Daniel 8

Daniel · Chapter 8

Daniel 8:20

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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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?14And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.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 between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.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.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.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.20The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.21And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.22Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.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.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.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.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.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.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
20The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

Daniel has seen a ram with two horns that pushed west, north and south until no beast could stand before it (8:3-4). Gabriel is told to make him understand the vision (8:16), and this verse is the first piece of that explanation: the two-horned ram stands for the kings of Media and Persia. The next verse names the he goat that breaks the ram as the king of Grecia (8:21). Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:4Daniel 8:16Daniel 8:20Daniel 8:21

SpeakingGabriel, the one a man's voice at the Ulai told to make Daniel understand the vision (8:16-17). Daniel records his words in the first person. Daniel 8:16Daniel 8:17Daniel overview

ToDaniel, who had seen the vision and sought its meaning (8:15). Daniel 8:15Daniel 8:20

Also involvedThe kings of Media and Persia, pictured by the ram and its two horns. Their power is broken by the king of Grecia, the he goat (8:7, 8:21). Daniel 8:20Daniel 8:7Daniel 8:21

The verse plainly interprets a symbol: the ram with two horns means the kings of Media and Persia. Its pushing in three directions (8:4) pictures their growing power, and its defeat by the goat (8:6-7) pictures their fall to the king of Grecia (8:21). The verse itself does not say which of the two horns is Media and which is Persia. Daniel 8:20Daniel 8:4Daniel 8:6Daniel 8:7Daniel 8:21Daniel 8:3

In the vision Daniel was at Shushan in the palace, in the province of Elam, by the river Ulai (8:2). Media lay northwest of Persia proper, south and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Daniel 8:2Strong's H4074HMediaPersia

BABYLONIAASSYRIAMEDIAPERSIABabylon 1SusaUlai

The eventsDaniel saw the vision in the third year of King Belshazzar of Babylon (8:1), before Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in one night (5:30-31). Daniel went on serving in the royal court into the reign of Cyrus. In a later vision the heavenly messenger speaks of the first year of Darius the Mede and foretells more kings in Persia (11:1-2). Daniel 8:1Daniel overviewDaniel 11:1Daniel 11:2

WrittenTraditional view: written by Daniel in the 500s BC. Scholarly view: many critical scholars date the book's final form to about 167-164 BC, though others keep the traditional date. Daniel overview

HereDaniel sought the meaning of the vision, and a man's voice told Gabriel to make him understand it (8:15-16). This verse begins that explanation, so the reader does not have to guess who the ram is. Daniel 8:15Daniel 8:16Daniel 8:20

In the whole of ScriptureThe book teaches that God sets up and removes kings and rules the kingdoms of men (2:21, 4:17). Here a great power that no beast could stand before (8:4) is shown in advance to be broken by another (8:7, 8:21), and the later king of fierce countenance will also be broken without hand (8:25). Daniel overviewDaniel 8:4Daniel 8:7Daniel 8:21Daniel 8:25

For readersThis verse shows Scripture interpreting its own symbols: the ram is named, not left to speculation. Readers should let the explanation given in the passage (8:20-22) govern how the vision is read. Daniel 8:20Daniel 8:21Daniel 8:22

  • [the] possessor ofבַּעַל
    Hebrew · ba.al · H1167J

    This word means owner or master, and it can describe someone by what characterizes them. The ram is literally 'the possessor of the two horns', and Gabriel names that ram as the kings of Media and Persia. Strong's H1167JDaniel 8:20

  • the two hornsקֶ֫רֶן
    Hebrew · qe.ren · H7161A

    Besides a literal horn, the word is used figuratively for strength. In this chapter horns stand for kings, as Gabriel also says of the goat's great horn in the next verse (8:21-22). Strong's H7161ADaniel 8:21Daniel 8:22

  • [is] [the] kings ofמֶ֫לֶךְ
    Hebrew · me.lekh · H4428G

    The word simply means king, and here it is plural: the ram stands for the kings of Media and Persia, not one man. Compare 11:2, which speaks of several kings standing up in Persia. Strong's H4428GDaniel 8:20Daniel 11:2

Takeaway

Gabriel explained the vision to Daniel: the two-horned ram is the kings of Media and Persia. A power that no beast could stand before (8:4) was shown beforehand to be broken by the king of Grecia (8:7, 8:21), in a book that teaches God sets up and removes kings (2:21). Daniel 8:16Daniel 8:20Daniel 8:4Daniel 8:7Daniel 8:21Daniel overview

Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.

The world around the text

About 605-536 BC. King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). Where Daniel lived and served for about seventy years. The capital of the Babylonian empire, on the Euphrates south of modern Baghdad, in the land the Bible calls Shinar and Chaldea.

Who ruled
  • King of BabylonNebuchadnezzar605-562 BC

    The king who besieged Jerusalem, carried Daniel and the temple vessels to Babylon, and later destroyed the city and temple. His own building inscriptions boast of the Babylon he built. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 24:12 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 25:1Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  • Last king of Babylon, and his son who ruled in his placeNabonidus and Belshazzar556-539 BC

    Nabonidus spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar could only offer Daniel the place of "third ruler in the kingdom": he was himself second. Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:7Daniel 5:29Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Verse Account of Nabonidus

  • Received the kingdom after Babylon fellDarius the MedianFrom 539 BC

    Daniel says he "took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" and set 120 princes over it. Records outside the Bible do not name him; he has been identified with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon, or with Cyrus himself. Daniel 5:31Daniel 6:1Daniel 9:1Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)

  • King of PersiaCyrus559-530 BC

    He united the Medes and Persians, took Babylon in 539 BC, and let the exiles go home to rebuild the temple, as Isaiah had named him beforehand. Daniel 1:21Daniel 6:28Daniel 10:1Ezra 1:1-4Isaiah 44:28-45:1Cyrus Cylinder

  • King of JudahJehoiakim609-598 BC

    Judah's king when Daniel was taken. Jeremiah warned him and his people that the land would serve Babylon seventy years. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 23:36-24:6Jeremiah 25:1-11

What was happening, 612 BC to 167 BC
  1. 612 BC
    WarNineveh falls

    Babylon and the Medes destroyed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as Nahum and Zephaniah had foretold. Babylon became the great power of the region. Nahum 3:7Zephaniah 2:13Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)

  2. 605 BC
    WarBattle of Carchemish

    Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates, in Jehoiakim's fourth year. The same year he came against Jerusalem and took the first captives, Daniel among them. Jeremiah 46:2Daniel 1:1-4Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  3. 597 BC
    WarJerusalem surrenders

    Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his nobles and craftsmen to Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel went into exile with them. 2 Kings 24:10-17Ezekiel 1:2Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  4. 586 BC
    WarJerusalem and the temple destroyed

    Babylon's army burned the temple and the city and broke down its walls. Daniel later prays over "the desolations of Jerusalem" and asks God to shine on his "sanctuary that is desolate." 2 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 52:12-14Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17

  5. c. 575 BC
    BuildingBabylon rebuilt in splendor

    Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great walls, palaces and the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate, and his inscriptions praise his own work. Compare his boast: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?" Daniel 4:30Nebuchadnezzar's East India House InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 1.178-183

  6. 562 BC
    RulersNebuchadnezzar dies

    His son Evil-merodach became king and released Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 2 Kings 25:27-30Jeremiah 52:31-34

  7. c. 553-543 BC
    RulersNabonidus leaves Babylon to Belshazzar

    King Nabonidus stayed at Tema in Arabia for about ten years, and the yearly New Year festival in Babylon was not held. Belshazzar governed in Babylon. Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Daniel 5:1Daniel 7:1

  8. 550 BC
    WarCyrus unites the Medes and Persians

    Cyrus of Persia defeated Astyages king of the Medes, joining the two peoples in one kingdom. Daniel's vision names the ram's two horns as "the kings of Media and Persia," the higher coming up last. Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:20Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.127-130

  9. October 539 BC
    WarBabylon falls to Cyrus

    Cyrus's army entered Babylon without a long siege. Herodotus says the people were feasting when the city was taken. Daniel records that "in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.191Cyrus Cylinder

  10. 538 BC
    God's peopleCyrus lets the exiles return

    In his first year over Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could go back and build the LORD's house in Jerusalem. Daniel "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Ezra 1:1-42 Chronicles 36:22-23Daniel 1:21Cyrus Cylinder

  11. c. 536 BC
    God's peopleThe temple's foundation is laid

    The returned exiles rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple. In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel was still in the east, mourning and praying. Ezra 3:1-11Daniel 10:1-3

  12. 334-331 BC
    WarAlexander the Great conquers Persia

    Alexander of Macedon crossed into Asia and overthrew the Persian empire within four years. Daniel 8:21 names the rough goat as "the king of Grecia" and its great horn as "the first king." Daniel 8:5-8Daniel 8:21Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1-3

  13. 323-301 BC
    WarAlexander's empire is divided

    Alexander died young, and after twenty years of war his generals divided his empire, chiefly into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:22 says "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8Daniel 8:22Daniel 11:4Diodorus Siculus, Library 18-20Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30

  14. 167 BC
    WarAntiochus IV defiles the temple

    The Greek king Antiochus IV banned Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering. 1 Maccabees calls it "the abomination of desolation." Two centuries later Jesus spoke of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" as still to come. 1 Maccabees 1:54-59Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4Matthew 24:15

The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records of these years (the Babylonian Chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Diodorus, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.

Where

Locations from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Some ancient sites are uncertain.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
the ramהָאַ֥יִלha-'A-yilH0352A
ram

אַ֫יִל (a.yil) 1) ram 1a) ram (as food) 1b) ram (as sacrifice) 1c) ram (skin dyed red, for tabernacle)

whichאֲשֶׁר־'a-SHER-H0834A
which

אֲשֶׁר (a.sher) A: 1) (relative part.) 1a) which, who 1b) that which 2) (conj) 2a) that (in obj clause) 2b) when 2c) since 2d) as 2e) conditional if B: Beth+ 1) in (that) which 2) (adv) 2a) where 3) (conj) 3a) in that, inasmuch as 3b) on account of C: Mem+ 1) from (or than) that which 2) from (the place) where 3) from (the fact) that, since D: Kaph+ 1) (conj.), according as, as, when 1a) according to that which, according as, as 1b) with a causal force: in so far as, since 1c) with a temporal force: when

you sawרָאִ֖יתָra-'I-taH7200G
to see: see

רָאָה (ra.ah) : see/show 1) to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to see 1a2) to see, perceive 1a3) to see, have vision 1a4) to look at, see, regard, look after, see after, learn about, observe, watch, look upon, look out, find out 1a5) to see, observe, consider, look at, give attention to, discern, distinguish 1a6) to look at, gaze at 1a7) to provide, choose 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to appear, present oneself 1b2) to be seen 1b3) to be visible 1c) (Pual) to be seen 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to cause to see, show 1d2) to cause to look intently at, behold, cause to gaze at 1e) (Hophal) …

[the] possessor ofבַּ֣עַלBA-'alH1167J
master

בַּעַל (ba.al) : master/leader 1) owner, husband, lord 1a) owner 1b) a husband 1c) citizens, inhabitants 1d) rulers, lords 1e) (noun of relationship used to characterise-ie, master of dreams)

the two hornsהַקְּרָנָ֑יִםha-ke-ra-NA-yimH7161A
horn

קֶ֫רֶן (qe.ren) 1) horn 1a) horn 1b) of strength (fig) 1c) flask (container for oil) 1d) horn (as musical instrument) 1e) horn (of horn-like projections on the altar) 1f) of rays of light 1g) hill Aramaic equivalent: qe.ren (קֶ֫רֶן "horn" H7162)

[is] [the] kings ofמַלְכֵ֖יmal-KHEIH4428G
king

מֶ֫לֶךְ (me.lekh) 1) king Aramaic equivalent: me.lekh (מֶ֫לֶךְ "king" H4430)

Mediaמָדַ֥יma-DAIH4074H
Media

מָדַי (ma.day) § Media = "middle land" Land inhabited by the descendants of Japheth; located northwest of Persia proper, south and southwest of the Caspian Sea, east of Armenia and Assyria, and west and northwest of the great salt desert of Iram

and Persiaוּפָרָֽס׃u-fa-RASH6539
Persia

אֲפָֽרְסָיֵא (a.pha.re.say) Persia or Apharsite = "causers of division (?)" (CLBL) an unknown office (TWOT) perhaps a title of an official Another spelling of pa.ras (פָּרַס "Persia" H6539)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.