Daniel 8 · The Lantern

Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat

In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me — to me, Daniel — after the one that appeared to me at the first.

And so the prophet, after ceasing from what lies before, teaches us the certainty of what will be with all precision, he passes again to the kingdom of the Persians and Greeks, describing another vision to us which happened and was fulfilled in his own times, in order that in this he may furnish us faithful and that he may be able to inspire us to be more faithful to God for wh…

Verse 1. "In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me. I, Daniel, after what I had seen at the first..." This vision came two years after the previous revelation, for the latter was beheld in the first year of Belshazzar, whereas this was beheld in the third year. And so he informs us: "...after that which I had seen at the first."

Now, it is not without purpose that he indicates the time: it is to inform us that long before these things happened, he received foreknowledge of them from the God of all.

And I saw in the vision; and it was, when I saw, that I was in Susa the fortress, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was by the canal Ulai.

And I lifted my eyes and saw, and see, one ram standing before the canal, and it had two horns. And the two horns were high, and the one was higher than the second, and the higher came up last.

He signifies Darius the Persian by saying "it had two horns," as Darius ruled the Medes and the Persians. "Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other": this is referred to the Persians, whose power was superior to that of the Medes and rose to a higher level.

Verse 3. "And I lifted up my eyes and saw." Yet of course one only sees in dreams things which appear as shadowy representations, naturally, and as mere likenesses, rather than our being able to behold the reality of the objects themselves.

He perceived two horns on the ram because Cyrus was the first to reign over it and transmitted the empire only to his sons; when his son Cambyses died, soothsayers held power for a few months, but shortly afterwards Darius son of Hystaspes, who passed the empire on to his offspring and theirs up to the last Darius, whose empire Alexander the Macedonian took over after slaying h…

I saw the ram butting westward and northward and southward, and no beasts could stand before him, and there was none delivering from his hand. And he did according to his will and made himself great.

And so as much as he described in the first vision he again recounts in detail these things a second time for the building up of the faithful. For "the ram butting to the sea and to the north and to the south," [Daniel 8:4] he says is Darius the king of the Persians, who prevailed over all nations. For he says, "all the beasts did not stand before him." [Daniel 8:4]

Verse 4. "After this I saw the ram pushing with its horns westward and northward and southward..." Not that he saw the ram itself, that is, the ram of Cyrus or Darius, but rather the ram of the same kingdom as theirs, that is, the second Darius, who was the last king of the Persian power, and who was overcome by the king of the Macedonians, Alexander the son of Philip.

By "beasts" he refers again to the other kingdoms individually, Syria, Cilicia, Arabia, Egypt, calling them "beasts" on account of their being fearsome to those they ruled. So no kingdom, he is saying, could resist that empire charging to the north, south and west, nor could any human being liberate anyone from that power. Yet for all its appearance it met its end.

And I was considering, and see, a buck of the goats came from the west over the face of all the earth, and was not touching the ground; and the buck had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.

And he came to the ram, the master of the two horns, that I had seen standing before the canal, and he ran at him in the wrath of his power.

And I saw him reaching beside the ram, and he was embittered against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him. And he cast him to the ground and trampled him, and there was none delivering the ram from his hand.

And the buck of the goats made himself exceedingly great; and when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and four conspicuous ones came up in its place, toward the four winds of the heavens.

Next after the male goat was exalted, "his great horn was shattered, and four horns arose under him to the four winds of heaven." [Daniel 8:8] For after Alexander ruled all the land of Persia and subjected them, later he died, dividing his kingdom to his four Chiefs as is shown above, that is to Seleucus, to Demetrius, to Ptolemy, and to Philip, from whom one horn was exalted a…

After the defeat of Darius, Alexander extended the empire of the Greeks in every direction and made it firm with strong garrisons.

By "four horns" he hints at the four kings who succeeded Alexander at the one time: Ptolemy son of Lagus took control of Egypt; Seleucus Nicanor got possession of Babylon and the other parts bordering on Syria; Antigonus was in charge of Asia; Antipater, Macedonia—or, as some historians think, Philip, who is also called Arrhideus, brother of Alexander.

And from one of them came out one horn, from smallness, and it grew exceedingly great toward the south and toward the east and toward the Beauty.

For after Alexander ruled all the land of Persia and subjected them, later he died, dividing his kingdom to his four Chiefs as is shown above, that is to Seleucus, to Demetrius, to Ptolemy, and to Philip, from whom one horn was exalted and grew great unto the power of heaven. For Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, being from the race of Alexander, was king.

As Josephus told the story, Daniel saw a smaller horn rise up from these, and it grew strong. God, who showed Daniel the vision, was telling him that war would come on his nation, that Jerusalem would be taken by storm, the temple would be pillaged, the sacrifices would be hindered and cut short, and this would last for 1, days.

The first and second books of the Maccabees inform us of this more clearly, and the historian Josephus made a precise record of it, and we shall outline concisely the facts about him.

And it grew great as far as the host of the heavens, and it cast down to the ground some of the host and of the stars, and trampled them.

He signifies here the priestly order, which he compares with the host of heaven. "It threw down to the earth some of the host and some of the stars and trampled on them." Here he prophesies about the sons of Semona and the allies killed by Antiochus.

Most of the people by transgressing God's law quickly fell away from heavenly things, and they were trampled down by this tyrant to their own destruction. He referred to them as stars on account of the fame and splendor of their piety, hinting also at the promise to Abraham, "I shall make your offspring like the stars of heaven."

"The host of heaven" and "the stars and princes of the host": he recalls in this way Onias and Eleazar and those of the house of the Maccabees. He calls them "stars" because of the brightness and beauty of the fear of God, by alluding to the words "I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven."

And as far as the Prince of the host it made itself great; and from him the continual was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

And a host was given over the continual in transgression; and it cast truth to the ground, and it acted and prospered.

And I heard one holy one speaking, and one holy one said to the certain one who was speaking: Until when is the vision — the continual, and the transgression that desolates, the giving over of both the holy place and the host to trampling?

And he said to me: Until two thousand three hundred evening-morning; and the holy place will be set right.

The intention of the angel who asked the question was to learn for how long the holy things would be given into the hands of immoral people. To him the angel who interprets the vision says, "For two thousand three hundred days," to which "the times, time and half time" mentioned above correspond.

Verse 14. And he answered him, "'Until the evening and the morning, until two thousand three hundred days; and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.'" If we read the Books of Maccabees and the history of Josephus, we shall find it there recorded that in the one hundred and forty-third year after the Seleucus who first reigned in Syria after the decease of Alexander, Antiochus e…

By "evening" he referred to the beginning of the calamities and by "morning" to the end of the calamities, since night and darkness are figures of distress. From the present time, the beginning of the troubles, to the end, he is saying, the period is of that length [twenty-three hundred evenings and mornings].

Gabriel Interprets Daniel’s Vision

And it was, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought understanding; and see, standing before me was one like the appearance of a man.

That these things are true, just as has been said, Daniel himself testifies. For he spoke in this way, "And it happened when I saw the vision and I sought to understand, and behold, there stood before me an appearance of a man, and I heard the voice of a man above the midst of the Ubal, and he called and he said, 'Gabriel cause him to understand that vision.' And he came and st…

Verse 15. "And it came to pass that when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it." He beheld the vision by way of a picture or likeness, and he failed to understand it.

"Now it came to pass, when I, Daniel, saw the vision and sought understanding: behold, there stood before me as it were the appearance of a man; and he cried out and said: Gabriel, make this one understand the vision." This illumination is aided through the Angels.

And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of the Ulai; and he called and said: Gabriel, make this one understand the appearance.

The guardian angel of Daniel, who never parted from him, asked the angel Gabriel, who was now by him, now by all the other saints in everything concerning visions, to explain to Daniel his dream.

I heard someone else as well using a human voice and bidding the one standing near me, whom he called Gabriel, to interpret the riddle of the revelation to me. It is possible from what was said to come to the conclusion that the one giving the orders was the Lord.

And he came beside where I stood; and when he came I was terrified and fell on my face. And he said to me: Understand, son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.

And as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, to the ground; and he touched me and set me on my standing.

And he said: See, I am making known to you what will be in the latter end of the indignation, for it is for the appointed time of the end.

The ram that you saw, the master of the two horns — the kings of Media and Persia.

And the shaggy buck is the king of Javan; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

And the one that was broken, and four stood in its place — four kingdoms will stand from the nation, but not in his power.

And in the latter time of their kingdom, at the finishing of the transgressors, a king fierce of face and understanding riddles will stand.

And his power will be mighty, but not by his own power; and he will destroy wondrously, and he will prosper and act, and he will destroy the mighty and the people of the holy ones.

And through his insight he will make deceit prosper in his hand, and in his heart he will make himself great; and in ease he will destroy many. And against the Prince of princes he will stand — and without a hand he will be broken.

And the appearance of the evening and the morning that was told is true. And you, seal up the vision, for it is for many days.

Verse 26. "Thou therefore seal up the vision, because it shall come to pass after many days." Having explained the vision which we have examined above to the best of our ability, the angel Gabriel adds at the end: "Thou therefore seal up the vision, because it shall come to pass after many days." By the mention of a seal, he showed that the things spoken were of a hidden charac…

"Seal up the vision because it will be in many days time," that is, leave it obscure for many people; I have made it clear to you in your longing before the event.

"Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and after these things write." This shows that what is now undisclosed is to be explained through experience and the course of the events themselves.

And I, Daniel, was done in and sick for days. Then I rose and did the work of the king; and I was appalled at the appearance, and there was none understanding.

Daniel8

Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat

Gabriel Interprets Daniel’s Vision