Page 83 - Daniel

indicated, and identify the four kingdoms as Babylon, Media, Persia, and
Greece. But those who acknowledge Daniel as a sixth-century writing by
the prophet Daniel have no difficulty in accepting the fourth kingdom as
that of Rome. Even with this agreement, however, there is serious
disagreement on the identification of the feet of the image and the

destruction of the whole by the stone cut out without hands.
Because of the differences of interpretation on the meaning of the

image’s feet, it is all the more significant that Daniel gave special
attention to this, and in fact, said as much about the feet of the image as
he did about the whole image above the feet. He noted that the feet and
toes were part potter’s clay and part iron, making this a “divided
kingdom.” There has been much discussion on the meaning of the word
“divided.” Young feels that this is simply a reference to composite
material, showing that the composite nature of the entire kingdom

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extends “even to its toes.” Here it seems that too much is being made
of too little. What Daniel implied is simply that the material that forms
the feet portion of the image is not all one kind but is composed of iron
and pottery, which do not adhere well to one another. This is what
Daniel himself brought out.

The presence of the iron in the feet, however, is an element of
strength, as Daniel stated. The clay here was hardened as in pottery, not
soft, but even in its hardened state still represented brittleness or
weakness. This is brought out in verse 42 where the toes are expressly

said to be part of iron and part of clay, which Daniel interpreted as
indicating that the kingdom was partly strong, because of the presence
of iron, and partly fragile, because of the brittleness of the pottery. The
fact that Daniel spent more time on this part of the image has been
interpreted by some as needless repetition. But such a view is hardly fair
to Daniel, since any repetition in this passage is obviously for greater

understanding and emphasis.
A clear interpretation of the meaning of iron and clay, apart from the
inherent weakness, is not given except as indicated in verse 43. Here the

statement is made that the two materials will not hold together even
though “they will mix with one another in marriage.” This reference to
marriage has given rise to several interpretations, from actual
intermarriage among peoples in the fourth kingdom to the mixing of