38 And in all places where the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all: thou art [a]this head of gold.

39 And after thee shall rise another kingdom, [b]inferior to thee, of silver, and another [c]third kingdom shall be of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: for as iron breaketh in pieces, and subdueth all things, and as iron bruiseth all these things, so shall it break in [d]pieces, and bruise all.

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 2:38 Daniel leaveth out the kingdom of the Assyrians, which was before the Babylonian, both because it was not a Monarchy and general empire, and also because he would declare the things that were to come, to the coming of Christ, for the comfort of the elect among these wonderful alterations, and he calleth the Babylonian kingdom the golden head, because in respect of the other three, it was the best, and yet it was of itself wicked and cruel.
  2. Daniel 2:39 Meaning, the Persians which were not inferior in dignity, power, and riches, but were worse touching ambition, cruelty, and all kind of vice, showing that the world should grow worse and worse, till it was restored by Christ.
  3. Daniel 2:39 That is, of the Macedonians shall be of brass, not alluding to the hardness thereof, but to the vileness in respect of silver.
  4. Daniel 2:40 That is, the Roman empire shall subdue all these other aforenamed, which after Alexander were divided into the Macedonians, Grecians, Syrians and Egyptians.

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