Daniel 7

Daniel · Chapter 7

Daniel 7:6

1In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.2Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.3And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.4The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.5And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.6After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.7After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.8I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.9I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.10A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.11I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.12As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.13I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.14And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.15I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.16I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.17These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.18But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.19Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;20And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.21I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;22Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.23Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.24And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.25And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.26But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.27And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.28Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
6After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.Next, as I watched, another beast appeared. It was like a leopard, and on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.After this I beheld, and, lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon its back four wings of a bird; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

In a night vision Daniel sees four beasts rise from the sea. This third one looks like a leopard with four bird's wings and four heads, and rule is handed to it. The angel later explains that the four beasts are four kings, or kingdoms, that will rise on the earth. Daniel 7:2Daniel 7:3Daniel 7:6Daniel 7:17Daniel 7:23

SpeakingDaniel tells the vision in the first person, as he does through chapters 7-12. Daniel 7:1Daniel 7:2Daniel overview

ToThe book is written for God's people in exile and after it, and for later readers looking to the time of the end. Daniel overview

Also involvedThe beast stands for one of four earthly kingdoms. Over all of them stand God's coming judgment and the kingdom given to the saints of the most High. Daniel 7:17Daniel 7:18Daniel 7:26Daniel 7:27

The leopard-like beast is the third of four. It has four wings and four heads, and "dominion was given to it": its rule is something it receives, not something it owns. Later in the chapter the beasts other than the fourth lose their dominion but live on "for a season and time." Daniel 7:6Daniel 7:12

Daniel was in Babylon, serving at the royal court. In the vision the beasts come up out of "the great sea" stirred by the four winds. Daniel overviewDaniel 7:2Daniel 7:3

BABYLONIAMEDIABabylon 1SusaUlai

The eventsDaniel had this vision in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon. That was before Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians. Daniel 7:1Daniel overview

WrittenTraditional: Daniel wrote it in the 500s BC. Scholarly: many critical scholars date the book's final form to about 167-164 BC, under Antiochus IV, while others keep the traditional date. Daniel overview

HereThe vision shows a series of earthly empires, each strong for a time, before God judges them. Then he gives an everlasting kingdom to the Son of man and the saints. Daniel 7:9Daniel 7:10Daniel 7:13Daniel 7:14Daniel 7:27

In the whole of ScriptureChapter 7 does not name the leopard's kingdom, but the book gives related pictures: a third kingdom that "shall bear rule over all the earth" (2:39), Media and Persia shown together as one ram (8:20), the prince of Grecia coming after Persia (10:20), and four kingdoms rising out of one nation (8:22). All of this fits the book's theme that the most High rules in the kingdom of men. Daniel 2:39Daniel 8:20Daniel 10:20Daniel 8:22Daniel overview

For readersHowever fast or wide an empire spreads, its power is given and can be taken away. God's kingdom alone "shall not be destroyed." Daniel 7:6Daniel 7:12Daniel 7:14

  • leopardנְמַר
    Aramaic · ne.mar · H5245

    The word simply means leopard. Revelation 13:2 describes a beast "like unto a leopard" with a bear's feet and a lion's mouth, the same three animals seen in Daniel 7:4-6. Strong's H5245Revelation 13:2Daniel 7:4Daniel 7:5

  • dominionשׇׁלְטָן
    Aramaic · shol.tan · H7985

    The word means dominion, sovereignty, or realm. The same word runs through the chapter: the beasts' dominion is taken away, while the Son of man's dominion is everlasting. Strong's H7985Daniel 7:12Daniel 7:14Daniel 7:26Daniel 7:27

  • it was givenיְהַב
    Aramaic · ye.hav · H3052

    The form means "to be given." The beast does not seize rule on its own but receives it, just as dominion is later "given" to the Son of man and to the saints. Strong's H3052Daniel 7:14Daniel 7:22Daniel 7:27

  • headsרֵאשׁ
    Aramaic · resh · H7217

    The word means head, and also chief. Daniel 7 does not say what the four heads stand for, though 8:22 speaks of four kingdoms rising from one nation. Strong's H7217Daniel 8:22

Takeaway

The leopard's rule was real but given. Like every beast in the vision, it gives way to God's judgment and to a kingdom "which shall not pass away." Daniel 7:6Daniel 7:12Daniel 7:14

Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.

The world around the text

About 605-536 BC. King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). Where Daniel lived and served for about seventy years. The capital of the Babylonian empire, on the Euphrates south of modern Baghdad, in the land the Bible calls Shinar and Chaldea.

Who ruled
  • King of BabylonNebuchadnezzar605-562 BC

    The king who besieged Jerusalem, carried Daniel and the temple vessels to Babylon, and later destroyed the city and temple. His own building inscriptions boast of the Babylon he built. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 24:12 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 25:1Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  • Last king of Babylon, and his son who ruled in his placeNabonidus and Belshazzar556-539 BC

    Nabonidus spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar could only offer Daniel the place of "third ruler in the kingdom": he was himself second. Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:7Daniel 5:29Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Verse Account of Nabonidus

  • Received the kingdom after Babylon fellDarius the MedianFrom 539 BC

    Daniel says he "took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" and set 120 princes over it. Records outside the Bible do not name him; he has been identified with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon, or with Cyrus himself. Daniel 5:31Daniel 6:1Daniel 9:1Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)

  • King of PersiaCyrus559-530 BC

    He united the Medes and Persians, took Babylon in 539 BC, and let the exiles go home to rebuild the temple, as Isaiah had named him beforehand. Daniel 1:21Daniel 6:28Daniel 10:1Ezra 1:1-4Isaiah 44:28-45:1Cyrus Cylinder

  • King of JudahJehoiakim609-598 BC

    Judah's king when Daniel was taken. Jeremiah warned him and his people that the land would serve Babylon seventy years. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 23:36-24:6Jeremiah 25:1-11

What was happening, 612 BC to 167 BC
  1. 612 BC
    WarNineveh falls

    Babylon and the Medes destroyed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as Nahum and Zephaniah had foretold. Babylon became the great power of the region. Nahum 3:7Zephaniah 2:13Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)

  2. 605 BC
    WarBattle of Carchemish

    Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates, in Jehoiakim's fourth year. The same year he came against Jerusalem and took the first captives, Daniel among them. Jeremiah 46:2Daniel 1:1-4Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  3. 597 BC
    WarJerusalem surrenders

    Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his nobles and craftsmen to Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel went into exile with them. 2 Kings 24:10-17Ezekiel 1:2Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  4. 586 BC
    WarJerusalem and the temple destroyed

    Babylon's army burned the temple and the city and broke down its walls. Daniel later prays over "the desolations of Jerusalem" and asks God to shine on his "sanctuary that is desolate." 2 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 52:12-14Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17

  5. c. 575 BC
    BuildingBabylon rebuilt in splendor

    Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great walls, palaces and the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate, and his inscriptions praise his own work. Compare his boast: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?" Daniel 4:30Nebuchadnezzar's East India House InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 1.178-183

  6. 562 BC
    RulersNebuchadnezzar dies

    His son Evil-merodach became king and released Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 2 Kings 25:27-30Jeremiah 52:31-34

  7. c. 553-543 BC
    RulersNabonidus leaves Babylon to Belshazzar

    King Nabonidus stayed at Tema in Arabia for about ten years, and the yearly New Year festival in Babylon was not held. Belshazzar governed in Babylon. Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Daniel 5:1Daniel 7:1

  8. 550 BC
    WarCyrus unites the Medes and Persians

    Cyrus of Persia defeated Astyages king of the Medes, joining the two peoples in one kingdom. Daniel's vision names the ram's two horns as "the kings of Media and Persia," the higher coming up last. Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:20Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.127-130

  9. October 539 BC
    WarBabylon falls to Cyrus

    Cyrus's army entered Babylon without a long siege. Herodotus says the people were feasting when the city was taken. Daniel records that "in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.191Cyrus Cylinder

  10. 538 BC
    God's peopleCyrus lets the exiles return

    In his first year over Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could go back and build the LORD's house in Jerusalem. Daniel "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Ezra 1:1-42 Chronicles 36:22-23Daniel 1:21Cyrus Cylinder

  11. c. 536 BC
    God's peopleThe temple's foundation is laid

    The returned exiles rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple. In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel was still in the east, mourning and praying. Ezra 3:1-11Daniel 10:1-3

  12. 334-331 BC
    WarAlexander the Great conquers Persia

    Alexander of Macedon crossed into Asia and overthrew the Persian empire within four years. Daniel 8:21 names the rough goat as "the king of Grecia" and its great horn as "the first king." Daniel 8:5-8Daniel 8:21Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1-3

  13. 323-301 BC
    WarAlexander's empire is divided

    Alexander died young, and after twenty years of war his generals divided his empire, chiefly into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:22 says "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8Daniel 8:22Daniel 11:4Diodorus Siculus, Library 18-20Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30

  14. 167 BC
    WarAntiochus IV defiles the temple

    The Greek king Antiochus IV banned Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering. 1 Maccabees calls it "the abomination of desolation." Two centuries later Jesus spoke of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" as still to come. 1 Maccabees 1:54-59Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4Matthew 24:15

The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records of these years (the Babylonian Chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Diodorus, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.

Original Aramaic words

This passage was written in Aramaic, the common language of the Babylonian and Persian empires, which the Jews of the exile also spoke. It uses the same alphabet as Hebrew.

EnglishAramaicSay itStrong'sMeaning
afterבָּאתַ֨רba-TARH0870
place

אֲתַר (a.tar) track, place

thisדְּנָ֜הde-NAHH1836
this

דְּנָה (de.nah) demons pron 1) this, on account of this adv 2) therefore

seeingחָזֵ֣הcha-ZEHH2370
to see

חֲזָה (cha.zah) 1) to see, behold 1a)(P'al) 1a1) to see 1a2) to see, behold, witness 1a3) to behold (in a dream or vision) 1a4) customary, seemly (passive)

I wasהֲוֵ֗יתha-VEITH1934
to be

הֲוָא (ha.va) 1) to come to pass, become, be 1a) (P'al) 1a1) to come to pass 1a2) to come into being, arise, become, come to be 1a2a) to let become known (with participle of knowing) 1a3) to be

and lo!וַאֲר֤וּva-'a-RUH0718
behold!

אֲרוּ (a.ru) behold, lo Aramaic of al.lay (אַלְלַי "woe!" H0480)

anotherאָֽחֳרִי֙'o-cho-RIH0317
another

אׇחֳרִי (o.cho.ri) other, another Aramaic of a.cher (אַחֵר "another" H0312)

like a leopardכִּנְמַ֔רkin-MARH5245
leopard

נְמַר (ne.mar) leopard Aramaic of na.mer (נָמֵר "leopard" H5246)

wingsגַּפִּ֥יןga-PINH1611
wing

גַּף (gaph) wing (of bird)

fourאַרְבַּ֛ע'ar-BA'H0703
four

אַרְבַּע (ar.ba) four Aramaic of ar.ba (אַרְבַּע "four" H0702)

ofדִּי־di-H1768
that

דִּי (di) part of relation 1) who, which, that mark of genitive 2) that of, which belongs to, that conj 3) that, because

a birdע֖וֹףofH5776
bird

עוֹף (oph) fowl Aramaic of oph (עוֹף "bird" H5775)

[were] onעַל־'al-H5922
since

עַל (al) 1) upon, over, on account of, above, to, against 1a) upon, over, on account of, regarding, concerning, on behalf of 1b) over (with verbs of ruling) 1c) above, beyond (in comparison) 1d) to, against (of direction)

back itsגַּבַּ֑הּga-bai-yahH1355
back

גַּב (gav) back or side Aramaic of gav (גַּב "back/rim/brow" H1354)

and fourוְאַרְבְּעָ֤הve-'ar-be-'AHH0703
four

אַרְבַּע (ar.ba) four Aramaic of ar.ba (אַרְבַּע "four" H0702)

headsרֵאשִׁין֙re-SHINH7217
head

רֵאשׁ (resh) 1) chief, head 1a) head (of man) 1b) head (as seat of visions) 1c) chief 1d) sum (essential content)

[were] to beast theלְחֵ֣יוְתָ֔אle-CHEI-ve-TA'H2423
beast

חֵיוָא (che.va) beast, animal Aramaic of chay.yah (חַיָּה "living thing" H2416C)

and dominionוְשָׁלְטָ֖ןve-shal-TANH7985
dominion

שׇׁלְטָן (shol.tan) 1) dominion, sovereignty 1a) dominion, sovereignty 1b) realm

it was givenיְהִ֥יבye-HIVH3052
to give

יְהַב (ye.hav) 1) to give, provide 1a) (P'al) 1a1) to give 1a2) to place, lay (foundations) 1b) (Hithp'al) 1b1) to be given 1b2) to be paid

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.