Four great beasts: in many languages it will be necessary to say something like “four very large (and frightening) animals.” It is generally believed that the four beasts represent the Babylonians (the lion of verse 4), the Medes (the bear of verse 5), the Persians (the leopard of verse 6), and the Greeks (the apocalyptic beast of verses 7 and 8). But this interpretation should not be put into the translation. The character of the vision is that it presents a challenge to the reader to discover what the symbolism stands for, and this character must be maintained. Other interpreters feel that the second beast represents Medo-Persia, so that the third would be Greece and the fourth would then be Rome.

Different from one another: or “each one different from the others” (Revised English Bible). Every translation team will have to look for the most natural way of communicating the idea that there were no two beasts alike. But in many languages it will be preferable to make this a separate sentence.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .