Daniel 8 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
c. 550 BC (vision received during Belshazzar's third year, roughly 550-548 BC)
Location
The vision takes place at Susa, in the province of Elam (modern southwestern Iran), beside the Ulai Canal — though Daniel may have been physically in Babylon
Audience
Written for the Jewish community — both Daniel's contemporaries in exile and future generations who would face the persecution described in the vision
Situation
Daniel receives his second apocalyptic vision, showing a ram (Medo-Persia) crushed by a goat (Greece), whose great horn (Alexander) breaks and is replaced by four horns. From one grows a small horn (Antiochus IV) who desecrates the Temple. Gabriel interprets the vision and Daniel is physically devastated by what he sees.
Key Background
This chapter bridges the Babylonian exile (Daniel's present) with events 400 years in the future — the rise of Persia, the Greek conquest under Alexander, the division of his empire, and the notorious persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC). The vision's detailed accuracy led some scholars to date Daniel to the Maccabean period, though traditional dating places the book in the 6th century BC. The chapter provides the historical backbone for understanding Hanukkah and the intertestamental period.
In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, I, Daniel, had a — a second one, after the first that had already come to me.
I saw myself in the vision at the fortress of in the province of Elam. And there in the vision, I was standing beside the
I looked up and saw a standing beside the canal. It had two horns, both tall — but one grew up later than the other, and the later one rose higher.
I watched the ram — west, north, and south. No other animal could stand against it, and nothing could rescue anyone from its power. It did whatever it wanted and made itself great.
As I was trying to make sense of this, suddenly a came from the west, crossing the entire earth the This had a single, striking horn between its eyes.
It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at it with furious power.
I watched it close in on the ram, striking the ram and shattering both its horns. The ram had no strength to stand against it. The goat threw it to the ground and trampled it, and there was no one to rescue the ram from its power.
The male goat made itself enormously But at the height of its power, the was In its place, striking horns grew up, pointing toward the of the
Out of one of them grew a single that became enormously powerful — reaching toward the south, toward the east, and toward the
It grew so powerful that it reached up to the of the It threw some of the down to the earth and trampled them.
It even elevated itself to rival the of the It stripped away the from him and tore down the place of his
Because of an army was handed over to it along with the daily offering. It threw to the ground, and everything it did succeeded.
Then I heard one of the speaking, and another one asked the one who was speaking, "How long will this vision last — the daily offering taken away, the the sacred space and the army handed over to be trampled?"
He said to me, "For 2,300 and Then the sacred space will be to its
While I, Daniel, was watching this vision and trying to understand it, suddenly someone who looked like a man stood before me.
And I heard a human voice calling out from between the banks of the Ulai: — help this man understand the vision."
He came close to where I was standing. When he arrived, I was terrified and fell facedown. He said to me, "Understand this, of — this vision is about the of the
While he was speaking to me, I fell into a with my face on the ground. But he touched me and lifted me back to my feet.
He said, "Listen carefully — I am going to tell you what will happen in the final period of the of because this vision is set for the of the end."
The two-horned ram you saw represents the kings of and
The shaggy goat is the of and the great horn between its eyes is the first
The horn that snapped off and the that grew in its place — those are that will rise from that nation, but without its original power.
In the last days of their reign, when the rebels have reached the full measure of their rebellion, a king will arise — fierce-faced and in
power will become great — but not by own He will cause devastating destruction and will succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful and the who are
Through his cunning, he will make thrive under his rule. He will become arrogant in his own mind, and in a time of ease he will destroy many. He will even take a stand against the of — but he will be broken, and not by
The vision of the evenings and mornings that was described to you is true. But up the vision, because it concerns the
I, Daniel, was and for days. Then I got up and went back to the But I was by the vision, and no one could make sense of it.