Daniel 7:5

And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
behold	וַאֲר֣וּ va.'a.Ru	H718	lo! · conjunction + interjection
another	אָחֳרִ֨י 'o.cho.Ri	H317	other · adjective, both genders singular absolute
beast	חֵיוָה֩ chei.Vah	H2423	an animal · noun, common feminine singular absolute
second	תִנְיָנָ֜ה tin.ya.Nah	H8578	second · ordinal number, feminine singular absolute
like	דָּמְיָ֣ה da.me.Yah	H1821	to resemble · verb, qal active participle, feminine singular absolute
bear	לְדֹ֗ב le.Do	H1678	the bear (as slow) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
up	הֳקִמַ֔ת ho.ki.Mat	H6966	to rise (in various applications · verb, hophal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
one	חַד֙ chad	H2298	as card. one · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
side	וְלִשְׂטַר ve.lis.tar-	H7859	a side · conjunction + preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
three	וּתְלָ֥ת u.te.Lat	H8532	three or third · conjunction + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
ribs	עִלְעִ֛ין 'il.'In	H5967	a rib · noun, common masculine plural absolute
mouth	בְּפֻמַּ֖הּ be.fu.Mah	H6433	the mouth (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
between	בֵּ֣ין bein	H997	between (repeated before each noun · noun, common masculine singular construct
teeth	שִׁנַּ֑הּ shi.nai.yah	H8128	a tooth · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
said	אָמְרִ֣ין 'a.me.Rin	H560	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
thus	וְכֵן֙ ve.Khen	H3652	so · conjunction + adverb
Arise	ק֥וּמִֽי Ku.mi	H6966	to rise (in various applications · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
devour	אֲכֻ֖לִי 'a.Khu.li	H399	to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
much	שַׂגִּֽיא sa.Gi'	H7690	large (in size · adjective, both genders singular absolute
flesh	בְּשַׂ֥ר be.Sar	H1321	flesh (from its freshness) · noun, common both genders singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Daniel 2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
2 Kings 2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tar…
Proverbs 17:12 Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
Isaiah 13:17-18 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
Isaiah 56:9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
Jeremiah 50:21-32 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the…
Hosea 13:8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion:…
Ezekiel 39:17-20 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and co…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 7:1-8

The date of this chapter places it before ch. 5, which was in the last year of Belshazzar, and ch. 6, which was in the first of Darius; for Daniel had those visions in the first year of Belshazzar, when the captivity of the Jews in Babylon was drawing near a period. Belshazzar's name here is, in the original, spelt differently from what it used to be; before it was Bel-she-azar - Bel is he that treasures up riches. But this is Bel-eshe-zar - Bel is on fire by the enemy. Bel was the god of the Chaldeans; he had prospered, but is now to be consumed. We have, in these verses, Daniel's vision of the four monarchies that were oppressive to the Jews. Observe, I. The circumstances of this vision. D…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 7:5

bear--symbolizing the austere life of the Persians in their mountains, also their cruelty (Isa 13:17-18; Cambyses, Ochus, and other of the Persian princes were notoriously cruel; the Persian laws involved, for one man's offense, the whole kindred and neighborhood in destruction, Dan 6:24) and rapacity. "A bear is an all-devouring animal" [ARISTOTLE, 8.5], (Jer 51:48, Jer 51:56). raised . . . itself on one side--but the Hebrew, "It raised up one dominion." The Medes, an ancient people, and the Persians, a modern tribe, formed one united sovereignty in contrast to the third and fourth kingdoms, each originally one, afterwards divided. English Version is the result of a slight change of a Heb…

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Adam Clarke on Daniel 7:5

Another beast - like to a bear - This was the Medo-Persian empire, represented here under the symbol of the bear, as the largest species of these animals was found in Media, a mountainous, cold, and rough country, covered with woods. The Medes and Persians are compared to a bear on account of their cruelty and thirst after blood, a bear being a most voracious and cruel animal; the bear is termed by Aristotle an all-devouring animal; and the Medo-Persians are known to have been great robbers and spoilers. See Jer 51:48-56. The Persians were notorious for the cruelty of their punishments. See Calmet. Raised up itself on one side - Cyrus arose on the borders of Chaldea, and thus the bear appear…

The Church Fathers

Here he indicates the Persian kingdom, which he states to have been like a bear because of the cruelty and savageness of the punishments it meted out. For the Persians were the cruelest of all the barbarians when it came to punishing. They would rip out the very hearts of offenders, or they would contrive long tortures in which they would sever the guilty limb by limb. They were always inflicting a harsh death on whomever they punished.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:5

These are the symbols of the kingdom of Darius, king of the Medes. As in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar the Mede empire had been foreshadowed under the aspect of silver, which is a viler metal than gold, so in this dream it is indicated by the image of the bear, which is less agile than the lion. In addition he says that "the beast was raised up on one side," because Darius received a kingdom that was confined within the limits of his power and was never extended to that greatness, which the previous kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar had reached by including all the surrounding regions.
— Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:5

The Persians ruled three parts of the world: the east, the north and the south. Cyrus … brought into submission all the east, as far as the Hellespont. His son subdued Egypt and made the Ethiopians subject to him. Darius … acquired the realm of the nomadic Scythians, to whom it had been destined to inhabit the northern realms. And Xerxes the son of Darius tried to join Europe under his rule. But he was defeated by the Athenians in a naval battle and had to return home in shame. He realized that the defeat had been caused by his insatiable greed. Therefore Daniel says, "Three wings were in its mouth." Some manuscripts read "ribs," but it really does not make any difference. Whether three ribs or three wings are placed in its mouth, it teaches that the Persian Empire harvested the fruits of three parts of the world and took tribute from everywhere. And he rightly stated "in its mouth" to show the tribute that would be paid by all to it.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:5

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Daniel, Book of — Is ranked by the Jews in that division of their Bible called the Hagiographa (Heb. Khethubim). (See BIBLE.) It consists of two distinct parts. The first part, consisting of the first six chapters, is…
Bear, The · Described as: Voracious — Described as: Voracious
Dreams · Mentioned in scripture of: Daniel — Mentioned in scripture of: Daniel
Medo-Persian Kingdom · Illustrated by: A bear — Illustrated by: A bear

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Daniel 7:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 7:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 7:5

Adam Clarke on Daniel 7:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Daniel 7:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 7:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 7:5

Adam Clarke on Daniel 7:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Daniel 7:5

John Calvin on Daniel 7:5

Keil & Delitzsch on Daniel 7:4-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Daniel 7:5

Rashi on Daniel 7:5