Daniel 7 · Verse 5

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.

Daniel 7:5, King James Version

Daniel 7:5 in other translations

BSB	Suddenly another beast appeared, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. So it was told, ‘Get up and gorge yourself on flesh!’
WEB	“Behold, there was another animal, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth. They said this to it: ‘Arise! Devour much flesh!’
ASV	And, behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
YLT	And lo, another beast, a second, like to a bear, and to the same authority it hath been raised, and three ribs are in its mouth, between its teeth, and thus they are saying to it, Rise, consume much flesh.
DARBY	And behold, another beast, a second, like unto a bear, and it raised up itself on one side; and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and they said thus unto it: Arise, devour much flesh.
BBE	And I saw another beast, like a bear, and it was lifted up on one side, and three side-bones were in its mouth, between its teeth: and they said to it, Up! take much flesh.
Webster	And behold another beast, a second, like a bear, and it raised itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus to it, Arise, devour much flesh.

What does Daniel 7:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

5. bear--symbolizing the austere life of the Persians in their mountains, also their cruelty (Is 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, Da 6:24) and rapacity. "A bear is an all-devouring animal" [Aristotle, 8.5], (Jr 51:48, 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 Hebrew letter. The idea then would be, "It lay on one of its fore feet, and stood on the other"; a figure still to be seen on one of the stones of Babylon [Munter, The Religion of Babylonia, 112]; denoting a kingdom that had been at rest, but is now rousing itself for conquest. Media is the lower side, passiveness; Persia, the upper, active element [Auberlen]. The three ribs in its mouth are Media, Lydia, and Babylon, brought under the Persian sway. Rather, Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, not properly parts of its body, but seized by Medo-Persia [Sir Isaac Newton]. Called "ribs" because they strengthened the Medo-Persian empire. "Between its teeth," as being much grinded by it. devour much flesh--that is, subjugate many nations.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 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 appeared to put itself in the position to attack the lion. It had three ribs in the mouth of it - As if it had just finished its repast on some animal that it had seized. Some think three tusks curved like ribs, are meant; others three throats, עלעין illin, by which it (Cyrus) had absorbed the three empires of the Babylonians, Medes, and Persians; for these symbolic animals do not so much denote four empires, as four kings. See Jer 51:17. Others think three row of teeth are meant to denote the triple power of the Medes, Persians, and Babylonians, conjoined. Or the east, north, and south, which were subdued by the Persians. But the ribs being between the teeth of the bear may show how Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt were ground and oppressed by the bear - the Persians; though, as ribs strengthen the body, they were a powerful support to their conquerors.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Daniel 7:1-8

Daniel's vision of the four beasts. (Dn 7:1-8) and of Christ's kingdom. (Dn 7:9-14) The interpretation. (Dn 7:15-28) Verses 1-8 This vision contains the same prophetic representations with Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The great sea agitated by the winds, represented the earth and the dwellers on it troubled by ambitious princes and conquerors. The four beasts signified the same four empires, as the four parts of…

Read the full comment on Daniel 7:1-8 →

Daniel 7:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַאֲר֣וּva.'a.Ruand lo!H718

חֵיוָה֩chei.Vaha beastH2423

אָחֳרִ֨י'o.cho.RianotherH317

תִנְיָנָ֜הtin.ya.Naha secondH8578

דָּמְיָ֣הda.me.Yah[was] likeH1821

לְדֹ֗בle.Do<obj.> a bearH1678

וְלִשְׂטַר\־ve.lis.tar-and to a sideH7859

חַד֙chadoneH2298

הֳקִמַ֔תho.ki.Matit was raisedH6966

וּתְלָ֥תu.te.Latand threeH8532

עִלְעִ֛ין'il.'InribsH5967

בְּפֻמַּ֖הּbe.fu.Mah[were] in mouth itsH6433

בֵּ֣יןbeinbetweenH997

שִׁנַּ֑הּshi.nai.yahtooth itsH8128

וְכֵן֙ve.Khenand as followsH3652

אָמְרִ֣ין'a.me.Rin[they were] sayingH560

לַ֔הּLahto it

ק֥וּמִֽיKu.miariseH6966

אֲכֻ֖לִי'a.Khu.lidevour!H399

בְּשַׂ֥רbe.SarfleshH1321

שַׂגִּֽיא\׃sa.Gi'muchH7690

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Daniel 7:5

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.
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 Lord, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. …
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: the wild beast shall tear them.
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 tare forty and two children of them.
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. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
Isaiah 56:9
All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
Daniel 11:2
And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
Proverbs 17:12
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
Daniel 5:28
PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Daniel 8:3-4
Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.
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 come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

another.
2:39; 8:3; 2Ki 2:24; Pr 17:12; Ho 13:8
itself on one side. or, one dominion.
5:28; 8:4; 11:2
three ribs.Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.
Arise.
Isa 13:17,18; 56:9; Jer 50:21-32; Eze 39:17-20

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Daniel 7:4
The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
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.
Daniel 7:6
After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

Read all of Daniel 7

Daniel 7:5 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y he aquí otra segunda bestia, semejante á un oso, la cual se puso al un lado, y tenía en su boca tres costillas entre sus dientes; y fuéle dicho así: Levántate, traga carne mucha.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et voici une autre, une seconde bête, semblable à un ours, et elle se dressait sur un côté. Et elle avait trois côtes dans sa gueule, entre ses dents; et on lui dit ainsi: Lève-toi, mange beaucoup de chair.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und siehe, ein anderes, zweites Tier, gleich einem Bären; und es richtete sich auf einer Seite auf, und es hatte drei Rippen in seinem Maule zwischen seinen Zähnen; und man sprach zu ihm also: Stehe auf, friß viel Fleisch! -
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et ecce bestia alia similis urso in parte stetit: et tres ordines erant in ore ejus, et in dentibus ejus, et sic dicebant ei: Surge, comede carnes plurimas.