Daniel 7:2

Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. BEHOLD, THE FOUR WINDS - answering to the "four beasts." Thus what is implied is their several conflicts in the four quarters or directions of the world. STROVE - burst forth (from the abyss). (Maurer.) UPON THE GREAT SEA - the world-powers rise out of the agitations of the political sea (Jeremiah 46:7; : cf. , "I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns," see my note there; ;...

He repeats again, _He saw in his vision during the night_. Again, I say, Daniel affirms that he brought forward nothing but what God had authoritatively delivered to him. For we know that in the Church all human traditions ought to be treated as worthless, since all men’s wisdom is vanity and lies. As God alone deserves to be listened to by the faithful, so Daniel here asserts that he offers nothing of his own by dreaming: in the ordinary way, but, that the vision is sure, and such as cannot deceive the pious. He afterwards adds, _Behold! the four winds of heaven fought in a great sea. _I much prefer this rendering. Interpreters differ respecting the winds, but the genuine sense appears to be this; Daniel assumes a simile universally known, for on solid ground any such turbulent concussion is seldom heard of as at sea, when any mighty tempest arises. Without doubt, he here proposes the i...

1-8 This vision contains the same prophetic representations with Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The great sea agitated by the winds, represented the earth and the dwellers on it troubled by ambitious princes and conquerors. The four beasts signified the same four empires, as the four parts of Nebuchadnezzar's image. Mighty conquerors are but instruments of God's vengeance on a guilty world. The savage beast represents the hateful features of their characters. But the dominion given to each has a limit; their wrath shall be made to praise the Lord, and the remainder of it he will restrain....

Verse Daniel 7:2. _THE FOUR WINDS OF THE HEAVEN STROVE UPON THE GREAT SEA_] The idea of _strife_ is taken here from the effects that must be produced, were the east, the west, the north, and the south winds to rise tempestuously, and _meet_ on the surface of the sea. By the _great sea_, the Mediterranean is meant; and is so called to distinguish it from those _lakes_ called _seas_ by the Hebrews; such as the _Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, Sea of Tiberias_, c. but even that may refer to _Asia_, the scene of all these contentions. This dream is the same in meaning, under _different emblems_, as that of Nebuchadnezzar's metallic image; but in Daniel's dream several circumstances are added. It is supposed that Daniel had this dream about _forty-eight_ years after Nebuchadnezzar had the vision of the great image....

DANIEL SPAKE AND SAID - That is, he spake and said in the manner intimated in the previous verse. It was by a record made at the time, and thus he might be said to speak to his own generation and to all future times. I SAW IN MY VISION BY NIGHT - I beheld in the vision; that is, he saw represented to him the scene which he proceeds to describe. He seemed to see the sea in a tempest, and these monsters come up from it, and the strange succession of events which followed. AND BEHOLD, THE FOUR WINDS OF THE HEAVEN - The winds that blow under the heaven, or that seem to come from the heaven - or the air. Compare Jeremiah 49:36. The number of the winds is here referred to as four as they are now, as blowing mainly from the four quarters of the earth. Nothing is more common now

EXPOSITION DANIEL 7:1 THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS. This chapter begins the second section of the book. All before this has been narrative; visions are introduced into the narrative, but they were not given to Daniel himself, but to others; his _role_ was the secondary one of interpreter. These visions and the events connected with them are related more as incidents in the biography of Daniel, than as revelations of the future. With this chapter begins a series of revelations to Daniel personally. This chapter is the last chapter of the Aramaic portion of Daniel. Though thus linguistically joined to what has preceded, logically it is related to what follows....

DANIEL SPAKE AND SAID, I SAW IN MY VISION BY NIGHT,.... He declared he had had a vision by night, and this was the substance of it: AND, BEHOLD, THE FOUR WINDS OF THE HEAVEN STROVE UPON THE GREAT SEA: the east, west, north, and south winds, broke out from each of their quarters, and rushed in upon the great sea; either the Mediterranean, so called in comparison of the sea of Sodom, and the sea of Tiberias in Judea; or upon the waters of the main ocean, and raised up its waves, and seemed as it were to be striving and fighting with them, and put them into a strange agitation; by which may be meant the whole world, and the kingdoms and nations of it, because of its largeness, inconstancy, instability, and disquietude; see Revelation 17:15, and by the "four winds" some understand the angels, either good or bad, concerned in the affairs of Providence on earth, either

GREAT SEA The "sea" in Scripture imagery stands for the populace, the mere unorganized mass of mankind (Matthew 13:47); (Revelation 13:1)....

II. THE GREAT PROPHECIES OF DANIEL CHAPTER 7 The night visions of Daniel _ 1. The night vision of the three beasts (Daniel 7:1)_ 2. The night vision of the fourth beast (Daniel 7:7) 3. The judgment vision (Daniel 7:9) 4. The son of man and His kingdom (Daniel 7:13) 5. The interpretation of the visions given (Daniel 7:15) Daniel 7:1. The sea in the vision is the type of nations...

DANIEL 7. THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS. From this point onwards the Book becomes purely apocalyptic. The vision of the four beasts is parallel to the vision of the image in Daniel 2. The beasts rise out of the sea. The first is a lion with eagle's wings, the second a bear, the third a leopard, the fourth a nameless and terrible creature with ten horns. Among the ten horns of the fourth beast there arises another little horn with the eyes of a man, which destroys three of the other horns. At this point the scene changes. A great assize is being held by the ancient of days. The fourth beast is slain. The other three are dispossessed. _A_ human figure appears and receives an everlasting kingdom. The rest of the chapter (Daniel 7:17) gives a partial interpretation of the vision. The four beasts are four kings (or kingdoms) which succeed one another and are followed by the kingdom of the sa