Book of Daniel, Chapter Seven

It seems that 2,400 years ago, Daniel possibly described significant details of the past century, right up to the present time. First a basic summary.

Daniel sees a night vision. The four winds of heaven stir up the great sea. Four immense beasts emerge from the water, different from one another. (An angel later tells Daniel that these four beasts represent four kingdoms.) The first beast is like a lion with eagle’s wings. Its wings are plucked, and it is taken from the earth, put on its feet like a person, and a human heart is given to it. The second beast is like a bear, it stood to one side, three ribs were between its teeth, and it was told to rise and eat much meat. The third beast was like a leopard, with four wings, it had four heads, and it was given dominion. The fourth beast was exceedingly terrifying, very strong, with iron teeth. It ate a lot and crumbled it, and trampled the rest with its feet. It was different from the previous beasts, and it had ten horns. The angel later tells Daniel that the horns represent kings. Daniel saw that a small horn came up among them and uprooted three previous horns. This horn had eyes like the eyes of people, and it spoke bombastically. (The angel later explains to Daniel, that the small horn will be different than the others, and it will humiliate three previous horns.) G-d sits in judgement. Many angels stand before G-d, while He judges. Fire emanates before Him. Due to the sound of the small horn’s bombastic words, the beast is slain, its body destroyed and put in the fire. The other beasts had their rulership taken away, and an extension of life was given to them until a certain time. Someone is brought up in clouds before G-d, and he is given eternal rulership over all the nations.

Now let’s repeat the above, together with possible analysis.

Verse 2. Daniel sees a night vision. The four winds of heaven stir up the great sea. The word used is “migichon” which is connected to the idea of goring (ki yigach). The commentary Rashi says that the four winds fought with the great sea. The great sea usually means the Mediterranean. So this can refer to World War Two, when nations from all over the world fought in Europe and North Africa, which are lands that surround the Mediterranean Sea.

3. Four immense beasts emerge from the water, different from one another. (An angel later tells Daniel that these four beasts represent four kingdoms.)

4. The first beast is like a lion with eagle’s wings. Its wings are plucked, and it is taken from the earth, put on feet like a person, and a human heart is given to it. This can refer to Nazi Germany. It fought lighting-fast battles, but eventually it was defeated, and the people were later reeducated to be more humane,

5. The second beast is like a bear, it stood to one side, three ribs were between its teeth, and it was told to rise and eat much meat. This can be Russia, which is generally compared to a bear. It continually attempted to take over countries and to bring more countries under its influence. Perhaps the three ribs refers to the three Baltic countries that it took over at the time of World War Two, or to the three parts of Ukraine that Russia invaded in recent years (and recently Russia rose up and invaded more of Ukraine).

6. The third beast was like a leopard, with four wings, it had four heads, and it was given dominion. This may be England. In Pirkei Ovot (Ethics of our Fathers) a leopard is described as being “az” or bold. England tenaciously resisted Germany’s attacks against it. English pilots flew in all four directions, defending their country and attacking foreign battlefields. England has four ruling heads consisting of the two houses of Parliament, the monarch, and the Prime Minister. Eventually, England was victorious in World War Two.

7. The fourth beast was exceedingly terrifying, very strong, with iron teeth. It ate a lot and crumbled it, and trampled the rest with its feet. It was different from the previous beasts, and it had ten horns. This could be the United States of America. Although the U.S. is described as a country of kindness, nevertheless the U.S. brought about two types of terrible destruction. 1. It dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. 2. There has been tremendous Jewish assimilation — the U.S. has the highest amount of Jewish intermarriage.

The angel later tells Daniel that the horns represent kings. From the time that the U.S. entered World War Two, there have been ten full term presidents before President Trump. (Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama.)

8. Daniel saw that a small horn came up among them and uprooted three previous horns. This horn had eyes like the eyes of people, and it spoke bombastically. (The angel later explains to Daniel, that the small horn will be different from the others, and it will humiliate three previous horns.) President Trump, unlike all the previous presidents, had no official government position or status before he became president. So in that sense, he was smaller (in stature) than the others. Nevertheless he understood how U.S. citizens saw things, and he talked about these things with much emphasis and in superlative terms. This approach helped him get elected. Once he was president, he belittled three previous presidents: Clinton, Bush (for invading Iraq), and Obama.

9 -11. G-d sits in judgement. Many angels stand before Him while He judges. Fire emanates before Him. Due to the sound of the small horn’s bombastic words, the beast is slain, its body destroyed and put in the fire. Political polarization in the U.S. has greatly intensified because of President Trump’s bombastic words. And due to his words, the beast’s bastion of power was “slain.” The Talmud (Baba Metziah 58b) says that humiliating someone is like spilling their blood. Indeed Trump’s words led to Congress being invaded (humiliating the congressmen, the senators, and the country). And there was destruction in the Capitol building. The “fire” can refer to the heavenly fire mentioned in verse

10. Perhaps the U.S. will soon become more refined, and the country’s power will be geared and elevated toward (a fiery passion of) holiness.

11. The other beasts (which we previously suggested referred to England, Russia, and Germany) had their rulership taken away, and an extension of life was given to them until a certain time. Regarding lost dominance, in recent years Russia lost much prestige and dominance due to incidents in neighbouring countries (Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova, and of course, it’s invasion of Ukraine), and due to economic sanctions and Covid. England and Germany were hit very hard with Covid, and Brexit (which negatively impacted trade.) England’s monarchy has been greatly embarrassed by recent revelations. Germany’s prestige and prominence in the EU seems to have been strongly impacted due to conflicting interests (regarding energy sufficiency and security) vis-a-vis Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

12-13. Someone is brought up in clouds before G-d, and he is given eternal rulership over all the nations. Rashi comments that this refers to the King Moshiach, and also to Israel. We are now seeing Israel’s growing prominence in numerous areas: Technological innovations (which many countries are eager to benefit from), newly discovered energy resources (at a time when there is great demand due to Russia cutting off energy supplies), military cooperation with the U.S. aimed at stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb, newly formed alliances with numerous countries, including Arab countries, the significant weakening of a number of Israel’s enemies, and the emergence of an Israeli government that is alligned with Jewish heritage and tradition. Israel is emerging as a superpower able to be a shining light (physically and spiritually) to the nations, bringing benefit and peace to the entire world.