Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 7:11

"I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire." — Daniel 7:11 (ASV)

I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake - I was attracted by these words—by their arrogance, and haughtiness, and pride; and I saw that it was mainly because of these that the solemn judgment proceeded against the beast. The attitude of the seer here is this: he heard arrogant and proud words uttered by the “horn,” and he waited in deep attention, and in earnest expectation, to learn what judgment would be pronounced. He had seen (Daniel 7:8) that horn spring up and grow to great power, and utter great things; he had then seen, immediately after this, a solemn and sublime preparation for judgment, and he now waited anxiously to learn what sentence would be pronounced. The result is stated in the subsequent part of the verse.

I beheld - I continued watching. This would seem to imply that it was not done at once, but that some time intervened.

Even until the beast was slain - The fourth beast: which had the ten horns, and on which the little horn had sprung up. This was the result of the judgment. It is evidently implied here that the beast was slain because of the words uttered by the horn that sprang up, or that the pride and arrogance represented by that symbol were the reason that the beast was put to death. It is not said by whom the beast would be slain; but the fair meaning is that the underlying cause of that death would be the Divine judgment, because of the pride and arrogance of the “horn” that sprang up among the others.

If the “beast” represents a mighty monarchy that would exist on the earth and the “little horn” a new power that would arise from it, then the fulfillment is to be found in a situation like this: this power, formerly so mighty and terrible, which crushed the nations, would, under the Divine judgment, ultimately be destroyed because of the nature of the authority claimed. We are to look for the fulfillment of this in a state of affairs where a new power arises from an existing dominion. The existing dominion still remains but is so much controlled by the new power that it becomes necessary to destroy the former dominion because of the arrogance and pride of what arose from it.

In other words, the destruction of the kingdom represented by the fourth beast would be, as a Divine judgment, because of the arrogance of that represented by the little horn.

And his body destroyed - That is, there would be a destruction of the kingdom represented here, just as the beast would be destroyed if its body were destroyed. The power of that kingdom, as such, is to come to an end.

And given to the burning flame - Consumed. This would represent, in strong terms, that the power represented here by the beast would be utterly destroyed. It is not, however, necessary to suppose that this is the way it would be done, or that it would be by fire. It is to be remembered that all this is symbolic; no one part of the symbol should be taken literally more than another. Nor is it consistent to suppose there would be a literal consuming fire in this case, any more than that there would literally be a beast, or ten horns, or a little horn. The fair meaning is that there would be as real a destruction as if it were accomplished by fire, or a destruction of which fire would be the proper emblem. The allusion is here, probably, to the fact that the dead bodies of animals were often consumed by fire.