And just as you saw that the feet and toes were made partly of fired clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom, yet some of the strength of iron will be in it—just as you saw the iron mixed with clay.
Daniel here gives full satisfaction to Nebuchadnezzar concerning his dream and the interpretation of it. That great prince had been kind to this poor prophet in his maintenance and education; he had been brought up at the king's cost, preferred at court, and the land of his captivity had hereby been made much easier to him than to others of his brethren.
Commenting on Daniel 2:31-45
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron,.... That is, some of the toes of the feet were of iron, and others of them of clay: these toes, which are ten, as the toes of men are, design the ten kings or kingdoms, into which the western Roman empire was divided, by the coming in of the...
feet . . . toes . . . part . . . clay . . . iron--explained presently, "the kingdom shall be partly strong, partly broken" (rather, "brittle," as earthenware); and Dan 2:43, "they shall mingle . . . with the seed of men," that is, there will be power (in its deteriorated form, iron) mixed up with that which is wholly of man, and...