Daniel 8:3

Literal Standard Version

And I lift up my eyes, and look, and behold, a certain ram is standing before the stream, and it has two horns, and the two horns [are] high; and one [is] higher than the other, and the high one is coming up last.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I looked up, and there was a ram standing beside the canal. He had two horns. The two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up last.

Hebrew Names Version
Then I lifted up my 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.

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.

New American Standard Bible
Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last.

New Century Version
when I looked up and saw a male sheep standing beside the canal. It had two long horns, but one horn was longer and newer than the other.

Amplified Bible
Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there in front of the canal stood a [lone] ram (the Medo-Persian Empire) which had two horns. The two horns were high, but one (Persia) was higher than the other (Media), and the higher one came up last.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then I looked vp and sawe, and beholde, there stoode before the riuer a ramme, which had two hornes: and these two hornes were hie: but one was hier then another, and the hyest came vp last.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last.

Berean Standard Bible
Then I lifted my eyes and saw a ram with two horns standing beside the canal. The horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one grew up later.

Contemporary English Version
when I looked up and saw a ram standing there with two horns on its head—both of them were long, but the second one was longer than the first.

Complete Jewish Bible
I looked up; and as I watched, there in front of the stream stood a ram with two horns. The horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up later [than the other].

Darby Translation
And 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; and one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

Easy-to-Read Version
I looked up and saw a ram standing at the side of the river. The ram had two long horns. The horns were both long, but one horn was longer than the other horn. The long horn was farther back than the other horn.

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

Good News Translation
and there beside the river I saw a ram that had two long horns, one of which was longer and newer than the other.

Lexham English Bible
And I lifted up my eyes and I saw, and look! A ram standing before the stream, and it had two horns, and the horns were long, but the one was longer than the second, and the longer one came up after the other one.

Literal Translation
Then I lifted up my eyes and looked. And behold! A ram was standing before the canal, having two horns. And the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then I loked vp, and sawe: and beholde there stode before the ryuer, a ramme, which had hornes: and these hornes were hye, but one was hyer then another, and the hyest came vp last.

American Standard Version
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.

Bible in Basic English
And lifting up my eyes, I saw, there before the stream, a male sheep with two horns: and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, the higher one coming up last.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the stream 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.

King James Version (1611)
Then I lifted vp mine eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before the riuer, a ramme which had two hornes, and the two hornes were high: but one was higher then the other, and the higher came vp last.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then I loked vp and saw, & beholde, there stoode before the riuer a ramme which had two hornes: and these two hornes were hye, but one was hyer then the other, & the hyest came vp last.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, a ram standing in front of the Ubal; and he had high horns; and one was higher than the other, and the high one came up last.

English Revised Version
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.

World English Bible
Then I lifted up my 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.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y reiside myn iyen, and Y siy; and lo! o ram stood bifor the mareis, and hadde hiy hornes, and oon hiyere than the tother, and vndurwexynge.

Update Bible Version
Then I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and saw 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.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then I lifted up my 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.

New English Translation
I looked up and saw a ram with two horns standing at the canal. Its two horns were both long, but one was longer than the other. The longer one was coming up after the shorter one.

New King James Version
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 higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.

New Living Translation
As I looked up, I saw a ram with two long horns standing beside the river. One of the horns was longer than the other, even though it had grown later than the other one.

New Life Bible
Then I looked up and saw a ram with two horns standing by the river. The two horns were long, but one was longer than the other. And the longer one came up last.

New Revised Standard
I looked up and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up second.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and lo! a ram, standing before the river, and, it, had two horns, - and, the two horns, were high, but, the one, was higher than the other, and, the higher, had come up, last.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold a ram stood before the water, having two high horns, and one higher than the other, and growing up. Afterward

Revised Standard Version
I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the river. It had two horns; and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.

Young's Literal Translation
And I lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, a certain ram is standing before the stream, and it hath two horns, and the two horns [are] high; and the one [is] higher than the other, and the high one is coming up last.

Contextual Overview

¹"In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision has appeared to me—I Daniel—after that which had appeared to me at the beginning. ²And I see in a vision, and it comes to pass, in my seeing, and I [am] in Shushan the palace that [is] in Elam the province, and I see in a vision, and I have been by the stream Ulai. ³And I lift up my eyes, and look, and behold, a certain ram is standing before the stream, and it has two horns, and the two horns [are] high; and one [is] higher than the other, and the high one is coming up last.⁴I have seen the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward, and no living creatures stand before it, and there is none delivering out of its hand, and it has done according to its pleasure, and has exerted itself. ⁵And I have been considering, and behold, a young male goat has come from the west, over the face of the whole earth, whom none is touching in the earth; as for the young male goat, a conspicuous horn [is] between its eyes. ⁶And it comes to the ram possessing the two horns, that I had seen standing before the stream, and runs to it in the fury of its power. ⁷And I have seen it coming near the ram, and it becomes embittered at it, and strikes the ram, and breaks its two horns, and there has been no power in the ram to stand before it, and it casts it to the earth, and tramples it down, and there has been no deliverer to the ram out of its power. ⁸And the young male goat has exerted itself very much, and when it is strong, the great horn has been broken; and a vision of four comes up in its place, at the four winds of the heavens. ⁹And from one of them has come forth a little horn, and it exerts itself greatly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beautiful [land]; ¹⁰indeed, it exerts to the host of the heavens, and causes to fall to the earth of the host, and of the stars, and tramples them down.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I lifted: Daniel 10:5, Numbers 24:2, Joshua 5:13, 1 Chronicles 21:16, Zechariah 1:18, Zechariah 2:1, Zechariah 5:1, Zechariah 5:5, Zechariah 5:9, Zechariah 6:1

a ram: The Medo-Persian empire, of which a ram was the ensign; and a ram's head with horns, one higher than the other, is still to be seen on the ruins of Persepolis. Daniel 8:20, Daniel 2:39, Daniel 7:5

one: Media was the more ancient kingdom; but Persia, after Cyrus, was the most considerable. Daniel 5:31, Daniel 6:28, Ezra 1:2, Ezra 4:5, Esther 1:3, Isaiah 13:17, Isaiah 21:2, Isaiah 44:28, Jeremiah 51:11

the other: Heb. the second

Reciprocal: Isaiah 45:1 - to subdue Jeremiah 51:28 - the kings Ezekiel 34:21 - ye have Daniel 2:32 - breast Daniel 5:28 - Thy Daniel 8:6 - to the Daniel 8:22 - whereas

Cross-References

Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all [the] fountains of the great deep have been broken up, and the network of the heavens has been opened,

Genesis 7:24
and the waters are mighty on the earth [for] one hundred and fifty days.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then I lifted up mine eyes,.... To see what was to be seen in this place, where he in the vision was brought; he lifted up the eyes of his understanding, being enlightened by the vision of prophecy, and the eyes of his body, to which objects of corporeal things formed in the fancy were represented:

and saw, and, behold; he saw something wonderful in a visionary way, and which struck his mind, and raised his attention:

there stood before the river; the river Ulai, near Shushan, the palace, the seat of the kings of Persia, to the east:

a ram, which had two horns; a symbol of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, signified by the two horns, Daniel 8:20, an emblem of power and dominion, and sometimes used to signify kings and kingdoms; see Daniel 7:24 and these as united in one monarchy, under one monarch, Cyrus, and continued in his successors unto the times of Alexander; and therefore called "a ram", or "one ram" m, as in the original; and which in sound has some likeness to Elam or Persia: and this kingdom or monarchy may be signified by it, partly because of its strength and power, and partly because of its riches, as some think, as well as because it is a fighting creature; and it may be chiefly because this monarchy was mild, and kind, and gentle to the Jewish nation: and it is very remarkable, that, according to Ammianus Marcellinus n, the ram was the royal ensign of the Persians; whose kings used to wear for a diadem something made of gold, in the shape of a ram's head, set with little stones:

and the two horns were high; grew straight up on high, and so were different from the usual horns of a ram, which are crooked; denoting the great power, authority, wealth, and riches, these two kingdoms rose up unto:

but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last; I think the words might be rendered better, "and the first was higher than the second, but it ascended, or grew up, higher at last" o; the kingdom of the Medes was the first kingdom, and it was at first superior to the kingdom of Persia; but afterwards the kingdom of Persia became greater than that, under Cyrus and his successors: and Sir John Chardin says p, that rams' heads, with horns one higher than another, are still to be seen in the ruins of Persepolis.

m איל אחד "aries unus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c. n Hist. l. 19. o והאחת גבחה מן השנית והגבהה עלה באחרונה. p Travels, vol. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Then I lifted up mine eyes and saw - And saw in vision, or there seemed to be before me.

There stood before the river - On the bank of the river.

A ram which had two horns - There can be no error in explaining the design of this symbol, for in Daniel 8:20 it is expressly said that it denoted the two kings of Media and Persia. The united power of the kingdom was denoted by the ram itself; the fact that there were two powers or kingdoms combined, by the two horns of the ram.

And the two horns were high - Both indicating great power.

But one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last - The higher horn springing up last denotes Persia, that became the more mighty power of the two, so that the name Media became finally almost dropped, and the united kingdom was known in Grecian history as the Persian The Median or Assyrian power was the older, but the Persian became the most mighty.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Daniel 8:3. A ram which had two horns — In the former vision there were four beasts, pointing out four empires; in this we have but two, as only two empires are concerned here, viz., the Grecian and the Persian. The Babylonish empire is not mentioned; its fate was before decided, and it was now at its close.

By the ram, the empire of the Medes and Persians was pointed out, as explained by the angel Gabriel, Daniel 8:20; and particularly Cyrus, who was the founder of that empire. Cyrus was the son of Cambyses, king of Persia; and grandson of Astyages, king of Media, by his daughter Mandane, who had been given in marriage to Cambyses. Cyrus marrying Roxana, the daughter and only child of his uncle Cyaxares, called in Scripture Ahasuerus, succeeded to both crowns, and thus united Media and Persia. A ram was the symbol of the Persians; and a ram's head with two horns, one higher than the other, appears as such in different parts of the ruins of Persepolis. See the plates of these ruins in the supplement to the seventh volume of the ancient part of the Universal History.

This ram had two horns; that is, two kingdoms, viz., Media and Persia; but one was higher than the other; and the higher came up last. Media, signified by the shorter horn, was the more ancient of the two kingdoms. Persia, the higher horn, had come up but lately, and was of little historic or political consequence till the time of Cyrus; but in the reigns of this prince and his immediate successors, Persia attained a political consequence greatly superior to that possessed at any time by the kingdom of Media; therefore, it is said to have been the higher, and to have come up last.