Daniel 7:23

7:23 “This is what he told me: ¹ 

‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth

that will differ from all the other kingdoms.

It will devour all the earth

and will trample and crush it.

Daniel 2:40

2:40 Then there will be a fourth kingdom, one strong like iron. Just like iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and as iron breaks in pieces ²  all of these metals, ³  so it will break in pieces and crush the others. ⁴ 

Daniel 3:25

3:25 He answered, “But I see four men, untied and walking around in the midst of the fire! No harm has come to them! And the appearance of the fourth is like that of a god!” ⁵ 

Daniel 7:7

7:7 “After these things, as I was watching in the night visions ⁶  a fourth beast appeared – one dreadful, terrible, and very strong. ⁷  It had two large rows ⁸  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.

[7:23]  ¹ tn Aram “thus he said.”

[2:40]  ² tc Theodotion and the Vulgate lack the phrase “and as iron breaks in pieces.”

[2:40]  ³ tn The Aramaic text does not have this word, but it has been added in the translation for clarity.

[2:40]  ⁴ tn The words “the others” are supplied from the context.

[3:25]  ³ sn The phrase like that of a god is in Aramaic “like that of a son of the gods.” Many patristic writers understood this phrase in a christological sense (i.e., “the Son of God”). But it should be remembered that these are words spoken by a pagan who is seeking to explain things from his own polytheistic frame of reference; for him the phrase “like a son of the gods” is equivalent to “like a divine being.”

[7:7]  ⁴ tn The Aramaic text has also “and behold.” So also in vv. 8, 13.

[7:7]  ⁵ 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.

[7:7]  ⁶ tn The Aramaic word for “teeth” is dual rather than plural, suggesting two rows of teeth.