ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף דניאל 7:4

Therefore, one must give the נפשי capacity to the first empire, for the first empire possessed an importance and dominance that was superlative, as it was said about them [this empire] by Daniel (2, 37): "You, O king—king of kings." And therefore Daniel also said in his second vision (2, 38): "[and to whom He has given dominion over them all]—you are the head of gold. Therefore it says (Daniel 7, 4): "but had eagles’ wings" for the eagle which flourishes in its height, as we shall explain, and this corresponds to the component of the נפש with a person, for it is the dominant capacity. The second empire was the Persian Empire, which is the bodily capacity within a person; a capacity which is actually lower than the first one. The entire concept of the capacity of the body is that is perpetually and definitionally lacking, and that it is perpetually receiving. This capacity corresponds to the second empire. Therefore Daniel relays about this empire (Daniel 7:5): "Then I saw a second, different beast, which was like a bear"...

And this, is because the first empire - the Babylonian Empire - sought the important of being considered "everything", as it is written in Daniel (Daniel 2:38) "you are the head of gold", which is to say that he [Babylon] is the head with the most importance. And this is what he sought in his elevation upon everything, and when Daniel saw this first beast, it was similar to a lion. For the lion is the most important of the beasts, as it is said in [the Talmud] (Chagigah 13b) "As the Master said: The king of the beasts is the lion". And it sought only the most exceeding importance, and therefore [Daniel] saw that it had (Daniel 7:4) "wings of an eagle", for the eagle is the bird of the sky that soars to the highest heights. But the second empire [Daniel] said about it (Daniel 2:32) "its breast and arms were of silver". For this empire loved the accumulation of wealth, and 'the lover of money will never be satiated by money' [(Ecclesiastes 5:9) - this version does not quote to original source as does in R' Hartmann]. And the third Empire [Daniel] saw it (Daniel 2, 39) "Copper", because it was bold and swift to go and conquer distant lands, and therefore it's empire was aggressive and bold like copper which is bold, and he [Daniel] called it a leopard for it is bold faced.

And the fourth, its power was in its destruction, and therefore it is metaphored (Daniel 2, 40) to iron, which cuts and destroys everything.