Greece: Bronze, a Leopard, and a Goat

Belly and thighs of bronze

The statue's "belly and thighs were bronze." Daniel 2:32 "Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule the whole earth." Daniel 2:39

The Greeks were famous for bronze. They used it in many different things, especially their weapons and their armor. A bronze army is a great description of the Greek Empire.

Built for speed

"Next, as I watched, suddenly another beast appeared. It was like a leopard, and on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and it was given authority to rule." Daniel 7:6

This is all about speed. A leopard is fast. Wings are fast. Daniel 8 says the same thing: "suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west, crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground." Daniel 8:5 Again, very, very fast.

If you know anything about Alexander the Great, you know he is great because of the speed at which he conquered what was considered the known world at the time.

Here is a reference point. It took Nebuchadnezzar thirteen years to besiege Tyre, and he did not destroy the whole thing. He only destroyed the mainland part. Ezekiel even says Nebuchadnezzar's army "received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it." Ezekiel 29:18 Alexander took about seven months and absolutely obliterated the island city.

Josephus, quoting the Phoenician records of Tyre, gives the thirteen-year siege under Nebuchadnezzar. Josephus, Against Apion 1.156; Antiquities 10.228 Alexander besieged Tyre in 332 BC for about seven months, building a causeway out to the island. The ancient historians say thousands were killed and about 30,000 sold into slavery. Arrian, Anabasis 2.15-24; Diodorus Siculus 17.40-46; Curtius Rufus 4.2-4

Notice also, "it was given authority to rule." Daniel 7:6 That is exactly what happened with Alexander. People stopped fighting him. A lot of places just surrendered, because he would not destroy them if they did. He was not too bad of a conqueror if you did not fight back.

Egypt, for example, opened to Alexander without a fight in 332 BC. Arrian, Anabasis 3.1

The goat

"The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king." Daniel 8:21 The goat is a great picture of Macedon. We have Macedonian coins with a goat on them.

The old royal capital of Macedon was Aegae, and the city's name was linked in Greek with the word for goat. Early coins from Aegae and from the Macedonian king Archelaus show a goat. Barclay V. Head, Historia Numorum, Macedon

Josephus tells a story that when Alexander came to Jerusalem, the high priest showed him the book of Daniel, which said a Greek would destroy the Persian empire, and Alexander took it to mean himself. Josephus, Antiquities 11.336-337 Many historians doubt the story. But it shows that in Josephus' day, Jews read Daniel 8 as being about Alexander.

The horn broken at its height

"Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven." Daniel 8:8

Alexander conquered the whole known world very quickly, and then suddenly he died, probably from malaria. He was at his peak. He was consolidating his power and deciding on other campaigns. He ruled less than ten years, from 331 BC to 323 BC, and he conquered all of that. He was an amazing ruler in that sense, and this is a great picture of him.

Alexander died in Babylon in June 323 BC, at thirty-two, after a fever of about ten days. The cause is still debated; malaria and typhoid are common guesses. Plutarch, Alexander 75-76; Arrian, Anabasis 7.24-26 He became king of Macedon in 336 BC. The 331 BC date is his victory over Persia at Gaugamela. Arrian, Anabasis 3.8-15

Four heads, four horns

There are four heads on the leopard, and the great horn broke into four horns. On his deathbed, instead of naming an heir, Alexander said the empire should go to the strongest. That is obviously not the best way to keep the peace in your empire. Chaos broke out, and the empire was broken into four. His generals took different parts of it.

Daniel 11 says it again, and adds a detail: "his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants." Daniel 11:4

The saying ‘to the strongest’ comes from Diodorus and Arrian. Diodorus Siculus 17.117; Arrian, Anabasis 7.26 Alexander's descendants did not keep the kingdom. His son Alexander IV was murdered about 310 BC, and another son, Heracles, about 309 BC. Diodorus Siculus 19.105; 20.28 After the battle of Ipsus in 301 BC the empire settled into four main kingdoms: Cassander in Macedonia and Greece, Lysimachus in Thrace and western Asia Minor, Seleucus in Syria and the east, and Ptolemy in Egypt. Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30; Appian, Syrian Wars 55

We are not going to concentrate on all four. The two main ones for Daniel are the Ptolemaic kingdom in Egypt, and the Seleucid kingdom to the north and east of Israel. The Bible concentrates on Israel and Jerusalem, and that land sat between them. That is where Daniel 11 goes next: the kings of the North and the South.

Next: The Kings of the North and the South.