Reading Daniel can be an amazing experience. The history, the prophecies, backstabbing plots that go awry, this book has it all. However, some questions need to be answered in order to gain a better understanding of the book. What are the four kingdoms that Daniel speaks of in chapter 7? Who are the ram and the goat in chapter 8? Who are the kings of the South and the kings of the North in chapter 11? Who is the king that “exalts himself” at the end of chapter 11? All of these questions will be addressed in order to understand the book of Daniel. Ultimately, it must be understood that, “Daniel 7-12 contains many symbols, but most of the material is straightforward prophecy”.[1]
The four kingdoms. Daniel 7 contains the prophecy of four kingdoms. Furthermore, Daniel 7 was written before chapters 5-6. Culver sees this first prophecy occurring some fourteen years before chapter 5.[2] Most commentators identify the four beasts of Dan. 7 with four kingdoms established in Dan. 2 with the statue, and there seems to be some plausibility in this argument.[3] Similarly, there is a sequential timeline involved. The fact that the four beasts come “out of the sea” is probably to be understood the same way “sea” is understood in Revelation- that is, in reference to the Gentile nations of the world.[4]
The first of the four kingdoms in found in Dan. 7:4. “The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it”. Several clues in this particular passage identify this as Nebuchadnezzar. First, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Ezekiel all symbolically identify Babylon as either a lion or an eagle.[5] Second, something specific happens to this king. “Its wings were plucked off, and thus it is deprived of its power of flight. No longer as a conqueror can it fly over the earth, nor as a ruler hover over it”.[6] It is the author’s opinion that the word “and” may best be read “until”. The Chaldean word, צַד [cad], is translated “and” as a preposition, and “until” as a conjunction.[7] Here the word should be treated as a conjunction: the lion’s wings are plucked, or removed, until the lion is lifted up by something else, and once this has occurred, then the lion is stood upright as a man. This is seen in the life of Nebuchadnezzar. For seven years, he acts as an animal until he recognized his pride and then humbled himself to God. Once he humbled himself, he was reinstated as king, but the act of humility must have happened for his reinstatement to occur.
The second kingdom is found in Dan. 7:5. “And 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.’” Following chronologically, the second beast represents the Medo-Persian Empire. This is not just the Median Empire, as some would propose. Succinctly, three reasons argue against this referring to a Median Empire. First, historically speaking, the Babylonian empire was immediately followed by the Medo-Persian, not the Median by itself; second, Media never ruled apart from Persia on a global scale; and third, some commentators identify Greece as the fourth beast and not Rome.[8] In order to accept the idea that Greece is the fourth beast is to deny accuracy in the prophecy of Daniel and to hold that Daniel is a second-century forgery.[9]
The third kingdom is found in Dan. 7:6. “After 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.” The word for “fowl” [צו֗ף] here is different from the word for “eagle” [נְשַׁר] in the vision of the first beast. Longman points out that the addition of wings to the leopard may symbolize blazing fast speed, but remains ambiguous as to whom the creature is to represent.[10] Following the conservative historical timeline, the third world power after Babylon and Medo-Persia was Greece. Young sees the four heads independent from the wings and that the heads demonstrate ecumenicity under Alexander the Great.[11] While Young is correct in the heads being separate from the wings, Miller correctly states that the four heads describe a kingdom that will ultimately end in four distinct rulers.[12]
The fourth kingdom, found in Dan. 7:7-8, is uniquely different from the previous three kingdoms. There is no mention of a known animal, just the adjectival description, “Dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake into 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.” If Daniel’s dream corresponds to the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, then this last beast would cover the legs, feet, and toes. Young derives a three-fold explanation for this hideous beast. First, there is the existence of the beast- destructive beyond measure, gruesome and terrifying, with great iron teeth that devours and destroys anything within its path.[13] This would be referring to ancient Rome. The second phase is the phase of the ten horns. These horns will arise out of the original beast, but at a later stage; they are not direct contemporaries, but they belong within the general realm of the beast.[14] The third phase revolves around the little horn. While the second phase is still ongoing, another horn rises up and subdues three of the original ten horns. During this time, the little horn will reign over all of the earth.[15]
Who are the ram and goat of Dan. 8? Dan. 8:1-2 introduces the section on the ram and the goat. The ram is introduced in verses 3-4; followed by the goat in verses 5-6. The two move against one another in military-like fashion, and ultimately, the goat wins (vs. 7-8). Gabriel is sent to translate what Daniel has seen. The ram is the kings of Media and Persia (vs. 20). The rough goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn between the eyes is the first king (vs. 21). This great horn is more than likely Alexander the Great.[16]
Who are the kings of the South and the North in Dan. 11:1-35? This section, which seems to begin in Dan. 10:18 deals with three people groups; however, only two are of importance. One is merely there to move the reader forward historically. “The fact that two hundred years of Persian history are compressed into a single verse is due primarily to the intent of Daniel’s original query concerning the fate of the Hebrew people (cf. 10:14). The message of the revealing angel gives prominence to the kingdoms of the Ptolemies (the ‘kings of the South’) and the Seleucids (the ‘kings of the north’) because their political and military interplay directly affects the history of Israel (11:5-20).”[17] Verses 21-35 seem to describe Antiochus Epiphanes, his hatred and persecution of the Jewish people, as well as his desecration of the temple in Jerusalem.[18] An interesting note is the term “vile” used in vs. 21. The verb is בָּזָה (bazah) in the niphal form, which would translate; he was vile, despicable, or contemptible.[19] His character is completely against the character of God, and his actions speak such.
Who is the king who exalts himself in Dan. 11:36-45? The question that must be answered is, is this same king, Antiochus IV of the previous section, or is this a new ruler at a separate point in time? Some points must be introduced in order to discern a contextual conclusion. Verse 38 reads that this king will honor a god whom his fathers did not know. Verse 40 reads that the king will meet his end in Israel, “between the seas in the glorious holy mountain”. Miller rightly points out that Antiochus Epiphanes worshipped the Greek pantheon, and furthermore, that he died at Tabae in Persia, not in Palestine.[20] The Antichrist will meet his destruction at Armageddon[21], which is could be a reference to modern day Megiddo (northwest of Jerusalem and east of the Mediterranean Sea). Walvoord points out that 12:1 is a continuation of the passage with the phrase, “And at that time”.[22] 12:1 also describes the great Tribulation at the end of the world, followed by two resurrections in vs. 2- one of the saved who awake to everlasting life, and the other to shame and everlasting contempt, “דֵּרָאון” (literally, everlasting abhorrence[23]). This then could not refer to Antiochus Epiphanes, but rather to the true Antichrist to come at the end of the age.
Bibliography
Boice, James Montgomery. Daniel. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006.
Brown, Francis, S. Driver, and C. Briggs. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2008.
Culver, Robert Duncan. The Histories and Prophecies of Daniel. Winona Lake, Indiana: BMH Books, 1980.
Goodrick, Edward W., and John R., III Kohlenberger. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.
Hill, Andrew E. Daniel. Vol. 8, in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, edited by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, 19-212. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008.
Longman III, Tremper. "Daniel." In The NIV Application Commentary, edited by Terry Muck, 312. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.
Miller, Stephen R. Daniel. Vol. 18, in New American Commentary, edited by E. Ray Clendenen, 352. Nashville: B & H Publishing, 1994.
Ross, Allen B. Introducing Biblical Hebrew. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
Walvoord, John F. Daniel, The Key to Prophetic Revelation. Chicago: Moody Press, 1989.
Young, Edward J. Daniel. Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 1997.
[1] Stephen R Miller, Daniel, vol. 18 of New American Commentary (Nashville: B & H Publishing, 1994), 193.
[2] Robert Duncan Culver, The Histories and Prophecies of Daniel (Winona Lake: BMH Books, 1980), 105. So also Walvoord, 149-150; Wood, 179; Longman III, 179-180; Hill, 132; Young, 141; Baldwin, 136. This is identified from dating the phrase in 7:1, “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon” with extrabiblical sources.
[3] Boice comments that Dan. 2 is man’s view of the future, and Dan. 7 is God’s view of the kingdoms.
[4] The Chaldean word “ruach” which is translated “winds” in the King James can also mean spirit or mind (according to Strong’s #10658; BDB #7308). The fact that these are “winds of heaven” may point to the fact that this is God causing kingdoms to come about in order to bring His will.
[5] See Young, 143 and Miller, 197 for a complete list of references.
[6] Edward J. Young, Daniel, in Geneva Series of Commentaries (Wiltshire: Cromwell, 1997), 144.
[7] Francis Brown, S. Driver, C. Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2008), 1105; BDB #5705
[8] Wood, 182-183.
[9] John F. Walvoord, Daniel- The Key to Prophetic Revelation (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), 155.
[10] Tremper Longman III, Daniel, in The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 185-186.
[11] Young, 146.
[12] Miller, 200.
[13] Young, 148.
[14] Ibid, 149.
[15] Ibid; Walvoord (160-161) points out that if the book of Daniel is a Babylonian captive from the sixth century and is writing legitimate scripture, than the case for Rome is more accurate than the case for Greece being the fourth beast.
[16] See Walvoord, 196; Longman, 206; Young, 178; Baldwin, 159; Montgomery, 89; Culver, 124; Miller, 233; Wood, 225.
[17] Andrew E. Hill, Daniel, vol. 8 “Daniel – Malachi” in Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 187. See Young, 234-240 for a complete historical explanation including names, dates, and places concerning this prophecy (also Walvoord, 257-264).
[18] Walvoord, 264.
[19] BDB, 102; See Allen P. Ross, Introducing Biblical Hebrew (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), pgs 188-192 for understanding the niphal usage in Hebrew language.
[20] Miller, 305.
[21] Young, 253.
[22] Walvoord, 281.
[23] BDB, 201.
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