Tag: The ten horns

The main character of the vision is the 11th horn, symbolizing the Antichrist.

But the main character and purpose of Daniel 7 is not one of these four empires or the ten horns, but the evil 11th horn that later grows out of the fourth empire, among the 10 horns (Dan 7:8). Daniel 7 allocates more space to this 11th horn than perhaps to all four animals and ten horns together. The only reason that Daniel describes the preceding four empires and ten kingdoms is to enable the reader to identify that 11th horn.

It uproots three of the other horns (Dan 7:8). It is small when it comes out (Dan 7:8) but grows and eventually dominates the other kingdoms (Dan 7:20). It persecutes the saints, blasphemes God, and intends to change times and law (Dan 7:25).

Parallels to Daniel 2

Daniel 2 and 7 predict the same four empires.

For reasons such as the following, commentators generally agree that the lion, bear, leopard, and dragon-like beast in Daniel 7 symbolize the same four kingdoms as the golden head, silver chest, bronze belly, and iron legs of the statue in Daniel 2:

1) There are four in both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7.

2) Both the metals in Daniel 2 and the beasts in Daniel 7 symbolize successive kingdoms. (See – Daniel 2.)

3) Both the fourth metal and the fourth animal are called the “fourth kingdom” (Dan 2:40; 7:23).

4) Both fourth kingdoms are associated with “iron” (Dan 2:40; 7:7).

Daniel 2 and 7 predict the same fifth “divided kingdom.’

By referring to it as a “divided kingdom” (Dan 2:33, 41), Daniel 2 indicates that, during this phase, there will not be a single supreme ruler but several kings simultaneously ruling different kingdoms. The following parallels indicate that the 11 horns in Daniel 7 symbolize the same period as the divided kingdom in Daniel 2:

(a) Both are a fifth phase.

(b) Both are divided between many kingdoms.

(c) Assuming that the statue in Daniel 2 has 10 toes, both Daniel 2 and 7 use the number 10 to symbolize the plurality of “kings” in this phase (Dan 7:7).

(d) In both Daniel 2 and 7, that fifth divided phase is a continuation of the fourth:

Daniel 7 describes the fifth phase as ten horns growing “out of” the fourth beast.

In Daniel 2, the metal in the fifth phase is the same as the metal of the fourth kingdom, namely iron (Dan 2:33).

(e) In both chapters, the Divided Kingdom ends with the Eternal Kingdom. For example:

“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed” (Dan 2:44, cf. 7:26-27).

Comparison Table

Therefore, the two chapters may be compared as follows:

Daniel 2	Daniel 7
Head of Gold	Lion
Breast and Arms of Silver	Bear
Belly and Thighs of Bronze	Leopard
Legs of Iron	Fourth animal, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong
Feet of Iron and Clay	11 horns of the fourth animal
Eternal kingdom	Everlasting Kingdom

Therefore, Daniel 7 explains Daniel 2 in more detail.

Since the two prophecies are one, the one explains the other. For example:

Since the Gold Kingdom of Daniel 2 is identified as the Babylonian Empire, the Lion Kingdom in Daniel 7 is the same.

There is no indication of an evil power in Daniel 2. The most important additional information in Daniel 7 concerns an evil king who will reign during the time of the horns.

Liberal Interpretation

The Academic Consensus is that the eleven horns are Greek kings.

The academic world does not accept the supernatural or the possibility of miracles, such as accurate prophecies of the future. Everything must be explained as natural phenomena. Therefore, since Daniel mentions the Greek Empire, the book must have been written after that empire had already been established. However, the uninspired author could not possibly have foreseen the Roman Empire.

Specifically, Critical Scholars propose that the book was written during the reign of the Greek king Antiochus IV, who they identify as the 11th horn of Daniel 7. He persecuted the Jews and defiled the temple. To make Antiochus fit the prophecy, they:

Identify the fourth empire as Alexander’s Greek empire, and

Propose that the 11 horns of Daniel 7 symbolize 11 consecutive kings of the Greek empire. In other words, these kings rule one after the other during the fourth empire. 

Objection 1: A comparison of the animals in Daniel 7 and 8 shows that the fourth kingdom is the Roman Empire.

Daniel 8 uses two animals as symbols, identifying them explicitly as the Medo-Persian and Greek Empires. A comparison of these animals with the animals in Daniel 7 (see here) shows that:

• • • The Greek Empire is the third animal in Daniel 7, not the fourth.
    • The fourth is the Roman Empire.

Objection 2: The 11 horns exist AFTER the fourth empire.

While the academic view is that the 11 horns are individual kings reigning DURING the fourth empire, Daniel 2 shows that the divided empire (symbolized in Daniel 7 as the 11 horns) exists AFTER the fourth empire:

The five parts of the statue in Daniel 2 symbolize five eras of human history that exist one after the other. Consequently, the fifth part (the feet – the divided kingdom) exists after the fourth (the iron legs), not at the same time.

Liberal scholars want the two feet to be part of the two legs, but while the legs consist only of iron, the feet are “partly of iron and partly of clay.”

Since the horns in Daniel 7 are parallel to the divided kingdom in Daniel 2, the horns follow after the fourth kingdom.

Furthermore, Daniel 7 says: “Out of this kingdom [the fourth] ten kings will arise” (Dan 7:24), implying that these kings will not exist inside or during the fourth kingdom.

Objection 3: The horns exist concurrently.

While, in the Liberal interpretation, the 11 horns exist one after the other (11 consecutive Greek kings), there are several indications that the horns exist at the same time. For example:

(1) The title “divided kingdom” (Dan 2:33, 41) implies at least two divisions.

(2) “They will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another” (Dan 2:43), implying kings living concurrently.

(3) Daniel saw the 11th horn among the other ten horns (Dan 7:8).

(4) The eleventh horn uproots three other horns (Dan 7:8), implying that the other seven remained after the three had been dislodged.

(5) In Daniel 8, there are two animals with horns, and, in both instances, the horns represent kingdoms that exist concurrently (Dan 8:20-22):

The ram has two horns, representing the Median and the Persian branches of the Mede-Persian Empire (Dan 8:20), which existed simultaneously.

The goat grows four horns, representing the four divisions of the Greek Empire, existing simultaneously.