3.7 - Daniel 7



CONTENTS

3.7.1 - Daniel 7:1

Four Great Beasts from the Sea

Four Great Beasts from the Sea

1

This chapter is regarded by many students of the Bible as the most important chapter in the book of Daniel containing the most extensive and detailed revelation concerning the future found anywhere in the Old Testament.2

For a variety of reasons, “modern commentators are generally agreed that chapter 7 is the single most important chapter of the Book of Daniel.” [W. S. Towner, Daniel, INT (Atlanta: John Knox, 1984), 91] Porteous calls it “the heart of the Book of Daniel,” [N. W. Porteous, Daniel, OTL (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1965), 95] and Heaton declares, “It would be no exaggeration to say that this chapter is one of the most important passages of the OT.” [E. W. Heaton, The Book of Daniel, TBC (London: SCM Press, 1956), 169.] . . . First, Dan. 7 marks the literary turning point of the book from historical accounts to visions. . . . Second, the chapter is important because of its enormous impact on subsequent Jewish literature. . . . Third, it is of extreme significance prophetically. Walvoord rightly maintains: “As interpreted by conservative expositors, the vision of Daniel provides the most comprehensive and detailed prophecy of future events to be found anywhere in the Old Testament.” [J. F. Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation (Chicago: Moody, 1971), 145.]3

Besides the importance of this chapter to students of the Bible down through history, the information revealed to Daniel provided great encouragement to Jews in the midst of their captivity: they could know that God had not abandoned His chosen nation.4

At the time of this vision, Daniel and his people remained captive under the thumb of Babylon. Meanwhile, Jerusalem, the city of promise where God had placed his name,5 had lain in ruins for more than three decades (587 - 553 B.C.). The prophetic information given to Daniel in this chapter established the certainty that God would restore Israel: not only to end the Babylonian Captivity as Jeremiah had predicted (Jer. 29:10 cf. Daniel 9:2), but also at the end of the age when the Messiah would rule from the throne of David.

The importance of the book of Daniel to understanding prophecy cannot be overstated. Information provided by God in chapters 2 and 7 forms the foundation for the rest of God’s prophetic revelation. These chapters are analogous to the skeletal system within the human body: they provide the overall framework within which the “flesh”, the rest of prophetic revelation, fits. This is one reason why people struggle in their understanding of the book of Revelation: they often lack an understanding of the Old Testament, including the book of Daniel. Desiring to explore the book of Revelation, the “attic” of God’s revelation in the New Testament, they are unfamiliar with the “basement”, the foundation established in the Old Testament, and especially in chapters 2 and 7 of Daniel. This tendency is especially prevalent in an age where prophecy suffers at the hands of unbelievers and believers. Unbelievers ridicule and sensationalize its themes while many believers avoid it altogether, viewing it as divisive or optional.

But to follow Jesus one must understand Jesus. And understanding Jesus requires understanding His Word—the Bible. And a large part of the Bible deals with prophetic issues.

28% of the Bible was prophetic when it was revealed. 15% of the Bible is still unfulfilled prophecy; that means a little less than one out of every five verses. 18% of the New Testament epistles, those epistles which were written to the Church for the Church, specifically for the Church Age believer, 18% of New Testament epistles, which is almost one out of every five verses in the New Testament, is unfulfilled prophecy. . . . One in ten verses in the epistles refers to the Second Coming of Christ, one in ten, so that’s 10% of the epistles talk about the Second Coming of Christ. And then as one writer commented, more than, at least 60% of the verses in the New Testament are affected by eschatology issues.6

This is an important issue for the Christian because numerous statements by Jesus in the gospels are often misunderstood due to unfamiliarity with prophetic themes revealed in the Old Testament.7

In the light of history since the time of Daniel, this chapter also serves an apologetic purpose—revealing that there is a God in heaven and that He alone knows the future. As one might expect, the predictions He has made match the historical reality on the ground. “All of our modern futurists who sit in the think tanks of the nations can project their warnings about holes in the ozone, depletion of natural resources, and misuse of nuclear capabilities, but they are unable to give us a clue to the ultimate future of mankind. Daniel does.”8 “This is one of the greatest evidences that the Bible is not just the word of men about God or about their religious experiences but it is God’s objective revelation to man.”9

Take, for example, the recreation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the puzzling situation where Israel’s capital remains contested, including the Temple Mount. The unbeliever wonders how such an insignificant piece of real estate could be the subject of such controversy and statesmanship. But the believer—equipped with God’s revelation within this chapter and elsewhere—sees the “big picture” of what God is doing in history and how events in our day are a continuation of the Times of the Gentiles, which began in Daniel’s time and continue until the Second Coming.

While the first six chapters of Daniel have had a predominantly Gentile orientation, beginning with chapter 7 the book emphasizes themes predominantly of interest to Daniel’s people, the Jews.

As chapters 2-6 have demonstrated the superiority of the God of Israel over all pagan gods and have focused on revealing the ultimate demise of Gentile world rule, so chapters 7-12 demonstrate the power of the God of Israel to fulfill His promises to His people even through the confusing maze of world events and rebellious kingdoms. So, chapters 2-6 primarily focus on the future of the Gentile world powers, and chapters 7-12 primarily focus on the future of the nation of Israel in this unfolding history.10

What related to the Jew as the object of God’s special favor at that time, and more particularly what was in store for them in a blessed day that is coming, are the uppermost thoughts in the mind of the Spirit.11

Unfamiliarity with Old Testament revelation concerning God’s kingdom can lead to confusion concerning the nature and timing of Jesus’ reign as king. As we’ll see, there is a connection between this chapter and the gospel found in the New Testament. The Great Commission carries forward Old Testament themes revealed to Daniel by God.

The Great Commission is more than just evangelizing the lost and making disciples—as important as those things are. The apostles were also concerned with the endgame. They cared about why the Great Commission matters, not just from a human perspective, but also from the divine. They understood that there must be something fundamental that drives the Great Commission. . . . The vision behind the Great Commission is actually a vision from Daniel 7. . . . The clearest example of Daniel 7 in the Great Commission is found in Matthew 28:18, “All authority has been given to Me” (Mat. 28:18). This is almost a direct quotation of the first line of Daniel 7:14 (from the Septuagint), “And authority was given to him.” At this moment in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus brings to the foreground what has been growing in the background of the narrative: He is the Son of Man from Daniel 7. He now possesses absolute authority and will one day exercise it over the world. Until then, the Great Commission celebrates His victory by both testifying and contributing to it.12

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples asked Him, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). The combination of “times” and “epochs” as Jesus uses them in Acts 1 is a unique phrase found only in the book of Daniel. For example, when the mystery of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was revealed to Daniel, He prayed to God, “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings” (Dan. 2:21). What Nebuchadnezzar dreamed in Daniel 2 was a preview of the vision Daniel would have years later about the Son of Man in Daniel 7. Just as the stone shattered a statue representing the nations (Dan. 2), the Son of Man will strip the nations of their sovereignty (Dan. 7). Jesus tells His disciples that their job is not to decipher when the Son of Man will have His final victory (Acts 1:7), but rather to testify that it will happen (1:8). [emphasis added]13

One of the earliest interpreters of this chapter, Hippolytus (c. 170 - c. 236 A.D.)—a disciple of Irenaeus, himself a follower of Polycarp, the personal disciple of John the Apostle—recognized the parallelism between this chapter and Daniel 2.

The “golden head of the image” is identical with the “lioness,” by which the Babylonians were represented. “The golden shoulders and the arms of silver” are the same with the “bear,” by which the Persians and Medes are meant. “The belly and thighs of brass” are the “leopard,” by which the Greeks who ruled from Alexander onwards are intended. The “legs of iron” are the “dreadful and terrible beast,” by which the Romans who hold the empire now are meant. The “toes of clay and iron” are the “ten horns” which are to be.14

Most interpreters since the time of Hippolytus have also recognized the relationship between the two chapters: “The Four beasts . . . represent the Four Paramount empires of the habitable globe, which should succeed each other; and are evidently the same which were shadowed forth to Nebuchadnezzar by another set of hieroglyphics, (see the second chapter) . . .”15 “This dream is the same in meaning, under different emblems, as that of Nebuchadnezzar’s metallic image; but in Daniel’s dream several circumstances are added.”16 “Commentators all agree in giving identical interpretation of chapters 2 and 7. . . . The vision is a reminiscent replica of that of the Image in Dan. 2.”17 “The vision of the [7th] chapter is a supplement to the revelation in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. It too relates to the four great empires of the world. It expands that first disclosure to Nebuchadnezzar, fills it up, continues it.”18 “It is allowed on all hands, that the four beasts in Daniel’s vision in the first year of Belshazzar correspond exactly to the four empires represented in the image exhibited to Nebuchadnezzar.”19 “It accordingly compasses precisely the same ground covered by the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, given and explained in the second chapter.”20

The main differences between the two chapters are:

One reason God may have revealed the same sequence of kingdoms in two separate chapters is that two is the number of witness (Gen. 41:25, 32).

See Two Dreams Compared.

Both chapters reveal aspects of the same four kingdoms spanning the Times of the Gentiles,24 a period which began with the deportation of Israel (and Daniel) to Babylon and continues in our own day.25 During this period the throne of David remains unoccupied and Israel finds herself subject to Gentile control.

The fullest description of the period is given to us in the prophet Daniel. . . . The first prophetic outline of the course of this period is given in Daniel 2, where, through the medium of the great image, the successive empires that would exercise dominion over Jerusalem are outlined. . . . The second prophetic outline of the course of this period is given in Daniel 7. Whereas in Daniel 2 the course of world empire is viewed from man’s perspective, in Daniel 7 the same course of empire is viewed from the Divine viewpoint . . .26

These kingdoms and beasts, with their outgrowths, describe, as Mede and others have well characterized it, “the Gentile domination,” beginning with Jewish captivity and extending down during a long period of, more or less, oppressive Gentilism, until the mystery of God is finished. Even Jews have observed and commented on this peculiarity, Thus e.g. Mede quotes Rabbi Saadias Gaon on Daniel 7:18 as saying: “Because Israel have rebelled against the Lord, their Kingdom shall be taken from them, and shall be given to these four Monarchies, which shall possess the Kingdom in this age, and shall lead captive and subdue Israel to themselves in this age until the age to come, until Messiah shall reign.” History corroborates this Gentile dominion, and it will continue until God shall determine that “the Times of the Gentiles” have run their allotted, predetermined course, and then and then only under the restoration of this Theocratic-Davidic Kingdom will this domination come to a perpetual end . . .27

Like other portions of the Bible which describe details concerning the future, skeptics debate the meaning of this chapter and the identity of events it concerns. In their minds prophecy is the stuff of legend and imagination, not reality. In lieu of a God who can predict the future, they conclude Daniel’s revelation must borrow from myth.

It relates first a description of an allegorical animal vision, introduced by a fragment of myth (vv 2-8, partly recapitulated and expanded in vv 19-21; . . . The combination of forms parallels that in the “Animal Apocalypse,” 1 Enoch 85-90, which addresses the Maccabean crisis (see Porter, Metaphors, 43-60). Such parallels suggest that the political oracles are quasi-prophecies, not actual ones . . . Mesopotamian divination offers more promising background to vv 4-6. It had a particular interest in anomalous human and animal births that might offer portents of the future of individuals or the state. . . . it is more likely a quasi-predictive vision deriving from the period on which it focuses and to which it is especially relevant (that of the king symbolized by the small horn) than an actual predictive vision from the sixth century.28

Since they reject God’s ability to predict the future, their only option is to push the date of composition forward in time while limiting the scope of events the vision concerns in order to strip the vision of its predictive content. This is the critical view we discussed in the introduction which takes the fourth kingdom as Greece29 and the little horn as Antiochus Epiphanes.30 In this view, the chapter was composed during the Maccabean era by someone only claiming to be Daniel.

The assumption that this chapter borrows from uninspired legends betrays an anti-supernatural bias. More likely, the legends and myths echo truths originally penned by Daniel.31 Besides, there is much in this chapter which finds no parallel in mythology or uninspired apocalyptic sources.32

The issue here is not one of evidence but of faith: does the reader believe an omnipotent God exists outside of time Who reveals—in advance—events that will come to pass? The symbolism employed by both chapter 2 and chapter 7 is by design. It serves a similar purpose as Jesus’ use of parables in the New Testament.

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with [their] eyes and hear with [their] ears, Lest they should understand with [their] hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ But blessed [are] your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.” (Mat. 13:10-16)

Apocalyptic literature is private literature of the Christian. Apocalyptic literature is deliberately written to frustrate the foreigner, the unbeliever, the skeptic who would peek into the Scripture, hoping that in those portions he would find something that he could criticize, and apocalyptic literature is designed to totally frustrate the unregenerate person. . . . Apocalyptic literature is the private literature of mature believers. It is not even open to the novice believer. Apocalyptic literature is not for the new convert. And if you are here and you’ve personally trusted in Christ I’m not trying to discourage you, I’m trying to encourage you if you have a difficult time with this just stay with it, you’ll get it, but the longer you’ve been in the Word the easier this becomes.33

It is no surprise that the skeptics stumble over chapters 2 and 7—in the same way they are unable to make sense of the book of Revelation.34 Even the new believer in Christ will find much that is puzzling or difficult to understand. However, with time and the aid of the Holy Spirit, the various pieces of Scripture which touch upon these topics will help clarify what God has revealed as we continue our walk with Christ.

At the close of this chapter, the Aramaic portion of Daniel, which began part way through Daniel 2:4, reverts back to Hebrew following Daniel 7:28. See Language.

first year of Belshazzar

This is one of several chronological indicators within the book of Daniel (Dan. 1:1, 21; 2:1; 5:31; 7:1; 8:1; 9:1; 10:1). Daniel received this dream and visions in 553 B.C.35

Like many other books of the Bible, some chapters in the book of Daniel are out of historical order. Although chapter 7 follows chapters 5 and 6, it actually predates them: chapter 5 records events in the last year of king Belshazzar (539 B.C.) and chapter 6 records events which took place in (539-537 B.C.). The historical sequence of the chapters in Daniel is: 1-4, 7, 8, 5, 9, 6, 10-12. The visions from this point to the end of the book are given in chronological sequence.36 See Chronology of Daniel.

Daniel received this revelation from God about 50 years after Nebuchadnezzar received his dream of the great metallic image (chapter 2, 603-602). Thus, Daniel already knows that Babylon, the “head of gold” (Dan. 2:38), presently ruled by Belshazzar, is destined to be eclipsed by a sequence of three additional kingdoms, all of which will be ultimately destroyed and replaced by a fifth, final kingdom established by God (Dan. 2:44). When Daniel receives this revelation presenting a similar sequence—four beasts, representing kingdoms, ultimately overthrown by the kingdom awarded to the Son of Man (Dan. 7:13-14)—he must have recognized its parallel relationship to the former dream by Nebuchadnezzar. See Sequence of Kingdoms.

Although Daniel knows that Babylon is destined to fall, that will not happen for another 14 years,37 when the events of chapter 5 transpire (539 B.C.).

Daniel received this dream and visions when he was about 67 years old. See Chronology of Daniel.

Having recently turned 65 years-of-age, I find great encouragement in the fact that Christian service continues from the day we are born-again until the day we die, and beyond. The Christian walk knows nothing of retiring from service. The book of Daniel provides ample evidence that God continues to use elderly saints in significant ways.

There’s a tendency in Christian circles when somebody gets 65 or something they think they’re over the hill. That’s because the secular world arbitrarily sets 65 as retirement. You never retire from the Christian life, no matter how old you are. You go on and on and on and on and on, the greatest times you’ll have as a believer are in your latter days. The older you are the more maturity you will have, the more experience you have in applying the Word of God. So you’ll notice that these great apocalyptic visions come primarily through older people [like Daniel and the Apostle John].38

What many consider as the two most significant prophetic books of the Bible, the Old Testament book of Daniel and the New Testament book of Revelation, were written by older believers who remained faithful in their walk with God in their advanced years.39 The last three chapters of the book of Daniel were given when Daniel was 86 years old and John received the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1) when he was in his 90s.40

It is a noteworthy fact that the Apocalyptic writers of the Old and New Testaments, Daniel and John, were old men when they received their “Revelations” from God. They were also both “greatly beloved” of the Lord, and it was because of their faithfulness that they received these “Revelations.”41

An understanding of the Bible changes our perspective on aging and death. Death is no longer a destination, a feared end-point. For the believer in Christ, death is merely a gateway between service in this life and continued service in the next. As we age, the words of Jesus to Martha prior to the resurrection of Lazarus become increasingly precious:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

From an eternal perspective, believers remain forever-useful and our efforts on behalf of Christ in this age have continuing significance. Christian service is the only sound investment this life has to offer (Isa. 28:16; 49:23; Rom. 9:33; 10:11; 1Pe. 2:6). Dear reader, the question Jesus asked Martha remain significant for each of us today: Do YOU believe this?

Belshazzar

For background on the historical controversy concerning Belshazzar, see commentary on Daniel 5:1.

king of Babylon

Belshazzar was co-regent with his father (or step-father) Nabonidus who was absent from the capital. See Babylonian Rule after Nebuchadnezzar.

In 556 B.C. Nabonidus deposed Labashi-marduk, the last of Nebuchadnezzar’s direct descendants to sit on the throne of Babylon. However, Nabonidus proved to be singularly unpopular in Babylon because of his devotion to the god Sin instead of Marduk, the patron god of Babylon. In response to this unpopularity, Nabonidus “entrusted the kingship” to his son Belshazzar and voluntarily exiled himself to Tema in the Arabian Desert for about a decade.42

The reference to Belshazzar as “king” has additional significance in light of the vision in the chapter. The vision reveals the impending downfall of Babylon (the lion, Dan. 7:4) when the bear (Medo-Persia, Dan. 7:5) arrives on the scene. Thus, the impending overthrow of the lion finds fulfillment in the overthrow and death of Belshazzar, the subject of Daniel 5.

When Belshazzar fell, the hour of the doom of that ancient empire as well as of that ancient kingdom had sounded, and a new order of things began to prevail. The statement of our verse therefore implies that this significant year was the year when God gave this signal revelation of the doom of the world powers or empires in general. It is for this reason that the apposition “king of Babylon” is added to “Belshazzar.”43

Shea explains why the Biblical record designates Belshazzar as king at a period when historically he may have been viewed as crown prince.”

If there is no direct evidence that Belshazzar was king at this time, why do these biblical datelines refer to him as such? When viewed in terms of the historical relationships noted above, there are two possible explanations for this phenomenon. The first is that Belshazzar did become king officially at a later date, after Nabonidus returned from Tema, and that Belshazzar’s status in these date formulae was interpreted proleptically at the time of their recording. Thus, they simply referred to him at that earlier time by the title he later acquired. Another explanation for these unusual date formulae (and a more likely one, in my opinion) can be developed from a consideration of the political context out of which the exiles from Judah, like Daniel, had come. This was an environment in which, as opposed to the realm where they were exiled, coregency was practiced. When the unusual situation occurred in which Nabonidus was away from Babylon for ten years and entrusted its government to the crown prince, Daniel evaluated this situation in terms with which he was familiar from the political economy of Judah. This suggestion offers an explanation why these biblical dates employ regnal years of Belshazzar even though the native Babylonian scribes continued to date by Nabonidus who was in Tema.44

Daniel had a dream and visions

Had a dream is literally saw (חֲזָה [ḥăzâ]), “be revealed, have a revelatory vision or dream that communicated truth, but is not necessarily a function of the eye as a sensory event.”45 Dream is חֵלְם [ḥēlem], “a visionary revelation from God as an omen of the future (Dan 2:4; 4:5; 5:12; 7:1).”46 Visions is from חֱזוּ [ḥězû], “appearance of something in the mind as a supernatural revelation to communicate a truth, not seen as a sensory perception.”47

Why does the text distinguish between “a dream” and “visions”? It seems Daniel had a single dream comprised of several visions.48

In referring to the experience as “a dream” (sing.) Daniel was emphasizing the unity of the revelation and in referring to it as “visions” (pl.) he emphasized the successive stages in which the revelation was given.49

“Visions” suggests that the first three beasts are given in the first vision, the second vision concerned the fourth beast only, and the third vision is a scene in heaven. Therefore, there are actually three visions which are recorded here.50

The chapter divides naturally into the following sections:

By this time, Daniel had been captive in Babylon for 53 years (606 - 553 B.C.) and Jerusalem had lain in ruins for 34 years (587 - 553 B.C.). As time passed, the Jews must have wondered whether God would truly intervene to bring about their release from Babylon. Like Daniel, some may have known the promise given through Jeremiah (Jer. 29:10-14) that God would “visit” them. Yet Babylon remained in power. And things had gone from bad to worse: the initial rule of Nebuchadnezzar, who at least recognized Israel’s God (Dan. 4:37), had now devolved into the godless and arrogant rule of Belshazzar (Dan. 5:22-23).

After Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, the Jews were taken into captivity, and the nation of Israel ceased to exist. . . . the future of the nation was uncertain. But God made clear to the Jewish people through the prophet Daniel that Israel would continue to have a place in history, that their promised Messiah would come and deliver them from spiritual and national bondage, and that the Messiah would set up his kingdom and reign over the nations with Israel raised to a place of prominence. . . . Possibly the Jews were concerned about their future under the rule of the wicked Belshazzar, and the vision was imparted to assure the Jewish people that they were secure. Israel would survive and play an important role in the end times.51

Two Dreams Compared
Chapter
2
7
Recipient
Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel
Nationality
Gentile
Jew
Year
603-602 B.C.
553 B.C.
Ruler of Babylon
First: Nebuchadnezzar
Last: Belshazzar
Kingdoms As
Beautiful metals (Dan. 2:32-33)
Voracious beasts (Dan. 7:3-7)
Perspective
Man
God
Fourth Phase Partitioned
Ten toes (Dan. 2:42)
Ten horns (Dan. 7:7, 20, 24)
Final Gentile Ruler
(not revealed)
Little horn (Dan. 7:8, 11, 21, 24)
God’s Eternal Kingdom
Stone cut without hands (Dan. 2:34)
Son of Man (Dan. 7:13)

he wrote down the dream

The question naturally arises as to why Daniel wrote down the dream—and in considerable detail? The answer is both simple and profound: the revelation given to Daniel was not just for Daniel, but for generations of God’s people yet to be born.52 The dream given to Daniel contains information God meant to be preserved for our day and beyond: even to the time of the fulfillment of events revealed within the dream—at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. As such, the record Daniel wrote is permanent.

Daniel’s purpose in writing is akin to that of Isaiah, “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for time to come, Forever and ever: . . .” (Isa. 30:8). The source of Daniel’s dream and visions was not his own thoughts or imaginings, but the very Spirit of God (Dan. 4:8; 5:12; 6:2).53

The inspired dream of Daniel is the permanent Word of God. The words of the LORD [are] pure words, [Like] silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever” [emphasis added] (Ps. 12:6-7). “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven” [emphasis added] (Ps. 119:88-89). “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever” [emphasis added] (Isa. 40:8).

The Son of Man, destined to rule the final kingdom in Daniel’s dream (Dan. 7:13), had this to say concerning the permanence of the Daniel’s record:

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (Mat. 5:17-18)

Daniel recorded the events of the book while in a foreign land, yet God made sure to preserve this revelation to serve His purposes:

“When one thinks that the Bible has been copied during thirty centuries, as no book of man has ever been, or ever will be; that it was subjected to all the catastrophes and all the captivities of Israel; that it was transported seventy years to Babylon; that it has seen itself so often persecuted, or forgotten, or interdicted, or burnt, from the days of the Philistines to those of the Seleucidae; when one thinks that, since the time of Jesus Christ, it has had to traverse the first three centuries of the imperial persecutions, when persons found in possession of the holy books were thrown to the wild beasts; next the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, when false decretals were everywhere multiplied; the tenth century, when so few could read, even among the princes; the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, when the use of the Scriptures in the vulgar [common] tongue was punished with death, and when the books of the ancient fathers were mutilated, when so many ancient traditions were garbled and falsified, even to the very acts of the emperors and to those of the councils—then we can perceive how necessary it was that the providence of God should have always put forth its mighty power, in order that the Jews. . . and the Christian Church [especially during the Middle Ages]. . . should transmit to us, in all their purity, those Scriptures.” [Louis Gaussen, The Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, trans. David D. Scott, pp. 171-72] [emphasis added]54

In our day, God’s permanent written record is the only authority and means upon which we may objectively know God and His purpose.55 “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by [His] Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; . . .” (Heb. 1:1-2).

telling the main facts56

Main facts is רֵאשׁ מִלִּין [rēš millîn], the “substance . . . essence . . . most important thing.”57 The chapter does not relate every detail, but a “summary” (HCSB, NASU, NET) of what Daniel saw.

The meaning here seems to be that he did not go into detail - as by writing names, and dates, and places; or, perhaps, that he did not enter into a minute description of all that he saw in regard to the beasts that came up from the sea, but that he recorded what might be considered as peculiar, and as having special significancy.58

We can rest knowing “the main facts” are exactly what God intended to be recorded. Not everything God does is recorded in Scripture (John 20:30-31). The believer should not strive to go beyond those things which God has seen to reveal. The things God has chosen to reveal are perfectly adequate for our needs (Deu. 29:29).59

3.7.2 - Daniel 7:2

I saw

In the historical section Daniel employed the third person, a common feature of biblical and nonbiblical narrative (e.g., Pentateuch, Ezra, Xenophon’s Anabasis, Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars), but after Dan. 7:2, except for Dan. 10:1, the account is always in first person. Use of first person emphasizes the fact that Daniel himself received the visions.60

four winds of heaven

The NET Bible renders the phrase as “four winds of the sky”—as if Daniel saw the sea being churned up by a confusion of atmospheric winds. The winds are not from a single direction, but like a whirlwind—alternating and mixing from various directions resulting in confused seas.61

The scene is reminiscent of God’s prophecy against Elam given through Jeremiah, “Against Elam I will bring the four winds From the four quarters of heaven, and scatter them toward all those winds; There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go” (Jer. 49:36). As in Jeremiah’s prophecy, the number four relates to the four cardinal directions (East, South, West, and North)—being global in effect.62

Interestingly, four great beasts will arise out of the sea churned by the four winds. It seems the beasts arise under the ultimate influence and control of the winds—sent from heaven.63

Winds is from רוַּה [rûah] which can also denote spirit, a supernatural non-material being.”64 “The word translated ‘winds’ may also be rendered ‘spirits,’ that is, angels. Elsewhere in Scripture this word is used to refer to God’s providential actions in the affairs of men through angels (Jer. 23:19; 49:36; 51:1; Zec. 6:1-6; 7:14; Rev. 7:1-3).”65

Commentators agree that the four winds are under the ultimate control of God—they recognize the overarching sovereignty of God. But they differ as to whether the winds represent world-wide events or angelic powers. And, if angelic powers, whether those angelic powers are agents of Satan or of God.

Some take the winds to represent dark angelic forces, as did Jerome.66 Larkin attributes the winds to the evil powers of the air. Although winds bring about the arrival of all four beasts, Larken implies the effects of the winds magnify in the time of the fourth beast.

These “Winds” represent the “POWERS OF THE AIR,” the forces of the “Evil One,” . . . (Eph. 6:12). . . . And as the closing days of this Dispensation draw near, and Palestine is repeopled by the Jews, the nations that centre around it will be more and more thrown into commotion, as Satan in his last great effort to checkmate the plans of God will bring into play all the “Evil Forces” of the air.67

Dean also takes the winds as signifying dark angelic powers:

So “the four winds of heaven” are not just dealing with four physical winds, the movement of air, but they are of an angelic army . . . the angelic forces, specifically demonic forces, are acting upon humanity because that’s what the great sea refers to, it is a picture of fallen humanity that is at the mercy of the forces of Satan and deceived by Satan and deceived by the demons and they are acting upon fallen man and fallen man is unstable, just as the ocean is tossed to and fro and any way the winds blow it, and this is fallen humanity that are the victims, in a true sense of satanic influence and satanic ideas.68

Other interpreters understand the winds (spirits) as describing elect angels working on behalf of God. “ ‘The four winds of heaven’ probably speak of the angelic forces through which God controls and moves the nations.”69 Clough takes the four winds to refer to specific individuals: a group of high-ranking angels which operate in the geopolitical realm, also mentioned by Zechariah.70 “And the angel answered and said to me, ‘These [are] four spirits of heaven, who go out from [their] station before the Lord of all the earth’ ” (Zec. 6:5).

Still other interpreters see the winds as denoting God’s providential work in general, and the number four signifying its global influence.

The winds of the heavens represent the heavenly powers and forces by which God sets the nations of the world in motion; and the number four has a symbolical meaning: that the people of all regions of the earth are moved hither and thither in violent commotion.71

The four winds striving upon the sea would indicate providential agencies working upon the minds of the people. You will find the figure of the winds also used in that way in the book of Revelation. Of course, though men little realize it, all the great movements of the nations are in accordance with the actings of God’s providence. Thus, in a very real sense, as another has aptly said, “All history is His story.”72

Whether the immediate effect of the winds—raising up the sequence of beasts—is the work of Satanic or heavenly forces, God’s sovereignty over the events related by the vision is emphasized throughout the chapter.

stirring up the Great Sea

Daniel saw winds upon the sea. Sea is from יַם [yam], “a place of chaos, monsters, and mystery; a figurative extension of [a body of water].”73 As in many other passages in Scripture, the sea has a negative connotation. The strife and commotion of the nations is compared to the constant noise and motion of the sea.

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud. ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’ (Isa. 57:20)

You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples. (Ps. 65:7)

Woe to the multitude of many people [Who] make a noise like the roar of the seas, And to the rushing of nations [That] make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; But [God] will rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. (Isa. 17:12-13)

“I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to [him who is] far off and to [him who is] near,” Says the LORD, “And I will heal him.” But the wicked [are] like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. “[There is] no peace,” Says my God, “for the wicked.” (Isa. 57:19-21)

The nations of the world, under the influence of the ruler and god of this age (John 12:31; 2Cor. 4:4), are as unstable as water, tossed to-and-fro in constant commotion.74 The commotion among the nations reflects the lack of stability of the godless among the nations.

Water, the chief characteristic is that it is formless, it has no shape and that is what gives it its sinister character. [In] Genesis 49:4, Jacob is dying and he gives a will to his children. And he says to Reuben in verse 3, “thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.” So there Jacob uses the water imagery, as a liquid it has no shape, it takes on the shape of its container, it has no shape of its own. It can be influenced, it can be moved, it can be blown, it can be thrown into turbulence by the mere breath of wind. Water has no shape to itself. And the Bible takes this very simple imagery and increases it down through the Scripture. . . . the sea in the Bible eventually becomes the symbol of unstable human society in the kingdom of man. . . . It’s unstable because it lacks doctrine; it is unstable because it is not rooted in absolute revelation. It is unstable and takes on the container of any force that is applied against it. [The unbelieving] human spirit [has] no truth, has no doctrine, that under the spirits can become converted instantaneously to mobs that crush and destroy everything ahead of it. And the kingdom of man is going to be built out of mob desires, out of mass movements that grip the heart of shapeless humanity; unstable because of no doctrine . . . Just as the water is vulnerable to wind, so fallen humanity is vulnerable to Satan.75

Are you part of Daniel’s symbol of the sea, a drop of water, formless, shapeless, that takes on the shape of your environment, shaped totally by your environment, at the whim of every little wind here and there? In Ephesians 4 Paul picks up the same imagery, it underlies verse 14. Why do we have pastor-teachers teaching Bible doctrine to believers? It says in verse 14 “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive.”76

So water in that sense is unstable and it’s a picture of people, they don’t have their own shape, they’re just twisted and take the shape of whatever is going on around them. When they’re with certain peer groups they just follow whatever the crowd wants to do. So it’s a picture of instability and the winds can blow upon the water and cause it to take many different shapes and be very destructive. So that picture is used in Ephesians 4 of people who are just tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, it’s that picture of the destruction of the water.77

By God’s sovereign design, ongoing commotion and strife among the nations will contribute to the rise of four Gentile kingdoms of particular significance to Israel, represented as four beasts, upon the world stage.

The fair interpretation of this part of the symbol is, that there was, or would be, as it appeared in vision to Daniel, commotions among the nations resembling the sea driven by storms, and that from these commotions there would arise successive kingdoms having the characteristics specified by the appearance of the four beasts. We naturally look, in the fulfillment of this, to some state of things in which the nations were agitated and convulsed; in which they struggled against each other, as the winds strove upon the sea; a state of things which preceded the rise of these four successive kingdoms.78

Many commentators take the phrase, the Great Sea, as referring to the Mediterranean Sea.79

The great sea was of course the Mediterranean; and it is well known that every one of the empires described in the prophecy borders upon the shores of the great sea. The kingdom of Babylon embraced the shores that stretched along the eastern and southeastern edge of the Mediterranean; Medo-Persia did the same; while Greece took in also the northeastern shores, and the Roman empire completely surrounded it; hence its name, meaning “Midst of the earth.” That was the sea Daniel was looking upon in his vision; and in a very real literal sense every one of these empires seems to spring up from the great sea.80

However, global aspects of the vision seen by Daniel [four winds (Dan. 7:2), eventual world-wide dominion of the final beast (Dan. 7:23)] in combination with those seen by John [all the world worships the final beast (Rev. 13:3), the waters upon which the Harlot sits (Rev. 17:1) are “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues” (Rev. 17:15)] argue for understanding the Great Sea as representing the global population.81

This appears to be the same sea from which John sees the final beast arise in the time of the end, sharing attributes of its predecessors (Rev. 13:1-2). See commentary on Daniel 7:2.

3.7.3 - Daniel 7:3

four great beasts

Beast is from חֵוָה [ḥēwâ], “wild animal, quadruped animal that lives on land in the wild (Dan. 2:38; 4:12, 14, 15, 16, 21, 23, 25, 32; 5:21+); . . . monsters, animal-like composites that are awesome and terrifying (Dan. 7:3).”82

The four beasts are great (רַב [raḇ])—they are particularly significant in the plan of God, both because of 1) their dominance and influence in world affairs, but especially 2) because of their impact upon the fate of Daniel’s people and nation: the Jews and Israel. Other nations of the world will come and go on the stage of history, but they remain absent from Daniel’s dream and visions because they are not of equal significance in relation to Biblical history. Remember that the period of time during which these particular beasts occupy the stage of history was referred to by Jesus as the Times of the Gentiles. A time when Israel lacked a ruler upon the throne of David. It is in relation to the delay of righteous rule in the line of David exercising dominion as God’s representative upon the earth that these particular beasts figure. The beasts represent four kings and their respective kingdoms:83

“Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth” (Dan. 7:17). As we examine the remainder of the chapter, it will be important to keep in mind the dualistic aspect of each beast: at times conveying aspects of a kingdom, at other times revealing attributes of the individual ruler of the kingdom: the king. Larkin brings out this point in relation to what is said concerning the terrible beast as revealed in the book of Revelation.

It is very important to see that the “Beast” has a “Dual” meaning. It represents both the Revived Roman Empire, and its “Imperial Head,” the Antichrist. As the Revived Roman Empire it is seen coming up out of the “sea of the nations” (Rev. 13:1), as the Antichrist it comes up out of the “ABYSS.” Rev. 11:7; 17:8. For instance, it cannot be said of the Roman Empire of John s day, that it “WAS,” and “IS NOT,” for it was at the height of its power in John’s day. Neither can it be said of it that it shall “ascend out of the pit (ABYSS) and go into PERDITION,” that could only be said of a person.84

The four beasts are alternate representations of the four metals of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of chapter 2.

You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. (Dan. 2:37-40). [emphasis added]

See Two Perspectives and the commentary on Daniel 7:1.

The interpreter of Daniel’s dream must balance two aspects in tension. First, since the symbols representing each kingdom (e.g., beasts) are different by divine design, we can assume the attributes of each beast are well-suited to represent the related kingdom. Second, recognize the danger of over-emphasizing subtle differences between symbols.85 Specific symbols are chosen for a reason, but the differences between the symbols may be of lesser significance than we assume. The same caveat applies to interpreting parables in the gospels.

It is to be assumed, in explaining and applying these symbols, that they are significant - that is, that there was some adaptedness or propriety in using these symbols to denote the kingdoms referred to; or that in each case there was a reason why the particular animal was selected for a symbol rather than one of the others; that is, there was something in the lion that was better fitted to symbolize the kingdom referred to than there was in the bear or the leopard, and this was the reason why this particular symbol was chosen in the case. . . . But there is some danger of pressing these similitudes too far.86

Unlike Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of a man composed of valuable metals (Daniel 2:31), Daniel sees a sequence of voracious beasts. What looks attractive and impressive from the perspective of man, when seen by God’s piercing gaze (Rev. 1:14; 2:38; 19:12), turns out to be much different. Its true nature is revealed (Rev. 2:18).87

If you read history as viewed simply by the natural man, you will find that a great deal of space is given to congratulating humanity upon their marvelous exploits; and one would suppose that we have now almost reached perfection, so far as human government or political economy is concerned. Civilization and the progress of the race are presumably at the zenith of their glory. But if one reads history in the light of Holy Scripture, with the Spirit of God illuminating the page, it gives one a very different impression indeed. We then begin to realize that the things that are most highly esteemed among men are abominations in the sight of God; and, concerning the great ones of the earth who wield power over the nations, we are reminded of what is written in Psalm 49:12, “Man being in honor abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish.” . . . Till the dawning of that glorious morning without clouds, this world will never be free from strife and bloodshed, pestilence, misgovernment, and kindred ills. All these things, Scripture shows us, are going to continue;88

As a nation gains influence, too often its power falls under the control of a single individual: the ruler of the nation. And when fallen men rise in power, the lure of tyranny generally proves irresistible.89

The greatest kingdoms are the greatest robberies, and very few absorb the whole power in a great empire, and exercise a cruel and excessive tyranny. Here the Prophet compares empires to great and savage beasts, of which he will afterwards treat. . . . kings are mostly tyrants, full of cruelty and barbarity, and forgetful of humanity90

Having rejected God and His Word, centralization of power coupled with a seared conscience corrupts the exercise of mankind’s dominion mandate, leading inexorably downward to beast-like behavior.

Animals don’t have a conscience. They are not aware of things being morally right or wrong and so the significance in Daniel of kings or empires being referred to as beasts is that they are behaving unconscionably, they have no standard for right or wrong, they just operate on whatever makes them feel good at the moment and it becomes self-destructive and as the society continues to deteriorate then it becomes a man-killing monster91

These four kingdoms are animals, they lack conscience, they have rejected the Word and rejected the Word and rejected the Word and rejected the Word, and the result is that socially you have an animal; the whole thing is one monster.92

Men think to build up the world upon their own philosophies and atheistic fancies and conceits, but when all comes to all, it is the instalment of Hell in the dominion of the earth.93

See Man: Image of God or Beast? and Two Perspectives.

For a discussion of the identity of the kingdoms represented by these beasts (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome),94 see Which Kingdoms?

The characteristics of the beasts seen by Daniel combine in the beast seen by John hundreds of years later.

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like [the feet of] a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. (Rev. 13:1-2) [emphasis added]

John sees the same four identities, but from a different perspective: looking backward in his vision from a time far future to Daniel when the fourth beast is in ascendency. This is evident from the reversal in the order of the characteristics of the beasts. Daniel’s order of presentation is forward-looking: lion, bear, leopard, then fourth terrible beast. John’s order of presentation is backward-looking: fourth terrible beast, then leopard, bear, and lion.95

The prophet Hosea, writing over 100 years before Israel’s deportation to Babylon96 indicated that Israel’s disobedience would bring God’s judgment, using nations symbolized as beasts. Hosea mentions three of the four animals found here.97

I knew you in the wilderness, In the land of great drought. When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me. “So I will be to them like a lion; Like a leopard by the road I will lurk; I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them. “O Israel, you are destroyed, But your help is from Me. (Hos. 13:5-9) [emphasis added]

Interpreters have noted the similarity between these four beasts and the four horns shown to Zechariah.

Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there [were] four horns. And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What [are] these?” So he answered me, “These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. And I said, “What are these coming to do?” So he said, “These [are] the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up [their] horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.” (Zec. 1:18-21)

Both beasts and horns disrupt the interests of Israel and Jerusalem, only to be subsequently overthrown by divine means.

Zechariah’s prophecy was given at a time before Greece and Rome had risen to prominence, during the period of the rebuilding of the temple after Israel’s return from Babylonian captivity (520-515 B.C.) or soon thereafter.98

Since the four horns are said to have scattered (past tense) Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem”, it may be that Zechariah’s horns refer to an earlier set of kingdoms than those in Daniel. By Zechariah’s time, Israel had experienced hardship at the hand of Assyria, Egypt, Babylonia, and Medo-Persia.

In Zechariah’s vision the angel said the horns “scattered” Israel (past tense, Zec. 1:19) and that was before any craftsmen arrived on the scene. It seems better either to regard the number four as a number of completeness, the totality of Israel’s opposition, or to refer the four horns to four nations that had scattered Israel before Zechariah saw the vision (perhaps Assyria, Egypt, Babylonia, and Medo-Persia).99

The kingdoms in question are claimed by some scholars to be the four world empires of Daniel 2 and 7 (namely, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome). Others suggest Assyria, Egypt, Babylonia, and Medo-Persia. Since the reference in vv.19, 21 is to nations that have already “scattered” God’s people (though the Hebrew verb could also be translated “scatter” [present tense]), the latter view would seem preferable.100

Keil suggests Zechariah’s prophecy is set in a timeless context—where “scattered” (past tense) is from the perspective of a point of view far future to Zechariah’s day.

Nor does it follow from the perfect זֵרוּ [zērû] that only such nations are to be thought of, as had already risen up in hostility to Israel and Judah in the time of Zechariah; for it cannot be shown that there were four such nations. At that time all the nations round about Judah were subject to the Persian empire, as they had been in Nebuchadnezzar’s time to the Babylonian. Both the number four and the perfect zērū belong to the sphere of inward intuition, in which the objects are combined together so as to form one complete picture, without any regard to the time of their appearing in historical reality. Just as the prophet in Zec. 6 sees the four chariots all together, although they follow one another in action, so may the four horns which are seen simultaneously represent nations which succeeded one another. . . . also the four beasts which are seen by Daniel to ascend simultaneously from the sea, symbolize the four empires, which rose up in succession one after the other. It is to these four empires that the four horns of our vision refer . . . since even the picturing of nations or empires as horns points back to Dan. 7:7, 8, and 8:3–9.101

Parts of the prophecy are future in perspective: the craftsmen102 “Are coming to do . . . coming to terrify and cast out the Horns” (Zec. 1:21).

Perhaps the four craftsmen arrive in sequence, echo “hammering” one of the four horns, in turn. In so, the final horn could be the terrible beast of Daniel 7 while the last craftsmen corresponds to the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13).103

The horns represent nations that attacked God’s people (vv. 19, 21), referring either to Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, and Medo-Persia or perhaps, more likely, to the 4 world empires of Dan. 2, 7: Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, all of which oppressed Israel. “craftsmen” . . . The word is literally the term for stone workers, metal workers, and wood workers—those who shape material with hammers and chisels. These “hammers” represent the nations which overthrow the 4 horns (v. 18). As with the 4 beasts of Dan. 7, each empire is overthrown by the subsequent one, the last being replaced by Messiah’s kingdom (cf. Dan. 2:44; 7:9-14, 21, 22). Babylon was hammered in a night attack by the Medo-Persians (539 B.C.). With the victory of Alexander over Darius in 333 B.C. at Issus, the Greeks hammered the Medo-Persian “horn.” In the second century B.C., the Roman hammer fell and one by one the nations fell (Israel in 63 B.C.). The Roman Empire, revived in the last days, according to Daniel, will be hammered by the returning Messiah (cf. Dan. 2:34, 35, 45).104

Since these visions all have an eschatological framework, they refer to the same four empires Daniel predicted . . . Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (with Rome either being revived at the end of days or represented as continuing through Western civilization until the end of days). . . . The four craftsmen represent those empires that God used to judge those who scattered Judah. In turn, therefore, they are, Medo-Persia that defeated Babylon, Greece that conquered Persia, Rome that overcame Greece, and finally, the kingdom of Messiah that will overcome the end-of-days Rome (cf. Dan. 2:34, 44-45 . . .).105

came up from the sea

The beasts arise from the sea, having been stirred up by the winds of heaven (divine influence). Although the beasts arise from the sea, the kings which they represent are said to arise out of the earth (Dan. 7:17). See commentary on Daniel 7:17.

Scripture frequently refers to forces that have oppressed Israel as devouring monsters, often associated with the sea.106

תַּנִּין [tannîn] sea monster, sea dragon, i.e., a serpent-like monster . . . that lives in the deep (of river or ocean) . . . sea creatures, i.e., very large, impressive-looking creatures of the oceans, including very large fish and large marine mammals (Gen. 1:21; Ps. 148:7+), . . . possibly referring to a sea monster.107

Sometimes the monsters are identified as specific empires/kings, such as Pharaoh’s Egypt (תַּנִּין [tannîn], Eze. 29:3; 32:2) or Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon (תַּנִּין [tannîn], Jer. 51:34). At other times, the term refers to the spiritual powers of darkness behind Israel’s earthly foes which are ultimately overthrown by God (Ps. 74:13; Isa. 27:1; 51:9).

In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea. (Isa. 27:1) [emphasis added]

These beasts arise from the sea (as John also saw, Rev. 13:1) because their opposition to God and His people is energized by the ultimate twisted serpent, Satan. “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders” (2Th. 2:4).

The ascension of the Beasts from the sea also speaks of the origin of the kingdoms: the chaos and agitation of the Gentile nations. “Stretch out Your hand from above; Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, From the hand of foreigners [lit. strange children]” [emphasis added] (Ps. 144:7).108

Since the sea in Dan. 7:2 is churned up by the four winds, which encompass the entire earth, the sea most likely represents all the peoples of the earth.109

Four kingdoms (ver. 17), called beasts, from their tyranny and oppression, emerging successively from the wars and commotions of the world.110

Thus the peoples of the earth are portrayed as a great sea of humanity in a constant state of unrest, chaos, and turmoil—an apt description of today’s world.111

different from one another

Although each beast is different from the others, the uniqueness of the last beast will receive emphasis. They have much in common: all are beasts; all represent kingdoms and their respective rulers; all arise from the sea; all are depicted as fearsome. Whereas the first three are represented as identifiable animals (lion, bear, leopard), the fourth has no analog among the animal kingdom! As if the Holy Spirit is signifying, if a lion, a bear, and a leopard are animals to be feared (and rightly-so), then wait until the fourth “exeedingly dreadful” beast arrives on the stage of world history! See commentary on Daniel 7:19.

3.7.4 - Daniel 7:4

Lion with Eagle’s Wings

Lion with Eagle’s Wings

112

The first

Just as with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2, the sequence in which Daniel sees the beasts arise from the sea corresponds with the historic order in which their respective kingdoms follow one another. The first beast in the sequence corresponds to the head of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:22) which represents Babylonian rule,113 initially under Nebuchadnezzar: “you are this head of gold” (Dan. 2:38).114 The first beast (and head) represent, not just Nebuchadnezzar’s rule, but the period of time during which Babylon held sway over Israel.115 Although Neo-Babylonia rose to prominence prior to Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, it was during his reign that the line of Davidic kings ruling Israel was deposed, ushering in the Times of the Gentiles. See Deportations.

It is important to understand that the period of time depicted in both Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s vision is anchored at each end in relation to Jewish rule from the throne of David in Jerusalem. Both begin with the overthrow of Davidic rule (by Nebuchadnezzar) and both end with the restoration of Davidic rule (by Jesus). While other kingdoms of significance to Israel (e.g., Egypt, Assyria) had arisen prior to Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, they are not in view in chapters 2 or 7 because they did not interrupt Jewish rule in the line of David.

like a lion, and had eagle’s wings

A passage in Jeremiah describes the impending invasion of Israel by Babylon using the same symbols: a lion and eagle.

The lion has come up from his thicket, And the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place To make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, Without inhabitant. For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, Lament and wail. For the fierce anger of the LORD Has not turned back from us. “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the LORD, “[That] the heart of the king shall perish, And the heart of the princes; The priests shall be astonished, And the prophets shall wonder.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’ Whereas the sword reaches to the heart.” At that time it will be said To this people and to Jerusalem, “A dry wind of the desolate heights [blows] in the wilderness Toward the daughter of My people-Not to fan or to cleanse- A wind too strong for these will come for Me; Now I will also speak judgment against them.” “Behold, he shall come up like clouds, And his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!” (Jer. 4:7-13) [emphasis added]

Eagle is from נְשַׁר [nešar], which also is used to describe Nebuchadnezzar’s disheveled appearance in chapter 4. “That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws” [emphasis added] (Dan. 4:30).

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (chapter 2) and Daniel’s vision (chapter 7) also have this in common: the symbols representing the first kingdom are higher in rank in relation to the symbols representing the kingdoms which follow.

The rank of the lion as the king of beasts, and of the eagle as the king of birds, corresponds to that of gold, the most precious of metals, which had been in chap. 2 the symbol of the first world-kingdom.116

The addition of eagle’s wings to the lion may depict additional swiftness beyond that of a natural lion.

The meaning of the symbol may be seen by comparing this passage with Isa. 46:11, where Cyrus is compared to “a ravenous bird” - “calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsels from a far country.” The eagle is an emblem of swiftness: Jer. 4:13, “His horses are swifter than eagles;” Jer. 48:40, “Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.”117

Elsewhere in Scripture, God’s supernatural assistance is described as being carried on eagle’s wings. As when God parted the Red Sea at the Exodus, preserved Israel during her subsequent wilderness wandering, and when He preserves believing Jews during the events of the book of Revelation.

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself (Ex. 19:4)

He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. He made him ride in the heights of the earth . . . (Deu. 32:10-13a cf. Deu. 1:31)

Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. (Rev. 12:13-14)

The addition of wings to the lion could then represent God’s support of Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, whom God, through Jeremiah, refers to as “My servant” (Jer. 25:9; 27:6; 43:10).

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they worked for Me,’ says the Lord GOD. (Eze. 29:19-20)

And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. And it shall be, [that] the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,‘says the LORD, ’with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.’ (Jer. 27:6-8)

For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.” (Jer. 28:14)

Jeremiah emphasized God’s sovereign purpose behind Nebuchadnezzar’s deportation of the Jews to Babylon when he proclaimed God’s intension that the Jews should accept their captivity—even seeking the peace of Babylon (Jer. 29:4-7).

In addition to the sequential correspondence between the first beast and the head of gold in chapter 2, numerous passages associate both lion (Jer. 4:7; 49:19; 50:17) and eagle (Jer. 48:40;118 49:22; Lam. 4:19; Eze. 17:3, 12; Hab. 1:8) with Babylon.119

Lion, Processional Way, Babylon

Lion, Processional Way, Babylon

120

Besides scripture’s use of lion and eagle in relation to Babylon, Daniel would have been familiar with statuary of winged lions adorning the royal palaces in Babylon.

It may have been that Daniel immediately understood that the winged lion represented the Babylonian empire, since he could look out the window of his apartment and see that very statuary in the city. Winged lions were in front of the royal palaces in the city of Babylonian and lined an important street that was used in processions.121

Winged lions guarded the gates of the royal palaces of the Babylonian’s, speaking of the rapid conquests and swift increase of royal power under Nebuchadnezzar.122

Nebuchadnezzar’s army was renown for the speed with which they attacked, causing the prophet Ezekiel to describe him as having the wings of an eagle (Ezekiel 17:3, 7). Moreover, the sculpted image of winged lions was an ever-present national symbol in Babylon. This image stood at the entrances to the Babylonian palaces, was prevalent on royal architecture and reliefs, and even flanked the monarch’s throne.123

The winged lions with human heads recovered at Nimrud (Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 348) and also the similar images of winged animals at Babylon (Münter, Religion der Babylonier, pp. 98, 139) were doubtless designed as symbols of the power and glory of that empire or of its rulers.124

A curious parallel exists between the symbols used of Babylon (and Nebuchadnezzar) and the faces of the four living creatures (חַיּוֹת [ḥayyôṯ]) seen by Ezekiel by the River Chebar, having been taken captive in the third deportation to Babylon.

As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. (Eze. 1:10) [emphasis added]

Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon is represented by a lion with eagle’s wings. Later, the lion has its wings plucked and a man’s heart given to it—which probably represents the humbling and restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. While humbled, Nebuchadnezzar is said to have eaten grass like an ox, “That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.” [emphasis added] (Dan. 4:30)

This parallel is probably coincidental: the faces of the living creatures conveying characteristics similar to that of Babylon and her king’s subsequent humiliation.125

wings were plucked off

The effectiveness and swiftness of the lion-eagle composite is hampered by the removal of its wings.

Some take the wings as representing specific kingdoms at the time of Babylon’s ascendency such as Babylonia in cooperation with Media,126 or kingdoms which were under the sway of Babylonia and subsequently revolted, such as the Medes and Persians,127 or the Medes and Persians along with Lydia.128

Other interpreters understand the removal of the wings as a reference to the diminished capabilities of Babylon as a nation.129

The successors of Nebuchadnezzar were comparatively weak and indolent princes - as if the wings of the monster had been plucked. . . . The word used (מרט [mrṭ]) means, to pluck or pull, as to pull out the beard (compare Ne. 13:25; Isa. 50:6), and would here be properly applied to some process of pulling out the feathers or quills from the wings of the eagle. The obvious and proper meaning of this symbol is, that there was some check put to the progress of the conqueror - as there would be to an eagle by plucking off the feathers from his wings; that is, the rapidity of his conquests would cease.130

Notice the suffixless על רַגְלַיִן [ʿl raḡlayin] “upon two feet,” instead of “on its two feet,” which (corresponding with 2 Kings 13:21) would have been employed if the description had from the first referred to Nebuchadnezzar in person. . . . I understand the design here to be to characterize the greater moderation and humanity which the Babylonian dominion exhibited after Nebuchadnezzar’s malady and restoration, or, to use the language of the prophet, after ‘its wings were plucked.’ . . . “The civilizing of the formerly barbarous Chaldæns, which was reserved until the Babylonian period, was to be described;” Jerome, Rashi, Ibn-Ezra, etc.131

Perhaps this corresponds with the removal of divine assistance from Nebuchadnezzar and the nation he led. Initially said to be God’s servant (Jer. 25:9; 27:6; 43:10), Babylon is subsequently judged for her pride and for rejoicing in the oppression of Israel (Jer. 50:11, 29, 31 cf. Isa. 13:17, 19).132 The hubris of the lion climaxes in Babylon’s last ruler, Belshazzar (Dan. 5:22-23).

But the verse reveals more: after having its wing’s plucked, the lion is lifted up from the earth and made to stand like a man. The close parallel between what is said here concerning the lion—suffering loss, but then being given attributes of a man—and the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4 seems impossible to ignore. Interpreters as early as Hippolytus (2nd-century A.D.) have seen this connection.

In speaking of its “eagle wings,” he meant that king Nebuchadnezzar was exalted, and that his glory was lifted up against God. Then he says “its wings were plucked off,” i.e., that his glory was destroyed; for he was driven out of his kingdom. . . . the words, “A man’s heart was given it, and it was made stand upon the feet of a man,” mean that he came to himself again, and recognised that he was but a man, and gave the glory to God.133

The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar.134

Further correspondence is evident between the wings of an eagle here and the description of Nebuchadnezzar’s appearance during his insanity when his hair was said to “have grown like eagles’ feathers.135

Ultimately, we need not separate the fate of Babylon as a kingdom from the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar. As goes the king, so goes the kingdom. The fact is, following the humiliation and death of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon suffered decline, reaching its end in the overthrow and assassination of the godless coregent Belshazzar at the hands of Darius the Mede, ushering in the kingdom of Medo-Persia. See Babylonian Rule after Nebuchadnezzar.

lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet

Lifted up is from נְטַל [neṭal], which also describes how Nebuchadnezzar lifted [his] eyes to heaven” [emphasis added] when his understanding was restored at the end of his period of insanity (Dan. 4:31). Earth is from אֲרַע [ʾăraʿ] which also describes the location of the grass upon which Nebuchadnezzar grazed in his humility (Dan. 4:12). Made to stand (hofal stem) indicates divine sovereignty and mercy.

like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it

Up to this point, the lion had a brutish, senseless heart. The emotionless cold eyes of a dangerous creature such as a bear or shark convey an inability to feel compassion coupled with an instinctive drive to seize upon prey wherever they find it. Wicked rulers are said to be similar: “Like a roaring lion and a charging bear Is a wicked ruler over poor people.” (Pr. 28:15).

Heart is from לְבַב [leḇaḇ], also used of “mind, the faculty of reasoning, thought, and understanding (Da 2:30; 4:16 (2×)).”136 “Given a human mind (ESV). This appears to be the sense in which it is used in the related passage where Nebuchadnezzar’s mental capacity is reduced to that of a beast (Dan. 4:16).137

Interpreters differ as to whether the gift of a man’s heart/mind relates to Babylon as an empire, or Nebuchadnezzar’s personal situation.

Some see the attributes of a man as denoting the demotion of the lion from its previous capabilities to that of reduced power and strength.

The giving of a man’s heart to it would not be inapplicable to the change produced in the empire after the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and under a succession of comparatively weak and inefficient princes. Instead of the heart of the lion - of being “lion-hearted” - it had the heart of a man; that is, the character of wildness and fierceness denoted by an untamed beast was succeeded by what would be better represented by a human being. . . .The change in the character of the empire, until it ceased under the feeble reign of Belshazzar; would be well denoted by this symbol.138

The Prophet adds, It stood upon its feet, and the heart of a man was given to it. By this form of expression, he means to imply the reduction of the Assyrians and Chaldeans to their ordinary condition, and that they were no longer like a lion, but like private men deprived of their power and strength.139

This recognizes the inferiority of the Babylonian rulers following Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, a contributing factor to the empire’s demise.140

Instead of a lion like heart, that was bold and intrepid, and feared nothing, it became weak and fearful, and timorous like the heart of man, especially in Belshazzar’s time; not only when he saw the handwriting on the wall, to which Jacchiades refers this; but when he was so fearful of Cyrus that he shut himself up in Babylon, and durst not stir out to give him battle, as Xenophon relates . . .141

Fruchtenbaum suggests the attributes of a man denotes a shift in the empire’s characteristics concerning conquest.

As much as possible that a man could become a beast, Nebuchadnezzar became one; as close as a beast could become a man, so did Babylon eventually lose its beast-like nature. Babylon eventually lost its beast-like nature as it moved from lust of conquest to the building of culture.142

Other interpreters see the numerous parallels between this verse and the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4 (Dan. 4:14-16, 23-25, 33-34) as describing the personal demise and restoration of Nebuchadnezzar.143

[Nebuchadnezzar] became humane, humble, and pious; and in this state he appears to have died.144

The lion’s wings being torn off speaks of the king’s insanity and loss of power; standing on two feet like a man and receiving a human heart (mind) denotes Nebuchadnezzar’s humanitarian rule after his insanity; and the lion being “lifted up from the ground” indicates that it was God who raised the king to his place of honor.145

We take this verse as speaking of the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. Having learned humility through judgment, at his restoration Nebuchadnezzar experienced the reversal of, “Let his heart be changed from [that of] a man, Let him be given the heart of a beast, And let seven times pass over him.” Dan. 4:16). “Being lifted up . . . to stand like a man” seems an intentional contrast to his previous beastly condition, “His was not a man’s heart, which looks up, owning One above him, but a beast’s, that looks down, in the gratification of itself, and the pursuit of its own instincts.”146

Interestingly, only the descriptions of the first and last beasts make reference to man. Here it is a man’s heart—speaking of humaneness. There it is a man’s eyes—denoting intelligence, possibly even craftiness (Dan. 7:8, 20). The ruler of the first Gentile kingdom, having been humbled as a beast, is restored as a man. The ruler of the final Gentile kingdom, having eyes like a man (intelligence), behaves as a beast (Rev. 13:7). See Man: Image of God or Beast?

Both rulers are contrasted with the “One like the Son of Man” (Dan. 7:13), as if to raise the question: which type of man will ultimately rule over God’s creation? A sinful man from the earth? Or the one-and-only sinless man from heaven (John 3:13, 31; 6:33, 38, 41-42)?

3.7.5 - Daniel 7:5

Bear with Three Ribs

Bear with Three Ribs

147

suddenly

Suddenly is from אֲרוּ [ʾărû], “there!, behold!; a discourse marker to introduce description of a vision, implying transition, emphasis, or attention.”148 The appearance of the second beast is emphasized. The rapidity with which the first beast is superseded in the vision by the second beast may relate to the suddenness with which Babylon fell to Medo Persia. The subsequent beasts are introduced by בָּאתַר [bāṯar], “afterward.”

another beast

Concerning the view that the second beast represents a Median kingdom separate from Persia:

The claim of a separate Median Empire in that period is patently untenable for the following five reasons: (1) Such a view clashes with the scope of the other visions of the book, which comprehend not only the first advent of Christ, but the risk of Antichrist and the second advent as well (Dan. 2:31-46; 7:9-14; 9:26-27; 11:36-39; 12:2, 13). (2) Such a view clashes also with the facts of history and makes out Daniel’s prophecies to be false . . . (3) Such a view ignores the internal evidence of the book, which repeatedly mentions a combined kingdom of the Medes and Persians (Dan. 6:8, 12, 15). (4) Such a view does not tally with history, whereas Daniel’s record does. (5) Recent discoveries prove beyond question that the second empire was Medo-Persian. Babylon fell to the Medo-Persian attack on October 12, 539 B.C., and Cyrus entered the conquered city on October 29; so there was no room or time for a separate Median empire.149

The view that the bear symbolized the composite Medo-Persian Empire is supported by the description of the empire in chap. 8. In Dan. 8:3 a ram appears and is identified as “the kings of Media and Persia” (8:20). It has two horns, one larger than the other, portraying the twofold division of the Medo-Persian kingdom.150

See The Medo-Persian Empire.

a second

Two years later, Daniel would receive an additional vision providing further details concerning this second beast/kingdom. See Daniel 8:1.

like a bear

Although the bear is considered similar to the lion in ferociousness (Pr. 28:15; Lam. 3:10; Hos. 13:8; Amos 5:19 cf. Isa. 11:7),151 when David described his encounters with wild beasts as a shepherd, he emphasized the lion over the bear by mentioning it first (1S. 17:34-37).

The symbolism of the bear suggests that the second empire would be powerful and ferocious (Isa. 13:17-18) but lacking the kingly power and majesty of the Babylonian lion, for it would be heavy and clumsy in its movements.152

The symbol of the bear may indicate this kingdom would be less sophisticated, perhaps more savage and greedy, than the lion.153 This could correspond to its inferior nature in comparison to the first kingdom, as revealed in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2:39).

The bear is noted as especially fierce when hungry, or when robbed of its whelps. Jerome (on Hos. 13:8) remarks, “It is said by those who have studied the nature of wild beasts, that none among them is more ferocious than the bear when deprived of its young, or when hungry.” Compare 2S. 17:8; Pr. 17:12; Hos. 13:8. The characteristics of the kingdom, therefore, that would be denoted by the bear would be ferocity, roughness, fierceness in war, especially when provoked; a spirit less manly and noble than that denoted by the lion; severe in its treatment of enemies, with a mixture of fierce and savage cunning. . . . Taking the whole [Medo-Persian] nation together, it was fierce and rough, and unpolished, little disposed to friendliness with the nations, and dissatisfied while any around it had peace or prosperity. In the image seen in Dan. 2, this kingdom, denoted by the breast and arms of silver Dan. 2:32, is described in the explanation Dan. 2:39 as “inferior to thee;” that is, to Nebuchadnezzar. For a sufficiently full account of this kingdom - of the mad projects of Cambyses, and his savage rage against the Ethiopians - well represented by the ferocity of the bear; of the ill-starred expedition to Greece under Xerxes - an expedition in its fierceness and folly well represented by the bear, and of the degeneracy of the national character after Xerxes - well represented by the bear as compared with the lion . . .154

Bear are more ponderous lions in their movements, also a characteristic of Medo-Persia with its large armies.

The Medo-Persian armies, even on moderate expeditions, ranged from a third to a full million of men. Darius marched through the desolate regions of Scythia with seven hundred thousand men, exclusive of a fleet of six hundred ships carrying a naval force of one hundred and twenty thousand more. Xerxes came against Greece with two millions and a half of fighting men. Artaxerxes brought an army against his brother, Cyrus the Younger, numbering nine hundred thousand, with a contingent of three hundred thousand which did not come up in time. Never, by any dominion, were such heavy masses of men brought together to such wholesale slaughter and destruction as by this Medo-Persian power . . .155

[The Persian empire] wielded vast masses of human strength on their enemies; their armies varied from 300,000 on slighter expeditions to a million. Darius’ army, with which he marched through the desolate regions of Scythia, was counted at 700,000, exclusive of his fleet of 600 ships, which would add a naval force of 120,000 men. Xerxes’ expedition against Greece resembled more the emigration of vast hordes, than an army; they were calculated at above two million and a half of fighting men. Artaxerxes Longimanus, his successor, gathered two armies, each it is said, exceeding 300,000 men, to subdue the single province of Egypt.156

Clarke notes that, at the time of the visions, the largest species of bears occupied the mountainous forests of Media.157

raised up on one side

Raised up is in the hophal stem. To “be raised up”158 under the influence of an outside agent.159 “The Hophal (Hp) perfect verb הֳקִמַת [hŏqimaṯ] indicates that the side of the bear was ‘raised up’ by someone. This is a reference to God granting greater dominion to the Persians in the empire consisting of both the Medes and the Persians.”160

Most interpreters see the unequal stance of the bear’s sides as representing the imbalance in power within the Medo-Persian alliance. The power of the Media was eventually eclipsed by Persia. Like the ram with two horns, also representing Media and Persia, the higher horn (Persia) came up last (Dan. 8:3, 20). Those who hold this view include Clough,161 Gaebelein,162 Keil,163 Kelly,164 Miller,165 Price,166 Walvoord,167 Whitcomb,168 Wood,169 and Zöckler.170

This provides further evidence that the second kingdom encompasses both Media and Persia.

The raised side is a strong indication that this beast represents Media-Persia, and not simply Media, as critical scholars claim. . . . The two-sided nature of this second beast corresponds with the two horns on the ram that represents Media-Persia in Dan. 8:3. Its raised side corresponds to the larger horn representing Persia in Dan. 8:3.171

Being raised up on one side is not explained and would be very difficult to even guess at the meaning if it were not for the fuller description of this second empire in the next chapter of Daniel which pictures these two nations. The horn representing Persia is much bigger than the other representing the Medes, giving the same picture of a lopsided animal (cf. Dan. 8:3, 20).172

See The Medo-Persian Empire.

three ribs in its mouth

Ribs is from עֲלַע [ʿălaʿ], which can also denote “tooth, fang; tusk (NRSV, NAB, Vg?) a part of the body for cutting or chewing food.”173 Since the items are said to be between its (two sets of) teeth (שִׁנַּיהּ [šinnayh]), most translations take them to be ribs. But the Tanakh interprets them as three more-notable teeth among the others, “three fangs in its mouth among its teeth.”174

The majority of interpreters interpret the ribs as representing the three major conquests of the bear (Medo-Persia): Lydia [in western Asia Minor], Babylon, and Egypt.175

The three ribs in the mouth of the monstrous bear probably refer to the three greatest conquests of the Medo-Persians under Cyrus and his son Cambyses: (1) Lydia in Asia Minor under King Croesus, 546 B.C.; (2) Babylon under Nabonidus and Belshazzar, 539 B.C.; and (3) Egypt under Psamtik III, 525 B.C.176

This meaning is suggested by Clarke,177 Fruchtenbaum,178 Gill,179 Greene,180 Howe,181 Keil,182 Larkin,183 Miller,184 Newton,185 Pentecost,186 Pusey,187 Sauer,188 Seiss,189 VanGemeren,190 Whitcomb,191 and Zöckler.192

Other interpreters suggest the ribs represent conquests by the bear leading up to the overthrow of the lion (Babylon).193

These three ribs represent the conquests of Cyrus. . . . Before he defeated Babylon he first defeated the Medes in 550 BC, then he moved west and he conquered the Lydian Empire in Turkey or Asia Minor, between 550 and 539 BC, and then he moved south and conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire, so these three ribs represent the three empires that Cyrus defeated.194

Another views takes the ribs as identifying nations comprising the bear. This is one of the earliest interpretations.

Then after the lioness he sees a second beast, “like a bear,” which signified the Persians. For after the Babylonians the Persians obtained the power. And in saying that “it had three ribs in its mouth,” he pointed to the three nations, Persians, Medes, and Babylonians, which were expressed in the image by the silver after the gold.195

This view is suggested by Hippolytus,196 Jerome,197 Unger,198 and Walvoord.199

This meaning seems unlikely because it would picture the bear as devouring itself.200

Since the bear appears with ribs already in its mouth, the ribs may represent conquests leading up to the appearance of the bear on the stage of world history.

The ribs in the mouth of the beast. . . . would properly refer to some previous conquest - as a bear appearing in that manner would indicate that some other animal had been overcome and slain by him, and torn in pieces. The emblem would be fulfilled if the power here symbolized had been successful in former wars, and had rent kingdoms or people asunder. That this description would apply to the Medo-Persian power before its attack on Babylon, or before extending its dominion over Babylon, and its establishment as the Medo-Persian kingdoms, no one can doubt.201

Cyrus the Great is the leading figure when we think of Medo-Persia. He it was who destroyed the chief cities of Babylon, of which the three ribs in the mouth of the bear seem to speak. . . . The three ribs between the teeth speak of its having already destroyed its prey. It had destroyed the Babylonian lion, and the three ribs might stand for the three chief cities of the Chaldean empire—Babylon, Ecbatana, and Borsippa, which were all taken by the united armies of Cyrus and Cyaxares.202

Other views concerning the meaning of the three ribs in the bear’s mouth include: the kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon;203 three Persian kings (Cyrus, Ahasuerus, and Darius);204 or that the ribs simply represent the rapacity that would characterize the Persian empire.205

Some commentators believe the number of ribs need not correspond to specific entities conquered by the bear.206 If so, this begs the question why the text specifies three ribs.

they said, Arise . . .

We encountered a similar use of plural subject, they, in Daniel 4:25-26: “they shall drive you . . . they shall make you... they shall wet you... they gave the command...” (Dan. 4:25-26).

The speakers may be angels, the heavenly watchers mentioned in Daniel 4:17.207 Or perhaps they is used in an impersonal sense:208

Biblical Aramaic frequently uses plural forms that are impersonal (with no stated subject) but that imply God as the ultimate cause of the action. Usually they are best translated as passives, hence “this is what was being said to it.”209

Regardless of whom “they” refers to, the phrase speaks of divine initiative (cf. Isa. 13:17; 21:2; Rev. 6:1, 3, 5, 7).210

devour much meat

Meat is בְּשַׂר [beśar], “food consisting of flesh.”211

If taken as a command to consume the ribs already held in the bear’s mouth,212 it could refer to the overthrow of Belshazzar’s kingdom at the demise of the lion.213

It seems more likely the bear, having already consumed the three ribs, is now commanded to devour additional prey.

The overall stress for this beast is on conquest; and Medo-Persia did take over far more land than any prior kingdom, reaching finally all the way from the Indus River on the east to Egypt and the Aegean on the west.214

These words evidently refer to something in the history of the Median empire, that is subsequent to the devouring of the three ribs, and therefore to the later wars of that state for conquest and plunder, which followed after the subjugation of the three neighboring kingdoms. This clearly indicates that the beast described in this connection does not represent Media only, but the united Medo-Persian empire215

Or the phrase may simply convey the cruelty of the bear’s conquest.216

3.7.6 - Daniel 7:6

Leopard with Four Wings and Four Heads

Leopard with Four Wings and Four Heads

217

After this218 I looked

The OG version renders this phrase using the familiar Greek combination, μετὰ ταῦτα [meta tauta]—used to establish the sequenced of prophetic events throughout the Book of Revelation (Rev. 1:19), especially the order in which elements within the vision are revealed to the prophet, “After these things I saw . . .” (Rev. 4:1; 9:12; 15:5; 18:1 cf. 19:1).

like a leopard

Leopard is from נְמַר [nemar], “leopard, panther, a fierce animal noted for its speed . . . (Dan. 7:6).”219

Habakkuk compares the swiftness of enemy horses to leopards, “Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves.” (Hab. 1:8a).220

The figure of a leopard was used by Jeremiah (Jer. 5:6) and Hosea (Hos. 13:7) as a symbol of swift judgment that was coming on Judah and on Israel. The leopard was apparently used in these pictures of coming judgment because the leopard would pounce suddenly on its victim. [emphasis added]221

The Greek Empire became famous for the speed of territorial expansion under the leadership of Alexander the Great.

Greece is aptly represented by this flying leopard, for its conquests were carried out with lightning speed, and it had an insatiable lust for territory. Alexander the Great invaded Asia Minor in 334 B.C. and within ten short years (by the age of thirty-two) had conquered the entire Medo-Persian Empire to the borders of India.222

Now the picture of the leopard, the reason the leopard is chosen is because of its speed. It took eleven years for Alexander the Great to conquer the known world, from the time he came out of Macedon and started conquering in the Greek city states until he was on the banks of the Indus River in what is really now Pakistan.223

In eight years time the Greeks marched and conquered more than 11,000 miles of territory from Greece in the west to India in the east. [C. E. Van Sickle, A Political and Cultural History of tThe Ancient World, I (Chicago: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1947), p. 594.]224

Interpreters are almost unanimous in identifying Greece as the empire represented by the leopard, including:225 Barnes,226 Boutflower,227 Borland,228 Calvin,229 Clarke,230 Clough,231 Combs,232 Constable,233 Dean, 234 Fausset,235 Gaebelein,236 Gill,237 Hippolytus,238 Howe,239 Ironside,240 Larkin,241 Leupold,242 Miller,243 Newton,244 Sauer,245 Showers,246 Steinmann,247 Unger,248 Walvoord,249 Wood,250 Whitcomb,251 and Zöckler.252

The swiftness of the leopard is seen as representing the pace of Alexander’s conquests. This widely-held identification of the leopard as Greece is reinforced by additional information which follows: the leopard is said to have four heads, which many see as indicative of the composition of the empire following the death of Alexander.

We believe the leopard in this chapter represents the same kingdom as the male goat, arising from the west, containing a notable horn, which Daniel sees in chapter 8—which Scripture identifies as the kingdom of Greece (Dan. 8:21). See commentary on Daniel 8:5 and 8:21.

As mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, caution is advised when interpreting symbols, especially the tendency of reading too much into subtleties of the imagery employed. This error becomes evident when an interpretation reads significance into aspects of the imagery which are not mentioned by the text of Scripture.

Gill suggests the smaller size of the leopard in comparison to the lion is meant to convey the small and crafty beginning of Alexander’s rise to power.253 Having previously cautioned against pressing the characteristics of each beast too far, Barnes suggests the spots on the leopard—a detail not mentioned by the text—as representing the disparate nations amalgamated within Alexander’s empire.

The proper idea in this representation, when used as a symbol, would be of a nation or kingdom that would have more nobleness than the one represented by the bear, but a less decisive headship over others than that represented by the lion; a nation that, was addicted to conquest, or that preyed upon others; a nation rapid in its movements, and springing upon others unawares, and perhaps in its spots denoting a nation or people made up, not of homogeneous elements, but of various different people. . . . the leopard is marked by spots - a circumstance which many have supposed had a fulfillment in the fact that numerous nations, not homogeneous, were found in the empire of Alexander. So Bochart, Hieroz. P. I. lib. iii. c. vii. p. 789, says: “The spots of the leopard refer to the different customs of the nations over which he ruled. Among these, besides the Macedonians, Greeks, Thracians, and Illyrians, in Europe, there were in Africa the Libyans, Egyptians, and Troglodites; in Asia, almost all the nations to the Ganges.”254

Clarke suggests the spots on the leopard are indicative of Alexander’s inconsistent personality traits.255

It seems unwise to base interpretive subtleties on aspects of each animal which the text of Scripture doesn’t mention.

Additional support for associating the third beast with the Greek Empire is found in Josephus. When Alexander entered Jerusalem, Josephus records that Alexander was shown the Book of Daniel which indicated that the Greek Empire would supersede the Medo-Persian Empire.

He [Alexander] went up into the temple, he offered sacrifice to God, according to the high priest’s direction, and magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests. And when the book of Daniel was showed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended . . .256

Most likely, the passage shown to Alexander was Daniel 8:3-7, 20-21 which describes the overthrow of a ram with two horns by a male goat from the west. The ram with two horns and the male goat are explicitly identified as “the kings of Media and Persia” (Dan. 8:20) and “the kingdom of Greece” (Dan. 8:21), respectively. See commentary on Daniel 8:20.

Alexander The Great at the Battle of Issus

Alexander The Great at the Battle of Issus

257

four wings

Some see the four wings, twice as many as the lion,258 as an additional indicator of the swiftness of the third beast.259 This view has the support of the previously-cited passage in Habakkuk referring to the swiftness of leopards which also mentions the flight of eagles, “Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes from afar; They fly as the eagle [that] hastens to eat” [emphasis added] (Hab. 1:8).

In Daniel 8, the same empire is said to move so rapidly that it did not touch the ground, “a male goat came from the west . . . without touching the ground” (Dan. 8:5).

The leopard is remarkable for speed, and in order to emphasise this point the leopard in the vision is seen to be furnished with four wings. Similarly, in the vision of Daniel 8, which is infallibly interpreted for us by the angel Gabriel, attention is drawn to this same striking feature of Alexander’s career. The mighty conqueror from Macedon is beheld as a he-goat coming from the west, which appeared not to touch the ground.260

The four wings may also convey with the four primary directions of the compass—signifying the global dominion of the leopard’s empire.261

The four wings may represent extraordinary velocity (Geier, ‘twice as great as Babylon’s’), but, better, they and the four heads typify the four quarters of the world, ‘œcumenicity’ with Klief, We might compare the four-headed beasts in Eze. 1, indicating the extension of the divine energy in every quarter. Cyrus in his Cylinder Inscription speaks of himself as monarch of the Four Quarters.262

Another possibility is that the four wings carry a similar meaning to the four heads—referring to the subsequent partitioning of the Greek Empire into four parts following the death of Alexander.

In saying that the beast “had four wings of a fowl, and four heads,” he showed most clearly how the kingdom of Alexander was parted into four divisions. For in speaking of four heads, he meant the four kings that arose out of it.263

See the discussion concerning the four heads.

Dean suggests the four wings represent four major battles which Alexander fought to conquer Asia.264

four heads

3.7.6.1 - CONTINUE

3.7.7 - Daniel 7:7

Dreadful and Terrible Beast

Dreadful and Terrible Beast

265

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

it was devouring

trampling the residue

It was different from all the beasts that were before it

ten horns

Ten Horns

Ten Horns

266

3.7.8 - Daniel 7:8

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

before whom267

a mouth speaking pompous words268

3.7.9 - Daniel 7:9

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

thrones were put in place

3.7.10 - Daniel 7:10

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

The court was seated

3.7.11 - Daniel 7:11

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.12 - Daniel 7:12

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.13 - Daniel 7:13

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.14 - Daniel 7:14

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.15 - Daniel 7:15

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.16 - Daniel 7:16

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.17 - Daniel 7:17

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

Arise out of the earth269;

3.7.18 - Daniel 7:18

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.19 - Daniel 7:19

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.20 - Daniel 7:20

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.21 - Daniel 7:21

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.22 - Daniel 7:22

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.23 - Daniel 7:23

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.24 - Daniel 7:24

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.25 - Daniel 7:25

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

for a time and times and half a time

3.7.26 - Daniel 7:26

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.27 - Daniel 7:27

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.28 - Daniel 7:28

Commentary is not yet available on this verse.

3.7.29 - LAST-VERSE-IN-ARAMAIC

3.7.30 - Lessons from Chapter 7

Lessons for Living

Lessons for Living

270

The seventh chapter of Daniel contains numerous lessons we can apply in our own lives.



Notes

1Daniel’s vision of four beasts coming up from the sea (Daniel 7:1-7). Copyright © 2018 by Kevin Kunz. Use of this license is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license.

2 “The vision of Daniel provides the most comprehensive and detailed prophecy of future events to be found anywhere in the Old Testament. . . . the chapter forms a major outline of future events to which additional details are given later in the book of Daniel and in the New Testament, especially in the Revelation.”—John F. Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation (Chicago, IL: Moody Bible Institute, 1971), 145. “Daniel 7-12 truly is a key to understanding prophecy in both the Old and New Testament.”—Robert Dean, Lessons on Daniel (Spokane, WA: Ellen Kelso [transcriber], 2006), 26.305.

3Stephen R. Miller, “Daniel,” in E. Ray Clendenen, Kenneth A. Mathews, and David S. Dockery, eds., The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 191-192.

4“When God’s people were taken captive to Babylonia, it seemed from the human perspective that God was through with them (cf. Jer. 33:24). God was not through with them, however, and He desired that they know He was not.”—Leon J. Wood, A Commentary on Daniel (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1998), 177-178.

5Concerning God placing His name in Jerusalem: 1K. 11:36; 2K. 23:27; 2Chr. 33:4; 2Chr. 33:7; Dan. 9:19.

6Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 26.306.

7For example, Jesus’ reference to forgiving one’s brother “up to seventy times seven” is an allusion to the duration of Israel’s disobedience keeping the Sabbath leading to the seventy sevens of Daniel 9:24-27, a period of 490 years.

8David Jeremiah, The Handwriting on the Wall: Secrets from the Prophecies of Daniel (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, 1992), 132.

9Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 26.305.

10Thomas A Howe, Daniel in the Preterist’s Den (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2008), Dan. 7:1.

11William Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Daniel (3rd. ed.) (Richardson, TX: Galaxie Software, 1881, 2004), Dan. 7:1.

12James Street, The ‘Vision’ Behind the Great Commission (Los Angeles, CA: The Master’s Seminary, 2020), 1-2.

13Ibid., 3.

14Hippolytus, “On Daniel,” in Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume V: Fathers of the Third Century: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Novatian, Appendix (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1886), s.v. “Image Parallels Beasts.”

15Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible - Daniel (Broken Arrow, OK: StudyLamp Software, 1832), Dan. 7:1.

16Ibid., Dan. 7:2.

17James A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Edinburgh, Scotland: T & T Clark, 1927, 1959), 283.

18Edward B. Pusey, Daniel the Prophet (Oxford, England: James Parker & Co, 1868), 10.

19Ibid., 65.

20Joseph Augustus Seiss, Voices from Babylon; or, The Records of Daniel the Prophet (Philadelphia, PA: Porter & Coates, 1879), 187.

21“The prophecy of the four empires is repeated, with several new additions . . .”—Isaac Newton, Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of John (Cave Junction, OR: Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, 1831, 1991), 28.

22 “Chapter two had touched on the subject without actually bringing the Christ into the picture. Our chapter has such a fine statement regarding the place that the Messiah occupies in the design of God that we cannot but see that by this means the major truth of this first half of the book is dealt with in a manner that is commensurate with its importance.”—H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Daniel (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1949, 1969), 276. “Chapter 2 gave little detail about the personal Messiah who brings God’s kingdom or the judgment of God against the human kingdoms.”—Andrew E Steinmann, Daniel (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2008), 327.

23“This chapter treats of the same subject as the second chapter. But there the four kingdoms, and Messiah’s final kingdom, were regarded according to their external political aspect, but here according to the mind of God concerning them, and their moral features.”—A. R. Fausset, “The Book of Daniel,” in Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, 1877), Dan 7:1. “In chapter 2, the four earthly kingdoms . . . were seen in their outward political appearance; by contrast, chapter 7 presents God’s estimate of their innermost moral and spiritual features.”—Charles Lee Feinberg, A Commentary on Daniel: The Kingdom of the Lord (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1981), Dan. 7:1. “There may be truth to the idea that the image with its glittering metals portrays the world’s kingdoms from humanity’s viewpoint—impressive and great, whereas the beasts depict these earthly kingdoms from God’s perspective—vicious and destructive.”—Miller, Daniel, 218. “The humanlike dream-image, seen by the pagan Nebuchadnezzar, represented these empires from the viewpoint of man as each having intrinsic value, corresponding to the descending values of the metals of the image; whereas the four beasts, seen by the godly Daniel, show these empires from God’s viewpoint, as each being “beastly” in nature and value.”—Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, 178-179. “Chapter 2 considers world history from man’s viewpoint as a glorious and imposing spectacle. Chapter 7 views world history from God’s standpoint in its immorality, brutality, and depravity.”—Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, 151.

24“The great powers of the ‘times of the Gentiles’ (Luke 21:24) were represented in Daniel’s vision by the figures of the four great beasts rising from the sea.”—Feinberg, A Commentary on Daniel: The Kingdom of the Lord, Dan. 7:28. “This vision was given to Daniel that he might have more light on the ‘times of the Gentiles’ . . .”—Oliver B. Greene, Daniel (Greenville, SC: The Gospel Hour, 1964, 1974), Dan. 7:3. “Chapter seven covers practically the same ground as chapter two. It takes in the whole course of the Times of the Gentiles, beginning with Babylon and ending in the overthrow of all derived authority and the establishment of the kingdom of the Son of Man.”—H. A. Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, 2nd ed (New York, NY: Loizeaux Brothers, 1953), 117. “As Daniel was watching the little horn because of its boasting (cf. v. 8) he saw that the fourth beast was slain and consigned to blazing fire. This event will terminate ‘the times of the Gentiles’ (Luke 21:24, 27).”—J. Dwight Pentecost, “Daniel,” in John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Wheaton, IL: SP Publications, 1983), Dan. 7:11-12. “The dream of Daniel 7 portrayed the same thing as the dream of Daniel 2—the course of Gentile world dominion from the time of Babylon to the second coming of Christ. During this extensive period of history, the Gentiles would have supremacy in the world, and Israel and Jerusalem would be trodden down by the Gentiles. It is the period that Jesus called The Times of The Gentiles (Luke 21:24).”—Renald E. Showers, The Most High God: Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Bellmawr, NJ: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1982), Dan. 7:15-27. “The vision of the beasts has a remarkable resemblance to the colossus image of chapter 2. It covers the same period of the times of the Gentiles and the same succession of world empires.”—Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2002), 1640.

25Horatius Bonar observed, “I believe that these times of ours (as also all the times of the four monarchies [Dan 2]) are the times of the Gentiles; and that Jerusalem and Israel shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. [H. Bonar, ‘The Jew,’ The Quarterly Journal of Prophecy (July, 1870): 211]”—Barry E Horner, Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged (Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman, 2007), 10.

26J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), 316.

27George H. Peters, The Theocratic Kingdom (New York, NY: Funk & Wagnalls, 1884), 2:115.

28John E. Goldingay, “Daniel,” vol. 30 in Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, and Glenn W. Barker, eds., Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas, TX: Word Books), 146-147, 151-152, 157.

29“It is as certain an exegetical judgment as most that the contextual meaning of Dan 7 is that the first empire is Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, the fourth is Greece. There is less certainty about the identity of the second and third kingdoms.”—Ibid., 175.

30“The small horn that emerges among the ten, however, we can identify as Antiochus IV, the Seleucid king who precipitated the greatest crisis in the history of the Jews between the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. and the events of the first century A.D.”—Ibid., 187.

31“There are bound to be occasional points of contact with heathen literature because fragments of truth have been retained here and there in heathen tradition. But such accidental coincidences do not stamp divine revelation as having been derived from these outside sources.”—Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, 279.

32“There is much in the Enuma Elish that has no parallel in Daniel 7, and there is much in Daniel 7 that had no parallel in the myth. In addition, even the parallels are not as close as they might seem at first blush.”—Steinmann, Daniel, 333.

33Charles Clough, Lessons on Daniel (Spokane, WA: Ellen Kelso, [transcriber], 2006), 23.297.

34“Symbolism is a key element in apocalyptic, and these symbols sometimes have baffled readers of books like Daniel and Revelation. Usually the meaning of figures is explained in the text itself. When this is not the case, their significance is often found in other Scriptures.”—Miller, Daniel, 193.

35“The year was probably 553 B.C., fourteen years before the fall of Babylon.”—Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, 149.

36“The visions of chaps. 7-12 are given in chronological sequence. The order is as follows: (1) chap. 7—first year of Belshazzar, (2) chap. 8—third year of Belshazzar, (3) chap. 9—first year of Darius the Mede, (4) chaps. 10-12—third year of Cyrus.”—Miller, Daniel, 193.

37“There is some doubt as to when Belshazzar commenced his co-regency with his father Nabunaid, but the consensus of opinion is that it was probably 553 BC; if so, Daniel had this vision about fourteen years before the fall of the Babylonian Empire.”—Monty S. Mills, Daniel: A Study Guide to the Book of Daniel (Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries, 1988, 1999), Dan. 7:1.

38Clough, Lessons on Daniel, 23.298.

39They remained faithful even in adverse conditions: “Daniel and John were not in immediate contact with the congregation, but isolated and alone with God, the one in a heathen court, the other on a lonely isle (Rev 1:9).”—Fausset, The Book of Daniel, s.v. “Introduction.”

40John’s age at the time he received vision comprising the book of Revelation cannot be determined exactly. Assuming John was of similar age to Jesus, born in approximately 3/2 B.C., then he would have been in his late 90s when exiled to Patmos during the reign of Domitian.

41Clarence Larkin, The Book of Daniel (Glenside, PA: Clarence Larkin Estate, 1929), Dan. 7:1.

42Andrew E Steinmann, From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2011), 175.

43Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, 281.

44William H. Shea, “Nabonidus, Belshazzar, and the Book of Daniel: An Update,” in Andrews University Seminary Studies, vol. 20 no. 2 (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, Summer 1982), 136.

45James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), #10255.

46Ibid., #10267.

47Ibid., #10256.

48“Daniel speaks of his experience as a dream and a vision, apparently indicating that he had a vision in a dream.”—Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, 150.

49Pentecost, Daniel, Dan. 7:1.

50J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981), Dan. 7:1.

51Miller, Daniel, 192-193, 194.

52“Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7). Concerning visions from God: Gen. 46:2; Num. 12:6; 1S. 3:15; 1K. 22:19; 2Chr. 18:18; Job 33:15; Isa. 1:1; Isa. 6:1; Eze. 1:3; Eze. 8:3; Eze. 11:24; Dan. 2:9; Dan. 2:19; Dan. 8:1; Dan. 8:16; Dan. 9:21; Dan. 10:1; Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17; Acts 9:10-12; Acts 10:3; Acts 10:11; Acts 11:5; Acts 16:9-10; Acts 18:9; Acts 22:18; Acts 26:19; Rev. 1:10; Rev. 4:2; Rev. 9:17.

53Daniel’s contributions to Scripture were inspired, as were David’s (Mat. 22:3; Mark 12:36; Acts 1:16).

54Rene Pache, The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture (Salen, WI: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1969), 197.

55“Although God in these days does not address us by visions, yet he wishes us to be content with his Law and Gospel, while angels do not appear to us, and do not openly and conspicuously descend from heaven; but, since Scripture is obscure to us, through the darkness in which we are involved, let us learn not to reject whatever surpasses our capacity, even when some dark veil envelops it, but let us fly to the remedy which Daniel used, not to seek the understanding of God’s word from angels, who do not appear to us, but from Christ himself, who in these days teaches us familiarly by means of pastors and ministers of the gospel.”—John Calvin, Commentary on The Prophet Daniel (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1998, 1561), Dan. 7:15-16.

56“Near the end of Dan. 7:1, the awkward phrase ‘he related the sum of the words’ is completely absent from 4QDanb, the only scroll that preserves this verse.”—Martin Abegg, Peter Flint, and Eugene Ulrich, The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 1999), 484.

57Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10646.

58Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel (London, England: Blackie & Son, 1853), Dan. 7:1.

59Kelly comments on the relative priority of history and the Scriptures: “We do not really need history for the understanding of prophecy. Inattention to this plunges people into uncertainty. We may have recourse to history as a sort of homage paid to prophecy; but the historical confirmation of fulfilled prophecy is a very distinct thing from its interpretation. Prophecy, like all Scripture, is explained only by the Spirit of God; and He need not leave the written Word for human help to explain what He has inspired: only He who is the Author of Scripture is really capable of explaining it. I ought not to have to press this, as it is a first principle of truth; but we have to insist on first principles of truth quite as much now as ever.”—Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Daniel (3rd. ed.), Dan. 7:5.

60Miller, Daniel, 192.

61“That they come contrary to nature, from the four directions at the same time indicates the severity and confusion of this strife and world-turmoil.”—Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, 180.

62The four winds of heaven speak of divine influence, global in scope (Dan. 8:8; 11:4; Eze. 37:9; Zec. 2:6; 6:6; Rev. 7:1). “The symbolic meaning of the number four in the book of Revelation seems clear: it is the signature of the world or of global effect.”—Anthony C. Garland, A Testimony of Jesus Christ : A Commentary on the Book of Revelation (Volume 1, Rev. 1-14) (Camano Island, WA: SpiritAndTruth.org, 2004), 2.7.5.3.3.

63“When Daniel speaks of ‘the four winds of heaven’ he is telling us that what is to take place among the nations is going to be brought about by the working of God and that it is a worldwide activity, and not events isolated to some local area.”—Paul Benware, Daniel’s Prophecy of Things to Come (Clifton, TX: Scofield Ministries, 2007), Dan. 7:2.

64Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10658.

65Pentecost, Daniel, Dan. 7:2.

66“The four winds of heaven I suppose to have been angelic powers to whom the principalities have been (p. 528) committed, in accordance with what we read in Deuteronomy: ‘When the Most High divided the nations and when He separated the children of Adam, He established the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the angels.’ [Jerome here follows uncritically the Septuagint, which read benev ’el (‘sons of God’) instead of the Massoretic beney Yisra’el (‘sons of Israel’). Since in his own Vulgate translation Jerome followed the Massoretic text and rendered filiorum Israel, he must have written this Commentary before he translated the Pentateuch.]”—Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel (Translated by Gleason L. Archer Jr.) (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 407, 1958), Dan. 7:2-3.

67Larkin, The Book of Daniel, Dan. 7:3.

68Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 27.327, 28.332-333.

69John C. Whitcomb, Daniel (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1985), Dan. 7:2.

70“These four angels or these four spirits [of Zechariah 6:5] are commanding officers of a global force of angels that operate in the geopolitical environment.”—Clough, Lessons on Daniel, 24.313.

71Carl Friedrich Keil, “Daniel,” in Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002), Dan. 7:2.

72Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, 124.

73Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10322.

74“The continual restlessness of the sea corresponds to the state of unrest in which the nations continually find themselves. The waters, roily with filth, present the picture of the continual iniquity and filth that the unrest of the world brings to light.”—Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, 284-285. “Symbolizing God’s sovereign power clashing with the plans of rebellious man . . . striving upon . . . the great sea (the peoples of the earth in the satanic world system, in opposition to God’s plan for Israel and the nations , Isa. 17:12-13; 57:20; Jer. 6:23; cf. Psalm 2:1-12).”—Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament, 1640.

75Clough, Lessons on Daniel, 23.304-306.

76Ibid., 23.306.

77Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 27.326.

78Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:2.

79“The Mediterranean world seems to be particularly in view since the sea was the Mediterranean.”—Thomas Constable, Notes on Daniel (Garland, TX: Sonic Light, 2009), 75. “By the great sea, the Mediterranean is meant; and is so called to distinguish it from those lakes called seas by the Hebrews; such as the Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, Sea of Tiberias, etc.”—Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible - Daniel, Dan. 7:2. “Daniel’s beast came up out of ‘the great sea’ (the Mediterranean), as explained in Daniel 7:2-3. John was in exile on the isle of Patmos when God gave him the Revelation [Rev. 13:1]; so we see that both beasts came up from the same locality—the ‘great sea,’ or the Mediterranean.”—Greene, Daniel, Dan. 7:7-8.

80Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, 123.

81“The referent of the great sea is unclear. The common view that the expression refers to the Mediterranean Sea is conjectural.”—New English Translation : NET Bible, 1st ed (Dallas, TX: Biblical Studies Press, 1998, 2006), Dan. 7:2.

82Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10263.

83“Note also the clear statement of verse 23 that the fourth beast is the fourth kingdom.”—James A. Borland, “Daniel,” in Edward E. Hindson and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds., KJV Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1994), Dan. 7:15-17. Concerning animals symbolizing nations: Ps. 80:13; Isa. 56:9; Jer. 2:15-16; 4:7; 5:6; 8:17; 12:9; Eze. 34:25, 38; 39:18; Nah. 2:11-13; Zec. 11:3; Rev. 13:1-2.

84Larkin, The Book of Daniel, Dan. 7:27.

85Lions and eagles are not taken into consideration here on account of their strength, rapacity, and swiftness, but simply because they are kings among beasts and birds.”—Keil, Daniel, Dan. 7:4-8.

86Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:4, 6.

87“God pictures the kingdom of man as a beast so let’s not fall in love with human culture, let’s not fall in love with human civilization because God says that at its very best it’s bestial; don’t fall in love with various empires.”—Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 32.386.

88Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, 118,121.

89“The vision of the metal image shows what might be regarded as the more human aspect of the world empires, for the image is that of a human being. We should expect to see the better traits brought to the forefront. But it at once becomes apparent that such a mode of delineation gives but half of the picture. The supplement is added in chapter seven where the baser and more cruel aspects of the world powers are set forth—their beast nature. Holding these two halves of the description side by side, we have a more nearly adequate picture.”—Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, 277. “There may be something of human greatness about empires as chapter two allows. There is just as much justification for the point of view that in their relation to one another and in their mode of acquiring power the world powers are rapacious beasts of great strength and are no longer human. As long as a nation makes no bid for imperial control it may preserve a more humanized attitude and character. As soon as it enters the lists to become a leader among the nations, all resemblance to the finer human traits is laid aside, and the beast comes to the forefront.”—Ibid., 286.

90Calvin, Commentary on The Prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:3.

91Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 28.327.

92Clough, Lessons on Daniel, 24.318.

93Seiss, Voices from Babylon; or, The Records of Daniel the Prophet, 198.

94“Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman; compared to ‘beasts’, because of the rapine and violence, cruelty, oppression, and tyranny, by which they were obtained, set up, supported, and maintained . . .”—John Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (Broken Arrow, OK: StudyLamp Software, 1746-1763), Dan. 7:3.

95John sees the fourth terrible beast arise, having characteristics influenced by the previous three.

96Hosea wrote in 755-710 B.C.

97Hosea’s passage mentions recognized animals known from nature whereas this passage includes a fourth “dreadful and terrible” beast which has no natural analog.

98“The dated portions of Zechariah’s prophecy fall within the period of the rebuilding of the temple. The undated prophecies of Zechariah 9-14 were probably written much later in his ministry.”—F. Duane Lindsey, “Zechariah,” in John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Wheaton, IL: SP Publications, 1983), 1546.

99Ibid., 1552.

100Kenneth L Barker, “Zechariah,” vol. 7 in Frank E. Gaebelein, ed., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985), 615.

101Carl Friedrich Keil, “Zechariah,” in Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002), Zec. 1:18-21.

102Craftsmen is חָרָשִׁים [ḥārāšîm] from חָרָשׁ [ḥārāš], “skilled craftsman, artisan, i.e., one who works at a high level in a trade or industry as a technical worker, some of which are gem cutter, blacksmith, carpenter, stonemason, idolmakers”—Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #3093., one who “makes cultic images . . . Zec. 2:3 . . .”—Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, M. E. J. Richardson, and Johann Jakob Stamm, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, electronic ed (New York, NY: E. J. Brill, 1999.), 358.. “In this context it would be a skilled artisan who capably shapes horns to suit his purpose.”—Paul R. Fink, “Zechariah,” in Edward E. Hindson and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds., KJV Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1994), Zec. 1:20.

103“The craftsmen or ‘smiths’ destroyed the horns (v. 19). Historically, Babylon destroyed Assyria, Medo-Persia conquered Babylon, Greece conquered Medo-Persia, and Rome overcame Greece. These are dominant themes in the prophecies of Daniel (see Dan. 2; 7).”—Earl D. Radmacher and H. Wayne House, eds., The Nelson Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), Zec. 1:21.

104John MacArthur, ed., The MacArthur Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, 1997), Zec. 1:19.20.

105Michael A. Rydelnik, “Zechariah,” in Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanianingham, eds., The Moody Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1:18-21.

106In some passages, the term tannin refers to land animals, such as serpents or dragons.

107James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), #9490.

108“A breath of this repugnance to the abyss of waters appears in the N.T. seer’s vision that ‘there was no more sea,’ Rev. 21:1.”—Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, 285. The sea also can have a Gentile connotation: “Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you” [emphasis added] (Isa. 60:5). “The treasure [Mat. 13:45-46] represents the Jews, so it is natural that the pearl [Mat. 13:45-46] would represent the Gentiles. Furthermore, the pearl comes from the sea, and the sea symbolizes the Gentile world (Dan. 7:2-3; Rev. 17:1, 15). Finally, the pearl comes from the oyster, which itself was unclean in the Law of Moses [Lev. 11:10-12] but made clean by the Law of Messiah.”—Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, rev. ed (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 1982, 2003), 676. “Christ’s inheritance is not only the Church which is the pearl of great price for which He sold all that He had, but it also includes Israel which is the treasure hidden in the field and which He purchased with His own blood and which He hid again.”—Donald Grey Barnhouse, Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971), 103.

109Steinmann, Daniel, Dan. 7:2-3.

110Jerome Smith, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992), 952.

111Miller, Daniel, 195.

112Like a Lion with eagle’s wings (Dan. 7:4). Copyright © 2018 by Kevin Kunz. Use of this image is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license.

113“The empires would naturally begin with that of the author’s day, which according to the book was Babylon.”—Ibid., 197.

114“In speaking of a ‘lioness from the sea,’ he meant the rising of the kingdom of Babylon, and that this was the ‘golden head of the image.’ ”—Hippolytus, On Daniel, 178.

115“It does not follow from the circumstance that Nebuchadnezzar is styled the golden head of the image, that he personally is meant as distinct from the Chaldean king that succeeded him; on the contrary, that Nebuchadnezzar comes to view only as the founder, and at that time the actual ruler, of the kingdom, is clear from Dan. 2:39, ‘after thee shall arise another kingdom’(מַלְצוּ [malṣû]), not another king (מֶלֶךְ [melek]), as it ought to be read.”—Keil, Daniel, 9:655-656.

116Otto Zöckler, “The Book of the Prophet Daniel,” in John Peter Lange, ed., A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1880), Dan. 7:4-8.

117Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:4.

118“The subject is left unnamed, as in 46:18, but it is Nebuchadnezzar.”—Carl Friedrich Keil, “Jeremiah,” in Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002), Jer. 48:40.

119“Nor is it at all a novelty to find the Holy Spirit applying the figure of a lion to Nebuchadnezzar, nor of an eagle either. Jeremiah has already employed the same. ‘The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way’ (Jer. 4:7). Ezekiel, as well as Jeremiah, represented him, also, under the figure of an eagle. Indeed, he is mentioned both as the lion and the eagle in Jer. 49:19, 22. In the vision of Daniel the Holy Ghost combines the two figures in one symbol, in order fitly to represent what the Babylonish empire was in the mind of God.”—Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Daniel (3rd. ed.), Dan. 7:2. “Add the Biblical comparisons that appear in the prophets in many passages (cf. the lion: Jer. 49:19; 50:17, 44; and the eagle: Jer. 48:40; 49:22; Ezek. 17:3, 12) and it will be seen that there was sufficient material available to point toward a correct beginning of the interpretation.”—Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, 289. “Lion and eagle are apt symbols of Babylon. First, Nebuchadnezzar was symbolized as a lion and an eagle elsewhere by the biblical writers (as a lion in Jer 4:7; 49:19, 22; 50:17, 44 and as an eagle in Jer 49:22; Lam 4:19; Ezek 17:3; Hab 1:8).”—Miller, Daniel, 197. “Daniel’s contemporary prophets employed the sign of both the lion and eagle for Nebuchadnezzar (for the lion, cf. Jer. 4:7; 49:19; 50:17, 44; for the eagle, cf. Jer. 49:22; Lam. 4:19; Eze. 17:3; Hab. 1:8).”—Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, 181.

120Processional Way, Babylon, ca. 575 BCE, built by Nebuchadnezzar II, detail, Pergamon Museum, Berlin (3) Copyright © 2018 by Richard Mortel. Use of this image is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-2.0 (CC BY 2.0) license.

121Benware, Daniel’s Prophecy of Things to Come, Dan. 7:4.

122Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament, 1640.

123J. Randall Price, “Daniel,” in Tim F. LaHaye and Edward E. Hindson, eds., Exploring Bible Prophecy (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2006), 231.

124Zöckler, The Book of the Prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:4-8.

125 “These symbols identify the angels as intelligent (‘man’), powerful (‘lion’), servile (‘ox’), and swift (‘eagle’).”—MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, Eze. 1:10. For additional background on the possible meaning of the four faces, see [Anthony C. Garland, A Testimony of Jesus Christ : A Commentary on the Book of Revelation (Volume 2, Rev. 15-22) (Camano Island, WA: SpiritAndTruth.org, 2004), s.v. “4.7 - Four Gospels”], https://www.spiritandtruth.org/teaching/Book_of_Revelation/commentary/htm/topics/four_gospels.html#4.7.

126“The first beast was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings, to denote the kingdoms of Babylonia and Media, which overthrew the Assyrian Empire, and divided it between them . . .”—Newton, Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of John, 28.

127“It was retarded and stopped in its conquests; it could fly no further, nor make any new acquisitions; yea, it was deplumed and stripped of some of its dominions, the Medes and Persians falling off, and making war with it . . .”—Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, Dan. 7:4.

128“The wings thereof were plucked - Lydia, Media, and Persia, which had been provinces of the Babylonish empire, cast off the yoke, and put themselves under kings of their own.”—Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible - Daniel, Dan. 7:4.

129“Babylon lost its supremacy in the world, which seems clearly the meaning of the latter part of the verse.”—Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Daniel (3rd. ed.), Dan. 7:2. “The plucking of its wings, which gives the cue to the other interpretation, might then refer to the removal of the superbia of Babel, so Jer., who cites Is. 14:13ff. and Ob. 1:4.”—Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, 287.

130Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:4.

131Zöckler, The Book of the Prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:4-8.

132Although these passages speak of the historical fall of Babylon, they also look the future when the rebuilt city of Babylon will ultimately be judged in a way not yet fulfilled in history. See Babylon of the Future.

133Hippolytus, On Daniel, 178.

134New English Translation : NET Bible, Dan. 7:4.

135“The plucking of the wings may also refer to the insanity of Nebuchadnezzar when he had feathers like an eagle . . .”—Greene, Daniel, Dan. 7:4.

136Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10381.

137“ ‘And a heart/mind of a man was given to it.’ The Aramaic לְּבַב [leḇaḇ], like its Hebrew cognates לֵב [lēḇ] and לֵבָב [lēḇāḇ], can signify the organ of thought (hence ‘mind’) as well as emotions.”—Steinmann, Daniel, Dan. 7:4.

138Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:4.

139Calvin, Commentary on The Prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:4.

140“The heart of a man tells of weakness such as we see displayed in Belshazzar.”—Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, 125. “Instead of recalling Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4, the humanizing of this beast represents the lessening ferocity of the Babylonian Empire under its later kings.”—Steinmann, Daniel, Dan. 7:4.

141Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, Dan. 7:4.

142Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, 27.

143“The prime reference then . . . is to the humanization which occurred in Neb.’s case.”—Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, 287.

144Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible - Daniel, Dan. 7:4.

145Miller, Daniel, 197.

146Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Daniel (3rd. ed.), Dan. 7:2.

147Like a bear with three ribs (Dan. 7:5). Copyright © 2018 by Kevin Kunz. Use of this image is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license.

148Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10067.

149Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament, 1641.

150Miller, Daniel, 198.

151“The Old Testament writers spoke of the bear as the most formidable beast of prey in Palestine after the lion (cf. 1S. 17:34; Am. 5:19; cf. 2K. 2:24; Hos. 13:8).”—Constable, Notes on Daniel, 76.

152Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament, 1641.

153“The Persian Empire was voracious; it devoured quite a bit more than did Babylon. This fact is emphasized by these last features of the vision, the three ribs and the command to devour. Summing up, the vision emphasizes a greedy voraciousness over against the royal dignity that marked the first beast.”—Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, 292. “More rough and uncivil, but equally cruel and voracious; which describes the Medes and Persians as a fierce and cruel people, and less polished, and more uncivilized, than the Chaldeans . . .”—Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, Dan. 7:5.

154Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

155Seiss, Voices from Babylon; or, The Records of Daniel the Prophet, 189.

156Pusey, Daniel the Prophet, 73.

157“The largest species of these animals was found in Media, a mountainous, cold, and rough country, covered with woods.”—Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible - Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

158Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10624.

159Barnes suggests the animal raised itself up. “This position would naturally denote a kingdom that had been quiet and at rest, but that was now rousing itself deliberately for some purpose, as of conquest or war - as the bear that had been couching down would rise when hungry, or when going forth for prey. . . . . It was slowly rising from a recumbent posture, with these ribs in its mouth, and about to receive a command to go forth and devour much flesh. . . . the nation that had been in a state of repose was now preparing itself for new conquests - a state descriptive of, and in every way quite applicable to the condition of the Medo-Persian empire, after the conquests by Cyrus, as he overran the kingdom of Lydia, etc., then reposing, and now about arousing to the conquest and subjugation of Babylon. The precise time, therefore, indicated would be about 544 b.c. (Calmer), when, having overcome the Medes, and having secured the conquest of Lydia, and the dethronement of Croesus, he is meditating the destruction of Babylon. This interval of repose lasted about a year, and it is at this time that the united empire is seen, under the image of the bear rising on its side, arousing itself to go forth to new conquests. [Is this close to the time of the vision given Daniel?]”—Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

160Steinmann, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

161“On one side he’s high and on the other side he’s low, and the high side is a picture of Persia and the low side is a picture of the Medes.”—Clough, Lessons on Daniel, 25.325.

162“One paw is lifted up, because the Persian element was stronger than that of the Medes.”—Arno Clemens Gaebelein, The Prophet Daniel: A Key to the Visions and Prophecies of the Book of Daniel, 2nd (New York, NY: Our Hope, 1911), 74.

163“As in Dan. 2 the arms on each side of the breast signify that the second kingdom will consist of two parts, and this is more distinctly indicated in Dan. 8 by the two horns, one of which rose up after the other, and higher, so also in this verse the double-sidedness of this world-kingdom is represented by the beast lifting itself up on the one side. The Medo-Persian bear, as such, has, as Kliefoth well remarks, two sides: the one, the Median side, is at rest after the efforts made for the erection of the world-kingdom; but the other, the Persian side, raises itself up, and then becomes not only higher than the first, but also is prepared for new rapine.”—Keil, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

164“While the second empire consisted of two parts, and while the Medes were the elder branch of the empire, yet it was Cyrus the Persian that was to be most prominent.”—Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Daniel (3rd. ed.), Dan. 7:5.

165“One side of the bear being higher or larger could indicate that the empire symbolized by the bear consisted of two parts, one being greater than the other. If so, the two divisions would be Media and Persia, and the higher side would symbolize Persia, which rose to a position of dominance in the alliance.”—Miller, Daniel, 198.

166“The uneven sides of the bear, with one side higher than the other, provides an additional detail not seen in the vision in chapter 2—that of the shifting dominance in the Medo-Persian Empire. Median influence governed the empire during the administrations of Cyrus and Cambyses, but within a half-century Persia gained prominence during the reign of Xerxes I (Ahasuerus). The change in political ascendancy is reflected in the change of the legal statement of royal edict from ‘the law of the Medes and the Persians’ (Daniel 6:8, 12, 15) to ‘the laws of Persia and Media’ (Esther 1:19).”—Price, Daniel, 231-232.

167“Why, however, does the beast raise itself on one side? Although the Scriptures do not answer directly, probably the best explanation is that it represented the one-sided union of the Persian and Median Empires. Persia at this time, although coming up last, was by far the greater and more powerful and had absorbed the Medes. This is represented also in chapter 8 by the two horns of the ram with the horn that comes up last being higher and greater. The ram with its unequal horns is identified as ‘The kings of Media and Persia’ (Dan 8:20).”—Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, 156.

168“The additional detail, not depicted in the arms, is the lopsided character of this empire, with Median influence being predominate during the reigns of Cyrus and Cambyses . . . but shifting to Persian dominance by the time of Xerxes fifty years later (Est. 1:19).”—Whitcomb, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

169“That the animal had one side rise higher than the other points to the greater importance assumed by the Persian division over the Median, in the Medo-Persian empire—a symbolism formed also by the two horns of the ram in Daniel’s second vision (Dan. 8:3), the second being made to grow higher than the first.”—Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, 183.

170“The context, however, requires that a strong kingdom, animated with a lust for conquest—or, in the figurative language of the text, a ‘voracious’ kingdom—should be understood, to which the words ‘arise, devour much flesh,’ are not spoken ironically and uselessly. For this reason we must suppose (with Hävernick; cf. also Bertholdt, Von Lengerke, and Maurer) that the beast inclined forward, i.e., that it was prepared to spring and to attack; and this threatening, rapacious, and warlike posture of the beast shows clearly that not the weak and short-lived Median kingdom, but the powerful empire of the Medo-Persians. with its greed for lands and conquest, is intended.”—Zöckler, The Book of the Prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:4-8.

171Steinmann, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

172Benware, Daniel’s Prophecy of Things to Come, Dan. 7:5.

173Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10552.

174 Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures According to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1997, c1985), Dan. 7:5.

175“three ribs. Representing the conquest by Persia of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.”—Smith, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Dan. 7:5.

176Whitcomb, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

177“The ribs being between the teeth of the bear may show how Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt were ground and oppressed by the bear - the Persians . . .”—Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible - Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

178“These three ribs represent the three kingdoms conquered by the Medo-Persian forces giving them their empire status: Lydia, Babylonia, and Egypt.”—Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, 27.

179“The three parts of the world it conquered, westward, northward, and southward, Dan. 8:4, though it is best of all, with Sir Isaac Newton and Bishop Chandler, to understand by them Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt; which countries were ground and oppressed by the Medes and Persians . . .”—Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, Dan. 7:5.

180“These three ribs represented three kingdoms—Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt—which formed a triple alliance in an effort to check the Media-Persian power; but they were destroyed by Media-Persia.”—Greene, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

181“Others (probably correctly) have taken the ribs to represent Medo-Persia’s three major conquests—Babylon (539 B.C.), Lydia (546 B.C.), and Egypt (525 B.C.).”—Howe, Daniel in the Preterist’s Den, Dan. 7:5.

182“If the bear is taken as representing the Median kingdom, the three ribs in its mouth cannot be explained. If, on the other hand, the Medo-Persian world-kingdom is intended by the bear, then the three ribs in its mouth are the three kingdoms Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, which were conquered by the Medo-Persians.”—Keil, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

183“The ‘Three Ribs’ stood for the three Kingdoms of Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt, that formed a ‘Triple Alliance’ to check the Medo-Persian power, but were destroyed by it.”—Larkin, The Book of Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

184“Others (probably correctly) have taken the ribs to represent Medo-Persia’s three major conquests—Babylon (539 B.C.), Lydia (546 B.C.), and Egypt (525 B.C.).”—Miller, Daniel, 199.

185“Three ribs . . . signify the kingdoms of Sardes [capital of Lydia], Babylon, and Egypt, which were conquered by it, but did not belong to is proper body. And it devoured much flesh, the riches of those three kingdoms.”—Newton, Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of John, 29.

186“The three ribs in the bear’s mouth . . . . may represent Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, three nations conquered by the Medes and Persians.”—Pentecost, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

187“The three ribs in its mouth correspond accurately to the three kingdoms which the Medo-Persian empire swallowed up, the Lydian, Babylonian, Egyptian.”—Pusey, Daniel the Prophet, 72.

188“In the ‘mouth’ of the bear there were three particular ‘ribs,’ the Lydian (from 546 B.C.), the Babylonian (from 538), and the Egyptian kingdom (from 525). . .”—Eric Sauer, The Dawn of World Redemption (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964, 1951), 168.

189“The three torn ribs in this beast’s mouth also correspond. They answer to Lydia, Babylon and Egypt, which the Medo-Persian empire seized and held.”—Seiss, Voices from Babylon; or, The Records of Daniel the Prophet, 189.

190“The three ribs between its teeth and its readiness to eat its fill of flesh may symbolize the Persian conquest of Lydia (546 B.C.), Babylon (539 B.C.), and Egypt (525 B.C.).”—Willem A. VanGemeren, “Daniel,” in Walter A. Elwell, ed., Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995), Dan. 7:1-14.

191Whitcomb, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

192“Three countries, e.g., Babylon, Egypt, and Lydia (or, instead of the latter, Palestine, including Syria), which were conquered by the Medes or Medo-Persians (with De Wette)”—Zöckler, The Book of the Prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:4-8.

193“Cyrus conquered the Medes in 550 BC, he went over to the west, to a place called Lydia, what is now Turkey and he wiped them out. He wiped the Medes out and finally he destroyed the Babylonians. Those three conquests are the three ribs held in his mouth in verse 5. It speaks of the three great conquests of Cyrus.”—Clough, Lessons on Daniel, 25.325.

194Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 28.339.

195Hippolytus, On Daniel, 178.

196Ibid.

197“The three rows in the mouth of the Persian kingdom and between its teeth we must take to be the three kingdoms of the Babylonians, the Medes, and the Persians, all of which were reduced to a single realm.”—Hieronymus, Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel (Translated by Gleason L. Archer Jr.), Dan. 7:5.

198“Commonly construed (since the time of Jerome) as symbolizing Media, Persia, and Babylon, the three principal parts of the Medo-Persian Empire.”—Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament, 1642.

199“Scripture does not tell us the meaning of the three ribs, and many suggestions have been offered. Probably the best is that it refers to Media, Persia, and Babylon as representing the three major components of the Medo-Babylonian Empire. Jerome offered this suggestion [Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, p. 74]. . . . Young’s objection to Jerome’s viewpoint is that it would make the bear devour itself.”—Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, 156.

200“The ‘ribs’ which the beast is grinding between its teeth cannot be the peoples who constitute the kingdom, or the kings ruling over it, but only peoples or countries which it has conquered and annexed to itself.”—Keil, Daniel, Dan. 7:5. “E. J. Young contends that the reference is to Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, on the grounds that to include Medo-Persia would represent the bear devouring itself . . .”—Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament, 1642.

201Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

202Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, 120,126.

203“The three ribs in the bear’s mouth may represent the kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon, which had preceded the empire represented by the bear.”—Pentecost, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

204“The three ribs symbolized the three Persian kings: Cyrus, Ahasuerus and Darius (Rashi).”—Scherman, ed., Tanach (New York, NY: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 2001), Dan. 7:5.

205“ ‘It had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it,’ clearly, I think, the sign of the extraordinary rapacity that would characterize the Persian empire.”—Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Daniel (3rd. ed.), Dan. 7:5.

206“It is futile to speculate on which specific geographical area was meant, but as each animal referred to the parts of an empire, so the parts of teach animal referred to the parts of an empire. Beyond this basic understanding it is unnecessary to go.”—Feinberg, A Commentary on Daniel: The Kingdom of the Lord, Dan. 7:5. “ ‘Three’ appears to be a number that signifies rather substantial conquests and is not to be taken literally. For the Medo-Persian Empire conquered more than Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt. Such enumerations of three definite powers are more or less arbitrary.”—Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, 292.

207“ ‘And THEY said thus unto it . ..’ To whom does this statement refer? I believe it refers to the heavenly watchers mentioned in Daniel 4:17.”—Greene, Daniel, Dan. 7:5. “The speakers who are implied (אָמְרִין [ʾāmerîn], as in chap. 3:4; 4:28) are the angelic powers of God, who govern the world and especially watch over and guide the fortunes of the great world-powers. [‘The plur. אָמְרִין [ʾāmerîn] is impersonal’ (Keil); ‘it might be rendered passively’ (Stuart).]”—Zöckler, The Book of the Prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:4-8.

208“In the Aramaic it’s simply the impersonal, ‘it was said unto it’ would be the way of translating it, the emphasis isn’t on who is doing the saying, the emphasis is on somebody said to it, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ Now you can probably guess who said ‘Arise, and devour much flesh,’ because who was it? It was the four winds that worked upon the sea.”—Clough, Lessons on Daniel, 25.324.

209Steinmann, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

210“Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it.” [emphasis added] (Isa. 13:17). “A distressing vision is declared to me; The treacherous dealer deals treacherously, And the plunderer plunders. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All its sighing I have made to cease.” [emphasis added] (Isa. 21:2). “Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come.’” [emphasis added] (Rev. 6:1 cf. 6:3, 5, 7, NASU).

211Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10125.

212“The eating much flesh does not form such a contrast to the three ribs in the mouth between the teeth, that it must be interpreted of other flesh than that already held by the teeth with the ribs. It may be very well understood, with Ebrard and Kliefoth, of the consuming of the flesh of the ribs; so that the command to eat much flesh is only an explication of the figure of the ribs held between the teeth, and contains only the thought that the beast must wholly consume the plunder it has seized with its teeth.”—Keil, Daniel, Dan. 7:5.

213“The animal then is pausing to devour a mouthful before springing again on its prey, to which feat an oracular voice encourages it. The writer refers to the coming overthrow of Belshazzar’s kingdom.”—Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, 288-289.

214Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, 183.

215Zöckler, The Book of the Prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:4-8.

216“The command to arise and devour much flesh indicates the extreme cruelties often practised by the Persians, and the wide extent of their conquests.”—Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, 126.

217Like a leopard with four wings and four heads (Dan. 7:6). Copyright © 2018 by Kevin Kunz. Use of this image is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license.

218ὀπίσω τουτου [opisō toutou]”—Theodotion, “Daniel (Theodotion’s Translation),” in Alfred Rahlfs, ed., Septuaginta: With Morphology (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1996, c1979.), Dan. 7:6., “Και μετὰ ταῦτα [Kai meta tauta]”—Anonymous, “Daniel (Old Greek Version),” in Alfred Rahlfs, ed., Septuaginta: With Morphology (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1996, c1979.), Dan. 7:6.

219Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Aramaic (Old Testament), #10480.

220Habakkuk 1:8 refers to the horses of Babylon, not Greece.

221Benware, Daniel’s Prophecy of Things to Come, Dan. 7:6.

222Miller, Daniel, 199.

223Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 29.345.

224Showers, The Most High God: Commentary on the Book of Daniel, Dan. 7:1-14.

225“The Greek empire, founded by Alexander the great, like a leopard.”—Smith, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Dan. 7:6.

226“The Macedonian dynasty or kingdom founded by Alexander the Great, extending over the same countries before occupied by Babylon and the Medo-Persian empire, and continuing until it was swallowed up in the conquests of Rome.”—Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:6.

227“The leopard is remarkable for speed, and in order to emphasise this point the leopard in the vision is seen to be furnished with four wings. Similarly, in the vision of Daniel 8, which is infallibly interpreted for us by the angel Gabriel, attention is drawn to this same striking feature of Alexander’s career. The mighty conqueror from Macedon is beheld as a he-goat coming from the west, which appeared not to touch the ground.”—Charles Boutflower, In and Around the Book of Daniel (London, England: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1923), 30.

228Borland, Daniel, Dan. 7:6.

229“Then, again, how could he divine concerning Alexander the Great and his Successors? for long before Alexander was born, Daniel predicted what he should accomplish. Then he shows that his kingdom should not last, since it is directly divided into four horns.”—Calvin, Commentary on The Prophet Daniel, s.v. “Preface.”

230Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible - Daniel, Dan. 7:6.

231“The leopard is picked out not only because he can kill but because of his speed. And the fact that he has four wings emphasizes speed again, it emphasizes, like the wings of the lion the spreading of power and sovereignty over vast geographical expanse, but it denotes primarily speed, and it refers to Alexander the Great. . . . Keep in mind that Alexander the Great conquered the world in five years.”—Clough, Lessons on Daniel, 25.326.

232James O. Combs, Mysteries of the Book of Daniel (Springfield, IL: Tribune Publishers, 1994), Dan. 7:6.

233Constable, Notes on Daniel, 78.

234Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 29.345.

235Fausset, The Book of Daniel, Dan. 7:6.

236Gaebelein, The Prophet Daniel: A Key to the Visions and Prophecies of the Book of Daniel, 74.

237Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, Dan. 7:6.

238“The third beast, ‘a leopard,’ which means the Greeks”—Hippolytus, On Daniel, 178.

239Howe, Daniel in the Preterist’s Den, Dan. 7:6.

240H. A. Ironside, The Four Hundred Silent Years (from Malachi to Matthew) (New York, NY: Loizeaux Brothers, 1914), 16-17.

241“The Leopard is the most agile and graceful of wild beasts. Slight in its frame, but strong, swift, and fierce, its characteristics render it a fitting symbol of the rapid conquests of the Greeks under Alexander the Great, who, followed by small but well-equipped and splendidly brave armies, moved with great celerity . . .”—Larkin, The Book of Daniel, Dan. 7:6.

242“This is without a doubt a representation of the Greek kingdom of Alexander. The speed of that great general’s conquests is the marvel of all who study history.”—Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, 294.

243Miller, Daniel, 199.

244“The third beast was the kingdom which succeeded the Persian ; and this was the empire of the Greeks, Dan. viii. 6, 7, 20, 21.”—Newton, Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of John, 29.

245Sauer, The Dawn of World Redemption, 169.

246Showers, The Most High God: Commentary on the Book of Daniel, Dan. 7:1-14.

247Steinmann, Daniel, Dan. 7:6.

248“An animal proverbial for speed and agility (Hab. 1:8), and aptly prefiguring the lightninglike conquests of Alexander the Great, . . .”—Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament, 1642.

249Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, 158.

250Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, 184.

251Whitcomb, Daniel, Dan. 7:6.

252Zöckler, The Book of the Prophet Daniel, Dan. 7:4-8.

253“a smaller creature than a lion; signifying that this monarchy arose from a small beginning; and a crafty one, Alexander having many wise counsellors of his father’s about him, though he himself was rash and hasty . . .”—Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, Dan. 7:6.

254Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:6.

255“The leopard is a spotted animal [which] . . . may refer to the character of Alexander himself, sometimes mild, at others cruel; sober and drunken; continent and lecherous; having a great power of self-government, and at other times being a slave to his passions.”—Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible - Daniel, Dan. 7:6.

256Flavious Josephus, “The Antiquities of the Jews,” in Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus : Complete and Unabridged (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996, c1987), 11.336-337.

257“Detail of the Alexander Mosaic, representing Alexander the Great on his horse. There is a scared man behind Alexander, and the man’s head in Alexander’s armor is a representation of Medusa. His horse is named Bucephalus. House of the Faun, Pompeii, c. 100 AD.” Image courtesy of Ruthven. Image is in the public domain.

258“The marvelous progress of Alexander—even greater then that of Nebuchadnezzar—is indicated in the vision; for the beast that stood for Babylon had two wings, while the Grecian leopard had four.”—Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, 127. “A creature that is agile by nature and at the same time has not merely two wings as did the first beast must surely be designed to convey the impression of being marked by the greatest rapidity of movement.”—Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, 293.

259“The four wings . . . represent well the rapidity of the conquests of Alexander, for no more rapid conquests were ever made than were his in the East. It was noticed that the leopard had four wings, . . . denoting . . . a . . . rapid [flight].”—Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Dan. 7:6. “The leopard is picked out not only because he can kill but because of his speed. And the fact that he has four wings emphasizes speed again, it emphasizes, like the wings of the lion the spreading of power and sovereignty over vast geographical expanse, but it denotes primarily speed, and it refers to Alexander the Great. . . . Keep in mind that Alexander the Great conquered the world in five years.”—Clough, Lessons on Daniel, 25.326. “The empire of Greece, more than any of the other empires, was characterized by speed and action—even more than Babylonia. Under Alexander the Great, the borders of Greece were enlarged enormously and with remarkable speed.”—Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, 184.

260Boutflower, In and Around the Book of Daniel, 30.

261In biblical numerology, the number four is frequenly associated with the entire world. “The symbolic meaning of the number four in the book of Revelation seems clear: it is the signature of the world or of global effect.”—Garland, A Testimony of Jesus Christ : A Commentary on the Book of Revelation (Volume 1, Rev. 1-14), 2.7.5.3.3. https://spiritandtruth.org/teaching/Book_of_Revelation/commentary/htm/intro/symbols.html#2.7.5.3.3. “The panther has not eagle’s wings, but only the wings of a fowl,—but extending to all the regions of the earth, for it has four wings.”—Keil, Daniel, Dan. 7:6. “In addition to extraordinary velocity, the ‘four’ wings may allude to the four quarters of the earth, thus signifying world domination.”—Miller, Daniel, 199-200.

262Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, 290.

263Hippolytus, On Daniel, 178.

264“Those four wings are going to represent the four major battles that Alexander fights to conquer Asia. And the four heads are going to represent the four kings that come out of that Empire.”—Dean, Lessons on Daniel, 29.345.

265A unique beast dreadful and terrible (Dan. 7:7). Copyright © 2018 by Kevin Kunz. Use of this image is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license.

266Ten Horns (Daniel 7:7). Copyright © 2018 by Kevin Kunz. Use of this image is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license.

267ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ [apo prosōpou autou], from before him”—Theodotion, Daniel (Theodotion’s Translation).

268στόμα λαλοῦν μεγάλα [stoma laloun megala], [a] mouth speaking great things.”—Theodotion, Daniel (Theodotion’s Translation).

269 ἀπολῦντα ἀπο τῆς γῆς [apolunta apo tēs gēs]”—Anonymous, Daniel (Old Greek Version), Dan. 7:17., “they shall destroy the earth.”

270This image was produced by www.spiritandtruth.org and is hereby placed in the public domain.


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