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Selected Verse: Daniel 2:42 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Da 2:42	King James	And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken - Margin, "brittle." The margin is the more correct rendering of the Chaldee word (תבירה tebı̂yrâh). It means "frail, fragile" - easily broken, but not necessarily that it was actually broken. That did not occur until the stone cut out of the mountain impinged on it. It has been commonly supposed (comp. Newton "on the Prophecies"), that the ten toes on the feet refer to the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire was ultimately broken up, corresponding with the ten horns seen in the vision of Daniel, in Dan 7:7. In regard to the fact that the Roman empire was ultimately broken up into ten such kingdoms, see the extended notes at Dan 7:24. The thing which struck the monarch in the vision, and Daniel in the interpretation, as remarkable, was that the feet and toes "were composed partly of iron and partly of clay." In the upper portion of the image there had been uniformity in the different parts, and had been no intermingling of metals. Here a new feature was seen - not only that a new metal was employed, but that there was intermingled with that, in the same portion of the image, a different substance, and one that had no affinity with the iron, and that could never be made to blend with it. In the latter part of this verse, the original word for "partly" is not the same in each clause. In the former it is מן־קצת min-qetsâth - properly "from the end," sc., of the kingdom. Compare Dan 12:13, "At the end of the days;" Dan 1:15, "At the end of ten days;" and Dan 2:5, Dan 2:18. The word "might" be employed to denote the "end" or "extremity" of anything, e. g., in respect to "time," and some have supposed that there is a reference here to the later periods of the Roman empire. See Poole's "Synopsis." But the word is also used to denote "the sum," or "the whole number;" and then the phrase is equivalent to "a part - as" e. g., in the phrase האלהים בית כלי מקצת miqetsât kelēy bēyth hâ'elohı̂ym - from the sum of the vessels of the house of God" Dan 1:2; that is, a portion of the whole number, or a part. Compare Neh 7:70, "from the sum of the heads of the fathers;" that is, a part of them. In the latter part of the clause it is מנת mı̂nnâh - "from it;" that is, a part of it; partly. The entire phrase means that one part of the whole would be strong, and one part would be fragile. The reference is not to the "time" when this would occur, but to the "fact" that it would be so. The idea in this verse does not vary materially from that in the former, except that in that, the prominent thought is, that there would be "strength" in the kingdom: in this, the idea is, that while there would be strength in the kingdom, there would be also the elements of weakness.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken - Margin, "brittle." The margin is the more correct rendering of the Chaldee word (תבירה tebı̂yrâh). It means "frail, fragile" - easily broken, but not necessarily that it was actually broken. That did not occur until the stone cut out of the mountain impinged on it. It has been commonly supposed (comp. Newton "on the Prophecies"), that the ten toes on the feet refer to the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire was ultimately broken up, corresponding with the ten horns seen in the vision of Daniel, in Dan 7:7. In regard to the fact that the Roman empire was ultimately broken up into ten such kingdoms, see the extended notes at Dan 7:24. The thing which struck the monarch in the vision, and Daniel in the interpretation, as remarkable, was that the feet and toes "were composed partly of iron and partly of clay."

In the upper portion of the image there had been uniformity in the different parts, and had been no intermingling of metals. Here a new feature was seen - not only that a new metal was employed, but that there was intermingled with that, in the same portion of the image, a different substance, and one that had no affinity with the iron, and that could never be made to blend with it. In the latter part of this verse, the original word for "partly" is not the same in each clause. In the former it is מן־קצת min-qetsâth - properly "from the end," sc., of the kingdom. Compare Dan 12:13, "At the end of the days;" Dan 1:15, "At the end of ten days;" and Dan 2:5, Dan 2:18. The word "might" be employed to denote the "end" or "extremity" of anything, e. g., in respect to "time," and some have supposed that there is a reference here to the later periods of the Roman empire. See Poole's "Synopsis."

But the word is also used to denote "the sum," or "the whole number;" and then the phrase is equivalent to "a part - as" e. g., in the phrase האלהים בית כלי מקצת miqetsât kelēy bēyth hâ'elohı̂ym - from the sum of the vessels of the house of God" Dan 1:2; that is, a portion of the whole number, or a part. Compare Neh 7:70, "from the sum of the heads of the fathers;" that is, a part of them. In the latter part of the clause it is מנת mı̂nnâh - "from it;" that is, a part of it; partly. The entire phrase means that one part of the whole would be strong, and one part would be fragile. The reference is not to the "time" when this would occur, but to the "fact" that it would be so. The idea in this verse does not vary materially from that in the former, except that in that, the prominent thought is, that there would be "strength" in the kingdom: in this, the idea is, that while there would be strength in the kingdom, there would be also the elements of weakness.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Broken - This was plain in the civil wars of the Romans, and the falling off of some countries, especially towards the end of it.

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⁷⁰ And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty priests' garments.

² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

¹⁸ That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

⁵ The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

¹⁵ And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.

¹³ But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

²⁴ And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

⁷ After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.