In this part of Chapter 2, we continue with Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue. After explaining the head of gold - Nebuchadnezzar's own empire - he proceeds to enumerate the kingdoms that will follow it: silver, copper, iron and clay, and finally the stone cut without hands that filled the entire earth. As is our practice, we will proceed through the verses following the commentary of the Malbim.
וּבָתְרָךְ תְּקוּם מַלְכוּ אׇחֳרִי אֲרַע מִנָּךְ, וּמַלְכוּ תְלִיתָאָה אׇחֳרִי דִּי נְחָשָׁא דִּי תִשְׁלַט בְּכׇל־אַרְעָא׃ (לט) - "And after you another kingdom shall arise, inferior to you; and another third kingdom of copper, which shall rule over all the earth." (39)
"And after you" - after your reign. And how many generations did Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom last? Three generations, corresponding to the three paces he took in honor of Hashem, blessed is He. And these are the three generations: Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-merodach, and Belshazzar. After Belshazzar another kingdom will arise, "inferior to you" - lower in stature and standing than yours.
The Malbim explains: What is the meaning of "another kingdom"? A kingdom of a different nature, distinct from the preceding one. The first kingdom is the kingdom of gold - that is you, Nebuchadnezzar. After you comes silver, and Scripture calls it "another" because just as silver is not of the same kind as gold, so too the kingdom that follows you is not of the same character and type as the first kingdom. He immediately adds that it will be more fragile and diminished, just as silver is less valuable than gold.
And what is the kingdom of silver? The head is gold, and the chest and arms are silver. Notice that the kingdom of silver is divided into two - it has two arms. Why? Because the empire that followed Babylon was divided between two powers: Persia and Media. This is the empire of Ahasuerus, governed "according to the law of Persia and Media," as Megillat Esther puts it. It was a divided kingdom, ruled by two forces, a Persian force and a Median force, and it was less authoritative and less powerful than the Babylonian empire. We will see this again later in the book, in the vision of the beasts rising from the sea which also symbolize the empires, where the beast has two horns - corresponding to Persia and Media, two powers ruling concurrently.
"And another third kingdom of copper" - the third kingdom will likewise be different and distinct from the earlier ones, and this is the kingdom of copper, corresponding to the belly and thighs. Which kingdom is it? The kingdom of Greece, under Alexander of Macedon. And just as copper is different from silver, so this kingdom will be of a different character than the one before it.
"Which shall rule over all the earth" - Alexander of Macedon ruled over the entire known world. And why specifically does it correspond to the belly? Because in the belly is the navel, the center of the body; from the navel the embryo is nourished and vitality is directed to all the limbs. Notice the imagery: this kingdom, which corresponds to the navel that sustains the entire body, will rule over the entire earth. Furthermore, copper (nechoshet) shares a root with nechusha and nachush - meaning resolute, solid, and hard. Just as copper is hard and durable, this kingdom will possess great force and power.
וּמַלְכוּ רְבִיעָאָה תֶּהֱוֵא תַקִּיפָה כְּפַרְזְלָא, כׇּל־קֳבֵל דִּי פַרְזְלָא מְהַדֵּק וְחָשֵׁל כֹּלָּא, וּכְפַרְזְלָא דִּי־מְרָעַע כׇּל־אִלֵּן תַּדִּק וְתֵרֹעַ׃ (מ) - "And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes all these, it shall crush and shatter." (40)
The fourth kingdom will be as strong and forceful as iron. Just as iron crushes and strips everything, and just as iron shatters everything - so will the fourth kingdom break, crush, and shatter everything. And who is this fourth kingdom? The kingdom of Rome.
The Malbim notes an important precision: regarding the second kingdom Scripture says, "And after you shall arise another kingdom," and regarding the third, "and another, a third kingdom" - another kingdom, one that follows after you. But here, concerning the fourth kingdom, the word "after" is not mentioned. Why? Because the Roman Empire did not arise all of a sudden; rather, there was a period when it overlapped with the Greek Empire, and it was an immense empire. This is why it is depicted in the thighs and the lower legs: both the thigh and the lower leg belong to the leg. The thigh, the upper part, is the Greek Empire, and the lower leg, the lower part, is the Roman Empire. It is all one single leg, indicating that it is not a distinct section in the way the chest differs from the head, or the belly from the chest; we call the whole limb a leg. That is, this kingdom is composed both of the bronze, which is the upper part of the leg, and of the iron, which is the lower part. The Malbim explains that they stood as adjacent neighbors (metzranim) to one another - there was friction and conflict between them. Therefore, Scripture does not call them another kingdom, for they did not merely follow after the previous one, but overlapped with it.
And why specifically iron? Iron pounds down and strips everything, and even things it does not shatter it strips and refashions into tools; it also smashes and crushes completely. Thus Daniel tells him: some of the nations they will crush completely, while others they will not break entirely, but merely pound down - that is, subdue beneath them. When you want to tamp something firmly into the ground, you do so with iron, with a hammer. Regarding the first aspect, that iron pounds and strips, it says, "it shall crush all these"; and regarding the second aspect, that iron shatters and breaks, it says, "and like iron that shatters... it shall crush and shatter." We will see this very same idea later in the vision of the beast arising from the sea: "and it crushed and stamped the residue with its feet" - treading down, trampling, and subduing the nations underfoot.
וְדִי־חֲזַיְתָה רַגְלַיָּא וְאֶצְבְּעָתָא מִנְּהֵן חֲסַף דִּי־פֶחָר וּמִנְּהֵין פַּרְזֶל, מַלְכוּ פְלִיגָה תֶּהֱוֵה, וּמִן־נִצְבְּתָא דִי־פַרְזְלָא לֶהֱוֵא־בַהּ, כׇּל־קֳבֵל דִּי חֲזַיְתָה פַּרְזְלָא מְעָרַב בַּחֲסַף טִינָא׃ (מא) - "And whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the firmness of the iron, just as you saw iron mixed with miry clay." (41)
The fourth kingdom is expressed in the lower legs and the feet. The "foot" here refers to the foot proper, and the legs are the section above it. Notice: the section of the legs is entirely iron, but the part descending into the foot is already mixed - partly iron and partly earthenware clay - as are the joints of the feet, the toes, partly clay and partly iron. What does this signify? The Malbim explains: this kingdom split into two realms. First, there are two legs; just as the two arms alluded to Persia and Media, so the two legs allude to a division into two kingdoms. And who are they? Yishmael and Edom.
This part concerns us most intimately, for it speaks of our own era. "It shall be a divided kingdom" - a fractured empire, with no true cohesion between them. Yishmael and Edom border one another; these are two civilizations that are not only different but clash directly, possessing no underlying union. Anyone paying attention sees that the war of recent decades is precisely the war between Yishmael and Edom. This conflict escalated over the past twenty years in the wake of Iraq and all that unfolded there: the Western coalition represents Edom, facing off against the axis of evil representing Yishmael.
Furthermore, Scripture does not specify which leg is iron and which is clay. Why? After all, iron surely overpowers clay. But it cannot designate who rules over whom, because at times one side will prevail, and at times the other will prevail. Yet iron does not fuse with clay - one cannot weld iron and earthenware together. And within the kingdom itself, the mighty will be intermingled with the weak: there will be those as forceful as iron, and those as fragile as clay.
וְאֶצְבְּעָת רַגְלַיָּא מִנְּהֵין פַּרְזֶל וּמִנְּהֵין חֲסַף, מִן־קְצָת מַלְכוּתָא תֶּהֱוֵה תַקִּיפָה וּמִנַּהּ תֶּהֱוֵא תְבִירָה׃ (מב) - "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so part of the kingdom shall be strong, and part of it broken." (42)
The toes of the feet, partly iron and partly clay: part of the kingdom will be strong as iron, and part of it brittle as clay. The Malbim explains that this already refers to the very end, to the edge of history. If the statue begins at the head, it ends at the toes - the ultimate culmination of the figure. And how many toes are there? Ten. The ten toes signify that at its end, the kingdom will be splintered. Indeed, both the kingdom of Rome, which is Edom - encompassing the nations of Europe, and America along with them - and the kingdom of Yishmael are divided and fragmented into many realms. Within Yishmael, one cannot point to a single unified empire ruling all: on one side Egypt, on another Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Hezbollah, Iran - all divided powers. The same is true among the nations of Edom: the United States, and facing it Russia, and alongside them the nations of the European Union - Germany, the Netherlands, France, and the rest of Europe - all fractured. This is what is symbolized by the toes of the feet: toward the end there will not be a single empire. Once there was a unified Roman Empire, and today it is divided into many kingdoms; once there was an empire of Yishmael, and today it is fragmented into many powers and states that, fortunately for us, are at odds with one another, which is precisely what protects us from them.
He adds further: clay and iron - both in Edom and in Yishmael there are rulers who are stronger and rulers who are weaker. Russia is powerful, while in contrast nations like Switzerland or the Netherlands are not considered military powers. The same holds true among the Arab nations: there are heavily armed, strong countries such as Egypt and Iran, and on the other hand countries that merely fear being harmed - they may have wealth, but their military is primarily for parades and show, lacking true armed power; nations that do not develop military might and are weaker. This is "partly of iron and partly of clay": some of them are strong, and some are weak.
וְדִי חֲזַיְתָ פַּרְזְלָא מְעָרַב בַּחֲסַף טִינָא, מִתְעָרְבִין לֶהֱוֺן בִּזְרַע אֲנָשָׁא, וְלָא־לֶהֱוֺן דָּבְקִין דְּנָה עִם־דְּנָה, הֵא־כְדִי פַרְזְלָא לָא מִתְעָרַב עִם־חַסְפָּא׃ (מג) - And whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron does not mingle with clay. (43)
What you saw, that the iron was mixed with clay - they will intermingle through the seed of men, yet they will not cling to one another, just as iron does not adhere to clay. What does this signify? In these kingdoms, the strong will intermarry with the weak; there will be alliances between them, through which the weak will draw strength from the strong, as if drawing from their power and taking shelter in their shadow. But "they shall not cleave one to another" - because the true goal of the strong is to swallow the weak. This is not a defensive pact, but an alliance designed to absorb and assimilate the other into itself.
And indeed, this is how matters stand today, both among the Arab nations and the European nations. When Russia aspires to return to being a superpower like the Soviet Union, surrounded by many nations that become part of it - it is not to benefit them or protect them, but to augment its own power. The same applies to the Arab nations: when one kingdom sets its sights on Kuwait or a similar state, it is not to help it, but to establish dominion over it. When Syria seeks a foothold in Lebanon, it is not to defend Lebanon from supposed Israeli attacks, but rather to make Lebanon its protectorate - that is, to swallow it up. Such will be the alliances between them: the weak will intermingle with the strong, imagining it to be for their defense, when in truth it is to dominate them. This is the meaning of "they shall not cleave one to another" - it is not an alliance to help them, but merely to exploit them.
וּבְיוֹמֵיהוֹן דִּי מַלְכַיָּא אִנּוּן יְקִים אֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא מַלְכוּ דִּי לְעָלְמִין לָא תִתְחַבַּל, וּמַלְכוּתָה לְעַם אׇחֳרָן לָא תִשְׁתְּבִק, תַּדִּק וְתָסֵיף כׇּל־אִלֵּין מַלְכְוָתָא וְהִיא תְּקוּם לְעָלְמַיָּא׃ (מד) - And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. (44)
And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never "be destroyed" - it will neither be ruined, harmed, nor weakened. And this kingdom will not be given over to any other nation; it will "crush and consume" - obliterating all the previous kingdoms - and it will endure for ever and ever.
This kingdom is different from all the others: they were temporary, whereas it will be eternal. Furthermore, "nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people" - meaning it will not even share power in conjunction with another nation. It will be an absolute and exclusive kingdom, unlike the kingdom of Persia and Media, where both ruled together, and unlike the rule of Yishmael and Edom, both wielding power in the same era. Rather, it will be a single kingdom belonging to that one nation alone. "It shall break in pieces" (taddik) - to crush and subjugate; initially it will subdue them; "and consume" (vetaseif) - an expression of destruction, as in "I will consume them" (osefeim) and "nor their remembrance perish (lo yisufu) from their seed," for it will destroy all the other kingdoms.
כׇּל־קֳבֵל דִּי־חֲזַיְתָ דִּי מִטּוּרָא אִתְגְּזֶרֶת אֶבֶן דִּי־לָא בִידַיִן, וְהַדֵּקֶת פַּרְזְלָא נְחָשָׁא חַסְפָּא כַּסְפָּא וְדַהֲבָא, אֱלָהּ רַב הוֹדַע לְמַלְכָּא מָה דִּי לֶהֱוֵא אַחֲרֵי דְנָה, וְיַצִּיב חֶלְמָא וּמְהֵימַן פִּשְׁרֵהּ׃ (מה) - Forasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the copper, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. (45)
And this is what you saw: a stone cut out without hands, which crushes the iron, the copper, the clay, the silver, and the gold - God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this time; "and the dream is certain, and its interpretation sure": the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.
What is the meaning of "a stone cut out without hands"? That this stone is not hewn by mortal human power, but through divine power. It is carved out by Heavenly decree, and it demolishes, shatters, and pulverizes this entire great and dreadful statue. "Without hands" - that is, not by military might or physical force of anyone capable of subjugating the rest. If only for this simple reason: a small stone shattering such a colossal statue cannot possibly be through human force, but rather through divine power, as He will bolster the strength of Israel to pulverize, crush, and eliminate all the nations before them.
Now, let us notice that the verse altered the order: "and it broke in pieces the iron, the copper, the clay, the silver, and the gold." Seemingly, the order should have been iron, clay, copper, silver, and gold - since the clay was together with the iron at the bottom. He is enumerating from bottom to top: iron, copper (which represents the belly and thighs) - yet how is it that after reaching the belly and thighs, he returns to the clay in the feet?
The Malbim explains: Here, he is informing us how this war will unfold. This will become even clearer in the visions Daniel will see later on, where there is a precise description of how the War of Gog and Magog will take place. We have already covered some of the Malbim's words there, and we will yet see how he describes, based on the verses, events that we see happening in recent decades. There we see that the descendants of Edom will come to wage war against the descendants of Ishmael, and they will destroy one another. Part of this we also saw in the prophecy of Gog and Magog: Ishmael will come to wage war against Jerusalem, and the descendants of Edom will come upon them to fight them, "and every man's sword shall be against his brother" - they will kill each other, and through this Hashem will take vengeance on both of them: on Edom, who destroyed our Beis HaMikdash and brought troubles upon us throughout the exile, and on Ishmael, who brought, and continues to bring, troubles upon us throughout the exile.
It follows, then: Edom is alluded to by the iron, and Greece by the copper, and they constitute one kingdom that will come and fight against Ishmael. As for Ishmael - at times they are the iron and at times the clay, as we explained. Meanwhile, Media, Persia, and Babylon, the gold - all of these are bound up with the kingdom of Ishmael, says the Malbim. Who is Babylon? Iraq, and to what can we attribute it if not to the kingdom of Ishmael? Who lives in Iraq? Ishmaelites. And likewise Persia - we also attribute it to Ishmael. Thus, both the kingdom of gold and the kingdom of silver, Persia and Media, are bound in a strong alliance to the kingdom of clay and iron, which is the kingdom of Ishmael, for today we identify all of these as descendants of Ishmael.
Therefore it says: "and crushed the iron, the copper" - the iron and the copper, which are Edom (the iron, an allusion to America) and Greece (the copper, an allusion to Europe) - whom will they crush? "The clay, the silver, and the gold": the clay, which is Ishmael; the silver, which is Persia - Iran; and the gold, which is Babylon - Iraq. It turns out, then, that this is not a single sequential list, but rather two against three: the iron and the copper, America and Europe in modern terms, will pound and crush the clay, the silver, and the gold - the coalition forces against the forces of the axis of evil, battling one against the other. And this is what he said: the Great God has made known to the king what will happen hereafter, and how this stone grows larger and larger, which will already be the End of Days. "And the dream is true, and its interpretation trustworthy" - the dream is truth and its interpretation is faithful, and the Eternity of Israel does not lie; when Hashem conveys such a proclamation, it is an absolute and clear message.
בֵּאדַיִן מַלְכָּא נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר נְפַל עַל־אַנְפּוֹהִי וּלְדָנִיֵּאל סְגִד, וּמִנְחָה וְנִיחֹחִין אֲמַר לְנַסָּכָה לֵהּ׃ (מו) - Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and prostrated himself to Daniel, and commanded that they offer an oblation and sweet incense to him. (46)
King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face - which was not particularly difficult for him, since he was only an amah tall, and some say a tefach - and prostrated himself to Daniel, commanding that they pour an oblation and offer sweet incense to him. What is the meaning of this? The Malbim explains: The ancients would accord divine honor to anyone in whom they perceived supernatural powers. So we find with Pharaoh: "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as understanding and wise as you," and immediately called Yosef "Tzafenas Pane'ach" and treated him as one possessing divine power. Nebuchadnezzar did the same to Daniel - as though he were a god, possessing divine powers.
And this is precisely what they said about Pharaoh being a god: the intention is not that he was a god in heaven - after all, they knew he was on earth - but rather that he possessed divine powers, supernatural powers, as though a god had clothed himself in flesh and blood. From here one can begin to understand the foundations of Christianity: they are based on these very same beliefs, that God clothes Himself in flesh and blood; and if so, He could come upon the impure maiden and father through her one who is a combination of God incarnate in flesh and blood. This was the pagan concept held by the nations, and from it stemmed the Christian concept as well. That is why the Christian concept is referred to in the sefarim as avodah zarah be-shituf (idolatry with association): they already believe there is a supreme God, yet they associate a physical power with Him, one that can become clothed in flesh and blood, claiming that a human being among us possesses, as it were, divine power.
And because of this, he prostrated himself before him - "and prostrated himself to Daniel"; and since he viewed him as a god, what does one do before a god? Offer incense and bring an oblation before him. However, the Midrash states: Daniel did not accept this, and under no circumstances did he agree to it. Why? Daniel said: Just as retribution is exacted from idolaters, so too retribution is exacted from the idol itself, as it says, "and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments." Daniel said: I will not play this game. It might bring me honor, it might make an impression - but absolutely not, I am not a god, nor anything of the sort. And even though the king called him by the name of his god - Belteshazzar, after Bel, the god of Babylon, and likewise Nebo - Daniel was unwilling to accept it.
עָנֵה מַלְכָּא לְדָנִיֵּאל וְאָמַר, מִן־קְשֹׁט דִּי אֱלָהֲכוֹן הוּא אֱלָהּ אֱלָהִין וּמָרֵא מַלְכִין וְגָלֵה רָזִין, דִּי יְכֵלְתָּ לְמִגְלֵא רָזָא דְנָה׃ (מז) - The king answered Daniel and said, "Of a truth, your God is the God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery." (47)
The king said to him: In truth, your God is the God of gods, Lord of all kings, and a revealer of secrets, for you were able to reveal this secret - a matter unknown to anyone in the world, which even I myself had forgotten, yet your God revealed it to you.
What did he mean to say by this? The Malbim explains: The moment Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, "I am not a god," Nebuchadnezzar realized that by treating him as a god, he was, as it were, slighting the God of Heaven, for he was crowning another god. Therefore, he came and said to him: Know that this is not so. I believe that the God of Israel is the God of gods, and any other god is merely a subject in the limitless kingdom of the Creator of the world; this does not diminish His sovereignty, for all are beneath Him and He is the Master of all those deities below. And from where did this become clear to me? From the fact that you were able to reveal this secret.
All this was according to the conceptions prevalent in their time, when they believed in many powers - what we refer to today as angels, except that an angel "has nothing of his own" (leit lei migarmei kelum). And why is an angel called a mal'ach? From the root of melachah (work or mission), for he carries out his mission, having been sent. They, on the other hand, believed these were independent powers, and they believed in multiple deities. Look at the Greek and Roman pantheons: a god of the sun, a god of the moon, a god of the sea, a god of love, a god of war, a god of hatred, and so on - Poseidon, the god of the sea according to Greek conception. These are obsolete notions today, but back then people believed in them. And since they believed in multiple deities, it was no contradiction in his eyes to say that the supreme God is above all, and that all the numerous powers are beneath Him.
אֱדַיִן מַלְכָּא לְדָנִיֵּאל רַבִּי, וּמַתְּנָן רַבְרְבָן שַׂגִּיאָן יְהַב־לֵהּ, וְהַשְׁלְטֵהּ עַל כׇּל־מְדִינַת בָּבֶל, וְרַב־סִגְנִין עַל כׇּל־חַכִּימֵי בָבֶל׃ (מח) - Then the king elevated Daniel, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon, and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. (48)
"Elevated" (rabi) - exalted him. When the king saw that Daniel was unwilling to accept divine honors, he said: I have no choice but to grant him authority, earthly honor - not as a god, but as an eminent noble. He gave him great gifts, made him governor over the entire province of Babylon, and chief prefect, placing all the prefects under his authority.
וְדָנִיֵּאל בְּעָא מִן־מַלְכָּא, וּמַנִּי עַל עֲבִידְתָּא דִּי מְדִינַת בָּבֶל לְשַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ, וְדָנִיֵּאל בִּתְרַע מַלְכָּא׃ (מט) - And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king's gate. (49)
Daniel requested of the king to appoint Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah over the administration of the province of Babylon, while he himself remained at the king's gate. What was the king's gate? It was the seat of the king's counselor and patron, an honorable station - that was where Mordechai sat, at the king's gate, and where the judges sat, as the gate was the traditional place of judicial assembly. In doing so, Daniel both relieved himself of the administrative burden and remained in the royal court, which was apparently an even greater position and stature than administering the province of Babylon - and that administrative power he shared with his friends.
From this a moral lesson is learned: when a person attains authority, he should possess a generous spirit (ayin tovah) and share it with others. Sometimes a person attains power and refuses to delegate authority, keeping everything to himself. Here we see that one should not act this way: if you have attained authority, honor others as well, and give them a share in it.
Here chapter 2 concludes. It should be noted that the entire explanation we presented regarding the image - what the kingdom of gold represents, what the kingdom of silver is, the copper, the iron and the clay - is all according to the Malbim, as our study follows his commentary. One should be aware that there are other approaches: the Ibn Ezra explains things somewhat differently, and there are additional perspectives. However, to avoid confusion, it is preferable to follow a single approach consistently throughout, especially since these themes continue later in the book, where the Malbim maintains the same interpretive line; mixing different approaches would only make it harder for us to understand the upcoming chapters.
In interpreting the image, Daniel revealed the entire course of history to Nebuchadnezzar: the head of gold - Babylon, which reigned for three generations corresponding to the three steps; the arms of silver - Persia and the divided Media; the belly and thighs of copper - Greece, ruling over the entire earth; the legs of iron - Rome, which overlapped with Greece and crushed and shattered everything; and the feet and toes of iron and clay - Ishmael and Edom, a divided kingdom that cannot truly unite, split into ten, strong and weak intermingling without adhering to one another, where the strong seeks only to swallow the weak. And finally, the stone cut out without hands, by divine power rather than human force, which pulverizes the iron and copper along with the clay, silver, and gold, establishing an eternal, absolute, and exclusive kingdom that will never be destroyed nor left to another nation. Daniel's conduct at the end of the chapter teaches two fundamental principles: never accept divine honors, for "just as retribution is exacted from idolaters, so is retribution exacted from the idolatrous object itself," and generously delegate authority to others with a benevolent eye.