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3.7 - Daniel 7

3.7.1 - Daniel 7:1

Four Great Beasts from the Sea

¹

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

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

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

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

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

• Detail - Daniel 7‣ provides much more detail concerning the last of the four kingdoms represented by the dreadful and terrible beast. This kingdom is given greater emphasis because of its uniquely terrible character and because it is overthrown by the direct intervention of God.²¹
• Role and Nature of Messiah - In Daniel 2‣, God’s kingdom is represented as, “a stone cut . . . without hands” (Dan. 2:45‣). In Daniel 7‣, that kingdom is shown to be ruled by the Messiah, the “Son of Man” (Dan. 7:13‣). Unlike Daniel 2, this chapter reveals that the Messiah has both human and divine characteristics. See commentary on Daniel 7:13.²²
• Different Perspectives - In Daniel 2‣, the kingdoms appear in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in the form of a glorious image, composed of a sequence of metals—some of which are precious. In Daniel 7‣, the kingdoms appear to Daniel in the form of voracious animals. The difference in these representations reflects a difference in perspective: Nebuchadnezzar sees the human perspective while Daniel is shown God’s perspective.²³ See Two Perspectives.

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

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

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

first year of Belshazzar

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

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

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)

Belshazzar

king of Babylon

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

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

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

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

• Vision: First Three Beasts - “I saw in my vision . . .” (verses 2-6)
• Vision: the Fourth Terrible Beast - “After this . . .” (verses 7-8)
• Vision: the Scene in Heaven - “I watched until . . .” (verses 9-14)
• Heavenly Interpretation - “The visions of my head troubled me . . .” (verses 15-27)
• End of the Account - “This is the end of the account . . .” (verse 28).

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

he wrote down the dream

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)

“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

telling the main facts⁵⁶

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

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

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

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

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

stirring up the Great 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)

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

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

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

3.7.3 - Daniel 7:3

four great beasts

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

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]

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

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

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

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

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]

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]

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)

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

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

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

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

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]

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

3.7.4 - Daniel 7:4

Lion with Eagle’s Wings

¹¹²

The first

like a lion, and had eagle’s wings

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]

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 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

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‣)

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)

Lion, Processional Way, Babylon

¹²⁰

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

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]

wings were plucked off

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[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

3.7.5 - Daniel 7:5

Bear with Three Ribs

¹⁴⁷

suddenly

another beast

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

a second

like a bear

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 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

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

raised up on one side

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

three ribs in its mouth

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

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

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

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

they said, Arise . . .

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

devour much meat

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

3.7.6 - Daniel 7:6

Leopard with Four Wings and Four Heads

²¹⁷

After this²¹⁸ I looked

like a leopard

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

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

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

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

Alexander The Great at the Battle of Issus

²⁵⁷

four wings

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 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

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

four heads

3.7.6.1 - CONTINUE

3.7.7 - Daniel 7:7

Dreadful and Terrible Beast

²⁶⁵

it was devouring

trampling the residue

It was different from all the beasts that were before it

ten horns

Ten Horns

²⁶⁶

3.7.8 - Daniel 7:8

before whom²⁶⁷

a mouth speaking pompous words²⁶⁸

3.7.9 - Daniel 7:9

thrones were put in place

3.7.10 - Daniel 7:10

The court was seated

3.7.11 - Daniel 7:11

3.7.12 - Daniel 7:12

3.7.13 - Daniel 7:13

3.7.14 - Daniel 7:14

3.7.15 - Daniel 7:15

3.7.16 - Daniel 7:16

3.7.17 - Daniel 7:17

Arise out of the earth²⁶⁹;

3.7.18 - Daniel 7:18

3.7.19 - Daniel 7:19

3.7.20 - Daniel 7:20

3.7.21 - Daniel 7:21

3.7.22 - Daniel 7:22

3.7.23 - Daniel 7:23

3.7.24 - Daniel 7:24

3.7.25 - Daniel 7:25

for a time and times and half a time

3.7.26 - Daniel 7:26

3.7.27 - Daniel 7:27

3.7.28 - Daniel 7:28

3.7.29 - LAST-VERSE-IN-ARAMAIC

3.7.30 - Lessons from Chapter 7

Lessons for Living

²⁷⁰

---

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.

⁸⁵“Lions 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 [l^eḇaḇ], 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 [ʾām^erîn], 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 [ʾām^erîn] 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.

²¹⁸“ὀπίσω 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.

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

²⁶⁸“στόμα 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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