Daniel 8:3

Vision of a Ram and a Goat

1 In¹ the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me—to me, Daniel—after the one that appeared to me ^athe first time.

2 I saw in the vision, and it so happened while I was looking, that I was in ^aShushan, the citadel, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai.

3 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was ^ahigher than the other, and the higher one came up last.

4 I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could¹ withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, ^abut he did according to his will and became great.

5 And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable ^ahorn between his eyes.

6 Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power.

7 And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him,¹ attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

8 Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it ^afour notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.

9 ^aAnd out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, ^btoward the east, and toward the ^cGlorious Land.

10 ^aAnd it grew up to ^bthe host of heaven; and ^cit cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.

11 ^aHe even exalted himself as high as ^bthe Prince of the host; ^cand by him ^dthe daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of¹ His sanctuary was cast down.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Daniel 8:3 Mean?

Daniel 8:3-4

History records that the Persians considered a ram with sharp, pointed horns to be their guardian spirit, and the king bore the head of a ram instead of a crown when he led his armies into battle. The symbols of Medo-Persia used in the Bible, the ram and the bear, are powerful creatures, as opposed to the quick and agile goat and leopard, representing Greece. As for the different heights of the horns, the taller one represents the Persian half of the empire that rose to power later than the Median half.

Both the Medes and the Persians, as the Bible shows are represented by these horns (Daniel 8:20), also had territories located near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Though it makes little difference in the prophecy's interpretation, this river could also be "the River Ulai" (Daniel 8:2) upon whose banks the Persian capital of Susa (Shushan) was built.

The ram's pushing in every direction except east reflects the historical reality that Persia's eastern campaigns were inconsequential as compared to its other conquests. Though they did conquer as far east as the Indus River, subjugating Asia Minor, Babylon, Egypt, and Armenia was much more significant. Persia felt very little resistance in the east, and in its later history the western Macedonians under Alexander, represented by the he-goat with a notable horn (verse 21), were its most challenging foes.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Nebuchadnezzar's Image (Part Two): Chest and Arms of Silver

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Vision of a Ram and a Goat

What Does Daniel 8:3 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning