Daniel 8

1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me, Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

3 Then I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns; and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

4 I saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward, so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will and became great.

5 And as I was considering, behold, a hegoat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with fury against him, and smote the ram and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and stamped upon him. And there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

8 Therefore the hegoat waxed very great; and when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and in its place came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south and toward the east and toward the pleasant land.

10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

12 And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.

13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint who spoke, "How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?"

14 And he said unto me, "Until two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision and sought for the meaning, then behold, there stood before me one with the appearance of a man.

16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, who called and said, "Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision."

17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came I was afraid and fell upon my face, but he said unto me, "Understand, O son of man,for at the time of the end shall be the vision."

18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me and set me upright.

19 And he said, "Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation, for at the time appointed the end shall be.

20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.

21 And the riugh goat is the king of Greece; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

22 Now that one being broken, in whose place four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences shall stand up.

24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wondrously, and shall prosper and perform, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

25 And through his policy also he shall cause deceit to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by using peace shall destroy many. He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes, but he shall be broken without raising a hand.

26 "And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true. Therefore shut thou up the vision, for it shall be for many days."

27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick several days. Afterward I rose up and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

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Daniel 8 Commentary

Chapter 8

Daniel's vision of the ram and the he-goat. (1-14) The interpretation of it. (15-27)

Verses 1-14 God gives Daniel a foresight of the destruction of other kingdoms, which in their day were as powerful as that of Babylon. Could we foresee the changes that shall be when we are gone, we should be less affected with changes in our own day. The ram with two horns was the second empire, that of Media and Persia. He saw this ram overcome by a he-goat. This was Alexander the Great. Alexander, when about thirty-three years of age, and in his full strength, died, and showed the vanity of worldly pomp and power, and that they cannot make a man happy. While men dispute, as in the case of Alexander, respecting the death of some prosperous warrior, it is plain that the great First Cause of all had no more of his plan for him to execute, and therefore cut him off. Instead of that one great horn, there came up four notable ones, Alexander's four chief captains. A little horn became a great persecutor of the church and people of God. It seems that the Mohammedan delusion is here pointed out. It prospered, and at one time nearly destroyed the holy religion God's right hand had planted. It is just with God to deprive those of the privileges of his house who despise and profane them; and to make those know the worth of ordinances by the want of them, who would not know it by the enjoyment of them. Daniel heard the time of this calamity limited and determined; but not the time when it should come. If we would know the mind of God, we must apply to Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; not hid from us, but hid for us. There is much difficulty as to the precise time here stated, but the end of it cannot be very distant. God will, for his own glory, see to the cleansing of the church in due time. Christ died to cleanse his church; and he will so cleanse it as to present it blameless to himself.

Verses 15-27 The eternal Son of God stood before the prophet in the appearance of a man, and directed the angel Gabriel to explain the vision. Daniel's fainting and astonishment at the prospect of evils he saw coming on his people and the church, confirm the opinion that long-continued calamities were foretold. The vision being ended, a charge was given to Daniel to keep it private for the present. He kept it to himself, and went on to do the duty of his place. As long as we live in this world we must have something to do in it; and even those whom God has most honoured, must not think themselves above their business. Nor must the pleasure of communion with God take us from the duties of our callings, but we must in them abide with God. All who are intrusted with public business must discharge their trust uprightly; and, amidst all doubts and discouragements, they may, if true believers, look forward to a happy issue. Thus should we endeavour to compose our minds for attending to the duties to which each is appointed, in the church and in the world.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 8

This chapter contains the vision of a ram and he goat, and the interpretation of it. It begins with observing the time and place of the vision, Da 8:1,2, then describes the ram seen; by the place of his situation; by his two horns; and by his pushing several ways with so much force and fury, that none could stand before him, or deliver: out of his hands, Da 8:3,4 next the he goat appears, and is described by the part from whence he came; the swiftness of his motion; the notable horn between his eyes; and his running to ram in great fury, smiting him between his horns, casting him to the ground, and trampling upon him, and none to deliver, Da 8:5-7 but, after waxing great and powerful, its horn was broken, and four more rose up in its stead, and out of one of them a little horn, Da 8:8,9 which little horn is described by its power and prevalence to the south and to the east, towards the pleasant land, the host of heaven, and the Prince of the host; and by it the stars were cast down and trampled upon, the daily sacrifice made to cease; the place of the sanctuary cast down, and truth itself, Da 8:9-12, and upon inquiry it appeared that these sacred things were to continue in this desolate condition unto 2300 days, Da 8:13,14. Daniel being desirous of knowing the meaning of this vision, the Angel Gabriel is ordered by Christ to give him an understanding of it; who drew near to him, and awaked him out of his sleep, and gave him the interpretation of it; Da 8:15-19, which is as follows; the ram; with two horns, signifies the kings of Media and Persia; the rough goat, the king of Greece; and the great horn the first king, Alexander the great; and the four horns, four kingdoms which rose up out of the Grecian empire upon his death, Da 8:20-22, and the little horn a king of fierce countenance, Antiochus Epiphanes; who is, described by his craft, and cunning, by his power and might, and by the destruction he should make; Da 8:23-25, this vision the angel assures the prophet was true, and bids him shut it up, since it was for many days, Da 8:26, upon which Daniel fainted, and was sick for a time; but afterwards recovered, so as to be able to do the king's business; but astonished at the vision himself, and which was not understood by others, Da 8:27.