Daniel 2.43-The People Of The Final Stage Of The Fourth Kingdom Will Mix With One Another But Will Not Adhere To One Another As Iron Does Not Mix With Clay
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday May 2, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:43-The People Of The Final Stage Of The Fourth Kingdom Will Mix With One Another But Will Not Adhere To One Another As Iron Does Not Mix With Clay
Lesson # 68
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 2:43.
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. 43 And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.” (NASB95)
“And in that” is composed of the conjunction dî (דִּי) (dee), which means “as, just as” since it functions as a comparative particle introducing the protasis of a comparative clause.
Therefore, with this word, Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar that “just as” he saw the feet and toes composed of a mixture of iron and wet clay, so they (the people of the final stage of the fourth kingdom represented by the feet and toes) will mix with one another but not adhere to one another.
“You saw” is the second person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb ḥǎzā(h) (חֲזָה) (khaz-aw´), which means “to see” in the sense of receiving a prophetic revelation in a dream.
This was a prophetic revelation the king received regarding the final stage of the fourth kingdom.
“The iron” is the masculine singular noun pǎr∙zěl (פַּרְזֶל) (par-zel´), which refers to a metal substance that it describes and is used in a statement which says that this metal does not mix with clay.
“Mixed” is the masculine singular puʿʿal (Hebrew: pual) passive participle form of the verb ʿǎrǎḇ (עֲרַב) (ar-ab´), which denotes that Nebuchadnezzar saw that the feet and toes of the statue were composed of iron “mixed” with clay.
“With common clay” is composed of the preposition bĕ (בְּ) (beth) and its object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun ḥǎsǎp̄ (חֲסַף) (khas-af´), “common” which is modifying the masculine singular noun ṭîn (טִין) (teen), “clay.”
The noun ḥǎsǎp̄ means “clay” and is used to describe the future and final stage of the fourth kingdom, which is represented by the feet and toes of the statue.
The fact that the feet and toes are composed of a mixture of iron and clay indicates that this divided kingdom originates from the fourth kingdom, which history records as the Roman Empire.
Therefore, the clay feet and toes here in Daniel 2:43 describes this yet future Revived Form of the Roman 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 clay describes this yet future empire as possessing some of the power or strength of the Roman Empire.
The noun ḥǎsǎp̄ is the object of the preposition bĕ, which is a marker to show a combinative relation and here it shows the combinative relation between the iron and clay that helped to compose the feet and toes of the statue, which appeared to Nebuchadnezzar in a vision in a dream.
The noun ṭîn means “wet clay” which was employed by potters when forming vessels and denotes that in the vision in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, the king saw that the feet and toes of the image were composed of iron mixed with wet clay, which of course would make it soft and very fragile.
“They will combine with one another” is composed of the masculine plural hitpeʿel (Hebrew: qal) middle participle form of the verb ʿǎrǎḇ (עֲרַב) (ar-ab´), “combine” and then we have the third person masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active imperfect form of the verb ḥǎwā(h) (חֲוָה) (khav-aw´), “they will.”
The verb hǎwā(h) means “to become, to enter into a particular state or condition” and denotes the change of state or condition of the people of the final, future stage of the fourth kingdom entering into the state of mixing with one another.
Once again, the verb ʿǎrǎḇ means “to be mixed” but this time it denotes the people of the future and final stage of the fourth kingdom “mixing” with one another.
“In the seed of men” is composed of the preposition bĕ (בְּ) (beth), “in” and its object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun zerǎʿ (זְרַע) (zer-ah´), “the seed of” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun ʾěnāš (אֱנָשׁ) (en-awsh´), “men.”
The noun zerǎʿ refers to the descendants of the human race and the noun ʾěnāš means “mankind, humanity” without reference to gender referring to the human race or mankind in a generic sense.
The noun zerǎʿ is a genitive of production meaning that it produces the noun to which it stands related which is of course, the noun ʾěnāš indicating that the descendants were “produced by” mankind or humanity.
The noun ʾěnāš is the object of the preposition bĕ, which is a marker to show a combinative relation and here shows the combinative relation between the people of the future, final stage of the fourth kingdom mixing “with” the descendants produced by the human race or mankind.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase means “with the descendants produced by mankind” or in other words, Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar that the people of this final and future stage of the fourth kingdom will mix “with one another.” (See NET Bible)
The question arises as to what this means?
Well, we know that Daniel is speaking in the context of the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom, which will be composed of a ten-nation confederacy.
The ten toes of the statue in Daniel chapter 2:40-43 correspond to the ten horns mentioned in Daniel 7:7-8, 23-24, Revelation 13:1-10, and 17:8-10, which are ten kingdoms.
Out of these ten will arise one ruler who will destroy three of the other kingdoms and lead the other seven and persecute believers in Jesus Christ (Daniel 7:26; Revelation 13).
Therefore, “the descendants produced by mankind” refer to the people of these ten kingdoms mentioned in Daniel 7:7-8, 23-24, Revelation 13:1-10, and 17:8-10, mixing.
But what does it mean that these people of the final stage of the fourth kingdom will mix with one another?
The answer is gained by the meaning of the metals in the three preceding kingdoms.
As we noted, the four preceding kingdoms, represented by the gold, silver, bronze and iron represent the material of these kingdoms, or in other words, their peoples and their culture.
Correspondingly this final and future stage of the fourth kingdom composed of a mixture of iron and clay represents the material of the kingdoms arising out of the division of this kingdom or in other words, it represents the national elements out of which they are constituted.
The divided stage of the fourth kingdom will include diverse elements, i.e. people of different races possessing different cultures, politics and other interests, which will prevent this stage of the fourth kingdom from achieving true unity.
Therefore, Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar that the people of the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom will mix with the descendants produced by mankind in the sense that it speaks of their efforts to combine their diverse races or nationalities and cultures including intermarriage.
Merrill F. Unger commenting on the phrase “the seed of men” writes that it “denotes all the efforts to combine diverse elements and nationalities, including intermarriage.” (Unger, Merrill F., Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament; page 1617; Tyndale Theological Seminary Published by AMG Publishers, 2002)
Daniel 2:43 “And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.” (NASB95)
“But” is the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), which means “however” since it is introducing a clause which stands in contrast with the previous statement, which says that the people of the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom will cause themselves to enter into being mixed with one another.
Therefore, the contrast is between the attempts of the people of the future and final stage of the fourth kingdom attempting to mix with one another and unite and their failure to successfully do this.
“They will not adhere” is composed of the negative particle lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), “not” which is negating the meaning of the third person masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active imperfect form of the verb ḥǎwā(h) (חֲוָה) (khav-aw´), “they will” which is followed by the masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb deḇǎq (דְּבַק) (deb-ak´), “adhere.”
The verb hǎwā(h) means “to enter into a particular state or condition” since it denotes a change of state or condition and its meaning is negated by the negative particle lā(ʾ) indicating that the people of the final, future stage of the fourth kingdom “will by no means enter into the state of” adhering to one another.
The verb deḇǎq means “to be united” referring to the diverse nationalities and races of the people who compose the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom “uniting” with one another through various means including intermarriage.
“To one another” is composed of the demonstrative pronoun denā(h) (דְּנָה) (dane-awe), “to one another” which is followed by the preposition ʿim (עִם) (eem), which is not translated and its object is the demonstrative pronoun denā(h) (דְּנָה) (dane-awe), which is also not translated.
The demonstrative pronoun denā(h) appears twice in this expression and in both instances, the word refers to an unidentified member of the final stage of the fourth kingdom.
The second time it appears in this expression it is the object of the preposition ʿim, which is a marker of unity meaning that the people of the final stage of the fourth kingdom will by no means be united, one “with” the other.
“Even as iron” is composed of the interjection hē(ʾ) (הֵא) (hay), “even” which is followed by the preposition k (כְּ־) (kee), “as” and its object is the particle dî (דִּי) (dee), which is not translated and followed by the masculine singular noun pǎr∙zěl (פַּרְזֶל) (par-zel´), “iron.”
The interjection hē(ʾ) is used as a discourse marker to introduce a description of iron mixing with clay with emphasis and is used as an intensive to stress the comparative degree.
The preposition k and the particle dî are employed together as a marker of comparison meaning that they are comparing the previous statement with the one to follow and are introducing a statement which says that iron by no means mixes with clay.
Therefore, the comparison is between the impossibility of the people of the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom achieving true unity and the impossibility of iron mixing with clay.
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.
“Does not combine” is composed of the negative particle lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), “not” which is negating the meaning of the masculine singular hitpaʿʿal (Hebrew: piel) middle participle form of the verb ʿǎrǎḇ (עֲרַב) (ar-ab´), “combine.”
Once again, the verb ʿǎrǎḇ means “to be mixed” but this time it denotes the impossibility of the metal iron mixing with clay and its meaning is emphatically negated by the negative particle lā(ʾ), which is a marker of emphatic negation indicating iron “by no means mixes” with clay.
“With pottery” is composed of the preposition ʿim (עִם) (eem), “with” and its object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun ḥǎsǎp̄ (חֲסַף) (khas-af´), “pottery.”
The noun ḥǎsǎp̄ means “clay” and specifically wet clay that potters used to make vessels as indicated by Daniel’s use of the noun ṭîn in Daniel 2:41, which means “wet clay” and it is the object of preposition ʿim, which is a marker of unity meaning that iron by no means mixes “with” clay.
Daniel 2:43 “As you saw the iron mixed with wet clay, so they will cause themselves to enter into being mixed with one another. However, they will by no means be united, one with the other even as iron by no means mixes with clay.” (Author’s interpretive translation)
Daniel 2:43 is composed of two comparative clauses.
In the protasis of the first comparative clause, Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar he saw that the feet of the statue were composed of a mixture of iron and clay.
In the apodasis, he says to the king that the people of the future and final stage of the fourth kingdom will cause themselves to enter into being united with one another.
So this first comparative clause compares the feet and toes of the statue, which were composed of iron and clay with the attempt by the people of the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom to unite with one another.
This first comparative clause is followed by an adversative clause which states that the people of the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom will by no means be united even though they attempt to do so.
This adversative clause serves as the apodasis of the second comparative clause and the protasis of this second comparative clause says that iron by no means mixes with clay.
Therefore, the comparison is between the impossibility of the people of the future and final stage of the fourth kingdom uniting with one another and the impossibility of iron mixing with clay.
The divided stage of the fourth kingdom will include diverse elements, i.e. people of different races possessing different cultures, politics and other interests, which will prevent this stage of the fourth kingdom from achieving true unity.
Therefore, Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar that the people of the final and future stage of the fourth kingdom will attempt to combine their diverse races or nationalities and cultures including intermarriage but will fail.
Different groups of people will unite to form the final stage of the Roman Empire but they will not adhere completely to one another just as iron and clay cannot adhere completely with each other, thus, it will be fragile.
Therefore, the final stage of the Roman Empire will consist of a federation of several divisions, which will unite for the sake of military strength but they will not integrate to the extent of losing their ethnic and cultural identities, which will result in its divisiveness and fragility.