Os pés e os dedos, parte de terra argilosa de modelar, parte de ferro, indicam que esse reino será dividido: haverá nele algo da solidez do ferro, já que viste ferro misturado ao barro.
Daniel 2:41
Comentário de Albert Barnes
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay and part of iron – Daniel 2:33 . The Chaldee is, “of them clay of the potter, and of them iron;” that is, part was composed of one material and part of the other. The sense is, not that the feet were composed entirely of one, and the toes of the other, but that they were intermingled. There was no homogeneousness of material; nothing in one that would coalesce with the other, or that could be permanently united to it, as two metals might be fused or welded together and form one solid compound. Iron and clay cannot be welded; and the idea here clearly is, that in the empire here referred to there would be two main elements which could never be made to blend.
The kingdom shall be divided – That is, divided as the iron and clay were in the image. It does not necessarily mean that there would be an open rupture – an actual separation into two parts; but that there would be “such a diversity in the internal constitution” that, while there would be the element of great power, there would be also an element of weakness; there would be something which could never be blended with the element of strength, so as to produce one harmonious and homogeneous whole.
But there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay – The principal idea in this part of the description is, that there would be great “power;” that whatever elements of weakness there might be, yet the “power” of the empire would be apparent. No one can fail to perceive how this applies to the Roman empire; a mighty power which, through all its long history, was distinguished for the vigour with which it carried forward its plans, and pressed on to universal dominion. As to the element of “weakness” symbolized too by the clay, it may not be possible to determine, with absolute certainty, what is referred to. Any internal source of weakness; anything in the constitution of the state, whether originally existing and constituting heterogeneous material, or whether springing up in the empire itself, or whether arising from the intermingling of foreign elements that never amalgamated themselves with the state, any one of these suppositions would meet all that is fairly implied in this language.
From Daniel 2:43 , “they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men,” it would seem, however, that the reference is to some “foreign” admixture – like the intermingling of nations of other languages, laws, and customs, which were never truly amalgamated with the original materials, and which constantly tended to weaken and divide the kingdom. It is to be remarked, in the exposition of the passage, that in the previous three kingdoms there was comparative homogeneousness. In the fourth kingdom, there was to be something of a peculiar character in this respect by which it should be distinguished from the others. As a matter of fact, the other three kingdoms were comparatively homogeneous in their character. The predominant feature was “Oriental;” and though there were different nations and people intermingled in the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, and the Macedonian kingdoms, yet there was the same general prevailing character in each; there was not such an intermingling of foreign nations as to produce disturbing elements, or to mar the symmetry and strength of the whole. It was not thus with Rome. In that empire there was the intermingling of all nations and tongues, and though the essential element of the empire remained always – “the Roman” – yet there was an intermingling of other influences under the same general government, which could be appropriately compared with clay united with iron, and which ultimately contributed to its fall (see the notes at Daniel 2:43 ).
Comentário de Scofield
mas haverá
Da “cabeça de ouro” ( Daniel 2:38 ) ao “ferro” do “quarto reino” (Roma), há deterioração na finura, mas aumento de força ( Daniel 2:40 ). Então vem a deterioração do “quarto reino” nessa mesma qualidade, força.
(1) Deterioração por divisão: o reino é dividido em duas, as pernas (impérios oriental e ocidental), e estas são novamente divididas em reinos, cujo número quando a Pedra ferir a imagem será dez dedos, Daniel 2:42 ; cf. Daniel 7:23 ; Daniel 7:24 .
(2) deterioração por mistura; o ferro do imperium romano misturado com o barro da vontade popular, inconstante e facilmente moldável. Foi exatamente isso que aconteceu nas monarquias constitucionais que, a República da França e o despotismo da Turquia, cobrem a esfera do antigo domínio romano.
Comentário de E.W. Bullinger
E considerando que, & c . O quinto poder agora deve ser descrito (os “pés e dedos dos pés” ). Entrou na posse de Jerusalém em 636 AD (Roma ocupava a cidade por 666 anos: a partir da batalha de Actium 31 aC – 636 AD). Seu caráter, como descrito em Daniel 2:41, é exato; e, como representado pelos “pés”, Jerusalém foi realmente “pisada” ( Lucas 21:24 ), como nunca foi feito por nenhum dos outros quatro poderes.
força = dureza.
miry = lamacento. Chaldee. estanho . Igual ao hebraico. tit. Ocorrências em 2 Samuel 22:43 . Jó 41:30 (hebraico, versículo 22). Salmos 18:42 (hebraico, versículo 43); Daniel 40: 2 (hebraico, versículo 3); Daniel 69:14 (hebraico, versículo 15). Isaías 41:25 ; Isaías 57:20 . Jeremias 38: 6 . Miquéias 7:10 . Naum 3:14 . Zacarias 9: 3 ; Zacarias 10: 5 . Não é o mesmo que “quebrado” (= quebradiço), Daniel 2:42 , conforme declarado por alguns comentaristas.
Comentário de John Wesley
E enquanto viste os pés e os pés, parte do barro dos oleiros e parte do ferro, o reino será dividido; mas nela haverá a força do ferro, visto que viste o ferro misturado com argila de miry.
Dividido – parcialmente forte e parcialmente fraco; o reino romano foi dividido, em parte por suas guerras civis, em parte quando as províncias e os reinos conquistados rejeitaram o jugo romano e estabeleceram rei próprio, e assim o império foi dividido em dez reinos ou dedos.