“After this,
As I watched,
Another beast appeared,
Like a leopard.
This beast had
Four wings
Of a bird
On its back.
It had four heads.
Dominion
Was given to it.”
As Daniel watched, using the first-person singular, the third beast came up out of the water. This beast looked like a leopard with 4 bird wings on its back. However, it also had 4 heads, without an explanation of what kind of heads. This leopard-like beast had dominion and power given to it, probably a reference to Persia.
“Therefore a lion from the forest
Shall kill them.
A wolf from the desert
Shall destroy them.
A leopard is watching
Against their cities.
Everyone who goes out of them
Shall be torn to pieces.
Because their transgressions are many.
Their apostasies are great.”
Due to their transgressions and the renunciation of their religious practices, the people of Jerusalem were in danger from wild animals. The lions from the forest would kill them. A wolf from the desert would destroy them. A leopard was watching them outside their cities. All of them would be torn to pieces because of their many sins and failure to worship Yahweh.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 