7:4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind 1 was given to it. 2
7:5 “Then 3 a second beast appeared, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and there were three ribs 4 in its mouth between its teeth. 5 It was told, 6 ‘Get up and devour much flesh!’
1 tn Aram “heart of a man.”
2 sn The identity of the first animal, derived from v. 17 and the parallels in chap. 2, is Babylon. The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. The other animals have traditionally been understood to represent respectively Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, although most of modern scholarship identifies them as Media, Persia, and Greece. For a biblical parallel to the mention of lion, bear, and leopard together, see Hos 13:7-8.
3 tn Aram “and behold.”
4 sn The three ribs held securely in the mouth of the bear, perhaps representing Media-Persia, apparently symbolize military conquest, but the exact identity of the “ribs” is not clear. Possibly it is a reference to the Persian conquest of Lydia, Egypt, and Babylonia.
5 tc The LXX lacks the phrase “between its teeth.”
6 tn Aram “and thus they were saying to it.”