Daniel 7

[servus]

Dear Catholics,

What do you think of Daniel chapter 7? It talks about Daniel’s dream, which he had in the first year of Belshazzar King of Babylon (ca. 550-570 BC), in which he saw four great beasts come up out of the great sea. The first was like a Lion, with eagles wings, the second was like a bear with 3 ribs in its mouth, the third was a Leopard with four heads and four wings, and the fourth was “terrible, dreadful”, described as a dragon with ten horns.

Furthermore, the little horn which comes out of the fourth beast continues as a power until “the Ancient of Days came, and the judgement was set and judgement pronounced in favor of the saints” Dan. 7.21-22 So it seems like this vision compasses from Daniels time until the end of time.

Personally, I beleive the first beast (lion) is Babylon, the second is the Medes-Persians, the third (Leopard) is Greece, and the fourth is the Roman Empire.

I have an idea of what the Catholic Church teaches about the book of Daniel, because I have a Catholic NAB with alot of footnotes on Daniel.

Anyway, what do Catholics think of this chapter? What do you think the beasts/ horns represent, feel free to add any comments you wish about the chapter.

Thank you,

Servus

 

[Fidelis]

Like most of the Bible, there is no single, authoritative *official *interpretation of this passage, so it is impossible to say what THE Catholic position is. Catholic exegetes, by and large take the position of the following commentary from the respected and popular Navarre Bible commentary on Daniel:

7:1-12:13. Up to the end of chapter 6, Daniel has been the interpreter
of kings’ dreams; now his own dreams are interpreted for him by an
angel or heavenly being: the interpreter explains dreams (chaps. 7-8),
the meaning of Scripture (chap. 9), and a vision (chaps. 10-12); and
Daniel himself notes it all down.

Daniel had announced to Nebuchadnezzar the end of time as part of the
interpretation of his dream (cf. 2:28); now Daniel is told when it
will happen (cf. 12:5-12); for him (cf. 2:28); he is given a more
specific revelation in which the figure of the tyrannical Antiochus IV
(described here symbolically) is depicted as the epitome of evil and
his death will mark the end of the present age (cf. 11:45-12:1).
Earlier, Daniel’s wisdom was seen as a divine gift to be used for the
benefit of foreign kings; now it is depicted as coming from a
revelation in which God speaks to Daniel through heavenly messengers
and tells him about the meaning of human history–a revelation that he
must commit to writing, as a source of comfort and hope for the
chosen people. “Revelation has set within history a point of reference
which cannot be ignored if the mystery of human life is to be known.
Yet this knowledge refers back constantly to the mystery of God which
the human mind cannot exhaust but can only receive and embrace in
faith. Between these two poles, reason has its own specific field in
which it can enquire and understand, restricted only by its finiteness
before the infinite mystery of God” (John Paul II, “Fides Et Ratio”, 14).

7:1-14. In chapter 5 the picture drawn of Belshazzar suggested that he
stood figuratively for the sacrilegious King Antiochus IV. It is not
surprising, then, that this dream of Daniel’s is set in the first year
of Belshazzar’s reign, given that the climax of the prophecy (the
little horn) concerns Antiochus IV. God is going to intervene
definitively when irreligion is at its worst. There are two scenes in
the vision–the beasts coming out of the sea (vv. 2-8) and the divine
court and judgment (vv. 9-14).

7:2-8. The Great Sea (the Mediterranean: v. 2), out of which the
beasts arise, stands for the world of gloom and chaos. Although
earlier prophets did use animals as symbols for empires (a crocodile
for Egypt, cf. Ezek 32; an eagle or a monster for Babylon, cf.
Ezek 17:3; Jer 51:34), the winged beasts of Daniel’s vision are
reminiscent of Mesopotamian statues. The lion with eagle’s wings
stands for Nebuchadnezzar a proud man, he was brought low and later
given back his reason (4:16, 34); the empire of the Medes is depicted
as a bear ready to attack, and that of the Persians as a leopard,
fleet of foot. The fourth beast resembles no animal, but its teeth of
iron show it to be the Greek empire of Alexander the Great and his
successors (cf. 2:40). Of those successors, (symbolized by the horns),
attention is focused on Antiochus IV, the horn with eyes that speaks
blasphemy (cf. vv. 8, 25). The gravity of those challenges to God’s
authority will be underlined in Revelation 13:5 in its description of
the beast that is given power by the dragon. The worst sin of the
powers of the world is their opposition to God and his laws.
Interpreting the words of this passage as a prophecy in the strict
sense, that is, as a prediction of something that will happen in the
future, some Fathers read the last of the horns as being the
Antichrist of whom the Revelation to John will have much to say (cf.
Rev. 13:11-18; 17:16; 19: 19-21).

 

[Mommyof02green]

It is my understanding that the book of Daniel was written during the region off Antiochus IV. (215–163 BC)

It is my understanding that Antiochus IV was persecuting the Jews. So the book of Daniel is a book of hope for the Jewish people. It was meant to tell the Jews to be faithful to “their religion” even if it meant death. It was meant to give the Jews hope during this persecution, by Antiochus IV. It was meant to tell the Jews not to give up or turn away from their religion. It’s to give the Jewish people hope that God will intercede for them. So it’s a hope for God and not a hope depended on human powers.

It is also a message, in my opinion, that evil will erupt time to time in human affairs, but God will always conquer it!

Also we see the foretelling of the coming of the “son of man”.
For Christians that means Christ; For the Jews that means the Messiah

I have read interpretations that say the 4 beasts are:
Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires

I have read interpretations that say the 4 beasts are:
Babylonian, Median, Persian and Greek.

I have read interpretations that say the 4th beast is the successors of Alexander the Great.

I may not know “who” the 4 beasts are exactly. However, I do know what all 4 of them have in common. All 4 beasts are “human” kingdoms. They are kingdoms made by Man and they are opposed to God and God’s people.

Also Fidelis is right. When it comes to the Daniel Chapter 7 there is not an authoritative official interpretation. I know shocking! Right?

When there is not an authoritative official interpretation of a certain passage, then Catholics are free to interpret the way they want as long as it does not contradict Church teaching.

Here is a little info on how Catholic read/view the Bible:
SACRED SCRIPTURE

Also if you would like here are some audio commentary on the “Bible” from some Catholics. Some of these are not as in-depth as I would like but it does give you and idea of how Catholics approach Sacred Scripture.

Inside the Bible
Our Father’s Plan