Interpretations of Idol Image
Over the centuries, scholars have proposed two alternative interpretations regarding the identification of the four kingdoms in Daniel 2. The oldest view holds that the second kingdom of silver represents the Persian Achaemenid Empire, which historically succeeded the Babylonian Empire. As the Persian empire already included the Median Empire by this time, it is sometimes referred to as the "Medo-Persian Empire". An alternate view considers Median empire as a separate one in relation to the Daniel narrative, notwithstanding the fact that the Median Empire alone never historically succeeded the Babylonian one.
Read more about this topic: Daniel 2
Famous quotes containing the words idol and/or image:
“One should never direct people towards happiness, because happiness too is an idol of the market-place. One should direct them towards mutual affection. A beast gnawing at its prey can be happy too, but only human beings can feel affection for each other, and this is the highest achievement they can aspire to.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)
“For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you.”
—Bible: Hebrew Deuteronomy, 6:15.
The words are also found in Exodus 20:5, referring to the second commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image ... for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”