Daniel 8

In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel. It came after the one that had appeared to me earlier.

1In 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.

NoteBelshazzar ruled in Babylon, the empire that had captured Jerusalem and deported Daniel and other Judeans; Daniel is writing as an exile living at the foreign court. "The one that had appeared to me earlier" points back to the vision recorded in chapter 7.

2In the vision I saw myself in the fortress city of Shushan, in the province of Elam. In the vision I was standing beside the Ulai canal.

2And 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.

NoteShushan (also spelled Susa) lay east of Babylon in the region of Elam, in what is now southwestern Iran; it later became one of the chief royal cities of the Persian empire. The KJV's "palace" translates a word meaning a fortified citadel or walled upper city, not a single building. The Ulai was a large watercourse beside the city.

3Then I looked up and saw a ram standing beside the canal. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one grew up later.

3Then 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.

NoteIn the ancient Near East a horn was the standard image for strength and for a ruler. Horns growing tall, rising higher than others, or being snapped off pictured powers rising and falling. The vision explains its own animals and horns later in the chapter.

4I watched the ram charge to the west, to the north, and to the south. No animal could stand against him, and no one could rescue anything from his power. He did whatever he pleased, and he became great.

4I 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.

5While I was thinking about this, a male goat came from the west. He crossed the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground. He had one large horn between his eyes.

5And as I was considering, behold, an he goat 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.

Note"Without touching the ground" is a picture of speed: the goat moves so fast it seems not to make contact with the earth. From Babylon and Elam, "the west" means the lands across toward the Mediterranean.

6He came toward the ram with the two horns, the one I had seen standing beside the canal, and he rushed at him with furious force.

6And 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.

7I saw him reach the ram, raging against him. He struck the ram and broke both of his horns. The ram had no strength left to stand against him. The goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and no one could rescue the ram from his power.

7And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake 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.

8So the goat became very great. But when he was at his strongest, his great horn was broken off. In its place four large horns grew up, pointing toward the four winds of heaven, that is, the four directions.

8Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

Note"The four winds of heaven" was the ordinary Hebrew phrase for the four points of the compass: that is, every direction at once.

9Out of one of those horns came a little horn, and it grew very great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.

9And 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.

Note"The pleasant land" (Hebrew: "the beauty" or "the glory") is a set phrase used elsewhere in Hebrew scripture for the land of Israel.

10It grew great, all the way up to the armies of heaven. It threw some of that army and some of the stars down to the ground, and it trampled them.

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

Note"The host of heaven" is a phrase with two ordinary senses: the stars, and heavenly beings pictured as an army. This verse uses both together, "the host" and "the stars", and the wordplay is in the Hebrew.

11It even made itself as great as the Prince of that army. It took away the daily sacrifice offered to him, and it tore down the place of his holy house.

11Yea, 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.

NoteThe "daily sacrifice" (Hebrew tamid, "the continual") was the burnt offering made every morning and every evening at the temple in Jerusalem; it was the fixed, unbroken rhythm of the temple's worship, so stopping it meant shutting the whole system down. The "sanctuary" or "holy house" is the temple building itself.

12Because of rebellion, the army and the daily sacrifice were handed over to the horn. It threw truth down to the ground, and it did what it wanted and succeeded.

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

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is unusually broken and obscure, and translators differ over who is handed over to whom and what "rebellion" refers to. The general sense, that wrongdoing lets the horn take control of the sacrifice, is clear, but the details are genuinely uncertain.

13Then I heard one holy one speaking, and another holy one asked the one who was speaking, "How long will this vision last, with the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that leaves the holy place empty, and the giving over of the holy house and the army to be trampled underfoot?"

13Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, 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?

NoteThe KJV's "saint" here does not mean an especially good person; it translates a word meaning simply "a holy one," used for a heavenly being. "Desolation" describes a sanctuary left empty, abandoned and unused.

14He said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the holy house will be put right again."

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

Note"2,300 evenings and mornings" is what the Hebrew literally says, and it can be counted two ways: as 2,300 whole days (each made of an evening and a morning), or as 2,300 individual sacrifices, one each evening and one each morning, which would be 1,150 days. The text does not settle which. The word rendered "cleansed" or "put right" means restored to its proper condition or given back its rights.

15While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to find out what it meant, someone who looked like a man stood in front of me.

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

16And I heard a man's voice calling from between the banks of the Ulai: "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision."

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

NoteGabriel is a personal name meaning roughly "man of God" or "God is my strength." He is one of only two heavenly messengers given names in the Hebrew scriptures; the other is Michael.

17So he came near to where I was standing. When he came, I was terrified and fell facedown. But he said to me, "Understand, son of man: this vision is about the time of the end."

17So 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.

Note"Son of man" is a Hebrew idiom meaning simply "human being." It is used here as a form of address marking Daniel out as a mortal, in contrast to the being speaking to him.

18While he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But he touched me and set me back on my feet.

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

19He said, "Listen. I will tell you what will happen at the end of the time of anger, because the vision is about the appointed time of the end.

19And 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.

Note"The indignation" or "the time of anger" is used as a fixed term for a marked-out period of divine wrath, not for a passing mood.

20The ram you saw with the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia.

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

NoteThe Medes and the Persians were two related peoples of the Iranian highlands, east and north of Babylon. They ruled as one combined empire, with the Persians joining the alliance later and eventually dominating it.

21The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.

21And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

Note"Greece" translates the Hebrew name Yavan, originally the Ionian Greeks of the Aegean coast and then the Greek world generally, the lands lying west across the sea. "Shaggy" or "rough" is literally "hairy," describing a he-goat.

22That horn was broken off, and four horns rose up in its place. In the same way, four kingdoms will rise out of that nation, but they will not have his power.

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

23Near the end of their rule, when those who rebel have gone as far as they can go, a bold, hard-faced king will rise up, a man who understands hidden schemes.

23And 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.

Note"Understanding dark sentences" is literally "understanding riddles." The phrase covers both skill at solving hard sayings and skill at double-edged, deliberately ambiguous speech; in Hebrew it can read as praise for a clever man or as a charge of deviousness, and this verse leaves both open.

24His power will be great, but it will not come from himself. He will cause terrible destruction, and he will succeed in what he does. He will destroy strong men and the holy people.

24And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

Note"The holy people" is a standing term for Israel as a nation set apart, not a description of individual character.

25By his cunning he will make deceit succeed under his hand. In his own heart he will make himself great. In a time of peace he will destroy many. He will even stand up against the Prince of princes, but he will be broken, and not by any human hand.

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

Note"By peace" translates a Hebrew word meaning security or ease; it can mean either that he strikes during a period of peace, or that he strikes while people are off their guard. "Broken, and not by any human hand" is an idiom for being destroyed by something other than human agency.

26The vision of the evenings and the mornings that was told to you is true. But seal up the vision, because it is about a time far in the future."

26And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

NoteSealing a document meant tying it shut and pressing a clay or wax seal over the fastening, so that it could not be read or altered until the person entitled to open it broke the seal. The instruction is to close and preserve the vision, not to hide it permanently.

27I, Daniel, was worn out, and I lay sick for several days. Then I got up and went back to the king's business. I was stunned by the vision, and no one understood it.

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

Note"The king's business" refers to Daniel's post as an official in the royal administration. The last clause is ambiguous in Hebrew: it can mean that no one else could explain the vision, or that Daniel himself could not make sense of it.