the character of authority in rulership of the Roman Empire, depicted by the lower legs on the statue.
Also, the iron describes this divided and final stage of the fourth kingdom as possessing some of the power or strength of the fourth kingdom.