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
7:7 “After these things, as I was watching in the night visions 3 a fourth beast appeared – one dreadful, terrible, and very strong. 4 It had two large rows 5 of iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and anything that was left it trampled with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that came before it, and it had ten horns.
7:19 “Then I wanted to know the meaning 6 of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others. It was very dreadful, with two rows of iron teeth and bronze claws, and it devoured, crushed, and trampled anything that was left with its feet.
9:25 So know and understand:
From the issuing of the command 12 to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem 13 until an anointed one, a prince arrives, 14
there will be a period of seven weeks 15 and sixty-two weeks.
It will again be built, 16 with plaza and moat,
but in distressful times.
9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,
an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. 17
As for the city and the sanctuary,
the people of the coming prince will destroy 18 them.
But his end will come speedily 19 like a flood. 20
Until the end of the war that has been decreed
there will be destruction.
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 The Aramaic text has also “and behold.” So also in vv. 8, 13.
4 sn The fourth animal differs from the others in that it is nondescript. Apparently it was so fearsome that Daniel could find nothing with which to compare it. Attempts to identify this animal as an elephant or other known creature are conjectural.
5 tn The Aramaic word for “teeth” is dual rather than plural, suggesting two rows of teeth.
6 tn Aram “to make certain.”
7 tn Heb “him.”
8 tn Heb “the ram.”
9 tn Heb “stand before him.”
10 tn Heb “he hurled him.” The referents of both pronouns (the male goat and the ram) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 sn The goat of Daniel’s vision represents Greece; the large horn represents Alexander the Great. The ram stands for Media-Persia. Alexander’s rapid conquest of the Persians involved three battles of major significance which he won against overwhelming odds: Granicus (334
12 tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).
13 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
14 tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.
15 tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).
sn The accents in the MT indicate disjunction at this point, which would make it difficult, if not impossible, to identify the “anointed one/prince” of this verse as messianic. The reference in v. 26 to the sixty-two weeks as a unit favors the MT accentuation, not the traditional translation. If one follows the MT accentuation, one may translate “From the going forth of the message to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks. During a period of sixty-two weeks it will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.” The present translation follows a traditional reading of the passage that deviates from the MT accentuation.
16 tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
17 sn The expression have nothing is difficult. Presumably it refers to an absence of support or assistance for the anointed one at the time of his “cutting off.” The KJV rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.
18 tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (’im, “with) rather than the noun עַם (’am, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”
19 tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
20 sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.