Daniel 7:17

THE MESSAGE

"‘These four huge animals,' he said, ‘mean that four kingdoms will appear on earth. But eventually the holy people of the High God will be given the kingdom and have it ever after—yes, forever and ever.'

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
‘These huge beasts, four in number, are four kings who will rise from the earth.

Hebrew Names Version
These great animals, which are four, are four kings, who shall arise out of the eretz.

King James Version
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

English Standard Version
‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.

New American Standard Bible
'These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth.

New Century Version
‘The four great animals are four kingdoms that will come from the earth.

Amplified Bible
'These four great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth.

Geneva Bible (1587)
These great beastes which are foure, are foure Kings, which shall arise out of the earth,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth.

Berean Standard Bible
'These four great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth.

Contemporary English Version
"The four beasts are four earthly kingdoms.

Complete Jewish Bible
‘These four huge animals are four kingdoms that will arise on earth.

Darby Translation
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, [that] shall arise out of the earth.

Easy-to-Read Version
He said, ‘The four great animals are four kingdoms that will come from the earth.

George Lamsa Translation
Then he said to me, These four great beasts which you saw are four kings which shall arise out of the earth.

Good News Translation
He said, "These four huge beasts are four empires which will arise on earth.

Lexham English Bible
‘These great beasts which are four in number are four kings who will arise from the earth.

Literal Translation
These great beasts are four, four kings; they shall rise up out of the earth.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
These foure greate beastes, are foure kinges which shal aryse out of the earth.

American Standard Version
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, that shall arise out of the earth.

Bible in Basic English
These great beasts are four kings who will be cut off from the earth.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
'These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, that shall arise out of the earth.

King James Version (1611)
These great beasts, which are foure, are foure Kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
These great beastes which are foure, are foure kinges which shall arise out of the earth:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
These four beasts are four kingdoms that shall rise up on the earth:

English Revised Version
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

World English Bible
These great animals, which are four, are four kings, who shall arise out of the earth.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
These foure grete beestis ben foure rewmes, that schulen rise of erthe.

Update Bible Version
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, that shall arise out of the earth.

Webster's Bible Translation
These great beasts, which are four, [are] four kings, [which] shall arise out of the earth.

New English Translation
‘These large beasts, which are four in number, represent four kings who will arise from the earth.

New King James Version
'Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings Daniel 7:23)">[fn] which arise out of the earth.

New Living Translation
"These four huge beasts represent four kingdoms that will arise from the earth.

New Life Bible
‘These four large animals are four kings who will rise from the earth.

New Revised Standard
"As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
These great wild beasts, which are four, - are four kings who shall arise out of the earth;

Douay-Rheims Bible
These four great beasts, are four kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth.

Revised Standard Version
'These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.

Young's Literal Translation
`These great beasts, that [are] four, [are] four kings, they rise up from the earth;

Contextual Overview

¹⁵"But as for me, Daniel, I was disturbed. All these dream-visions had me agitated. So I went up to one of those standing by and asked him the meaning of all this. And he told me, interpreting the dream for me: ¹⁷"‘These four huge animals,' he said, ‘mean that four kingdoms will appear on earth. But eventually the holy people of the High God will be given the kingdom and have it ever after—yes, forever and ever.' ¹⁹"But I wanted to know more. I was curious about the fourth animal, the one so different from the others, the hideous monster with the iron teeth and the bronze claws, gulping down what it ripped to pieces and trampling the leftovers into the dirt. And I wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that sprouted up while three of the original horns were removed. This new horn had eyes and a big mouth and spoke arrogantly, dominating the other horns. I watched as this horn was making war on God's holy people and getting the best of them. But then The Old One intervened and decided things in favor of the people of the High God. In the end, God's holy people took over the kingdom. ²³"The bystander continued, telling me this: ‘The fourth animal is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from the first three kingdoms, a monster kingdom that will chew up everyone in sight and spit them out. The ten horns are ten kings, one after another, that will come from this kingdom. But then another king will arrive. He will be different from the earlier kings. He will begin by toppling three kings. Then he will blaspheme the High God, persecute the followers of the High God, and try to get rid of sacred worship and moral practice. God's holy people will be persecuted by him for a time, two times, half a time. ²⁶"‘But when the court comes to order, the horn will be stripped of its power and totally destroyed. Then the royal rule and the authority and the glory of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the people of the High God. Their royal rule will last forever. All other rulers will serve and obey them.' ²⁸ "And there it ended. I, Daniel, was in shock. I was like a man who had seen a ghost. But I kept it all to myself."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

great: Daniel 7:3, Daniel 7:4, Daniel 2:37-40, Daniel 8:19-22

out: Daniel 7:3, Psalms 17:14, John 18:36, Revelation 13:1, Revelation 13:11

Reciprocal: Genesis 36:30 - dukess in the Psalms 76:4 - mountains 1 Corinthians 10:4 - that Rock

Gill's Notes on the Bible

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings,.... Or kingdoms, as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; and so Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Saadiah; so the fourth beast is called the fourth kingdom, Daniel 7:23 or a succession of kings in four kingdoms or monarchies, comparable to beasts for their strength, cruelty, and tyranny: these are the words of him that stood by, of one of the angels Daniel applied to, to know the meaning of his dream; and might be better rendered, "as to these c great beasts, which are four"; for their quality beasts, for their quantity great, and for number four. The meaning is,

four kings shall arise out of the earth; or kingdoms; which have an earthly original and foundation; are supported by earthly and worldly means, and with earthly and worldly views; and are different from the kingdom of Christ and his saints, which is not of the world, though it may be in it: this explains what is meant by the great sea, from whence these beasts are said to come up, Daniel 7:3, nor is it any material objection that the first of these kingdoms, the Babylonian, was risen already, and almost at an end; since the denomination is taken from the larger number; three of them were to arise, and the first was of the same original with them; thus it is said, Daniel 11:2, that three kings of Persia should stand up, and yet Cyrus, who was one of them, reigned already.

c "Quod attinet", Michaelis.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings - Four kings or four dynasties. There is no reason for supposing that they refer to individual kings, but the obvious meaning is, that they refer to four dominions or empires that would succeed one another on the earth. So the whole representation leads us to suppose, and so the passage has been always interpreted. The Latin Vulgate renders it regna; the Septuagint βασιλεῖαι basileiai; Luther, Reiche; Lengerke, Konigreiche. This interpretation is confirmed, also, by Daniel 7:23, where it is expressly said that “the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.” See also Daniel 7:24.

Which shall arise out of the earth - In Daniel 7:2 the beasts are represented as coming up from the sea - the emblem of agitated nations. Here the same idea is presented more literally - that they would seem to spring up out of the earth, thus thrown into wild commotion. These dynasties were to be upon the earth, and they were in all things to indicate their earthly origin. Perhaps, also, it is designed by these words to denote a marked contrast between these four dynasties and the one that would follow - which would be of heavenly origin. This was the general intimation which was given to the meaning of the vision, and he was satisfied at once as to the explanation, so far as the first three were concerned; but the fourth seemed to indicate more mysterious and important events, and respecting this he was induced to ask a more particular explanation.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 17. These great beasts - are four kings — See the preceding verses, where the following explanations are inserted and illustrated.