Feet of clay

To have feet of clay signifies vulnerability, instability or weakness. The source is the Bible where Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in Daniel 2:33 where the image in the dream had “legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay”. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the image symbolised the Babylonian Empire and prophesised its demise because it was built on a weak foundation of clay.