In Daniel 2:38, Daniel says that Nebuchadnezzar (N) is ruling over the beasts of the Earth as the “head of gold”. This is in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah (J) in Jeremiah 28, where the false prophet Hananiah broke off the wooden yoke from J’s neck. J came back, and said that God was replacing the wooden yoke with an iron yoke (cf Deut 28:48, where God said disobedience would result in Him putting an “iron yoke” on them until He had destroyed them). The result of this “iron yoke” is that even the wild beasts would be ruled by N (see Jeremiah 28:14), which is in view now in the passage in Daniel 2. This is the context of Daniel 2’s statue, that Nebuchadnezzar is already fulfilling the Jer 28 prophecy, that Nebuchadnezzar is now this “iron yoke” on Israel, instead of simply a wooden one, as indicated by his rulership over even the animals.
