Daniel 7 explained: Four Beasts and a Heavenly Court

Beasts rise from the sea (vv. 1-6)

Winds stir up the sea, an old picture of chaos, and four beasts come out that the angel later calls kings (v. 17). The winged lion fits Babylon, while the bear and the leopard with four heads are traditionally read as Persia and Alexander's Greek empire, though many modern scholars read them as Media and Persia.

A beast unlike the rest (vv. 7-8)

Traditional Jewish and Christian readers saw this beast with iron teeth as Rome, while many modern scholars see the Greek kingdoms that followed Alexander, with the ten horns as ten kings (v. 24). On that second view the boastful little horn is Antiochus IV, a Greek king who banned Jewish worship in 167 BC, while many Christians see a final enemy of God still to come.

The heavenly court sits (vv. 9-12)

God appears as the Ancient of Days, an aged judge in white on a blazing throne with wheels, served by countless attendants, and record books are opened as at a trial. The fourth beast is destroyed because of the horn's boasting, while the others lose their power but live on a while, which may mean their peoples outlasted their empires.

A human figure receives power (vv. 13-14)

In contrast to the beasts, a figure who looks human (the phrase son of man simply means a human being) comes with the clouds and is given a kingdom that never ends. Christians read him as Jesus, who called himself the Son of Man; Jewish tradition has often seen the Messiah, and many modern scholars see an angel or a symbol of God's people, who receive the kingdom in verse 27.

Daniel asks what it means (vv. 15-18)

Shaken, Daniel asks a heavenly attendant and learns that the beasts are earthly kings, but that God's holy people (one translation says saints) will receive the kingdom for ever. Most read these as God's faithful people on earth, though some scholars think angels are meant, or both.

The horn's war and fall (vv. 19-28)

The horn makes war on God's people and tries to change their sacred times and laws for a period counted in 'times' and half a time, usually read as three and a half years; some link this to Antiochus's ban on Jewish festivals and others to a final crisis. Then the court strips his power and gives an everlasting kingdom to the holy people, while Daniel is left pale and troubled, keeping it to himself.

Key verse: Daniel 7:14

Where Christians differ

Christians differ over whether the vision mainly concerns the Greek king Antiochus IV in the 160s BC, as many scholars hold who date the book to that period, or Rome and a final enemy still to come, as many traditional readers hold who date it to Daniel's own life in the 500s BC.

Something to think about

When you look at the powers of your own time, does the hope that cruelty will one day be judged feel like comfort, wishful thinking, or something else?