What the Bible says about Ram as Symbol
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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 SilverRelated Topics: Babylon | Bear as Symbol | Chest and Arms of Silver | Egypt | Goat as Symbol | Leopard as Symbol | Medo-Persia | Nebuchadnezzar's Image | Persia | Persians | Ram as Symbol | Ram with Sharp, Pointed Horns
Daniel 8 also contains a prophecy of Greece, highlighting two major eras of the Greek Empire: its rise under Alexander and the career of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. A goat with an unusually impressive horn between its eyes—later identified as Greece and its first king, Alexander—flies powerfully out of the west and smashes against a ram with two horns, Persia. The ram, with its two horns broken, cannot fight and is trampled by the goat.
The prophecy then accurately records that Alexander died at the height of his power. Some historians contend that his drunken debauch and subsequent pneumonia, which led to his death, came as a result of there being no more lands to conquer. Others opine that though he could conquer and rule the world, he could not rule himself. Notwithstanding, since he had named no clear successor, his generals ("four notable ones," Daniel 8:8; 11:3-4), after years of intrigue and war, parceled the world among themselves.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Nebuchadnezzar's Image (Part Three): 'Belly and Thighs of Bronze'Related Topics: Alexander the Great | Antiochus Epiphanes | Daniel's Prophecies | Goat as Symbol | Greek Empire | Ram as Symbol | Ram with Sharp, Pointed Horns