Мидраш к Даниэль 2:32

Another interpretation (of Exod. 25:3): AND THIS IS THE PRIESTLY SHARE…: [GOLD, SILVER, AND BRONZE]. GOLD corresponds to the kingdom of Babylon, concerning which is written (in Dan. 2:38): YOU (Nebuchadnezzar) ARE THE HEAD OF GOLD.²¹Tanh., Exod. 7:7; cf. Exod. R. 35:5; above, 3:15. SILVER: This denotes the kingdom of Media, concerning which is written (in Esth. 3:9): THREE THOUSAND TALENTS OF SILVER.²²The money was to be Haman’s payment into the treasury of the king of the Persians and Medes. AND BRONZE: This denotes the kingdom of Greece, which was the least of them all. (Exod. 25:5:) REDDENED (rt.: 'DM) RAM SKINS. This denotes the kingdom of Edom, as stated (in Gen. 25:25): THE FIRST (i.e., Esau) CAME FORTH RUDDY (rt: 'DM).²³See also above, Gen. 8:4. The Holy One said: Although you have seen these four kingdoms exalting over you, by your life, I am producing salvation for you out of the midst of slavery. What is written next (in Exod. 25:6)? OIL FOR LIGHTING (ma'or). What is the meaning of LIGHTING? This denotes the Messianic (Mashiah) King, as stated (in Ps. 132:17): THERE I WILL MAKE A HORN SPROUT FOR DAVID; [I HAVE PREPARED A LAMP FOR MY ANOINTED ONE (Mashiah)].²⁴Below, 8:6. When Daniel saw these [four] kingdoms, he was afraid. It is so stated (in Dan. 7:15): AS FOR ME, DANIEL, MY SPIRIT WAS DISTURBED <WITHIN ME; AND THE VISION OF MY HEAD ALARMED ME>. What did Daniel see? It is simply that, when Nebuchadnezzar saw the dream, Daniel came and interpreted it for him. He said to him (in Dan. 2:38): YOU (Nebuchadnezzar) ARE THE HEAD OF GOLD. (Dan. 2:32:) <THE HEAD OF THAT STATUE WAS OF FINE GOLD;> ITS BREAST AND ITS ARMS WERE OF SILVER. This <silver> denotes the kingdom of Babylon.²⁵Cf. the Oxford MS, marked, “Michael 577, no. 155”; Codex Vaticanus, Ebr., 34; and the parallels in Tanh., Exod. 7:7 and Exod. R. 35:5. They all read here, “Kingdom of Media,” and identify the other kingdoms to fit this rendering. (Dan. 2:39:) BUT ANOTHER KINGDOM SHALL ARISE AFTER YOU, INFERIOR TO YOU. (Dan. 2:32:) ITS BELLY AND ITS THIGHS WERE OF BRONZE. This denotes the kingdom of Media. (Dan. 2:39, cont.:) THEN YET A THIRD KINGDOM, ONE OF BRONZE, WHICH SHALL RULE OVER THE WHOLE EARTH. (Dan. 2:33:) ITS LEGS WERE OF IRON. This denotes the kingdom of Greece. (Dan. 2:40, 42:) BUT THE FOURTH KINGDOM SHALL BE AS STRONG AS IRON<….> {AND ITS} [THE] FEET²⁶The Masoretic Text renders, “AND THE TOES OF THE FEET.” WERE PARTLY {OF} IRON AND PARTLY {OF} CLAY. This is Edom. Why was it likened to iron and clay? Our masters have said: This wicked kingdom is going to use clay coinage.

Daniel beheld the four kingdoms and was dismayed, as it is written: As for me Daniel, my spirit was pained in me (Dan. 7:15). What did Daniel see when Nebuchadnezzar revealed his dream? He told him: In the great dream you witnessed, Its head was of fine gold—this alludes to you; Its breasts and its arms of silver, to the kingdom of Media. After thee shall rise another kingdom that will be inferior to thee; And its thighs of brass refers to the kingdom of Greece. And another third king of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay refers to the fourth kingdom, Edom; the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron (Dan. 2:33, 39–40). I will rule the entire world with the power of iron, as it is said: Beateth down all things (ibid.). Why is it compared to both iron and clay? Our sages said: Because in the future it will use a clay coin!¹¹Possibly an allusion to the continual debasing of Roman coinage during the Empire, or a reference to the gradual collapse of the Roman Empire at the time of the compiling of this Midrash. Another comment on why it is compared to iron and clay. In the future it will be like iron and clay, for just as iron is hard, that kingdom will be hard, and just as clay is easy to break, so it will be broken. And he shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the cistern (Isa. 30:14).

“Catch foxes for us, little foxes that ruin the vineyards, as our vineyards are in bloom” (Song of Songs 2:15).
“Catch foxes for us.” When [God] analogizes the kingdoms, He analogizes them only to fire; that is what is written: “I will direct My attention against them; they have emerged from the fire, but fire will consume them” (Ezekiel 15:7). But when He analogizes the Egyptians, he analogizes them with something that is consumed by fire. That is what is written: “It dwindled and extinguished like flax” (Isaiah 43:17). When He analogizes the kingdoms, He analogizes them only to silver and gold, is that not what is written: “That image, its head was of fine gold” (Daniel 2:32). When He analogizes the Egyptians, He analogizes them only to lead, as it is stated: “They sank like lead” (Exodus 15:10).
When He analogizes the kingdoms, he analogizes them only to cedars, is that not what is written: “Behold, Assyria is a cedar in Lebanon” (Ezekiel 31:3); and it is written: “The tree that you saw that grew [and was strong, whose height reached to heaven]” (Daniel 4:17); and it is written: “I destroyed the Emorite from before them, [whose height was like the height of cedars]” (Amos 2:9). When He analogizes the Egyptians, He analogizes them only to straw, as it is stated: “He will consume them like straw” (Exodus 15:7).
When He analogizes the kingdoms, He analogizes them only to beasts, as it is stated: “Four great beasts arose from the sea, each different from the other” (Daniel 7:3); and it is written: “The first was like a lion” (Daniel 7:4). When He analogizes the Egyptians, He analogizes them only to foxes, as it is stated: “Catch [eḥezu] foxes for us.”¹³⁵The verse is interpreted by the midrash to mean: “Foxes would catch us.” Thus, the Egyptians are compared to foxes. [The Egyptians] monitored them to cast them into the Nile.
Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon said: The Egyptians were cunning; therefore He likens them to foxes. Just as the fox looks behind itself, so the Egyptians would look to their end and say: ‘How shall we destroy them? [If] we destroy them in fire, is it not already stated: “For the Lord will judge with fire”? (Isaiah 66:16). [If] we destroy them by the sword, is it not written: “And with His sword all flesh”? (Isaiah 66:16). Rather, let us destroy them in water, as the Holy One blessed be He has already taken an oath that He will never again bring a flood to the world, as it is written: “For this is for Me like the waters of Noah; [as I took an oath that the waters of Noah would no longer pass over the earth]”’ (Isaiah 54:9). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘By your lives, I will drag each and every one of you to his own flood,’ as it is stated: “They will be hurled [yagiruhu] to the sword [ḥarev]; they will be a portion for the foxes [shualim]” (Psalms 63:11).“They will be hurled to the sword [ḥarev],” these are the wicked, who will be dragged to the dry seabed.¹³⁶The midrash interprets the verse to mean: He will entice [yegareh] them with dry land [ḥorev], into the waters of the sea [sha’al yam]. “They will be a portion for the foxes,” let this portion be designated for the foxes.¹³⁷The Egyptians. Rabbi Berekhya said: The first instance of foxes [shualim] is written full and the second defective;¹³⁸The first instance is written with a vav, and the second is written without a vav. However, it should be noted that traditionally the text appears with both words missing the vav. the foxes [shualim] will descend to the seabed [shaal yam].¹³⁹The first appearance of the word includes the vav so that it must be read shualim¸ whereas the second time it does not include the vav so that it may be read shaalim, or sha’al yam.