And the beast that I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority.
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Bede
AD 735
leopard: He is represented as like a leopard, because of the diversity of the nations; a bear, because of his malice and fury; a lion, because of his strength of body and pride of tongue. We read in Daniel of the kingdom of the Chaldæans being compared to a lioness, of the Persians to a bear, of the Macedonians to a leopard.
power: So the Apostle, speaking of the body of the devil, says, "Whose coming is after the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and prodigies of falsehood, in those who perish." <a
M. Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, observes in the emperors Maximian Herculeus, Galerius Maxim in, and Dioclesian, the distinguishing characters of these three animals. The leopard represents Maximian, a changeable, restless and cruel prince. The bear figures Galerius Maxim in, a man from the north of cruel and brutal disposition, terrible mein, and gigantic stature. Lactantius moreover informs us, that he took a pleasure in feeding bears, which bore so great a resemblance to him in size and brutality. The lion, in fine, is the symbol of Dioclesian, who was cruel and vehement against Christians. (Calmet)
The whole of this is by Pastorini applied to the empire of Rome, which was composed of the territories of the three preceding empires, which are represented by Daniel under the figure of these animals. And as the body of the beast was like to a leopard, the centre and capital of the Roman empire, under antichrist will be the Grecian empire, denoted by the leopard, of which Constantinople be...
And his mouth as the mouth of a lion. That is, his mouth armed for blood is his bidding, and a tongue which will proceed to nothing else than to the shedding of blood.
