‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.
Here the angel answers Daniel concerning the four beasts which had been shewn him in the vision. He says, therefore, Four kingdoms arose, and by the name kingdom he means monarchy; for we know that the Persians had many kings until Alexander transferred to himself the empire of the East. Although Cyrus had seven or eight successors, yet the Persian empire continued through them all.
The visions overwhelmed Daniel, troubling his spirit and exhausting him; yet he pressed toward understanding by asking the attending angel for the true meaning. We must likewise seek by faithful prayer and diligent search to grasp the full sense of what God reveals.
AI summary
Commenting on Daniel 7:15-28
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings,.... Or kingdoms, as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; and so Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Saadiah; so the fourth beast is called the fourth kingdom, Dan 7:23 or a succession of kings in four kingdoms or monarchies, comparable to beasts for their strength, cruelty, and tyranny: these are the words of him that stood by...