Daniel 8:20

THE MESSAGE

"‘The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings of the Medes and Persians. The billy goat stands for the kingdom of the Greeks. The huge horn on its forehead is the first Greek king. The four horns that sprouted after it was broken off are the four kings that come after him, but without his power.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.

Hebrew Names Version
The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Madai and Paras.

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

English Standard Version
As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.

New American Standard Bible
"The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

New Century Version
"You saw a male sheep with two horns, which are the kings of Media and Persia.

Amplified Bible
"The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

Geneva Bible (1587)
The ramme which thou sawest hauing two hornes, are the Kings of the Medes and Persians.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

Berean Standard Bible
The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.

Contemporary English Version
The two horns of the ram are the kings of Media and Persia,

Complete Jewish Bible
You saw a ram with two horns which are the kings of Media and Persia.

Darby Translation
The ram that thou sawest having the two horns: they are the kings of Media and Persia.

Easy-to-Read Version
"You saw a ram with two horns. The horns are the countries of Media and Persia.

George Lamsa Translation
The ram which you saw with two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

Good News Translation
"The ram you saw that had two horns represents the kingdoms of Media and Persia.

Lexham English Bible
"The ram that you saw who had two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

Literal Translation
The ram which you saw with two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The ramme which thou sawest with the two hornes, is the kynge off the Medes ad Perses:

American Standard Version
The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

Bible in Basic English
The sheep which you saw with two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
The ram which thou sawest having the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

King James Version (1611)
The ramme which thou sawest hauing two hornes, are the kings of Media, and Persia.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The ramme which thou sawest hauing two hornes, is the king of the Medes and Perses,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The ram which thou sawest that had the horns is the king of the Medes and Persians.

English Revised Version
The ram which thou sawest that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

World English Bible
The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The ram, whom thou siyest haue hornes, is the kyng of Medeis and of Perseis.

Update Bible Version
The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

Webster's Bible Translation
The ram which thou sawest having [two] horns [are] the kings of Media and Persia.

New English Translation
The ram that you saw with the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia.

New King James Version
The ram which you saw, having the two horns--they are the kings of Media and Persia.

New Living Translation
The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia.

New Life Bible
The ram you saw had two horns which are the kings of Media and Persia.

New Revised Standard
As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The ram which thou sawest, having the two horns, representeth the kings of Media and Persia;

Douay-Rheims Bible
The ram, which thou sawest with horns, is the king of the Medes and Persians.

Revised Standard Version
As for the ram which you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.

Young's Literal Translation
`The ram that thou hast seen possessing two horns, [are] the kings of Media and Persia.

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ "While I, Daniel, was trying to make sense of what I was seeing, suddenly there was a humanlike figure standing before me. ¹⁶"Then I heard a man's voice from over by the Ulai Canal calling out, ‘Gabriel, tell this man what is going on. Explain the vision to him.' He came up to me, but when he got close I became terrified and fell facedown on the ground. "He said, ‘Understand that this vision has to do with the time of the end.' As soon as he spoke, I fainted, my face in the dirt. But he picked me up and put me on my feet. "And then he continued, ‘I want to tell you what is going to happen as the judgment days of wrath wind down, for there is going to be an end to all this. "‘The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings of the Medes and Persians. The billy goat stands for the kingdom of the Greeks. The huge horn on its forehead is the first Greek king. The four horns that sprouted after it was broken off are the four kings that come after him, but without his power. "‘As their kingdoms cool down and rebellions heat up, A king will show up, hard-faced, a master trickster. His power will swell enormously. He'll talk big, high-handedly, Doing whatever he pleases, knocking off heroes and holy ones left and right. He'll plot and scheme to make crime flourish— and oh, how it will flourish! He'll think he's invincible and get rid of anyone who gets in his way. But when he takes on the Prince of all princes, he'll be smashed to bits— but not by human hands. This vision of the 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning, is accurate but confidential. Keep it to yourself. It refers to the far future.' "I, Daniel, walked around in a daze, unwell for days. Then I got a grip on myself and went back to work taking care of the king's affairs. But I continued to be upset by the vision. I couldn't make sense of it." ¹⁸A Vision of a Ram and a Billy Goat "In King Belshazzar's third year as king, another vision came to me, Daniel. This was now the second vision. "In the vision, I saw myself in Susa, the capital city of the province Elam, standing at the Ulai Canal. Looking around, I was surprised to see a ram also standing at the gate. The ram had two huge horns, one bigger than the other, but the bigger horn was the last to appear. I watched as the ram charged: first west, then north, then south. No beast could stand up to him. He did just as he pleased, strutting as if he were king of the beasts. "While I was watching this, wondering what it all meant, I saw a billy goat with an immense horn in the middle of its forehead come up out of the west and fly across the whole country, not once touching the ground. The billy goat approached the double-horned ram that I had earlier seen standing at the gate and, enraged, charged it viciously. I watched as, mad with rage, it charged the ram and hit it so hard that it broke off its two horns. The ram didn't stand a chance against it. The billy goat knocked the ram to the ground and stomped all over it. Nothing could have saved the ram from the goat. "Then the billy goat swelled to an enormous size. At the height of its power its immense horn broke off and four other big horns sprouted in its place, pointing to the four points of the compass. And then from one of these big horns another horn sprouted. It started small, but then grew to an enormous size, facing south and east—toward lovely Palestine. The horn grew tall, reaching to the stars, the heavenly army, and threw some of the stars to the earth and stomped on them. It even dared to challenge the power of God, Prince of the Celestial Army! And then it threw out daily worship and desecrated the Sanctuary. As judgment against their sin, the holy people of God got the same treatment as the daily worship. The horn cast God's Truth aside. High-handed, it took over everything and everyone. "Then I overheard two holy angels talking. One asked, ‘How long is what we see here going to last—the abolishing of daily worship, this devastating judgment against sin, the kicking around of God's holy people and the Sanctuary?' "The other answered, ‘Over the course of 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning. Then the Sanctuary will be set right again.' "While I, Daniel, was trying to make sense of what I was seeing, suddenly there was a humanlike figure standing before me. "Then I heard a man's voice from over by the Ulai Canal calling out, ‘Gabriel, tell this man what is going on. Explain the vision to him.' He came up to me, but when he got close I became terrified and fell facedown on the ground. "He said, ‘Understand that this vision has to do with the time of the end.' As soon as he spoke, I fainted, my face in the dirt. But he picked me up and put me on my feet. ¹⁹ "And then he continued, ‘I want to tell you what is going to happen as the judgment days of wrath wind down, for there is going to be an end to all this. ²⁰"‘The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings of the Medes and Persians. The billy goat stands for the kingdom of the Greeks. The huge horn on its forehead is the first Greek king. The four horns that sprouted after it was broken off are the four kings that come after him, but without his power. ²³"‘As their kingdoms cool down and rebellions heat up, A king will show up, hard-faced, a master trickster. His power will swell enormously. He'll talk big, high-handedly, Doing whatever he pleases, knocking off heroes and holy ones left and right. He'll plot and scheme to make crime flourish— and oh, how it will flourish! He'll think he's invincible and get rid of anyone who gets in his way. But when he takes on the Prince of all princes, he'll be smashed to bits— but not by human hands. This vision of the 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning, is accurate but confidential. Keep it to yourself. It refers to the far future.' ²⁷ "I, Daniel, walked around in a daze, unwell for days. Then I got a grip on myself and went back to work taking care of the king's affairs. But I continued to be upset by the vision. I couldn't make sense of it."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Daniel 8:3, Daniel 11:1, Daniel 11:2

Reciprocal: Esther 1:3 - of Persia Isaiah 21:2 - Go up Jeremiah 51:28 - the kings Daniel 2:39 - another kingdom Daniel 5:28 - Thy Daniel 7:6 - lo Acts 2:9 - Medes

Cross-References

Genesis 7:2
"Take on board with you seven pairs of every clean animal, a male and a female; one pair of every unclean animal, a male and a female; and seven pairs of every kind of bird, a male and a female, to insure their survival on Earth. In just seven days I will dump rain on Earth for forty days and forty nights. I'll make a clean sweep of everything that I've made."

Genesis 8:1
Then God turned his attention to Noah and all the wild animals and farm animals with him on the ship. God caused the wind to blow and the floodwaters began to go down. The underground springs were shut off, the windows of Heaven closed and the rain quit. Inch by inch the water lowered. After 150 days the worst was over.

Genesis 8:4
On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ship landed on the Ararat mountain range. The water kept going down until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains came into view. After forty days Noah opened the window that he had built into the ship.

Genesis 8:7
He sent out a raven; it flew back and forth waiting for the floodwaters to dry up. Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn't even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship.

Genesis 8:15
God spoke to Noah: "Leave the ship, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives. And take all the animals with you, the whole menagerie of birds and mammals and crawling creatures, all that brimming prodigality of life, so they can reproduce and flourish on the Earth."

Genesis 13:18
Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God .

Genesis 22:2
He said, "Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you."

Genesis 22:9
They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.

Genesis 26:25
Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well.

Genesis 35:1
God spoke to Jacob: "Go back to Bethel. Stay there and build an altar to the God who revealed himself to you when you were running for your life from your brother Esau."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The ram which thou sawest having two horns,.... Here begins the particular explanation of the above vision, and of the first thing which the prophet saw in it, a ram with two horns: which two horns, he says,

are the kings of Media and Persia; Darius the first king was a Mede, and Cyrus, that succeeded him, or rather reigned with him, was a Persian: or rather the ram with two horns signifies the two kingdoms of the Medes and Persians united in one monarchy, of which the ram was an emblem; :- for Darius and Cyrus were dead many years before the time of Alexander; and therefore could not personally be the two horns of the ram broken by him; nor is it to be understood of the kings of two different families, as the one of. Cyrus, and the other of Darius Hystaspes, in whose successors the Persian monarchy continued till destroyed by Alexander, as Theodoret.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The ram which thou sawest ... - See the notes at Daniel 8:3. This is one of the instances in the Scriptures in which symbols are explained. There can be no doubt, therefore, as to the meaning.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Daniel 8:20. The ram which thou sawest — See this explained under the vision itself, Daniel 8:3, &c.