21. made war with the saints—persecuted the Church (Revelation 11:7; Revelation 13:7). prevailed—but not ultimately. The limit is marked by "until" (Revelation 13:7- :). The little horn continues, without intermission, to persecute up to Christ's second advent (Revelation 17:12; Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:19; Revelation 19:20). read more
22. Ancient of days came—The title applied to the Father in :- is here applied to the Son; who is called "the everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6). The Father is never said to "come"; it is the Son who comes. judgment was given to . . . saints—Judgment includes rule; "kingdom" in the end of this verse (1 Corinthians 6:2; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10; Revelation 20:4). Christ first receives "judgment" and the "kingdom," then the saints with Him (Daniel 7:13; Daniel 7:14). read more
24. ten horns—answering to the ten "toes" (Daniel 2:41). out of this kingdom—It is out of the fourth kingdom that ten others arise, whatever exterior territory any of them possess (Revelation 13:1; Revelation 17:12). rise after them—yet contemporaneous with them; the ten are contemporaries. Antichrist rises after their rise, at first "little" (Revelation 17:12- :); but after destroying three of the ten, he becomes greater than them all (Daniel 7:20; Daniel 7:21). The three being gone, he is the... read more
5. Daniel’s request for interpretation of the fourth beast 7:19-22Daniel repeated the descriptions of the fourth beast and the little horn, and in doing so mentioned four previously unrevealed details about them. The beast had claws of bronze, stressing its fierce nature (Daniel 7:19). The little horn was more prominent than the other horns, accounting for its ability to rise in the place of three other horns (Daniel 7:20). The little horn waged war with the saints and overcame them, which... read more
The interpreting angel now granted the prophet more insight about the fourth beast and particularly about the little horn. Here the dual identification of the beasts with kings and kingdoms becomes transparent. The fourth beast does not only represent a king (Daniel 7:17), but also a kingdom. The angel repeated the facts already revealed (Daniel 7:7), but clarified that the previous description referred to a kingdom.The phrase "whole earth" does not necessarily mean the whole planet (cf. Luke... read more
6. The interpretation of the fourth beast 7:23-25 read more
One difference between the description of the little horn here and earlier (Daniel 7:8), is that here the little horn is a king, not a kingdom. Another is that he will be different from the previous 10 kings (cf. Revelation 13:1; Revelation 17:12). His boastful words will be against the Most High and His saints (Daniel 7:25). He will wear down the saints, evidently by persecution (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9; Revelation 12:13-17; Revelation 13:1-10; Revelation 13:16-17). He will also desire to... read more
The Vision of the Four BeastsIn the first year of Belshazzar Daniel sees in a dream four beasts rising out of the sea (Daniel 7:1-3). The first is like a lion, with eagle’s wings (Daniel 7:4), the second like a bear (Daniel 7:5), the third like a leopard (Daniel 7:6), while the fourth is a unique and ferocious monster with ten horns (Daniel 7:7), Among the horns of the fourth beast there comes up a little horn with human eyes, which displaces three of the other ten, and carries itself proudly... read more
(19) Whose teeth.—The recapitulation in this verse of what was stated in Daniel 7:7 must be noticed. The additional features mentioned here are the brazen claws. (Comp. Daniel 2:37; Daniel 4:20.) read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Daniel 7:20
20. look . . . more stout than . . . fellows—namely, than that of the other horns. read more