In this chapter, Daniel sees four beasts rising from the sea in his dream, corresponding to the four kingdoms. Once he arrives at the fourth beast and the ten horns on its head, Daniel focuses specifically on them, and this is where the portion we are now studying begins. From here onward, Daniel will also describe what takes place on High: the casting down of the thrones of the nations, the Ancient of Days sitting in judgment, and the kingdom being handed over to the Jewish people.
מִשְׂתַּכַּל הֲוֵית בְּקַרְנַיָּא, וַאֲלוּ קֶרֶן אׇחֳרִי זְעֵירָה סִלְקָת בֵּינֵיהֵן, וּתְלָת מִן קַרְנַיָּא קַדְמָיָתָא אֶתְעֲקַרָה מִן קֳדָמַהּ, וַאֲלוּ עַיְנִין כְּעַיְנֵי אֲנָשָׁא בְּקַרְנָא דָא וּפֻם מְמַלִּל רַבְרְבָן׃ - I was contemplating the horns, and behold, another small horn grew up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it; and behold, there were eyes like human eyes in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogant things.
The translation of the verse: I was contemplating the horns, and behold, another small horn arose among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it, and it possessed eyes like human eyes and a mouth speaking arrogant things.
The Malbim explains: "I was contemplating the horns" - I focused specifically on these horns, because from there the horn of salvation will sprout forth. And why specifically there? Because there is no fifth beast. The fourth beast is the one that will accompany us until the end of all generations, and from within it the redemption will emerge. Therefore, Daniel understood that here, in these horns, lay the primary focus of contemplation.
The Abarbanel explains that this refers to the rule of the Pope. Initially, this was a small dominion, and the emperors ruling in Rome accepted it. Later, in the days of Emperor Constantine, the emperor took Sylvester, who was pope and hiding in a cave, brought him to Rome, and handed him the imperial crown - so that he and his successors would rule over Rome and Italy. The emperor himself went to Constantinople, built it, and established the seat of the empire there.
That power, which had been small at its inception, steadily grew until in later stages it held absolute dominion over many nations and peoples. The Christian religion spread continuously, to the point that today one can say the majority of religious believers in the world adhere to Christianity. And where did it all begin? From that little horn that grew and developed. Even today, the Vatican is considered an independent state in its own right, with full autonomy, and is not part of any other nation.
"And three of the first horns were uprooted before it" - behold, three of the previous horns were uprooted from before it. The Malbim notes that commentators were greatly perplexed by this verse, and even the Abarbanel's interpretation seemed very foreign to him (and although the Malbim frequently follows the approach of the Abarbanel, here he disagrees). As is our practice, we will study the matter according to the Malbim.
The first explanation: the three horns are three kings destined to arise and throw off the yoke of papal rule, refusing to continue accepting his authority. "Were uprooted before it" does not mean they were forcibly uprooted, but rather that they tore themselves away from before it: as if to say, we are no longer willing to accept the authority of the Pope.
The second explanation: Where does Yishmael fit into the entire picture? Yishmael is bound and intertwined with the Roman Empire. We already saw this connection in the history of the Avot: Eisav married Machalat, the daughter of Yishmael, adding illness to his illness - and thus the kingdom of Yishmael and the kingdom of Edom were joined together. If we also factor the kingdom of Yishmael into the calculation, we find that the division is into three religions: the religion of Muhammad on the one hand, and Christianity, which split into two - Catholics and Protestants.
These are truly two distinct religions: anyone who examines them will see that things which one forbids completely, the other permits. This is not like the Sunnis and the Shiites, who are an internal division within Islam and believe in the same core tenets; here the philosophies are fundamentally different. Catholics, for example, ban divorce entirely, while Protestants permit it. (And merely as a play on words, not seriously: "Catholics" is reminiscent of rav ketalya - the chief slaughterer; how much we suffered from the Catholics throughout the generations, how many of us they slaughtered and murdered.) Thus, that horn brought about a division into three heads: the religion of Islam, and Christianity, which split into two factions.
The third explanation: One could say that the little horn that grew increasingly larger hints at a religion that arose at a later era - the religion of Islam. According to this explanation, Islam is not one of the three parts, but is itself the little horn that arose, grew, and became great. For Islam emerged hundreds of years after Christianity: Christianity has existed for roughly two thousand years, and Islam for about 1,300 to 1,400 years. Islam is thus later than Christianity.
According to this, the common denominator among all those horns is their Christian nature - all the nations of Europe, as well as the Americas, accepted Christianity. By contrast, the little horn symbolizes the religion of Muhammad, which arose and did not adopt the religions of the other nations. This aligns especially well with the phrasing of the verse, stating that it was small and later became great and mighty: today there are hundreds of millions of adherents of Islam - from the status of a small religion arose a vast and mighty faith.
"And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things" - this small horn has eyes like human eyes and a mouth speaking grandiose words. This horn is unlike the other horns. The other horns possessed neither a mouth nor eyes, and their entire strength lay in goring: goring and killing. Here, by contrast, there is a mouth and there are eyes, which symbolize intellect and wisdom. A horn represents physical might, the capacity to strike and harm; but here there is also wisdom - they possess greater intellect than the other nations.
If we explain that this refers to the papal monarchy, it comes to hint that they possessed wisdom, and that they also educated themselves in the Jewish faith and the study of the Torah. For their religion is based on the "Old Testament" and the "New Testament," and they study the Tanach just as they study - to distinguish between the sacred and the profane by thousands of degrees of separation - the New Testament. Furthermore: "a mouth speaking great things" - their power would lie in their speech.
Indeed, we have witnessed this throughout the generations: what did the Christians constantly push the Jewish people to engage in? Disputations. Entire volumes of debates were written - the Ramban's Sefer HaVikuach, as well as the disputations of Ibn Gabirol, Kimchi, and Dunash. They continually sought debates with the Jewish people, for they were endowed with persuasive speech and rhetorical prowess. Through the power of their words, they operated not only by means of physical, brute force, but also made sure to construct an ideology for all the physical actions they took.
An additional point regarding "a mouth speaking great things": many of the world's diplomatic moves are spearheaded by European nations. Their strength lies in diplomacy, in the power of words. This is one of the reasons for the quagmire in which we are stuck vis-a-vis the Ishmaelites: those setting the international agenda are the nations of Europe, and in their worldview, every conflict can be resolved through dialogue. And this holds true for them - among those ten horns, where there is "a mouth speaking great things," they possess articulate eloquence, they know how to talk, and there, disputes are settled through discourse.
However, this was not said of Yishmael. Yishmael's strength does not lie in "a mouth speaking great things," nor in diplomacy. Yishmael falls under the category of "by your sword you shall live" - his strength is in the sword, and that is the basis of his rule: "The law of Muhammad is by the sword." Consequently, coming to negotiate with them is like placing one's head before them to be severed. Even though we noted a connection between them and Edom, with Yishmael it is far worse, for they are described as a pereh adam (a wild man): with Edom things are still done with intellect, whereas here the wildness precedes the human. It should have said adam pereh, just as one says an educated man, a wise man - the noun "man" usually precedes the adjective. Rather, here the wildness within him precedes his humanity; the behavior of the wild beast overrides civilized human conduct.
And what is the meaning of "his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him," which was said of Yishmael? The simple meaning is that everyone will contend with him and he will contend with everyone. But the Targum explains: "all will need him." And this is reality: everyone needs their oil. Were it not for oil, the world's attitude toward them would have been completely different long ago; but the entire world needs him. Did America go to war in Iraq because its heart ached for Kuwait? Did Kuwait truly concern them? They went to secure the oil fields there, so that the average American would not have to pay several more dollars for a gallon of gas.
And according to what we said earlier, that the small horn represents the kingdom of Muhammad, we can explain "a mouth speaking arrogant things" in the sense of boasting. Notice that the entire manner of speech among Arab nations is one of boasting. During the Six-Day War, according to their radio broadcasts they were already "in Tel Aviv": "We wiped them all out, we destroyed so-and-so many divisions" - and the Arabs themselves, when they wanted to know what was really happening, would tune in to Kol Yisrael, because they knew that their own broadcasts claimed they had already conquered us and thrown us into the sea.
And so it is today: they hold celebrations over their "victory." Gaza is ruined and bleeding, it will take years to restore it to what it was - yet "we won." This is "a mouth speaking arrogant things." Likewise Nasrallah, who lived his entire life in a bunker without seeing the light of day - yet he won. Today there is quiet, he does not fire a single rocket, they do nothing, and yet "he won." This is a mouth speaking grand words.
According to this, what is "eyes like the eyes of a man in this horn"? It is because among them are features more similar to the Jewish people, and in a certain respect they are more advanced than the Christians: Christians believe in shituf (associating a partner with God), which is idolatry, whereas Muslims see things more clearly in that they believe in one God. Therefore, a person who has a need is permitted to enter a mosque, whereas entering a church is forbidden - for a church is a house of idolatry, where they believe in the impure trinity; whereas a mosque is a place where they believe only in Allah, albeit according to their corrupted notion that Muhammad is his prophet. The Rambam refers to Muhammad as "the madman," for he suffered from epileptic seizures, and during those seizures they claimed he was receiving prophecy. Another difference: that Christian man was Jewish, whereas Muhammad was not Jewish.
חָזֵה הֲוֵית עַד דִּי כׇרְסָוָן רְמִיו וְעַתִּיק יוֹמִין יְתִב, לְבוּשֵׁהּ כִּתְלַג חִוָּר וּשְׂעַר רֵאשֵׁהּ כַּעֲמַר נְקֵא, כׇּרְסְיֵהּ שְׁבִבִין דִּי נוּר גַּלְגִּלּוֹהִי נוּר דָּלִק׃ - I watched until thrones were cast down and the Ancient of Days sat; His garment was white like snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was sparks of fire, its wheels burning fire.
Until this point, Daniel described the earthly kingdoms; from here on, he begins to describe what takes place in Heaven: the strength of the Jewish people, the upheaval that occurs among the kingdoms, and how sovereignty is uprooted from the kingdom of Rome and given to the Jewish people and the King Messiah. The entire vision until now concerned the kingdoms of the nations and their actions, up to the stage where the Jewish people return to their former state, the situation reverses, Hashem judges the nations, and the Jewish people return to rule and govern, bringing the Messiah and the redemption. Daniel begins to speak of these final stages here. And since all of this is allegorical, these matters must certainly not be understood literally, so let us explain what he was shown in the vision.
"Until thrones were cast down" (ad di khorsavan remiv) - what does remiv mean? Cast down, as in the phrase "horse and its rider He hurled (ramah) into the sea." Here arrived the stage when Hashem casts down the thrones. And what are these thrones? The thrones of the nations. We have seen four ruling nations, and each nation is a throne, a kingdom - for a throne signifies rule and sovereignty, as in "when King Ahashverosh sat on the throne of his kingdom." And the stage will arrive when their throne is overturned, as it is written: "And I will overturn the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overturn the chariot and those who ride it, and the horses and their riders shall fall, each by the sword of his brother" - through the turmoil that will erupt between one person and another, as recorded in the Book of Haggai.
The Malbim also cites the explanation of the Abarbanel that these words refer to the guardian angels of the nations on high. For the power of dominion and rule that the nations receive stems from the power and governance of their heavenly princes in the celestial realm; and when their flow of influence is cut off, their thrones below will be overturned as a result.
"And the Ancient of Days sat" - who is sitting upon His throne? The Holy One, blessed be He. For we know that His throne is not whole [during the exile], whereas here the stage arrives when Hashem sits upon His throne. And what is "Ancient of Days"? There are two explanations of this. Some explain it in the sense of antiquity - ancient in days, as it were, primeval and aged. But the Malbim explains with greater depth: atik comes from the concept of removal and detachment, as in "to remove (leha'atik) something from its place," and as in "his soul was detached (ne'etkah)" - removed. "Ancient of Days" (Atik Yomin) means the One Who is removed and detached from the framework of time; Hashem, blessed be He, is not subject to the dominion of time and days, He exists beyond time. And then Hashem sits in judgment, and has established His throne for justice.
The verse now describes how this appeared, and once again it must be emphasized that this is not referring to anything physical whatsoever. "His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool" - His garment was white like snow, and the hair of His head like clean wool. The garments symbolize the actions and divine attributes through which Hashem acts, as attributes are referred to as garments. The head signifies thought, and the hairs emerging from inside the head to the outside express the emergence of thought from potential into actuality, from within to without.
And what does the whiteness teach us? That at that time, all of Hashem's governance will be like white snow - a governance of kindness and mercy toward the Jewish people. For when the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to take vengeance upon the nations, it says, "Who is this coming from Edom, with soiled garments from Bozrah?" - soiled garments stained with blood, and blood symbolizes strict justice; whereas white and snow symbolize mercy. At that hour He will no longer have soiled garments, but rather the aspect of white snow. Similarly, His thoughts as they are revealed outward will be "like pure wool", like clean wool - only righteousness and salvation; there will be no judgment and no evil in the world, but only goodness and kindness before Him.
On the other hand, vengeance must indeed be wreaked upon the nations, and therefore the verse continues: "His throne was fiery flames, its wheels burning fire" - sparks of fire emerged from the Throne, and fire burns and consumes everything. However, Scripture teaches us that the fire is from the Throne downward, not from the Throne upward, for from the Throne upward everything is an aspect of pure mercy.
And this is what is stated: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne; fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries round about" - the fire does not emanate from Hashem Himself, for "Hashem reigns, let the earth rejoice", and Hashem is the aspect of kindness and mercy. From where, then, does the fire emanate? "The foundation of His throne" - from the world of the Throne downward. From there it goes out to the world of the celestial spheres through the Chayot HaKodesh, which move the spheres, receive from the Throne, and direct the Ofanim with that fire to take vengeance upon the nations.
In this section, we have seen how Daniel focuses on the horns of the fourth beast, for from there the horn of salvation will sprout, and there is no fifth beast after it. The small horn is explained as the Papal kingdom that grew from small beginnings into world dominance, or as the religion of Islam that arose later and became an immense faith; and the three uprooted horns are either kings who cast off the yoke of the Pope, or the three divided faiths. "Eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things" teach that this horn's power lies not merely in physical goring, but in intellect and speech - in disputations and ideology, in the diplomacy of the European nations, and in the boasting of the Ishmaelites whose strength is in the sword. From here onward, Daniel turns to describe what takes place on high: the thrones of the nations are cast down; the Ancient of Days - Who is transcendent and removed from the framework of time - sits in judgment; His governance toward Israel is like white snow and clean wool, absolute kindness and mercy; while the fire of vengeance against the nations emanates from the Throne downward, from the world of the Throne to the world of the celestial spheres.