Daniel provides a detailed description of the fourth world empire in Nebuchadnezzar's image, focusing on its composition of iron and clay. In Daniel 2:33, he notes that the legs of the image were of iron, while its feet were partly of iron and partly of clay. The iron legs signify a strength far surpassing that of the previous empires, akin to iron's superiority over bronze, though the culture's quality diminishes. The addition of clay, a material that does not bond with iron, further weakens the empire, rendering it partly strong and partly fragile, as mentioned in verse 42. This mixture also affects the qualitative aspects, with verse 43 indicating that the empire's internal unity will be highly unstable in its final form, despite retaining some degree of toughness. The phrase "mingle with the seed of men" in verse 43 highlights the lack of cohesion, suggesting that the cultural and political components of this empire are too diverse to unify for long, resulting in a fragile state in its concluding stages.