Most people refer to Nebuchadnezzar's dream as "The Four Kingdoms" dream, or something similar. They typically do this to fit their theology in which they tie Rome to the antichrist. If Rome is the "legs of iron" but is also not the "feet and toes" then there can be no Roman antichrist.
Why? Because the feet and toes are the focus of Daniel 2. It is the feet of the statue that Yeshua strikes in the end time events.
[Dan 2:34 LSB] “You continued looking until a stone [Yeshua] was cut out without hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.
It is the feet, the "ten-toed" kingdom, or "ten horned" (Revelation) kingdom that is the epicenter of Daniel 2. It is the feet that are crushed by Yeshua which THEN brings down the whole statue...
[Dan 2:35 LSB] “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
It should be noted that "all at the same time" somehow found it's way into our English translations. That is not the intent of the original Aramaic text. Below is a literal word for word translation:
Then were-crushed together the-iron the-clay the-bronze the-silver the-gold and-they-became like-chaff from-threshing-floors-of-summer and-carried-them the-wind and-any-place not-was-found for-them and-the-stone that-struck the-statue became a-mountain great and-filled all-the-earth.
Meaning, once Yeshua struck, and crushed, the feet all of the materials fell and were crushed together into one mixed mess... they all became like chaff, and they were all carried away by the wind.
The Aramaic text dictates five separate kingdoms. The fifth kingdom (feet) are a divided kingdom (with iron mixed in) but are also a distinct kingdom.
There are clearly five kingdoms as shown below.
[Dan 2:32-33 LSB] “The [1] head of that image was made of fine gold, its [2] breast and its arms of silver, its [3] belly and its thighs of bronze, [33] its [4] legs of iron, its [5] feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
[1] Head
[2] Breast and its Arms
[3] Belly and its Thighs
[4] Legs
[5] Feet
Notice that it does not read "Legs of iron AND feet...". No, the feet and toes are a fifth kingdom... a divided kingdom, but a fifth kingdom nonetheless.
[Dan 2:41-42 LSB] Now in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron; it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. [42] And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.
Five distinct parts, and five distinct materials from verse 35:
[Dan 2:35 LSB] “Then the [1] iron, the [2] clay, the [3] bronze, the [4] silver, and the [5] gold were crushed all at the same time...
[1] "the iron"
[2] "the clay"
[3] "the bronze"
[4] "the silver"
[5] "the gold"
Here's the complete interpretation from Daniel:
[Dan 2:31-35 LSB] “You, O king, were looking, and behold, there was a single great image; that image, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was rising up in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. [32] “The [1] head of that image was made of fine gold, its [2] breast and its arms of silver, its [3] belly and its thighs of bronze, [33] its [4] legs of iron, its [5] feet partly of iron and partly of clay. [34] “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. [35] “Then [1] the iron, [2] the clay, [3] the bronze, [4] the silver, and [5] the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Prior to Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon there were two previous Jewish dominating empires. They were [1] Egypyt, and [2] Assyria. However, these cannot be included in the statue. The statue represents successive kingdoms to Nebuchadnezzar (head of gold).
Below is an image in which Rome has been replaced by the Islamic Caliphate for the legs of iron. The basis for replacing Rome is taken from Daniel 2:40. The premise is summarized as follows:
Rome may not be "the legs of iron" as much as tradition and early commentators would like it to be. Rome clearly did not crush and break the previous three as per the criteria of Daniel 2:40. It didn't even come close. History shows that the only viable candidate to fully meet that criteria is the Islamic Caliphate (Umayyad/Abbasid).
However, Rome was clearly the next succeeding empire. The Roman Republic, ran by senate/consuls defeated Greece in 146 BC at the battle of Corinth.
I have a hard time justifying any who would just "skip over" Rome (see the revised image below). History is clear and the Roman Republic clearly succeeded Greece. To skip over Rome does more damage than good to the text of Daniel 2 in my opinion.
It's really the feet and 10 toes we should be focused on. That is the future kingdom that the Rock will crush (read Daniel 7).
Briefly looking at the seven heads of the dragon [Satan] we can see that the "revived" (fatal head wound of Revelation) Islamic Caliphate/Ottoman Empire will also be the eighth beast:
[1] Egypt [2] Assyria [3] Babylon [4] Medo-Persia [5] Greece [6] Rome [7] Islam
[Rev 17:11 LSB] And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.
Too many commentators often also cite back to this statue when speaking of the four beasts of Daniel 7.
[Dan 7:3 LSB] And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.
[1] Lion
[2] Bear
[3] Leopard
[4] The fearsome beast
[Dan 7:7-8 LSB] “After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, fearsome and terrifying and extraordinarily strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. [8] “While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great boasts.
I have no idea why commentators feel a need to tie these four beasts back to Nebuchadnezzar's statue. There are obvious similarities found in the two texts, but that is not to be unexpected as they both foretell of a single end-time event.
It is just completely unnecessary. This is Daniel's vision, not Neb's vision, and it comes long after Neb's vision. They correctly tie Daniel's vision of chapter 7 vision to the beast of Revelation 13, but try to draw conclusions based on Neb's statue kingdoms from Daniel chapter 2.
[Rev 13:2 LSB] And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
There's no point in these beasts being tied to the past kingdoms of Neb's statue. The angel clearly tells us:
[Dan 7:17 LSB] ‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth.
These are four kings who will arise in the end. The entire context of Daniel 7 is related to end time events as shown in the text.
These "four beasts" were mentioned in Hosea in reference to the Assyrian conquest over Israel which can be seen as a type, or foreshadowing, for the end time Antichrist. It's very likely that Daniel (Daniel 7:3-7) was aware of this passage in Hosea. I mean, for all we know - maybe he was reading this passage, fell asleep, and had his vision? (tongue in cheek)
[Hos 13:6-9 LSB] As they had their pasture, then they became satisfied, Indeed, they were satisfied, and their heart became raised up; Therefore they forgot Me. [7] So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside. [8] I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs, And I will tear open the chest enclosing their heart; There I will also devour them like a lioness, As a beast of the field would rip them open. [9] It is your ruin, O Israel, That you are against Me, against your help.
Yahweh will raise these four kingdoms and as seen above, in Hosea, we find the foreshadowing descriptions that also apply to:
[Rev 13:2 LSB] And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
Every possible option is listed below for future study/consideration.
The Roman Republic, ran by senate/consuls defeated Greece in 146 BC at the battle of Corinth.
The Republic ends in 27 BC when the senate grants Octavian title Augustus as the first emperor.
After the last emperor to rule over a united Roman empire, Theodosius I, dies the empire is divided between the two sons.
West → Honorius (Rome)
East → Arcadius (Constantinople)
Then... along comes the ultimate crusher... Islam.
