Daniel 7:7

dreadful and terrible The same two words occur in combination in the Targ. of Habakkuk 1:7, -terrible and dreadful are they." The rendering of the second word in R.V., powerful, follows a slightly different reading ("emtânîfor "êmtânî), found in some editions, but less well attested and less probable (it would be a ἅπαξ εἰρημένον in Aram., and explicable only from the Arabic).

and stamped the residue with the feet of it in wanton destructiveness and ferocity.

and it was diverse, &c. Each of the beasts was -diverse" from the others (Daniel 7:3); but the terrible appearance of this differentiated it materially from the other three, and placed it in a class by itself. The fourth beast has, moreover, no name; for no one creature, or even combination of creatures (as the lion with vulture's wings in Daniel 7:4), could adequately represent it; only words expressive of terribleness, ferocity, and might are accumulated for the purpose of characterizing it. The empire meant (if the two preceding ones are explained correctly) will be that of Alexander the Great: comp. Daniel 8:5; Daniel 8:21; Daniel 11:3. Cf. the description of the fourth kingdom in Daniel 2:40, as -strong as iron," and -breaking in pieces and bruising."

and it had ten horns A horn is commonly in the O.T. the figure of strength to attack and repel (e.g. Deuteronomy 33:17; Micah 4:13); but in the imagery of Daniel's visions it represents either a king (see Daniel 7:24; and cp. Daniel 8:5; Daniel 8:8 a, Daniel 8:9; Daniel 8:21), or a dynasty of kings (Daniel 8:3; Daniel 8:6-8 b, Daniel 8:20; Daniel 8:22), rising up in, or out of, the empire symbolized by the creature to which the horn belongs. Here the reference is apparently to the ten successors of Alexander on the throne of Antioch (see more fully the Additional Note, p. 101). Cf. the -ten toes of the feet" in the corresponding part of ch. 2 (Daniel 2:41).