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The Prophets · Old Testament

Daniel 7

Daniel 7: four beasts from the sea and the Ancient of days

General context

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel has a dream and visions and writes them down. He sees the four winds striving on the great sea and four beasts coming up: the first like a lion with eagle's wings, which are plucked so that it stands like a man and receives a man's heart; the second like a bear raised on one side with three ribs in its mouth, told to devour much flesh; the third like a leopard with four wings and four heads, given dominion; and a fourth, dreadful and strong with iron teeth and ten horns, among which a little horn rises, uproots three horns, and has eyes and a mouth speaking great things. Thrones are set, the Ancient of days sits in white on a fiery throne, the judgment is set and the books opened. Because of the horn's great words Daniel watches until the fourth beast is slain and burned; the other beasts lose dominion but live for a season. One like the Son of man comes with the clouds to the Ancient of days and receives an everlasting dominion. Daniel, grieved, asks one who stands by, who says the four beasts are four kings and the saints of the most High will possess the kingdom for ever. Daniel asks about the fourth beast and the horn that made war with the saints; the interpreter says the fourth beast is a fourth kingdom, the ten horns ten kings, and another king who will speak against the most High, wear out the saints and think to change times and laws for a time, times and the dividing of time, until judgment removes his dominion and the kingdom is given to the saints. Daniel is troubled and keeps the matter in his heart.

Cited passages: Daniel 7:1, Daniel 7:2, Daniel 7:3, Daniel 7:4, Daniel 7:5, Daniel 7:6, Daniel 7:7, Daniel 7:8, Daniel 7:9, Daniel 7:10, Daniel 7:11, Daniel 7:12, Daniel 7:13, Daniel 7:14, Daniel 7:16, Daniel 7:17, Daniel 7:18, Daniel 7:21, Daniel 7:23, Daniel 7:24, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 7:27, Daniel 7:28

Daniel 7 (KJV)

1In 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.

2Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.

3And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

4The 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 stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.

5And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

6After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

7After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

8I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

9I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

10A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

11I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

12As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

13I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, 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.

15I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

17These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

18But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

19Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;

20And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

21I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

22Until 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.

23Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

25And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

26But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The vision is dated to the first year of Belshazzar, which places it before the feast of chapter 5 in the book's order, though it comes after it in the text. From here the book speaks mostly in Daniel's first person, and the narrator's frame in verse 1 says he wrote the dream. The interpreter is described only as one of them that stood by and is not named. His explanation is the text's own limit: the four beasts are four kings, the fourth beast a fourth kingdom, the ten horns ten kings, and the little horn another king who subdues three. The text does not name any of these kings or kingdoms, and this guide does not. The period of the horn's power is given as a time and times and the dividing of time, with no unit defined. The one like the Son of man is not identified, and the interpretation speaks of the kingdom being given to the saints of the most High without saying how that relates to him. The beasts' features are carried into the interpretation only for the fourth; the lion, bear and leopard receive no separate explanation. Daniel's own reaction, grief and a changed countenance, is stated twice.

Cited passages: Daniel 7:1, Daniel 7:16, Daniel 7:17, Daniel 7:24, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 7:13, Daniel 7:27, Daniel 7:15, Daniel 7:28

Literary context

The chapter has the shape of a vision followed by a question and answer, and then a second question about the part that troubled Daniel most. Each beast is introduced with a formula, and the fourth breaks the pattern: it is likened to no animal and is described by what it does, devouring, breaking, stamping. The horn's mouth speaking great things sets up the judgment scene, where it is the voice of those words that Daniel watches until the beast is burned. Throne, garments, hair, fire and books build the court in a few strokes, and the one like the Son of man enters on clouds where the beasts rose from the sea. The interpreter's first answer is short, four kings and the saints' kingdom; Daniel's second question repeats the beast's features almost word for word, and the second answer lengthens them into a career and an end. The everlasting dominion given to the Son of man in verse 14 and the everlasting kingdom of the saints in verse 27 close each half of the chapter with the same phrase. The four kingdoms and the kingdom that shall not be destroyed recall the image of chapter 2 from a different angle, seen now by Daniel rather than by the king.

Cited passages: Daniel 7:7, Daniel 7:8, Daniel 7:11, Daniel 7:9, Daniel 7:13, Daniel 7:19, Daniel 7:14, Daniel 7:27, Daniel 7:26, Daniel 7:28, Daniel 2:44

Key moments

  1. Four beasts from the sea (Daniel 7:3). Daniel sees four different beasts rise from the storm-driven sea.
  2. The fourth beast with ten horns (Daniel 7:7). A dreadful beast with iron teeth devours and stamps, and has ten horns.
  3. The little horn speaks great things (Daniel 7:8). A small horn uproots three others and speaks with a man's eyes and mouth.
  4. The Ancient of days sits (Daniel 7:9). Thrones are set and a white-robed judge sits on a fiery throne.
  5. One like the Son of man (Daniel 7:13). A figure comes with clouds to the Ancient of days and receives everlasting dominion.
  6. The beasts are four kings (Daniel 7:17). One standing by tells Daniel the beasts are four kings from the earth.
  7. Kingdom given to the saints (Daniel 7:27). The interpreter says the kingdom under heaven will be given to the saints of the most High.

For reflection

Daniel receives an interpretation and is still troubled enough to keep the matter in his heart. What does the chapter suggest about the difference between having something explained and being at peace with it?

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