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
“‘A great eagle 4 with broad wings, long feathers, 5
with full plumage which was multi-hued, 6
came to Lebanon 7 and took the top of the cedar.
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 parable assumes the defection of Zedekiah to Egypt and his rejection of Babylonian lordship.
4 sn The great eagle symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (17:12).
5 tn Hebrew has two words for wings; it is unknown whether they are fully synonymous or whether one term distinguishes a particular part of the wing such as the wing coverts (nearest the shoulder), secondaries (mid-feathers of the wing) or primaries (last and longest section of the wing).
6 tn This term was used in 16:10, 13, and 18 of embroidered cloth.
7 sn In the parable Lebanon apparently refers to Jerusalem (17:12).