Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Daniel 7:17 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 17. 17These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Daniel 7:17 contributes this concrete line to the movement: “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.”.
Read It With
- Daniel 7:15–18
Read Daniel 7:17 with 7:15–18. Daniel 7:17 advances “Daniel's Distress and the First Interpretation” with the textual step “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.”. The complete unit establishes this movement: Daniel asks a heavenly attendant and hears that four kings arise but the holy ones receive the everlasting kingdom.
Why This Verse Appears Here
This boundary keeps “Daniel's Distress and the First Interpretation” together inside the larger chapter movement and prevents the next scene or disclosure from being flattened into it. At Daniel 7:17, the wording “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” supplies this verse's distinct step.
Follow the Context
- Read the opening words of Daniel 7:15-18 as the entry into “Daniel's Distress and the First Interpretation.”
- Daniel asks a heavenly attendant and hears that four kings arise but the holy ones receive the everlasting kingdom.
- Let verse 18 complete this movement before moving to 7:19-22.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
The beasts do not authorize calling a modern people, religion, nation, party, or political opponent subhuman.
What Remains True
Violent power may look animal and permanent, but judgment belongs to God and enduring rule is pictured in human rather than beastly form. Daniel 7:17 contributes the concrete textual step “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.”.
How It Can Shape Life
- Resist systems that normalize dehumanization while refusing to dehumanize their participants, and stand with communities whose dignity and worship are attacked. Keep Daniel 7:17 inside 7:15–18 and do not convert its wording into an unsupported modern identification.
Teach It Back
Explain Daniel 7:17's role in 7:15–18. Name the ancient setting, quote or paraphrase “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.”, state one material uncertainty, and name one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Daniel 7:15-18 — Daniel's Distress and the First InterpretationSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Daniel 7:17 must be read with this unit-level uncertainty: The empire sequence, identity of the humanlike figure, referent of the holy ones, relation of verses 9-14 to 15-27, and scope of later messianic reception are major disputes. The first Antiochene horizon should remain visible even where readers adopt an extended fulfillment.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Daniel 7:15-18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew aramaic text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Daniel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew-Aramaic wording, morphology, language boundary, names, repeated roots, clauses, and lexical controls.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Dan.xml, 7:15-18; Hebrew 1:1–2:4a and 8:1–12:13, Aramaic 2:4b–7:28
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Daniel with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew-Aramaic, textual, historical, translation, chronology, angelic-language, and duration notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Daniel PDF, printed pp. 1657–1660, translation and translator notes on 7:15-18
Open source ↗