The Meaning of Daniel 7:7 Explained

Daniel 7:7

KJV: After 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.

YLT: After this I was seeing in the visions of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, and exceedingly strong; and it hath iron teeth very great, it hath consumed, yea, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled; and it is diverse from all the beasts that are before it; and it hath ten horns.

Darby: After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceeding strong; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

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

Discover Daniel 7:7

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Daniel 7:7?

MEANING: What does Daniel 7:7 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Daniel 7:7 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Daniel 7:7?

What is the context of Daniel 7:7?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

After 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.

What does Daniel 7:7 Mean?

Study Notes

horns
A horn symbolizes a king. Cf. Revelation 17:12 .

Verse Meaning

Most conservative scholars believe that the fourth beast represents the Roman Empire, but critical scholars interpret it as referring to Greece. Walvoord called the identification of the fourth beast in chapter7 "the crucial issue in the interpretation of the entire book of Daniel." ^[1]

In contrast to Greece, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire was slow. It began in241 B.C. with the occupation of Sicily. Gradually it expanded throughout the whole Mediterranean world: western Europe including Britain, Gaul, and Spain; and western Asia as far east as the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. It formally ended in the Western Roman Empire in A.D410 when the Visigoths sacked Rome. However, its governmental influence persisted as late as A.D1453 , when the last Roman ruler died in battle in Constantinople. ^[2]

Daniel did not compare the fourth beast that he saw to any known animal. It was unique. It was dreadful, terrifying, and extremely strong. Its large iron teeth chewed up what it attacked, and its feet crushed and trampled everything left by the former beasts.

". . . the Roman empire was ruthless in its destruction of civilizations and peoples, killing captives by the thousands and selling them into slavery by the hundreds of thousands." ^[3]

"Rome had no interest in raising the conquered nations to any high level of development. All her designs were imperial; let the nations be crushed and stamped underfoot." ^[4]

The identification of the10 horns of this beast is more difficult. There is some obvious similarity between these10 horns and the (10 , by inference) toes of the image in chapter2. They apparently represent10 contemporaneous rulers ( Daniel 7:17). Horns pictured strength and rulers in ancient Near Eastern iconography, yet scholars have not been able to agree on the identification of10 outstanding rulers of the Roman Empire who ruled simultaneously.

There are two basic views about the identity of the10 horns. First, some scholars spiritualize the number10 as well as the number three ( Daniel 7:8). That Isaiah , they do not take them literally. Almost all interpreters in this camp are amillennial. "Amillennial" refers to the belief that Jesus Christ will not reign on the earth for one thousand years in any literal sense. Of these interpreters, some believe these Numbers , 10 and three, refer to past rulers even though we cannot identify them. Young took the number10 as figuratively indicating completeness. ^[5] Others believe these10 refer to future rulers who will appear at the second coming of Jesus Christ. ^[6] Still others believe the number refers generally to those who will reign with Christ in the future in heaven.

Second, some scholars believe we should take the Numbers 10 and three literally, since that is how we take most other numbers in the book. ^[7] There is no clue in the text that we should interpret these numbers non-literally. This more consistent method of interpretation is what characterizes premillennialism. Premillennialists believe that prophecy, if interpreted literally, teaches that Jesus Christ will rule on the earth for1 ,000 years following his Second Coming. Even amillennialists acknowledge that if one interprets prophecy consistently literally he or she will come out a premillennialist. They do not do Song of Solomon , however, because they believe that such a literal interpretation yields fanciful results. Consequently, they argue, we should adopt a different hermeneutic (method of interpretation) when reading prophecy, namely, a less literal one.

Most premillenarians believe that the10 horns describe10 rulers who will arise in the future and reign simultaneously. This obviously seems unlikely, since the Roman Empire is no longer in existence. However, there seem to be indications in Daniel and elsewhere in the Bible, which I will point out later, that God will revive or reestablish the Roman Empire in the future.

Context Summary

Daniel 7:1-14 - God's Everlasting Dominion

This chapter enumerates the succession of world-empires and rulers which bridge the gulf of centuries from the Captivity to the Second Advent. The lion represents Babylon, whose cruel and mighty kingdom was animated by marvelous intelligence; the bear, Persia; the leopard, Greece under Alexander the Great; and the fourth beast, with great iron teeth, Rome. The ten horns are ten kings, and these probably represent great European kingdoms which have succeeded, or may yet succeed, to the heritage of the Roman empire. The Ancient of Days is sitting today upon His throne, His snow-white raiment betokening His purity, the fire of His throne bespeaking His antagonism to all things that offend and work iniquity. The government of the world is on shoulders which are well able to carry it, and He will cause all things to work out His purpose, which is to promote and assure the glory of Christ. [source]

Chapter Summary: Daniel 7

¹ Daniel's vision of the four beasts,
⁹ and of God's kingdom
¹⁵ The interpretation thereof

What do the individual words in Daniel 7:7 mean?

After this saw I in visions night the and behold a beast fourth fourth dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly and teeth Iron iron it had huge it was devouring and breaking in pieces and residue the - with its feet trampling and it [was] different from all beasts the that [were] before it and horns ten it had

בָּאתַ֣ר דְּנָה֩ חָזֵ֨ה הֲוֵ֜ית בְּחֶזְוֵ֣י לֵֽילְיָ֗א וַאֲר֣וּ חֵיוָ֣ה [רביעיה] (רְֽבִיעָאָ֡ה) דְּחִילָה֩ וְאֵֽימְתָנִ֨י וְתַקִּיפָ֜א יַתִּ֗ירָא וְשִׁנַּ֨יִן דִּֽי־ פַרְזֶ֥ל לַהּ֙ רַבְרְבָ֔ן אָֽכְלָ֣ה וּמַדֱּקָ֔ה וּשְׁאָרָ֖א [ברגליה] (בְּרַגְלַ֣הּ) רָפְסָ֑ה וְהִ֣יא מְשַׁנְּיָ֗ה מִן־ כָּל־ חֵֽיוָתָא֙ דִּ֣י קָֽדָמַ֔יהּ וְקַרְנַ֥יִן עֲשַׂ֖ר לַֽהּ

בָּאתַ֣ר	After
Parse: Preposition Root: אֲתַר Sense: track, place.
דְּנָה֩	this
Parse: Pronoun, masculine singular Root: דְּנָה Sense: this, on account of this adv.
חָזֵ֨ה	saw
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular Root: חֲזָה Sense: to see, behold.
בְּחֶזְוֵ֣י	in visions
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct Root: חֱזוּ Sense: vision, appearance.
לֵֽילְיָ֗א	night the
Parse: Noun, masculine singular determinate Root: לֵילֵי Sense: night.
וַאֲר֣וּ	and behold
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interjection Root: אֲרוּ Sense: behold, lo.
חֵיוָ֣ה	a beast
Parse: Noun, feminine singular Root: חֵיוָה Sense: beast, animal.
[רביעיה]	fourth
Parse: Number, ordinal feminine singular
(רְֽבִיעָאָ֡ה)	fourth
Parse: Number, ordinal feminine singular Root: רְבִיעָי Sense: fourth.
דְּחִילָה֩	dreadful
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, feminine singular Root: דְּחַל Sense: to fear.
וְאֵֽימְתָנִ֨י	and terrible
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, feminine singular Root: אֵימְתָן Sense: terrible.
וְתַקִּיפָ֜א	and strong
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, feminine singular Root: תַּקִּיף Sense: might, strong, mighty.
יַתִּ֗ירָא	exceedingly
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular Root: יַתִּיר Sense: pre-eminent, surpassing, extreme, extraordinary adv.
וְשִׁנַּ֨יִן	and teeth
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, fd Root: שֵׁן Sense: tooth.
דִּֽי־	Iron
Parse: Pronoun, relative Root: דִּי Sense: who, which, that mark of genitive.
פַרְזֶ֥ל	iron
Parse: Noun, masculine singular Root: פַּרְזֶל Sense: iron.
לַהּ֙	it had
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
רַבְרְבָ֔ן	huge
Parse: Adjective, feminine plural Root: רַב Sense: great.
אָֽכְלָ֣ה	it was devouring
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular Root: אֲכַל Sense: to eat, devour.
וּמַדֱּקָ֔ה	and breaking in pieces
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Participle, feminine singular Root: דְּקַק Sense: to break into pieces, fall into pieces, be shattered.
וּשְׁאָרָ֖א	and residue the
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular determinate Root: שְׁאָר Sense: rest, remainder.
[ברגליה]	-
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine plural construct, third person feminine singular
(בְּרַגְלַ֣הּ)	with its feet
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person feminine singular Root: רְגַל Sense: foot.
רָפְסָ֑ה	trampling
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular Root: רְפַס Sense: to tread, trample.
וְהִ֣יא	and it
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, third person feminine singular Root: הוּא Sense: he, she, it.
מְשַׁנְּיָ֗ה	[was] different
Parse: Verb, Piel, QalPassParticiple, feminine singular Root: שְׁנָה Sense: to change, be altered, be changed.
חֵֽיוָתָא֙	beasts the
Parse: Noun, feminine singular determinate Root: חֵיוָה Sense: beast, animal.
דִּ֣י	that [were]
Parse: Pronoun, relative Root: דִּי Sense: who, which, that mark of genitive.
קָֽדָמַ֔יהּ	before it
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular Root: קֳדָם Sense: before, in front of.
וְקַרְנַ֥יִן	and horns
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, fd Root: קֶרֶן Sense: horn.
עֲשַׂ֖ר	ten
Parse: Number, feminine singular Root: עֲשַׂר Sense: ten.
לַֽהּ	it had
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular

What are the major concepts related to Daniel 7:7?

Loading Information...

Similar Scriptures for Daniel 7:7

		Revelation 13:1 [7]
		Revelation 12:3 [6]
		Revelation 17:12 [5]
		Daniel 7:23-24 [5]
		Daniel 7:19-20 [3]
		Daniel 2:40-42 [3]
		Daniel 7:13 [3]
		Daniel 7:2 [2]
		Revelation 17:7 [2]
		Daniel 8:10 [2]
		2 Samuel 22:43 [2]
read more (0)
read less