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Daniel 7

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Daniel's Vision of the Four Beasts 1–8

1
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. ​
2
Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of heaven brake forth upon the great sea. ​
3
And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. ​
4
The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man’s heart was given to it. ​
5
And, behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. ​
6
After this I beheld, and, lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon its back four wings of a bird; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. ​
7
After this I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. ​
8
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. ​

The Judgment of the Ancient of Days 9–12

9
I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. ​
10
A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. ​
11
I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire. ​
12
And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. ​

The Son of Man Receives Everlasting Dominion 13–14

13
I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. ​
14
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. ​

Daniel Seeks Interpretation 15–18

15
As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. ​
16
I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. ​
17
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, that shall arise out of the earth. ​
18
But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. ​

Detailed Interpretation of the Fourth Kingdom 19–28

19
Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was diverse from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; ​
20
and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows.
21
I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; ​
22
until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. ​
23
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24
And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings. ​
25
And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. ​
26
But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. ​
27
And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. ​
28
Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my countenance was changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Daniel 7

Verse 1

a dream and visions of his head upon his bed — 'Head' (resh) is also the word rendered 'sum' in 'told the sum of the matters', so Daniel writes down the head of the matter. 'The visions of thy head upon thy bed' was said of Nebuchadnezzar's dream (2:28); Daniel now has such a dream himself, in Belshazzar's first year.

Verse 2

the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea — 'Strove' is gîach, to burst forth, a verb found only here. Four angels hold 'the four winds of the earth' in Rev 7:1, and the sea stands for nations: 'The waters… are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues' (Rev 17:15).

Verse 3

four great beasts… diverse one from another — 'Diverse' is shena, to be different, the verb of 'changed' in 6:8. Four answers to the four kingdoms of the image in chapter 2 (2:38–40), and v.17 calls the beasts 'four kings'. John later sees one beast out of the sea that joins the leopard, bear and lion together (Rev 13:1–2).

Verse 4

a man's heart was given to it — The first kingdom is Babylon, 'this head of gold' (2:38), and Jeremiah says of its coming, 'The lion is come up from his thicket' (Jer 4:7). The man's heart answers Nebuchadnezzar's sentence, 'let a beast's heart be given unto him' (4:16), and his words 'mine understanding returned unto me' (4:34).

Verse 5

three ribs in the mouth of it — Ala, 'rib', and shatar, 'side', each occur only here. The second beast follows Babylon as 'another kingdom inferior to thee' (2:39); Belshazzar's kingdom is 'given to the Medes and Persians' (5:28), and the ram of 8:3–4, 'the kings of Media and Persia' (8:20), pushes 'westward, and northward, and southward'.

Verse 6

dominion was given to it — 'Given' (yehab) is the verb that runs through the chapter: dominion is given to this beast, to the Son of man (v.14) and to the saints (v.27). The four heads suit the 'four notable ones' that rose when the king of Grecia's great horn was broken (8:8, 21–22). The most High 'giveth it to whomsoever he will' (4:17).

Verse 7

a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible — No animal is named for it. Its 'iron teeth' fit the fourth kingdom, 'strong as iron… breaketh in pieces' (2:40), and 'diverse' (shena) marks it as unlike the rest. Most early Christian readers took it as Rome. The ten horns are 'ten kings' (v.24; Rev 17:12), and emtan, 'terrible', occurs only here.

Verse 8

another little horn — It rises among the ten and uproots three (v.24). Its eyes and 'a mouth speaking great things' are recalled in v.20, and v.25 adds 'great words against the most High'. Paul's one who 'exalteth himself above all that is called God' (2 Thess 2:4) and John's 'mouth speaking great things and blasphemies' (Rev 13:5) use the same language.

Verse 9

the Ancient of days — Attiq yomin, 'advanced in days', is found only here and in vv.13 and 22. 'Did sit' (yetib) is the verb again in 'the judgment was set' (v.10) and 'the judgment shall sit' (v.26). The white garment and wool-white hair are seen on Christ in Rev 1:14: 'His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow'.

Verse 10

A fiery stream issued — The Aramaic is literally a river of fire coming out from before him, like 'A fire goeth before him' (Ps 97:3). 'Ministered' (shamash) is found only here. 'Thousand thousands' are the host of Rev 5:11, and 'the books were opened' returns at the last judgment: 'the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books' (Rev 20:12).

Verse 11

the beast was slain — The judgment falls 'because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake'. 'Destroyed' (abad) is the verb of v.26, 'to consume and to destroy it'. The beast given 'to the burning flame' matches Rev 19:20, 'cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone', and the Wicked whom the Lord 'shall consume with the spirit of his mouth' (2 Thess 2:8).

Verse 12

they had their dominion taken away — The first three beasts lose their dominion (sholtan) yet 'their lives were prolonged for a season and time', while the fourth is slain (v.11). 'Taken away' is ada, the verb of 'altereth not' (6:8) and 'shall not pass away' (v.14). 'Time' and 'season' are the pair in 2:21: 'he removeth kings, and setteth up kings'.

Verse 13

one like the Son of man — Bar enash, 'son of man'. Christ takes the title and answers the high priest with this verse: 'Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven' (Matt 26:64). John joins it with the clouds of his own coming, 'Behold, he cometh with clouds' (Rev 1:7).

Verse 14

all people, nations, and languages, should serve him — 'Serve' is pelach, the verb of 3:12 and 6:16, 'they serve not thy gods', 'thy God whom thou servest'. 'People, nations, and languages' is the herald's triad of 3:4, when all were commanded to worship the image. The kingdom 'which shall not be destroyed' is confessed in 6:26 and promised in Luke 1:33.

Verse 15

grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body — 'Grieved' is kara, 'body' is nidneh, a sheath, the covering of the soul; each occurs only here. 'The visions of my head troubled me' is the very phrase of Nebuchadnezzar in 4:5, with behal, 'to trouble', again in v.28. The vision is received with distress before it is explained.

Verse 16

one of them that stood by — The host that 'stood before him' (v.10) supplies the interpreter. Gabriel is told in the same way, 'make this man to understand the vision' (8:16), and the angel in Zechariah says, 'I will shew thee what these be' (Zech 1:9). 'Interpretation' is peshar, the word of 5:26 for the writing on the wall.

Verse 17

four kings, which shall arise out of the earth — The beasts came 'from the sea' (v.3) and are explained as kings from 'the earth'. A king stands for his kingdom: Nebuchadnezzar is 'this head of gold' (2:38), the next is 'another kingdom' (2:39). 'Arise' is qum, the verb of 2:39 and v.24.

Verse 18

the saints of the most High — Qaddishe elyonin, 'holy ones of the Highest', the title of vv.18, 22, 25 and 27. They 'take' (qebal, receive) the kingdom, the verb of 5:31, 'Darius the Median took the kingdom'; 'possess' (chasan) occurs only here and in v.22. Christ gives the same: 'it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom' (Luke 12:32).

Verse 19

his nails of brass — Daniel asks about the fourth beast alone, and adds a detail the first sight did not give: 'nails of brass' (tephar), besides the iron teeth of v.7. 'Know the truth' is yetsab, to be sure, found only here. Iron that 'breaketh in pieces' belongs to the fourth kingdom of 2:40.

Verse 21

made war with the saints, and prevailed — The horn is the one of v.8 and v.20. 'War' (qerab) occurs only here, and Rev 13:7 repeats the words: 'it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them'. The prevailing lasts only 'until the Ancient of days came' (v.22).

Verse 22

judgment was given to the saints — Din, 'judgment', is the word of 'the judgment was set' (v.10) and of v.26. When the Ancient of days comes, the saints receive judgment and then possess the kingdom. Paul says, 'Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?' (1 Cor 6:2), and John sees thrones where 'judgment was given unto them' (Rev 20:4).

Verse 24

he shall subdue three kings — 'Subdue' is shephal, to bring low, the verb used of God in 4:37, 'those that walk in pride he is able to abase'. The horn that rises 'after them' is 'diverse' (shena, as in v.3) from the first. The ten horns are 'ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet' in Rev 17:12.

Verse 25

think to change times and laws — 'Change' is shena, with 'times' (zeman) and 'laws' (dath, as in 6:5, 8). God is the one who 'changeth the times and the seasons' (2:21). 'Wear out' (bela) occurs only here. 'A time and times and the dividing of time' returns in 12:7, and Rev 12:14 gives 'a time, and times, and half a time', beside 1,260 days (Rev 12:6).

Verse 26

the judgment shall sit — Yetib, to sit, as in v.9 and v.10. The horn's dominion is taken away with the verb ada (v.12), and the destruction of v.11, 'to consume and to destroy', is carried out 'unto the end'. Of a king of the same character Daniel is told elsewhere, 'he shall be broken without hand' (8:25).

Verse 27

the people of the saints of the most High — The kingdom 'given' (yehab) to the saints is the dominion given to the Son of man in v.14, and 'serve' (pelach) is repeated from it. Paul says, 'If we suffer, we shall also reign with him' (2 Tim 2:12), and John hears that 'the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ' (Rev 11:15).

Verse 28

my cogitations much troubled me — Raayon, 'thoughts', is the word of 4:19 and 5:6, and the wording matches Belshazzar's: 'the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him' (5:6). 'Countenance' is ziv, brightness, and 'kept' (netar) occurs only here. The vision and its explanation close here.