These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings i:e., kingdoms. Compare , "the fourth kingdom" (, "Thou (Nebuchadnezzar) art this head of gold;" Daniel 8:20, where the four horns of the he-goat are explained as four kingdoms). Each of the four kings represent a dynasty. Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Antiochus, and Antichrist, though individually referred to, are representatives of characteristic tendencies.

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