Daniel 7:3

Daniel 7:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
• New International Version (NIV)Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.

Context of Daniel 7:3

1In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions appeared in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related a summary of it. 2Daniel said, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea (the nations). And four great beasts, each different from the other, were coming up out of the sea [in succession]. 4The first (the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar) was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind was given to it. 5And behold, another beast, a second one (the Medo-Persian Empire), was like a bear, and it was raised up on one side (domain), and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much meat.’

Daniel 7:3 word by word

וְאַרְבַּ֤ע חֵיוָן֙ רַבְרְבָ֔ן סָלְקָ֖ן מִן־יַמָּ֑א שָׁנְיָ֖ן דָּ֥א מִן־דָּֽא׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And fourאַרְבַּע'arba‛ · fourH703
• greatרַבְרַבrabrab · greatH7260
• beastsחֵיוָאchêyvâ' · beastH2423
• came upסְלֵקseliq · to ascendH5559
• fromמִן־min · fromH4481
• the seaיַםyâm · seaH3221
• diverseשְׁנָאshenâ' · to changeH8133
• oneדָּאdâ' · thisH1668

Cross-references for Daniel 7:3

• Daniel 7:17‘These four great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth.
• Daniel 2:32As for this statue, its head was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,
• Zechariah 6:1Now again I looked up, and four chariots were coming out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of [firm, immovable] bronze (divine judgment).
• Daniel 7:4The first (the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar) was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind was given to it.
• Psalms 76:4You are glorious and resplendent, More majestic than the mountains of prey.
• Ezekiel 19:3When she [the royal mother-city] brought up [Jehoahaz] one of her cubs, He became a [young] lion, And he learned to catch and tear the prey; He devoured men.
• Revelation 13:1And the dragon (Satan) stood on the sandy shore of the sea. Then I saw a [vicious] beast coming up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten royal crowns (diadems), and on his heads were blasphemous names.

Commentaries on Daniel 7:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Four great beasts came up from the sea - The term sea, in Hebrew ים yam, from המה hamah, to be tumultuous, agitated, etc., seems to be used here to point out the then known terraqueous globe, because of its generally agitated state; and the four winds striving, point out those predatory wars that prevailed almost universally among men, from the days of Nimrod, the founder of the Assyrian or Babylonish monarchy, down to that time, and in the end gave birth…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3And four great beasts came up from the sea - Not at once, but in succession. See the following verses. Their particular form is described in the subsequent verses. The design of mentioning them here, as coming up from, the sea, seems to have been to show that this succession of kingdoms sprang from the agitations and commotions among the nations represented by the heaving ocean. It is not uncommon for the prophets to make use of animals to represent or…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-7The kingdoms of the world are shown as four large beasts (Daniel 7:17; compare Revelation 13:1–2).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. beasts--not living animals, as the cherubic four in Re 4:7 (for the original is a different word from "beasts," and ought to be there translated, living animals). The cherubic living animals represent redeemed man, combining in himself the highest forms of animal life. But the "beasts" here represent the world powers, in their beast-like, grovelling character. It is on the fundamental harmony between nature and spirit, between the three kingdoms of…Read the comment

Topics related to Daniel 7:3

• Sea

In the dictionaries

• the sea, the Great Sea, the western sea
• Ancient
• Beast
• Contempt
• Diverse
• Obey
• Sea, The
• Wear
• Antichrist
• Aramaic; Aramaic Language

Commentaries on Daniel 7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings