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Daniel describes four separate beasts rising from the sea, each standing for a different kingdom. Revelation reshapes this by blending the features of Daniel’s beasts into a single beast with multiple heads and horns, likely shifting from a series of empires to an overwhelming one.
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Daniel 7:3
Hebrew Bible
1 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream filled with visions while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. 2 Daniel explained: “I was watching in my vision during the night as the four winds of the sky were stirring up the great sea. 3 Then four large beasts came up from the sea; they were different from one another. 4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off, and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it. 5 “Then a second beast appeared, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and devour much flesh!’
Date: 2nd Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Revelation 13:1
New Testament
1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority to rule. 3 One of the beast’s heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed. And the whole world followed the beast in amazement;
Date: 92-96 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In Revelation 13, the image of the Sea-Beast alludes to the figures of the four beasts in Daniel 7 in order to present Rome as a tyrannical empire. In Revelation 13:2, John the Seer combines three animal-like figures (leopard, bear, and lion) into one beast, which has ten horns like the fourth beast in Daniel 7:7. John begins his vision with the figure of the fourth beast, with its ten horns (compare Dan 7:7). The seven heads of the Sea-Beast would be equivalent to the composite of the heads of the four animals in Daniel 7:3−7 (each animal has one head except the third animal, a leopard, which has four heads).53 It is clear that he does not quote Dan 7 in Revelation 13:1−10, but rather he adapts and alters the imagery in order to portray the Sea-Beast in Revelation 13:1−10 as the extremely terrible and tyrannical empire. The Sea-Beast’s seven heads and ten horns first appear in 13:1.They will reappear in 17:3 and 7, and will be interpreted in detail in 17:9 and 12 (the interpretation of the seven heads is seven mountains and seven kings and that of ten horns is ten kings). Thus, if the seven heads and ten horns of the Sea-Beast promote the political emphasis in Revelation 13, the seven heads and the ten horns of the Dragon should be viewed similarly in Revelation 12. If the Beast with the seven heads and the ten horns in Revelation 13:1 represents an evil kingdom, the Dragon with the seven heads and the ten horns represents the evil forces which lie behind the evil kingdom of the Beast ..."
Tipvarakankoon, Wiriya
The Theme of Deception in the Book of Revelation: Bringing Early Christian and Contemporary Thai Cultures into Dialogue
(pp. 50-51) Claremont Press, 2017
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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