Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Daniel 7:2
Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
2. Daniel answered and said, I saw ] properly, I was seeing (or beholding), as Dan 4:10; Dan 4:13: so Dan 7:4 ; Dan 7:6-7 ; Dan 7:9 ; Dan 7:11 (twice), 13, 21. LXX. and Theod. rightly render by .
the four winds of the heaven ] The same expression, Dan 8:8, Dan 11:4; Zec 2:6; Zec 6:5; 2Es 13:5 .
strove upon ] were breaking forth (see Jdg 20:33 Heb.) on to, creating a great disturbance of the waters. A.V. strove is to be explained from the sense which the word has in the Targums. The root means to break or burst forth, of water (as Job 38:8); but in the Targums it is common, in the conjug. here used, in the sense of to wage war, lit. to cause war to break forth, as Deu 20:4, and even with ‘war’ omitted, Jos 23:3 al.; hence strove. However, the prep. which here follows does not mean upon, but to.
the great sea ] a name of the Mediterranean Sea, Jos 1:4; Jos 9:1 al. However, that sense is not to be pressed here; the ‘great sea,’ tossed up by the four winds of heaven, symbolizes the agitated world of nations (cf. Dan 7:3 with Dan 7:17; and comp. Rev 17:15: also Isa 17:12).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Daniel spake and said – That is, he spake and said in the manner intimated in the previous verse. It was by a record made at the time, and thus he might be said to speak to his own generation and to all future times.
I saw in my vision by night – I beheld in the vision; that is, he saw represented to him the scene which he proceeds to describe. He seemed to see the sea in a tempest, and these monsters come up from it, and the strange succession of events which followed.
And behold, the four winds of the heaven – The winds that blow under the heaven, or that seem to come from the heaven – or the air. Compare Jer 49:36. The number of the winds is here referred to as four as they are now, as blowing mainly from the four quarters of the earth. Nothing is more common now than to designate them in this manner – as the east, the south, the west, the north wind. So the Latins – Eurus, Auster, Zephyrus, Boreas.
Strove – megychan. Burst, or rushed forth; seemed to conflict together. The winds burst, rushed from all quarters, and seemed to meet on the sea, throwing it into wild commotion. The Hebrew word ( gyach) means to break or burst forth, as a fountain or stream of waters, Job 40:23; an infant breaking forth from the womb, Job 38:8; a warrior rushing forth to battle, Eze 32:2. Hence, the Chaldean to break forth; to rush forth as the winds. The symbol here would naturally denote some wild commotion among the nations, as if the winds of heaven should rush together in confusion.
Upon the great sea – This expression would properly apply to any great sea or ocean, but it is probable that the one that would occur to Daniel would be the Mediterranean Sea, as that was best known to him and his contemporaries. A heaving ocean – or an ocean tossed with storms – would be a natural emblem to denote a nation, or nations, agitated with internal conflicts, or nations in the midst of revolutions. Among the sacred poets and the prophets, hosts of armies invading a land are compared to overflowing waters, and mighty changes among the nations to the heaving billows of the ocean in a storm. Compare Jer 46:7-8; Jer 47:2; Isa 8:7-8; Isa 17:12; Isa 59:19; Dan 11:40; Rev 13:1. The classic reader will be reminded in the description here of the words of Virgil, AEn. I. 82, following:
Ac venti, velut agmine facto
Qua data porta ruunt, et terras turbine perflant.
Incubuere mari, totumque a sedibus imis
Una Eurusque, Notusque ruunt, creberquc procellis.
Africus, et vastos volvunt ad littora fluctus.
Compare also Ovid, Trist. I. 2, 25, following. It was from this agitated sea that the beasts that Daniel saw, representing successive kingdoms, seemed to rise; and the fair interpretation of this part of the symbol is, that there was, or would be, as it appeared in vision to Daniel, commotions among the nations resembling the sea driven by storms, and that from these commotions there would arise successive kingdoms having the characteristics specified by the appearance of the four beasts. We naturally look, in the fulfillment of this, to some state of things in which the nations were agitated and convulsed; in which they struggled against each other, as the winds strove upon the sea; a state of things which preceded the rise of these four successive kingdoms. Without now pretending to determine whether that was the time denoted by this, it is certain that all that is here said would find a counterpart in the period which immediately preceded the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, or the kingdom which he founded and adorned. His rapid and extensive conquests; the agitation of the nations in self-defense, and their wars against one another, would be well denoted by the agitation of the ocean as seen in vision by Daniel. It is true that there have been many other periods of the world to which the image would be applicable, but no one can doubt that it was applicable to this period, and that would be all that would be necessary if the design was to represent a series of kingdoms commencing with that of Nebuchadnezzar.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Dan 7:2-3
I saw in my vision by night.
Modes of Communication with God
Since the days of the apostles, the intercourse between Heaven and earth has been maintained through the ordinary channels. God speaks to man through the medium of his conscience–in the Bible, and by the operation of His providence. These are now the appointed means whereby we are to ascertain a knowledge of our duty. Not that our Heavenly Father is less desirous of guiding us into the path of truth, or that we, His children are more abandoned to the perils of the world than were the people of His inheritance in a former age; but the ransom of our souls having been effected through the meritorious sacrifice of the Son of God, the Saviour, having ascended into glory and received gifts for men; and instruction, accompanied with the most cheering promises, adapted to the case of every individual, having been imported in the canon of Scripture, the Deity has withdrawn Himself from holding a more immediate communion with His creatures, leaving us, not to ourselves, but to the influence of those aids which He has provided. Though visible conferences have ceased between the inhabitants of this world and their omnipresent Creator, we are still under Divine control, and derive our guidance, our strength, and our comfort from on high. The ancient seers were instructed in different ways. Some were endowed with the gift of prophecy by the action of the Holy Spirit upon the mind, illumining the understanding, and conveying to the person so inspired the requisite acquaintance with events not yet accomplished. Angels were also employed to unfold to men the designs of the Almighty. Daring the ages of prophecy, dreams appear to have been frequently of a supernatural order, and highly significant of some important circumstance. (Charles Popham Miles, B.A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. The four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea] The idea of strife is taken here from the effects that must be produced, were the east, the west, the north, and the south winds to rise tempestuously, and meet on the surface of the sea. By the great sea, the Mediterranean is meant; and is so called to distinguish it from those lakes called seas by the Hebrews; such as the Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, Sea of Tiberias, c. but even that may refer to Asia, the scene of all these contentions. This dream is the same in meaning, under different emblems, as that of Nebuchadnezzar’s metallic image; but in Daniel’s dream several circumstances are added. It is supposed that Daniel had this dream about forty-eight years after Nebuchadnezzar had the vision of the great image.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Because Daniel doth not expound what is meant by
winds, expositors think there is room left for every ones conjecture; wherein this seems most likely, that by the four winds of the great sea is signified commotions of contrary nations and factions, striving together by wars, and producing these four beasts successively. That this is often signified by winds, see Jer 49:36; 51:1; in the destruction of Babylon, the first monarchy; and of Elam, i.e. the Persian monarchy.
The great sea in Scripture is the Mediterranean Sea, called now the Levant, Archipelago, Straits, &c.
1. Comparatively; for the people called lakes seas, as the sea of Galilee, Gennesareth, Cinneroth, the Dead Sea, or lake of Sodom; but the Mediterranean was
Jamma rabba, the great sea, for its length and breadth, above all the lakes put together, though it be itself but a lake in comparison of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
2. Great sea, because the great stage of action hath been on it, and adjoined to it; and all the four great monarchies have been masters of it.
3. Allegorically, for it is usual in Scripture to compare people to waters, and nations to seas, Rev 13:1; 17:15; called so from the confused noise of it, Rev 19:6, and from the unstableness of them, always running and rolling with every wind as it blows, endangering those that ride upon the backs of its swelling waves.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. the four windsanswering tothe “four beasts”; their several conflicts in the fourquarters or directions of the world.
stroveburst forth(from the abyss) [MAURER].
seaThe world powersrise out of the agitations of the political sea (Jer 46:7;Jer 46:8; Luk 21:25;compare Rev 13:1; Rev 17:15;Rev 21:1); the kingdom of God andthe Son of man from the clouds of heaven (Da7:13; compare Joh 8:23).TREGELLES takes “thegreat sea” to mean, as always elsewhere in Scripture (Jos 1:4;Jos 9:1), the Mediterranean,the center territorially of the four kingdoms of the vision, whichall border on it and have Jerusalem subject to them. Babylondid not border on the Mediterranean, nor rule Jerusalem, tillNebuchadnezzar’s time, when both things took place simultaneously.Persia encircled more of this sea, namely, from the Hellespontto Cyrene. Greece did not become a monarchy before Alexander’stime, but then, succeeding to Persia, it became mistress ofJerusalem. It surrounded still more of the Mediterranean, adding thecoasts of Greece to the part held by Persia. Rome, underAugustus, realized three things at onceit became a monarchy; itbecame mistress of the last of the four parts of Alexander’s empire(symbolized by the four heads of the third beast), and of Jerusalem;it surrounded all the Mediterranean.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night,…. He declared he had had a vision by night, and this was the substance of it:
and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea: the east, west, north, and south winds, broke out from each of their quarters, and rushed in upon the great sea; either the Mediterranean, so called in comparison of the sea of Sodom, and the sea of Tiberias in Judea; or upon the waters of the main ocean, and raised up its waves, and seemed as it were to be striving and fighting with them, and put them into a strange agitation; by which may be meant the whole world, and the kingdoms and nations of it, because of its largeness, inconstancy, instability, and disquietude; see Re 17:15, and by the “four winds” some understand the angels, either good or bad, concerned in the affairs of Providence on earth, either by divine order or permission; or rather the kings of the earth raising commotions in it, striving and fighting with one another, either to defend or enlarge their dominions; and which have been the means in Providence of the rising up of some great state or monarchy, as after appears.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
With Dan 7:2 Daniel begins his written report: “Daniel began and said,” introduces the matter. , visions in ( during) the night, cf. Dan 2:19. Dan 7:2 and Dan 7:3 describe the scene in general. The four winds of heaven break loose upon the great sea, and rage fiercely, so that four great beasts, each diverse from the others, arise out of its bosom. The great sea is not the Mediterranean (Berth., Ges., Hitz., Ewald), for such a geographical reference is foreign to the context. It is the ocean; and the storm on it represents the “tumults of the people,” commotions among the nations of the world (Hv., Leng., Hofm., etc.), corresponding to the prophetic comparison found in Jer 17:12; Jer 46:7. “Since the beasts represent the forms of the world-power, the sea must represent that out of which they arise, the whole heathen world” (Hofmann). In the interpretation of the image (Dan 7:17) is explained by . means to break forth (Eze 32:2), to burst out in storm, not causative, “to make the great sea break forth” (Kran.). The causative meaning is not certainly found either in the Hebrew or the Chaldee. The four winds stand in relation to the four quarters of the heavens; cf. Jer 49:39. Calvin remarks: Mundus similis turbulento mari, quod non agitatur una procella vel uno vento, sed diversis ventis inter se confligentibus, ac si totum coelum conspiraret ad motus excitandos . With this, however, the meaning of the words is not exhausted. The four winds of heaven are not merely diversi venti , and their bursting forth is not only an image of a general commotion represented by a storm in the ocean. The winds of the heavens represent the heavenly powers and forces by which God sets the nations of the world in motion; and the number four has a symbolical meaning: that the people of all regions of the earth are moved hither and thither in violent commotion. “(Ecumenical commotions give rise to oecumenical kingdoms” (Kliefoth). As a consequence of the storm on the sea, there arise out of it four fierce beasts, not all at once, but, as Dan 7:6 and Dan 7:7 teach, one after another, and each having a different appearance. The diversity of the form of the beasts, inasmuch as they represent kingdoms, is determined beforehand, not only to make it noticeable that the selection of this symbol is not arbitrary but is significant (Hvernick), but emphatically to intimate that the vision of different kingdoms is not to be dealt with, as many interpreters seem inclined to do, as one only of different kings of one kingdom.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
He repeats again, He saw in his vision during the night. Again, I say, Daniel affirms that he brought forward nothing but what God had authoritatively delivered to him. For we know that in the Church all human traditions ought to be treated as worthless, since all men’s wisdom is vanity and lies. As God alone deserves to be listened to by the faithful, so Daniel here asserts that he offers nothing of his own by dreaming: in the ordinary way, but, that the vision is sure, and such as cannot deceive the pious.
He afterwards adds, Behold! the four winds of heaven fought in a great sea. I much prefer this rendering. Interpreters differ respecting the winds, but the genuine sense appears to be this; Daniel assumes a simile universally known, for on solid ground any such turbulent concussion is seldom heard of as at sea, when any mighty tempest arises. Without doubt, he here proposes the image of a raging sea to warn the faithful against dreadful commotion at hand, just as, if the sea were agitated with storms and raging with tempests on all sides. This is the meaning of the phrase. Hence he names four winds, to show the faithful how the motion which should shatter the globe should not be single and simple, but that various storms should arise together on all sides — exactly as it happens. We may’ sometimes see the earth moved just as if a tempest were, tossing about the sea in all directions, but the motion will yet be single. But God wished to show his Prophet not only a simple concussion, but many and different ones, just as if all the winds were to, meet in one general conflict. Philosophers, indeed, enumerate more winds than four when they desire to treat of the number with precision, but it is the common phrase to speak of four winds blowing from the four quarters or regions of the globe. The sense, however, is clear and by no means forced — the world being like a troubled sea, not agitated by a single storm or wind, but by different. conflicting blast., as if the whole heavens conspired to stir up commotion’s. This vision at the first glance was very bitter to the faithful, because they counted the years prescribed to them by Jeremiah; the seventieth year was now at hand, and God had then promised them an end of their troubles. Now God announces that they must not indulge in the hope of rest and joy, but rather prepare themselves for sustaining the rush of the fiercest winds, as the world would be everywhere agitated by different storms. They might perhaps suspect God of not performing his promises, but this ought, to be sufficient for appeasing their minds and propping them up with the hope of redemption, when they saw nothing happen either rashly or by chance. Again God came to meet their temptations lest their courage should fail, by teaching them that the method of their redemption was not quite so easy as they had previously conceived from former predictions. God indeed had not changed his plans, for although a long period had elapsed since he spoke by Isaiah and the other prophets, yet he wished to prepare the Jews against delay, lest it should break down the courage which would be required to meet such great afflictions. But when redemption really approached, then God explained its method more fully and familiarly, and showed how great and severe were the remaining struggles. Hence the faithful, instructed by such prophecies, would contend strenuously and yet proceed constantly in their course of faith and patience. It now follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) The great sea.In general (e.g., Jos. 15:47), these words imply the Mediterranean. Such cannot be the meaning here, so that according to Dan. 7:17 we are justified in explaining the sea to mean the nations of the world, which are compared to the sea (Isa. 27:1; Psa. 46:3). The raging of the winds from the four quarters of the sky points to the various political and social agitations which disturb the worlds history, and lead to the changes and revolutions which mark its progress as it tends towards the end.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2, 3. The four winds of the heaven [for the numerical symbolism see Introduction to Ezekiel, VIII] strove (literally, burst forth) upon the waters of the Mediterranean (Eze 47:10) the great international ocean of the ancients, and therefore symbolic of all the imperial powers “of the earth” (Dan 7:17, and compare Isaiah 17; Psa 65:7) and out of this boiling tempest the prophet sees in vision each savage empire thrown up upon the shore (Dan 7:4) in the form of a hideous wild beast (compare Isa 17:1; Isa 29:3; Isa 51:19; Eze 17:3; Eze 29:3; Rev 13:1); each beast as diverse from the others as the kingdom which it represented was different. What a sublime stage and scenery for this sublimest “epic of history”!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night and behold, the four winds of the heaven broke on the great sea. And four wild beasts came up from the sea, different one from another. The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings. I beheld until its wings were plucked and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.’
From this point on Daniel speaks in the first person (apart from Dan 10:1). Rather than recording historical events he is now communicating personal visions.
The four winds of heaven indicate heavenly activity, the winds of God. For He is the king of heaven and acts from heaven (Dan 4:37 compare Dan 4:13; Dan 4:26; Dan 4:31). For these ‘four winds of heaven’ compare Jer 49:36, where they represent God’s fierce activity against Elam resulting in their scattering to all parts of the earth. They are winds with ‘worldwide’ effects, although we must remember that it means the known world of that day. Israel too had been spread in all directions around the known world by the four winds of heaven (Zec 2:6). Thus the idea of the four winds of heaven is of the activity of God stirring up ‘the world’ with mighty effects (contrast Eze 37:9 where the four winds are life giving for the people of God).
Here the four winds break on the Great Sea. The Great Sea was the Mediterranean Sea (Num 34:6-7; Jos 1:4; Jos 9:1; Jos 15:12; Jos 15:47; Jos 23:4; Eze 47:10; Eze 47:15; Eze 47:19-20; Eze 48:28). It is its standard name. Thus what arises is connected with the Mediterranean area. But the sea was seen by Israel as an enemy. The roaring of enemies against Israel was likened by Isaiah to the roaring of the sea (Isa 5:30), which is described as restless and casting up mire and dirt (Isa 57:20). He also likens it to the roaring and tumult of the nations (Isa 17:12-13). Israel was ever afraid of the sea and looked on it as hostile, although thankfully controlled by God. So they would not like the thought of anything arising from the sea. The arising from the sea links these wild beasts firmly to the earth, and to the earth in tumult.
The first wild beast was ‘like a lion’ and had eagle’s wings. The lion was the king of the wild beasts, and lions were noted for their strength (Jdg 14:18), boldness (2Sa 17:10), ferocity (Psa 7:2), and stealth (Psa 10:9; Lam 3:10). There was no escape from the lion (Isa 5:29). The thought of eagle’s wings is of strong wings. They would bring Israel’s enemy against them (Deu 28:49). But being borne by eagle’s wings was also a sign of being borne by God (Exo 19:4; Deu 32:11). However, in the context here the emphasis is on the ferocity of the wild beasts. Thus this wild beast was a fearsome sight, with the strength, ferocity and stealth of a lion and the speedy attack and bloodthirstiness of the eagle (see Job 39:28-30).
In Jer 4:7 (compare Jer 49:19; Jer 50:44) Nebuchadnezzar is likened to a lion coming to make the land desolate and he is described as ‘the destroyer of nations’, and in Eze 17:3 an eagle represents Nebuchadnezzar as the transplanter of Israel, (and a second eagle the Pharaoh), a picture confirmed by Hab 1:8. Thus in view of chapter 2 we are certainly to see here Nebuchadnezzar and his empire. The lion-likeness confirms its superiority to what follows, as did the head of gold in chapter 2.
This interpretation is even more confirmed when we read on. For its wings were plucked off, reminding us of Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation at the hands of God (Dan 4:33), and after this the beast then stood on two feet like a man and a man’s heart was given to it. This surely indicates his repentance towards the Most High, and the return of both rationality and the growth of spirituality (Dan 4:34-36). Compare Dan 8:18 where Daniel was stood upright to signify readiness to receive the revelation of God, and Dan 10:11 where standing was linked with understanding. The rampaging, swift flying beast has become softened and humanised like Nebuchadnezzar. But his empire will not survive long.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Dan 7:2-3. Behold, the four windsstrove, &c. What was revealed to Nebuchadnezzar concerning the four great empires of the world was again revealed to Daniel, with some additions, about forty-eight years after. But what was represented to Nebuchadnezzar in the form of a great image, was exhibited to Daniel in the shape of great wild beasts. The reason of this difference might be, that this image appeared with a glorious lustre in the imagination of Nebuchadnezzar, whose mind was wholly taken up with the admiration of worldly pomp and splendour; whereas the same monarchies were represented to Daniel under the shape of fierce wild beasts, as being the great supporters of idolatry and tyranny. These great beasts, as explained by the angel, Dan 7:17 are kingdoms. They arise out of a stormy and tempestuous sea; that is, out of the wars and commotions of the world; and they are called great, in comparison of other less states and kingdoms, as they are denominated beasts for their tyrannical and cruel oppression. These beasts are indeed monstrous productions; a lion, with eagle’s wings; a bear, with three ribs in its mouth; a leopard, with four wings and four heads; and a beast with ten horns: but such emblems and hieroglyphics were usual among the eastern nations, as may be seen in the monuments of antiquity: a winged lion and such like fictitious animals may still be seen in the ruins of Persepolis. Horns are attributed to beasts which naturally have none, being used in hieroglyphic writings for the symbols of strength and power; and these figures are supposed to be the arms or symbols of particular nations, and are not more strange than several which are still used in heraldry. See Bishop Newton, vol. 1: p. 441. Instead of, Strove upon the great sea, at the end of the second verse, Houbigant reads, Agitated the great sea; by which, he says, is meant Asia; the great theatre of the wars and commotions here foreseen by Daniel.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
There can be no doubt, but that what is here described under the figure and similitude of beasts, relates to kingdoms of the earth. And explaining these prophecies by the events which have followed, it should seem, that there can be no difficulty in supposing, that the first beast, like a lion, represented the Chaldean monarchy. The second, like a bear, set forth the Persian, which succeeded it. The third, like a leopard, the Grecian kingdom. And the fourth, the Roman. But, Reader! what a solemn thought is it: where are now the whole or either of these monarchies? Alas! the flood of time hath gone over them, and swept them all away. But Jesus and his kingdom is and shall be forever. Precious consideration to the believer!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Dan 7:2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
Ver. 2. Daniel spake and said. ] His writing is called his speaking, to teach us to receive the writings of the prophets and apostles with no less reverence than if we had heard them speak with their own mouths. a
I saw in my vision by night.
And behold the four winds of the heavens strove upon the great sea,
a Willet.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
spake and said. The vision is related in words.
I saw = I was looking.
by = during.
the four winds. All blowing at the same time and producing the one result described in verses: Dan 7:3-8.
winds. Chaldee. ruach. App-9.
strove upon = brake or burst forth against; converging on one point.
the great sea: i.e. the Mediterranean Sea, or the sea, denoting the peoples of the earth, as interpreted for us in Dan 7:17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Dan 7:2
Dan 7:2 DanielH1841 spakeH6032 and said,H560 I sawH1934 H2370 in my visionH2376 byH5974 night,H3916 and, behold,H718 the fourH703 windsH7308 of the heavenH8065 stroveH1519 upon the greatH7229 sea.H3221
Dan 7:2
Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
“The four winds of heaven” are forces of great extent from all corners of the earth. The number four was used to depict the “four corners of the earth” in Isa 11:12 which contextually meant the whole earth. The words “four winds” are found in Jer 49:36, Eze 37:9, Dan 8:8; Dan 11:4 and Zec 2:6. Jesus used these words in Mat 24:31 to refer to the entire earth. Represented here in this context are the populations of the nations of the earth. The “great sea” here is not the Mediterranean sea, but the sum of the people upon earth. So here we see the four winds of heaven striving upon the nations of the earth as God working from all corners of the earth to fulfill his purpose and will for mankind.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
great sea
The “sea” in Scripture imagery stands for the populace, the mere unorganized mass of mankind Mat 13:47; Rev 13:1.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the four: Rev 7:1
the great: Rev 17:15
Reciprocal: Jer 49:36 – the four winds Dan 7:7 – I saw Dan 8:2 – I saw in Dan 8:8 – toward Zec 1:8 – by night Zec 6:5 – spirits Rev 13:1 – and saw
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
DANIELS VISION
My vision by night.
Dan 7:2
I. Forty years after Nebuchadnezzars dream, the prophet beholds in vision the same series of kingdoms.The king saw a graphic representation of their strength and splendour declining from gold to iron; the prophet beheld emblems of their rapacity, destructiveness, and hostility towards God and His people. Nothing could more graphically set forth the essential characteristics of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, than the emergence of these four beasts from the Mediterranean. In the first, eagles wings are added to the lion, to indicate the rapidity of its conquests, while their removal, and the substitution of the mans nature for the beasts, indicate the milder and more rational policy on which the Babylonian Empire rested in its later years. The bear raised up more on one side, symbolises the preponderance of Medes over Persians; the leopards four heads signify the division of Alexanders kingdom among his four generals; for the most part the fourth beast is identified by reliable commentators with Rome.
II. From disputed points of interpretation, we turn to that clear vision of the judgment of the Ancient of Days, Who bestows on the Son of Man kingdom and glory.This prediction was referred to by our Lord in His answer to the solemn adjuration of Caiaphas in St. Mat 26:64; and what a glimpse is afforded of the awful conflict which must go on between the saints of the Most High and the great world-powers which desire to wear them out! But as we have seen recently in China, the judgment sits, and the dominion of the persecutor has an end. We are now witnessing the judgment of God which is being executed on the nations of the earth. Let it not be forgotten that Great Britain is standing at that bar!
Illustrations
(1) The very forces of man himself built up great empires, tyrannies under which human life, manhood, was a thing of no account: its blood was shed like water in ceaseless war; the labour of its countless multitudes was piled into pyramids and palaces for the glory of its rulers; there was no sacredness of human person, human life, human right. Go and see them within the walls of the Assyrian or Egyptian rooms at the British Museum, those mighty hunters of men, those iron war-lords, those fishers who took up men wholesale with their angle and caught them in their net, and gathered them in their drag: and therefore (so says the prophet) sacrificed to their net and worshipped their dragand went on continually to slay the nations. Could words express more strongly the character of an age when the world-forces seemed to be not human thought, and conscience, and will, but the talons and teeth of beast-like empire-powers? And behind them were seen the figures of gods whom they glutted with the sacrifices of spoil and blood to keep even the powers above on their side as they trod down the unnumbered and unpitied lives of men.
(2) Different interpreters have put forward many different interpretatations. The more generally accepted in olden time was: Gold, the Babylonian empire; silver, the Medo-Persian empire; brass, the Grecian empire; iron, and iron and clay, the Roman empire. A view that has had more acceptance in later years gives the order as the Babylonian, the Median, the Persian, and the Grecian. But all this is quite apart from the great truth clearly taught in Daniel, of importance to us all, that, while the four world-powers (four is the symbolic world number) may have temporary success against Gods sway on earth, the power of Gods kingdom shall have final triumph (Dan 2:44-45). In confidence in this truth let us work and hope, thanking God and taking courage.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Dan 7:2. Prophecies are frequently made in symbols and the interpretation consists in determining what the symbols stand for. It is not so difficult to do that if we may find the history of such prophecies as have been fulfilled. Four winds signifies the whole world is to be involved because there are four directions on the compass. Strove is from giyach and Strong defines it, “To push forth,” which means to cause some commotion or movement. Since the outcome of this rushing will result in something pertaining to human beings, we know the great sea means the inhabitants of the civilized world that were to become subjects of this empire.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Dan 7:2-3. Behold, the four winds strove upon the great sea This denotes those commotions in the world, and that troublesome state of affairs, out of which empires and kingdoms commonly take their rise. And four great beasts came up from the sea Signifying the four great monarchies, or kingdoms, that should successively arise in the world, and have their origin from wars and commotions, which generally end in setting up the conqueror to be a great monarch over those whom he hath subdued: compare Rev 13:1. The reason why these monarchies, which were represented to Nebuchadnezzar in the form of a great image, formed of gold and silver, brass and iron, are here exhibited by fierce and savage beasts, has been observed in the note on Dan 2:31.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7:2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon {b} the great sea.
(b) Which signified that there wold be horrible troubles and afflictions in the world in all corners of the world, and at various times.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Daniel referred to himself in the third person in the first six chapters, but in the last six he used the first person. He may have made this change to make his visions more impressive and persuasive to the reader.
Daniel saw "the Great Sea," probably the Mediterranean (cf. Num 34:6-7; Jos 1:4; Jos 9:1; Eze 47:10; et al.), stirred up by the four winds (or spirits) of heaven (Dan 7:2; cf. Jer 23:19; Jer 49:36; Zec 6:1-6; Rev 7:1-3; et al.). The "sea" in Scripture and in ancient Near Eastern thinking represented the unorganized mass of humanity, the populace of the earth (Dan 7:17; cf. Isa 8:6-8; Isa 17:12-13; Isa 57:20; Isa 60:5; Jer 6:23; Jer 46:7-8; Jer 47:2; Mat 13:47; Luk 21:25; Rev 13:1; Rev 17:1; Rev 17:15; Rev 21:1; et al.). The Mediterranean world seems to be particularly in view, since the sea was the Mediterranean Sea. The "wind" represents God’s power expressed in judgment, using heavenly and earthly forces from all directions, to influence the nations as He wills (cf. Rev 7:1; Rev 9:14-15). [Note: Cf. Keil, pp. 222-23.]
"God often used the wind as a means to attain His ends (Gen 8:1: Exo 10:13-19; Exo 14:21; Exo 15:10; Num 11:31; 1Ki 18:45; 1Ki 19:11). . . . Of more than 120 references in the Bible to wind (more than 90 in the O.T. and about 30 in the N.T.), well over half are related to events and ideas which reflect the sovereignty and power of God. In Daniel, wind is uniformly used to represent the sovereign power of God, which is the viewpoint of the book." [Note: Walvoord, p. 152. Cf. Genesis 1:2.]