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Daniel 7:4. The first was like a lion— This is the kingdom of the Babylonians; and the king of Babylon is in like manner compared to a lion, Jer 5:6 and said to fly as an eagle, Jeremiah 48:40. He is also compared to an eagle, Ezekiel 3:7. The lion is esteemed the king of beasts, and the eagle the king of birds; and therefore the kingdom of Babylon, which is described as the first and noblest kingdom, and was the greatest then in being, is said to partake of the nature of both. Instead of a lion, the Vulgate, Greek, and Arabic, read a lioness; and St. Jerome observes, that the kingdom of Babylon, for its cruelty, is compared not to a lion, but to a lioness; which, naturalists assert, is the fiercer of the two. The eagle's wings denote its swiftness and rapidity: and the conquests of Babylon were very rapid; that empire being advanced to its height within a few years by a single person, by the conduct and arms of Nebuchadnezzar. It is farther said, that the wings thereof were plucked, &c. that is to say, it was taken away from the earth, as it is commonly understood, and as it is rendered in almost all the ancient versions: or it may be translated, The wings thereof were plucked, wherewith it was lifted up from the earth; as Grotius explains it, and as we read in the margin of our Bibles; the conjunction copulative sometimes supplying the place of a relative. Its wings were beginning to be plucked at the time of the delivery of this prophesy; for at this time the Medes and Persians were incroaching upon it. Belshazzar the king, now reigning, was the last of his race; and in the seventeenth year of his reign Babylon was taken, and the kingdom transferred to the Medes and Persians. It is not easy to say what is the precise meaning of the last clause, And made stand, &c. It is most probable, that after the Babylonian empire was subverted, the people became humane and gentle; their minds were humbled with their fortunes; and they who vaunted as if they had been gods, now felt themselves to be but men. They were brought to such a sense as the inspired writer wishes, Psalms 9:20. See Bishop Newton as above. Houbigant reads, And it stood upon its feet, as a man; that is, says he, before its wings were plucked; for the pride of Nebuchadnezzar is here marked out, who seemed in his own opinion to be above a man; like an animal desirous to advance itself to the human condition.

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Daniel 7:5. A second, like to a bear— These animals are not only emblems of strength and power, but must be allowed to be here used with peculiar propriety. This second, is the kingdom of the Medes and Persians; and the largest bears were found in Media, a mountainous, rough, cold country, covered with woods. The Medes and Persians are compared to a bear, on account of their cruelty, and greediness after blood; a bear being a most voracious and cruel animal. The resemblance between the Persians and bears has been carried to great lengths by learned authors; who suppose them to resemble each other in their gluttony, in the remarkable length of their hair, in the restlessness of their disposition, &c. But the chief likeness consisted in what we have mentioned above; and that this likeness was principally intended by the prophet, may be inferred from the text itself; Arise, devour much flesh. A bear is called by Aristotle an omnivorous, or all-devouring animal; and Grotius informs us, that the Medo-Persians were great robbers and spoilers; according to Jeremiah 48:47. See also Isaiah 13:18. Calmet observes, that the Persians have exercised the most severe and cruel dominion that we know of. The punishments used among them beget horror in those who read them. Bishop Newton.

And it had three ribs, &c.— And it had three throats. Houbigant; who observes, that these three throats are those by which it absorbed Cyrus, and had in its power the three empires of the Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians. These animals denote not so much kingdoms, as the founders of kingdoms; for in the 17th verse it is said to Daniel, These four animals are four kings. Sir Isaac Newton and Bishop Chandler explain these three ribs, of the kingdoms of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, which were conquered by this beast; but were not properly parts and members of its body. They might be called ribs, says Bishop Newton, as the conquest of them much strengthened the Persian empire; and they might be said to be between the teeth of the bear, as they were much grinded and oppressed by the Persians. See his Dissertations, vol. 1: p. 446-448.

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Daniel 7:6. Lo, another, like a leopard— This third kingdom is that of the Macedonians or Grecians, who, under the command of Alexander the Great, overcame the Persians, and reigned next after them; and it is most fitly compared to a leopard upon several accounts. The leopard is remarkable for its swiftness; and Alexander and the Macedonians were amazingly rapid in their conquest; insomuch, that St. Jerome says, he seems rather to have overrun the world by his victories, than by his battles. The leopard is a spotted animal, and so was a proper emblem of the various nations which Alexander commanded, or of the various manners of Alexander himself; who was sometimes merciful, and sometimes cruel; sometimes temperate, and sometimes drunken; sometimes abstemious, and sometimes incontinent. The leopard is of small stature, but of great courage, so as not to be afraid to engage with the lion, and the largest beasts; and so Alexander, a little king in comparison, and with a small army, dared to attack Darius, the king of kings, whose kingdom extended from the AEgean sea to the Indies. This leopard had upon its back four wings. The Babylonian empire was represented with two wings, but this is described with four: for nothing was swifter than Alexander's conquests, who ran through all the countries from Illyricum to the Adriatic sea, and through a great part of India; not so much fighting, as conquering; and in twelve years subdued part of Europe, and almost all Asia. The beast also had four heads, to denote the four kingdoms into which this third kingdom should be divided, as it was after the death of Alexander among his four captains; Cassander reigning over Macedon and Greece, Lysimachus over Thrace and Bithynia, Ptolemy over Egypt, and Seleucus over Syria. And dominion was given to it, which shews that it was not owing to the fortitude of Alexander, but proceeded from the will of the Lord. And indeed, unless he had been directed, preserved, and assisted by the mighty power of God, how could Alexander, with 30,000 men, have overcome Darius with 600,000, and in so short a time have brought the countries from Greece as far as to India, into subjection? Bishop Newton.

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Daniel 7:7. Behold, a fourth beast, &c.— The fourth kingdom is represented by a fourth beast, dreaded, terrible, and exceeding strong. Daniel was curious to know particularly what this might mean, Dan 7:19 and the angel answers him, Daniel 7:23. This kingdom can be no other than the Roman empire, which answers this emphatical description better than any of the former kingdoms. The beast devoured, and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue, that is, the remains of the former kingdoms, with its feet. It reduced Macedon into a Roman province about 168 years, the kingdom of Pergamus about 133 years, Syria about 65 years, and Egypt about 30 years before Christ. And besides the remains of the Macedonian empire, it subdued many other provinces and kingdoms; so that it might, by a very usual figure, be said to devour the whole earth, to tread it down, and break it in pieces; and become in a manner what the Roman writers delighted to call it, "The empire of the whole world." The words of Dionysius Halicarnassus are very apposite to this subject: "The city of Rome (says he) ruleth over all the earth, as far as it is inhabited; and commands all the sea, not only that within the Pillars of Hercules, but also the ocean, as far as it is navigable; having first and alone, of all the celebrated kingdoms, made the east and west the bounds of its empire: and its dominion hath continued longer than that of any other city or kingdom." This fourth was diverse from all the beasts; and thus Rome was different from all the kingdoms, not only in its republican form of government, but also in power and greatness, length of duration, and extent of dominion. See Bishop Newton, Dr. Chandler's Vindication of Daniel, and the note on Daniel 7:24.

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Daniel 7:8. Another little horn— This refers to Antichrist, or the papal usurpation. See on Daniel 7:24.

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Daniel 7:11. I beheld then because of the voice, &c.— The beast will be destroyed, because of the great words which the horn spake. The destruction of the beast will be the destruction of the horn also; and consequently the horn is a part of the fourth beast, or of the Roman empire. Bishop Newton.

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Daniel 7:12. As concerning the rest, &c.— When the dominion was taken away from the rest of the beasts, their bodies were not destroyed, but suffered to continue still in being: but when the dominion shall be taken away from this beast, his body shall be totally destroyed, because other kingdoms succeeded to those, but none other earthly kingdom shall succeed to this. Ibid.

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Daniel 7:13. I saw in the night visions— This has always been, and can only be, understood of the Messiah. Hence the expression, Son of man, was a known phrase for the Messiah among the Jews, as appears from several of their own writers. ענני Anani, the word here used, and which signifies clouds, was also a known name for the Messiah; so that he who assumed the one, was supposed to affect the character of the other. This will appear evidently from what passed at the trial of our blessed Saviour. The high-priest adjuring him to declare whether he was the Son of God, Jesus answered him, in the words of our prophet, Hereafter shall ye see the SON OF MAN sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Every one took this for a declaration that he was the Messiah. The high-priest rent his clothes, as if he had spoken blasphemy, and the people reproached him for it. Art thou then the Christ?—Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who struck thee? Christ only said, that he was Daniel's Son of man, the Anani; that is to say, He who cometh in the clouds: the rest was their own inference, for which they could have no other foundation, than that Daniel was known to prophesy of the Messiah in this passage. Clouds are a known symbol of heaven, and of divine power and majesty; and the ascribing of this symbol to one like the Son of man, according to Saadiah Gaon, an eminent Jewish writer, "is a declaration of the supreme magnificence and authority which God shall give to that Son of Man, the Messiah." It seems, indeed, farther to imply, that this Son of man was then in heaven, when Daniel prophesied, and in high dignity before this new commission was given him. See Bishop Newton, p. 492 and Bishop Chandler's Defence, p. 107.

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