Daniel 8 · WEB
The Ram, the Goat, and the Little Horn
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
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In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.
2I saw the vision. Now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.
3Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns. The two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
4I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward. No animals could stand before him. There wasn't any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.
5As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole earth, and didn't touch the ground. The goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6He came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran on him in the fury of his power.
7I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him. There was no one who could deliver the ram out of his hand.
8The male goat magnified himself exceedingly. When he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of the sky.
9Out of one of them came out a little horn, which grew exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land.
10It grew great, even to the army of the sky; and it cast down some of the army and of the stars to the ground, and trampled on them.
11Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the army; and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
12The army was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through disobedience; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.
13Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, "How long will the vision about the continual burnt offering, and the disobedience that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot be?"
14He said to me, "To two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary will be cleansed."
15When I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. Then behold, there stood before me someone with the appearance of a man.
16I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called, and said, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision."
17So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face. But he said to me, "Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end."
18Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.
19He said, "Behold, I will make you know what will be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end.
20The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
21The rough male goat is the king of Greece. The great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
22As for that which was broken, in the place where four stood up, four kingdoms will stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.
23"In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full, a king of fierce face, and understanding dark sentences, will stand up.
24His power will be mighty, but not by his own power. He will destroy awesomely, and will prosper in what he does. He will destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.
25Through his policy he will cause craft to prosper in his hand. He will magnify himself in his heart, and in their security he will destroy many. He will also stand up against the prince of princes; but he will be broken without hand.
26"The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true; but seal up the vision, for it belongs to many days to come."
27I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick for some days. Then I rose up, and did the king's business. I wondered at the vision, but no one understood it.
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Summary
In the third year of Belshazzar, Daniel sees a two-horned ram (Medo-Persia) being crushed by a one-horned male goat from the west (Greece). The great horn breaks and is replaced by four horns, from one of which rises a little horn that attacks the sanctuary and the holy people. Gabriel interprets the vision, pointing to Greece's rise under Alexander the Great, the four-way division of his empire, and a later fierce king who will persecute God's people before being "broken without hand."
Themes
- God's sovereignty over the rise and fall of empires
- Prophetic precision: Medo-Persia and Greece named
- Persecution of God's people and desecration of worship
- The limits of evil rulers — "broken without hand"
- Divine revelation through angelic messengers
Key verses
- Dan 8:14 — “To two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary will be cleansed.”
- Dan 8:17 — “Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end.”
- Dan 8:21 — “The rough male goat is the king of Greece. The great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.”
- Dan 8:25 — “He will also stand up against the prince of princes; but he will be broken without hand.”
Context & background
The vision comes around 551 BC during Belshazzar's reign in Babylon (modern central Iraq), while Daniel sees himself transported to Susa (Shushan), the future Persian capital in the province of Elam (modern southwestern Iran). The ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire (modern Iran and Iraq), and the male goat from the west represents Greece under Alexander the Great, whose empire after his death in 323 BC was divided among four generals (the four horns). The "little horn" is widely identified with Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king who desecrated the Jerusalem temple in 167 BC — a historical event recounted in 1-2 Maccabees and foreshadowing the final antichrist.
Cross-references
- Daniel 11:21-35 — More detail on the fierce king who desecrates the sanctuary
- Daniel 12:11 — The abomination that makes desolate connected to temple defilement
- Daniel 7:7-8 — A different "little horn" emerges from the fourth beast
- Matthew 24:15 — Jesus references "the abomination of desolation" spoken by Daniel
- Zechariah 9:13 — Prophecy against Greece, matching Daniel's timeline