And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee. That Medo-Persia is the second kingdom appears from Daniel 5:28; Daniel 8:20. (Compare 2 Chronicles 36:20; Isaiah 21:2; Isaiah 21:9.)
Inferior. 'The kings of Persia were the worst race of men that ever governed an empire' (Prideaux). Politically, which is the main point of view here, the power of the central government, in which the nobles shared with the king, being weakened by the growing independence of the provinces, was inferior to that of Nebuchadnezzar, whose sole word was law throughout his empire.
And another ... kingdom of brass - the third empire (Daniel 8:5-6; Daniel 8:20-21; Daniel 10:20; Daniel 11:2-4). The Greeks were celebrated for the brasen armour of their warriors. Jerome fancifully thinks that the brass, as being a clear-sounding metal, refers to the eloquence for which Greece was famed. The "belly," in Daniel 2:32, may refer to the drunkenness of Alexander and the luxury of the Ptolemies (Tirinus).
Which shall bear rule over all the earth. Alexander commanded that he should be called 'king of all the world' (Justinus, 12:, sec. 16. 9. Arrian, 'Expeditio Alexandri,' 7:, sec. 15). The four successors (Diadochi) who divided Alexander's dominions at his death, of whom the Seleucidae in Syria and the Lagidae in Egypt were chief, held the same empire.