The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings I beheld till its wings were plucked; and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
Daniel's night vision covers the same four world powers as the great statue of chapter 2. But the picture has changed. What a king saw as a splendid image now rises out of a stormy sea as wild animals. The first of them is Babylon at its peak, and this verse shows God taking that peak away.
The two visions show the same empires from two different sides:
In the vision of the image, these empires were shown as impressive but declining powers, as men see them. Here the same empires are shown in a form that expresses their moral decline, one after another, as God sees them. Cruelty, selfishness and greed, with no recognition or knowledge of God, mark the beast. These are the solemn features of the world empires through the times of the Gentiles, until Christ's rule is set up.
The two creatures joined in this one symbol were not new language for Babylon. Earlier prophets had already used both:
"The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings." Here, beyond question, we have the empire of Babylon. It is nothing new for the Holy Spirit to apply the figure of a lion to Nebuchadnezzar, or of an eagle either. Jeremiah has already used both, and names him as both the lion and the eagle in Jer. 49:19-22. Ezekiel pictured him as an eagle too. In Daniel's vision the Holy Spirit combines the two figures in one symbol, to give a fitting picture of what the Babylonian empire was in the mind of God.
Together they say two things: the lion stands for majesty, and the wings for "swift marching and conquest, which marked the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar above all" (Edward Dennett).
Babylon did not seize the top place. God gave it, and gave it on terms:
This was the power to which God gave dominion after He set Israel and the house of David aside. Remarkably, while God still owned Israel, He let no power rise to the top place on earth. Both Egypt and Assyria wanted that place and fought for it, but neither one won it. When the time came for David's throne to be overthrown, God let the rising power of Babylon conquer both of those older empires, and so it became supreme among the nations. Keeping that place depended on faithfulness to the trust given by Him who rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He will. Babylon proved unfaithful, and so God set it aside.
Daniel then watches the beast change. Every part of the change speaks of loss:
The wings of the beast were plucked. It lost the swift action that had marked it out, and this shows what the empire became in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar's weak successors. The beast also lost its own natural posture. It was made to stand up like a man and was given the heart of a man — pictures of the weak state to which Babylon sank in the end. For if a lion is made to stand up, and its whole nature is changed, it has lost both its power and its grandeur.
Babylon itself was not wiped out. It was demoted: "remained a great city after its dominion was taken away… it became a province, and was no longer mistress of the world" (J. N. Darby).
Where the ESV reads "the mind of a man was given to it," older translations say "a man's heart." Commentators work from that older wording, and they link it back to Nebuchadnezzar himself:
In keeping with this, "a man's heart was given to it." There may be a contrast here with what was done to Nebuchadnezzar himself, who was given a beast's heart. The proud king was not looking up to God, which is the plain duty of every soul. A man who does not recognize the God who made him is not truly a man… In Nebuchadnezzar's case, man was taken up with himself. Satan twisted the very gift of worldwide rule that God had given him, so that self, and not God, became the object of his thoughts.
The two hearts differ in direction: "Man's heart looks upwards to God; a beast's heart looks down and ravages others" (J. N. Darby).
- Given. Babylon rose only when God set David's throne aside. It held that power on trust from the God who gives kingdoms to whomever He will.
- Grandeur. Earlier prophets pictured Babylon as a lion and as an eagle. Daniel's vision joins the two: majesty plus the speed of its conquests.
- God's view. What dazzles men as a golden image looks to God like wild beasts: power that will not recognize Him.
- Stripped. Plucked wings, an upright stance, a man's heart — all say one thing. The swift conquering stops, and the empire sinks into weakness.
- Lesson. Nebuchadnezzar looked down at himself instead of up to God, so God gave him a beast's heart. A man's heart is the heart that owns One above it.
And behold, another beast, a second, like unto a bear, and it raised up itself on one side; and [it had] three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and they said thus unto it Arise, devour much flesh.
Daniel watched four beasts rise out of a storm-tossed sea. The second one pictures an empire he would soon live under, and every detail counts: the lopsided stance, the ribs clenched in its teeth, the order given to it.
God showed these empires to His prophet as wild animals. One commentator explains what that picture says about them.
Some may ask, "Why are they shown as wild beasts?" We learn in this figure their moral character in the eyes of God. Beasts live to satisfy their appetites, with no sense of responsibility towards God. The figure is a true one. Neither Babylon nor Persia nor the rest ruled for God. Love of power and greed of conquest marked every one of them, some more and some less.
The bear's identity is not guesswork. Scripture names the kingdom it followed and the kingdom that came after it.
Just as plainly, if the first beast stands for Babylon, the second stands for Persia — or rather for the Medo-Persian kingdom. Daniel 5 tells us in so many words that this kingdom followed Babylon, and Daniel 8 tells us it came before Greece. History says the same, as everyone knows. The symbol of a bear shows its ferocious character.
The choice of animal is itself a comment on the empire. Compared with the lion of verse 4, the bear is heavy and clumsy.
The three ribs in its mouth show the bear's ferocity plainly. But it has none of the lion's majesty, energy, or dash. It is clumsier and more awkward in its movements, yet marked by endless conquest and greed.
A bear standing higher on one side is a strange picture until you know that two peoples made up this empire. Which of them would rule was not the obvious answer.
It was an empire not so uniform as the Babylonian. It consisted of two peoples joined under one head. Another remarkable feature is this: it was the inferior of the two kingdoms that prevailed. The Persian takes the upper hand of the Mede. So in Daniel 5 we saw that Darius the Mede took the kingdom. But Cyrus soon followed. From then on it was always the Persian who governed, not the Mede.
A later vision in Daniel 8 pictures the same empire as a ram. It repeats the same uneven detail.
Its one-sidedness shows us how exact the Spirit of God is in the details of Scripture. The next chapter pictures the same empire as a ram with two horns. There we learn that "one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last" (Daniel 8:3). This points to a power with two branches, and to a leading branch — the Persian — that was the younger. So the Spirit of God takes notice of a simple and well-known historical fact.
Commentators differ on the ribs. Some take them as a picture of appetite — the beast caught mid-meal.
Imagine a panorama of different beasts, with one animal painted holding a heap of prey and eating it. At once we would think of a huge appetite. That was the case with the Persians. They faced frequent revolts, because of their extortion and cruelty.
Others count them as three conquests: "The three ribs stand for the conquest of three provinces by this power." Arno Clemens Gaebelein
Persia's own history bears the order out, kindness to the Jews included.
Cyrus the Persian became favourable to the Jews, as the opening verses of Ezra show. Apart from this, its power was not tolerant. The words "Arise, devour much flesh" came true in its history.
The size of the finished empire shows how far that order went. Its territory "included what is now known as Turkey in Asia, Persia, Afghanistan and Baluchistan, as far as the river Indus, with a good portion of Egypt. In the words of Scripture, it had 'devoured much flesh.'" Morrish Bible Dictionary
- Beast — God sees this empire as a wild animal: strength with no sense of responsibility toward Him.
- Bear — the symbol is Medo-Persia. Daniel 5 shows it followed Babylon; Daniel 8 shows it came before Greece. It is heavy and greedy, not majestic like the lion.
- Balance — "raised up on one side" marks an empire of two peoples. The younger branch, Persia, came to rule. The ram of Daniel 8 says the same again.
- Bite — the ribs show an empire caught in the act of feeding. Commentators differ: some see plain greed, others three conquered provinces.
- Bidding — Persia obeyed the order to the letter, from the Indus to Egypt. Such exact detail shows the care of the Spirit of God in Scripture.
After this I saw, and behold, another, like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon its back; and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it.
Daniel's night vision moves on to a third creature: a leopard with wings and four heads, whose rule was handed to it. Three questions follow — which empire is this, why these odd features, and who gave it power?
The book supplies its own key: a later vision in Daniel names the kingdom outright.
The third beast was like a leopard, having on its back four wings of a bird. We need not go outside the book of Daniel for the interpretation of this. Daniel 8:21 lets us know that it was the Grecian Power that destroyed the Medo-Persian Empire. The leopard is fast in its movements by nature; the wings added in the vision speak of extraordinary speed. Most people know that Alexander led his forces against Persia to avenge Xerxes' invasion of Greece (Daniel 11:2). In about twelve years he conquered almost the whole known world.
No such animal has ever walked the earth. God borrows its features from real creatures.
There was nothing in nature like this leopard. God takes features from different things that did exist in nature and combines them to give an idea of this new empire. The leopard is known for its agility in chasing its prey. Yet, to give something beyond nature, we hear that it had "on its back four wings of a bird." If headlong courage in pursuing great plans was ever joined with speed in winning one conquest after another, we find it in the history of Alexander the Great.
More wings do not mean more glory here. The bird they belong to, and the number of heads, both point downward.
The third beast does not lack speed in action, for it has on its back four wings of a bird. But its flight is not the lofty, magnificent flight of the eagle; it is that of a much lower bird. It has, however, four wings instead of two. It has also four heads; absolute authority was not held by one head only. To it dominion was given.
The four heads do not describe the empire at its founding. They describe what it became after Alexander died — the stage that mattered most for the Jews.
This is without doubt the empire of Alexander. The vision describes this beast more by what it became after Alexander died, when his empire split into four parts, than by what it was while he held it together. This matters, because two of those parts had much more to do with the Jews than the empire had in Alexander's own time. Two of these are afterwards called (chapter 11) the king of the north and the king of the south.
Later chapters in Daniel identify these four by name.
Daniel tells us also that the leopard had four heads. As Daniel 8:8-22 and 11:4 tell us, these are the four military leaders — not descendants of Alexander — who divided his dominions among themselves after his death. Their names were Seleucus, Ptolemy, Cassander, and Lysimachus.
The verse does not say the beast seized rule. It says rule was given — and a giver stands behind it.
Whatever the nature and character of these beasts, God ordained them as truly as He ordained David, the King of Israel, the man anointed with the holy oil. Driven by their own self-will and greed, they devoured countries, conquered kingdoms, and took thrones. But behind all that man could see, the hand of God was working out His wise designs. Neither they nor their armies could go one inch beyond what He permitted. … Neither man nor the devil has power to do anything apart from God's permission. What a comfort this truth is to our cowardly souls!
The earlier vision showed these empires as an image. Here they appear as wild animals, and the change of picture is a change of viewpoint.
The vision of the image showed these empires as imposing but declining powers in the sight of men. Here the same empires appear in a form that shows their step-by-step moral decline in the sight of God. Cruelty, selfishness and greed, with no recognition or knowledge of God, mark the beast. These are the solemn features of the world empires through the times of the Gentiles, until the dominion of Christ is established.
- Given, not grabbed. "Dominion was given to it" is the hinge of the verse. Empires rise by permission, and none moves an inch past what God allows.
- Given speed. Leopard plus wings is a picture built beyond nature. It joins agility to headlong conquest — Alexander's sweep across the known world in twelve years.
- Given lesser glory. Four wings of a common bird, not the eagle's flight; four heads, not one ruler — more spread, less majesty.
- Given a future. The four heads show the empire after Alexander's death — four generals divided it, and two of their parts became the kings of the north and south.
- Given for a time. Seen from God's side these powers are beasts: conquest without conscience. Their day runs only until the dominion of Christ is established.