Daniel 7:4

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 

Daniel 10:16

10:16 Then ³  one who appeared to be a human being ⁴  was touching my lips. I opened my mouth and started to speak, saying to the one who was standing before me, “Sir, ⁵  due to the vision, anxiety has gripped me and I have no strength.

---

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 Heb “Behold.”

⁴ tc So most Hebrew MSS; one Hebrew MS along with the Dead Sea Scrolls and LXX read “something that looked like a man’s hand.”

⁵ tn Heb “my lord,” here a title of polite address. Cf. v. 19.