17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
In verse 23, they are said to be four kingdoms: 23 The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms.
Daniel 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given it.
This shows that the word “king,” in these visions,
signifies kingdom.
Daniel 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given it.
Babylon, as described in this vision, is here fitly represented by a
lion, the king of beasts, denoting the glory of that kingdom, and corresponds with the head of gold in Daniel 2.
The eagle’s wings represent the rapidity of its conquests, and the soaring pride of its monarchs. Habakkuk 1:6 For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans [Babylon],... 8 ...they shall fly as the eagle that hastes to eat.
The plucking of his wings may refer to the humiliation of the proud monarch of Babylon, or to the cowardice of Belshazzar, who, instead of driving away his foes like a lion, shut himself up in the city, feasting and drinking with his lords, till he was killed, and the kingdom given to the Medes and Persians."
James White
