Daniel 7:3

3 Four huge beasts came up out of the ocean, each one different from the others. 1

Daniel 7:3 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 7:3

And four great beasts came up from the sea
Which are afterwards interpreted of four kings or kingdoms, ( Daniel 7:17 ) , which rose up in the world, not at once, but successively, and out of the sea or world, through the commotions and agitations of it; and these are the four monarchies, 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; and to "great ones", being not like single separate kingdoms, as the kingdom of Israel, and the like, but consisting of many kingdoms and nations, and so like beasts of an enormous size: diverse one from another;
in their situation, language, manner, strength, and power; hence expressed by divers sorts of beasts, as the lion, bear, leopard; as in Nebuchadnezzar's dream by different metals, gold, silver, brass, and iron.

Daniel 7:3 In-Context

1 In the first year that Belshazzar was king of Babylonia, I had a dream and saw a vision in the night. I wrote the dream down, and this is the record
2 of what I saw that night: Winds were blowing from all directions and lashing the surface of the ocean.
3 Four huge beasts came up out of the ocean, each one different from the others.
4 The first one looked like a lion, but had wings like an eagle. While I was watching, the wings were torn off. The beast was lifted up and made to stand up straight. And then a human mind was given to it.
5 The second beast looked like a bear standing on its hind legs. It was holding three ribs between its teeth, and a voice said to it, "Go on, eat as much meat as you can!"

Cross References 1

  • 1. 7.3Revelation 13.1; 17.8.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.