Daniel 7:2

2 I am Daniel. In the vision I had during the night I saw the four winds of heaven churning the great sea.

Daniel 7:2 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 7:2

Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night
He declared he had had a vision by night, and this was the substance of it: and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea:
the east, west, north, and south winds, broke out from each of their quarters, and rushed in upon the great sea; either the Mediterranean, so called in comparison of the sea of Sodom, and the sea of Tiberias in Judea; or upon the waters of the main ocean, and raised up its waves, and seemed as it were to be striving and fighting with them, and put them into a strange agitation; by which may be meant the whole world, and the kingdoms and nations of it, because of its largeness, inconstancy, instability, and disquietude; see ( Revelation 17:15 ) ( Isaiah 57:20 ) , and by the "four winds" some understand the angels, either good or bad, concerned in the affairs of Providence on earth, either by divine order or permission; or rather the kings of the earth raising commotions in it, striving and fighting with one another, either to defend or enlarge their dominions; and which have been the means in Providence of the rising up of some great state or monarchy, as after appears.

Daniel 7:2 In-Context

1 In the first year of Babylon's King Belshazzar, Daniel had a dream—a vision in his head as he lay on his bed. He wrote the dream down. Here is the beginning of the account:

2 I am Daniel. In the vision I had during the night I saw the four winds of heaven churning the great sea.

3 Four giant beasts emerged from the sea, each different from the others.

4 The first was like a lion with eagle's wings. I observed it until its wings were pulled off, and it was lifted up from the ground. It was then set on two feet, like a human being, and it received a human mind.

5 Then I saw another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told: "Get up! Devour much flesh!"