These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings i:e., kingdoms. Compare Daniel 7:23, "the fourth kingdom" (Daniel 2:38, "Thou (Nebuchadnezzar) art this head of gold;" Daniel 8:20-22, where the four horns of the he-goat are explained as four kingdoms). Each of the four kings represent a dynasty. Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Antiochus, and Antichrist, though individually referred to, are representatives of characteristic tendencies.