Daniel 7

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Daniel’s Vision of Chapter 7 is from the Book of Daniel in the Bible.

One evening during the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylonia, Daniel had a vision that caused him great concern. He describes the vision and tells of the interpretation he was given by someone he talked to in the dream.

Literary structure

Arthur Ferch Th.D.[1] points out that the vision forms a chiasm.

A. First 3 beasts (4-6)
B. Fourth beast (7)
C. Little horn (8)
D. The Judgment (9, 10)
C'. Little horn (11a)
B'. Fourth beast (11b)
A'. First 3 beasts (12)

Dream

Daniel sees a great sea being whipped up by the four winds. Four beasts come out of the sea – 1) a lion with wings, 2) a bear with ribs in its mouth, 3) a leopard with four wings and four heads, and 4) a nondescript, but terrifying and powerful beast. Then the court of the Ancient of Days is held, books are opened and judgment pronounced in favor of the saints. The fourth remaining beast is destroyed. The “son of man” is given an everlasting dominion, which is then given over to the saints.

Daniel asks for an interpretation from someone in the dream and is told that the four beasts represent four kingdoms to appear on earth. The fourth beast and the horns especially intrigue Daniel. He is then told further interpretation about the fourth beast.

Synthesis of dream and interpretation

Parallel paraphrase of Dream and Interpretation. The text is arranged to read top-to-bottom, and parallel left-to-right. (Words in bold font indicate parallel phrases. Colors demarcate the different kingdoms.)

This is a synthesis of the dream and interpretation given to Daniel as illustrated in the paraphrased table.

First beast: A lion with eagle’s wings, has its wings torn off. It is then stood up on two feet and given a man’s heart.

Second beast: A bear, raised up on one side, has three ribs in its teeth. He is told to gorge himself of flesh.

Third beast: A leopard with four wings and four heads is given authority to rule.

Fourth beast: A terrifying, powerful, nondescript beast, unlike any other, crushes and devours the whole earth with its iron teeth—trampling it down. Ten kings/kingdoms will come out of this kingdom. Then a different sort of horn uproots 3 of the kings/kingdoms. It boasts against the Most High trying to change set times and laws. He will oppress the saints for a time, times and half a time (or a year, two years, and half a year – 3.5 years)

After that time the Ancient of Days sets up court, opens the books and pronounces judgment in favor of the saint.

Then the 4th beast will have its power taken away and be destroyed in fire.

Then the ‘son of man’ comes in the clouds of heaven. The Ancient of Days gives him an everlasting dominion which he hands over to the saints. All rulers will worship and obey him.

Principles of interpretation

Principles of interpretations are rules for interpreting Bible prophecies derived from the Bible by either direct explanation or derived from examples.

Beasts represent kingdoms

This principle comes from a direct explanation. An angel explains:

  • "The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth." verse 17.

This same principle is also found in Chapter 8.

Animal horns represent kings

This principle is derived from examples rather than by direct statement. The three examples are found by parallel paraphrase. The vision is put beside it's interpretation.

  • "and it had ten horns" (verse 7), "the ten horns are ten kings" (verse 24)
  • "there before me was another horn" (verse 8), "After them another king" (verse 24)
  • "three of the first horns were uprooted before it" (verse 8), "he will subdue three kings" (verse 24)

This same principle is also found in Chapter 8.

Identification of Kingdoms and the Little Horn

Unlike Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2 where the head of Gold is identified as Nebuchadnezzar and Babylonia, none of the beasts is identified in this vision. Of the four beasts, only the 4th beast and its horn are interpreted.

While no beast is clearly identified in this interpretation, some Christian theologians ever since the second century have connected the eagle winged lion with Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonia, a matter still open to considerable debate.

One traditional interpretation of these four beasts is that, in order from first to last, they are Neo-Babylonia, followed by the joint rule of the Medes and the Persians, followed by the Greeks and the Roman Empire.

Scholarly View

The scholarly view is that the four beasts stand for Babylonia, Medes[2], Persia[3], and the Greek Empire. The Greek empire was different from all the others in that it was Western rather than Oriental in inspiration. The ten horns[4] represent the kings of the Seleucid dynasty, the only part of the Hellenistic empire that concerned the author.[5] Nearly all Biblical scholars believe that the "little horn" is Antiochus IV Epiphanes the worst of the Seleucid kings, who usurped the throne. Daniel 7:25 [6] is believed to be a reference to the persecutions of Antiochus and his attempt to force the Jews to give up their customs and to adopt Hellenistic ways(1 Maccabees 1:20-63).[5](See Footnotes below for details)

Other Views

Historicism

Interpreters of the Historicist school(e.g. Adventist) identify the "little horn" as the Papacy that came up among the Barbarians tribes (the 10 horns) that caused the break up of the Roman empire. The reference to changing "times and law" (Daniel 7:25) is taken to refer to the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, and the attack on the sanctuary (Daniel 8:11) to the mediatorial ministry of Roman Catholic priests. The "time, times and half a time" (Daniel 7:25) is taken to represent a period of 1260 years spanning 538 CE and 1798 CE, when the Roman Catholic Church dominated the Christian world.(See Day-year principle for details)

Futurism

In the Futurist view, the "little horn" is identified as the future antichrist who will rise to power through the "revived Roman Empire"(the fourth beast). The "time, times and half a time" (Daniel 7:25) is taken as a literal 3 1/2 year period corresponding to the last half of the 7 year tribulation within the 70th week of Daniel 9:24-27.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Ferch, Arthur J., 1988, Daniel on Solid Ground, Review and Herald Publishing Assoc., p. 27
  2. ^ What Medo-Persian Empire?, Farrell Till
  3. ^ After this I looked and saw another beast, like a leopard; on its back were four wings like those of a bird, and it had four heads. To this beast dominion was given.
    A leopard used to symbolize the swiftness with which Cyrus established his kingdom. The four heads correspond to the four Persian kings of Daniel 11:2
  4. ^ Seleucus I Nicator, Antiochus I Soter, Antiochus II Theos, Seleucus II Callinicus,Seleucus III Ceraunus, Antiochus III the Great, Seleucus IV Philopator, Demetrius I Soter, Heliodorus, Seleucus IV’s infant son Antiochus.
    After the Battle of Magnesia, Antiochus IV Epiphanes lived in Rome as a hostage in connection with the reparations his father Antiochus III the Great had to pay. In 175 BC, he was released by the intervention of his brother Seleucus IV Philopator who substituted his own son Demetrius I Soter as hostage. While Antiochus IV Epiphanes was at Athens, Seleucus IV Philopator was assasinated by his chief minister Heliodorus who then seized the throne(Rawlinson, Ancient history, 256)[1]. Antiochus IV Epiphanes with the military sanction of Pergamon monarch Eumenes II expelled Heliodorus and usurped the throne to the exclusion of Demetrius and the late king's younger son, Antiochus, still a baby in Syria.(International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Bromiley, 145)
  5. ^ a b New American Bible
  6. ^ "And he shall speak great words against the most High"
    Greek inscription reads ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ means ("of Antiochus, God Manifest, Bearer of Victory")

    Antiochus assumed divine epithets such Theos Epiphanes("God Manifest") inscribed on royal coins and Nikephoros("Bearer of Victory"), a traditional Zeus(Supreme God) epithet. 1 Macc 1:24 says:"he had spoken with great arrogance"(cf. Dan 7:8)
    "and shall wear out the saints of the most High"
    Antiochus slaughtered many Jews for refusing to renounce Judaism(1 Macc 1:20-61, 2 Macc 6-7)
    "and think to change times and laws"
    Antiochus outlawed the Jewish laws completely e.g. possession of the copy of Torah, temple sacrifices, dietary laws, circumcision, Sabbath and festival days (1 Macc 1:40-61) and imposed Greek pagan worship and practices on the Jews.(1 Macc 1:43, 2 Macc 6:3-10)
    "and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
    Antiochus suspended the Temple rituals for 3 1/2 years(War of the Jews 1:1:1). This period constitutes the time-span from the time the abomination of desolation was set up until the time of Antiochus's death(1 Macc 1:54, 4:52, 6:16, cf. Dan 12:7,12-13, The Anchor Bible, Daniel, 1978, p. 312).

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