Daniel 2:43 - Printer Friendly

ESV: As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.

NIV: And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

NASB: In that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in their descendants; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not combine with pottery.

CSB: You saw the iron mixed with clay--the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay.

NLT: This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix.

KJV: And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

NKJV: As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

Iron and clay are both useful materials, but they are entirely separate. They cannot be melded together; they can only share boundaries. In the dream which Daniel explains (Daniel 2:31–36), the base of a massive statue is composed of iron mingled with clay. This symbolizes the then-future Roman Empire, which would have an ironlike strength of military power, while also being divided and brittle on the inside.

Commentators note various ways in which Rome was divided. Among these were its moral weaknesses. These became worse over time, much as the statue's composition goes from iron, to iron and clay, to individual toes made of clay and iron. Much as there were two legs on the statue, Rome was frequently in conflict between democratic and dictatorial preferences. The jumble of iron and clay, which can never unite, hints at the forced intermingling of cultures and peoples brought about by Rome's military conquest.

Interestingly, Daniel describes the iron and the clay as mixing together in marriage. If two different personalities with different values and attitudes are as resistant to unity as are clay and iron, the relationship is likely to fail. Rome's marriage of iron and clay was doomed from the start and eventually ended.

Daniel 2:31–45 provides both the content and the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's troubling dream (Daniel 2:1–3). The dream describes what is sometimes called "the latter days" or "the times of the Gentiles." This is part of a section of the book of Daniel recorded in Aramaic (Daniel 2:4—7:28), the common language of Babylon at the time. The image seen in the dream includes a progression of shapes and materials, representing a sequence of kingdoms, their characteristics, and their eventual fates.

King Nebuchadnezzar tests his magicians, demanding they tell him what he has dreamed, rather than merely inventing an interpretation. When they fail, he prepares to execute the entire department of wise men. Daniel promises he can meet the king's request and is given a special vision from God. The king dreamed of a massive statue shattered into powder by a supernatural rock. Daniel accurately describes this and interprets it as a prophecy about kingdoms which would come after Babylon. The king appoints Daniel and his friends to positions of power and influence over Babylon.

Chapter 1 introduced King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Daniel—a captive youth from Jerusalem—and three other Jewish boys. After three years of education, the four Hebrew captives outperformed all the other trainees, even surpassing the wise men in Babylon. In chapter 2, Daniel describes and interprets Nebuchadnezzar's disturbing dream, though the court magicians could not. As a result, the king promotes Daniel and his three friends to high positions over the provinces of Babylon. This sets the stage for a severe test of faith in chapter 3.

The book of Daniel contains famous Old Testament stories and prophecies. Daniel was taken from the Israelite people and made an advisor for a conquering empire. He demonstrates faithfulness and wisdom during many years serving in this role. Though Daniel does not deliver a public message, Jesus refers to him as a "prophet" (Matthew 24:15). The first portion of the book mostly describes Daniel's interpretations of dreams and other events. The second portion looks ahead to the end times. Daniel is classified in English Bibles as a "major" prophet, meaning the book is relatively long and the content has broad implications. The book of Revelation echoes and expands on many of the same themes.