<b>This is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, etc. (Exod. 25:3).</b> The <i>gold</i> corresponds to the kingdom of Babylon, as it is written concerning her: <i>Thou art the head of gold</i> (Gen. 2:38); the <i>silver</i> corresponds to the kingdom of Media, as is written: <i>And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver</i> (Est. 3:9); and the <i>brass</i> corresponds to the kingdom of Greece, which was the least (powerful) of all. And <i>rams’ skins dyed red</i> corresponds to the kingdom of Edom, for it is said: <i>And the first came forth ruddy</i> (Gen. 25:25).<sup class="footnote-marker">10</sup><i class="footnote">A play on words, linking Esau who was born ruddy (<i>adom</i>) with Edom.</i> The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Even though you suffered because of the four arrogant kingdoms that attacked you, I will bring salvation unto you from the midst of servitude. As it is written: <i>The oil for the light</i>, (Exod. 25:6). This refers to the Messiah, as it is said: <i>There will I make a horn to shoot up unto David, there have I ordered a lamp for Mine anointed</i> (Ps. 132:17).
Daniel beheld the four kingdoms and was dismayed, as it is written: <i>As for me Daniel, my spirit was pained in me</i> (Dan. 7:15). What did Daniel see when Nebuchadnezzar revealed his dream? He told him: In the great dream you witnessed, <i>Its head was of fine gold</i>—this alludes to you; <i>Its breasts and its arms of silver</i>, to the kingdom of Media. <i>After thee shall rise another kingdom</i> that will be inferior to thee; <i>And its thighs of brass</i> refers to the kingdom of Greece. <i>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</i> refers to the fourth kingdom, Edom; <i>the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron</i> (Dan. 2:33, 39–40). I will rule the entire world with the power of iron, as it is said: <i>Beateth down all things</i> (ibid.). Why is it compared to both iron and clay? Our sages said: Because in the future it will use a clay coin!<sup class="footnote-marker">11</sup><i class="footnote">Possibly 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.</i> 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. <i>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</i> (Isa. 30:14).
Another comment. Why is it compared to vessels of clay? For it will in the future be handled like a clay vessel.
He (Daniel) saw the coming of the Messiah (in his vision), as Daniel said: <i>Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces</i> (Dan. 2:34). R. Simeon the son of Lakish contended: This verse refers to the Messiah. <i>Smote the image</i> alludes to all the kingdoms that serve idols. Why is the rule of the Messiah likened to stone? It is likened to stone because of the Torah in which Israel labors, as it is said: <i>The two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God</i> (Exod. 31:18). Another explanation as to why it is likened to a stone. It is because of the merit of Jacob, concerning whom it is written: <i>From thence, from the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel</i> (Gen. 49:24).
Another explanation. He is likened to stone because it destroyed a heart of stone, as it is written: <i>And I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh</i> (Ezek. 36:21). <i>Which smote the image</i> (Dan. 2:34) indicates that He will put an end to all the nations, as is said: <i>And he shall smite the land with the rod of His mouth</i> (Isa. 11:4). At that time Israel will dwell in ease and security in the world, as it is stated: <i>And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards therein; yea, they shall dwell safely</i> (Ezek. 28:26).