Daniel 8:3

Verse

Then I lifted up 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.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Free Bible Version

I looked around and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two long horns, one longer than the other, even though the longer one had grown last.

King James (Authorized) 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.

Translation for Translators

I looked up and saw a ram that was standing alongside the canal. It had two long horns, but the newest one was longer than the other one.

Unlocked Literal Bible

I looked up and saw before me a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal. One horn was longer than the other, but the longer one grew more slowly than the shorter and was passed up in length by it.

Noah Webster 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.

World English Bible

Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram which had two horns stood before the river. The two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher 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.

Context

Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat

²And in the vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.³Then I lifted up 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.⁴I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

Sermons

(Common Market) the Unity of the Market

Willie Mullan

1.7K

The Medes and the Persians

John F. Walvoord

Summary

In this verse, Daniel describes a vision he received of a ram with two horns standing beside a canal, symbolizing the Medo-Persian Empire. The ram's horns represent the kings of Media and Persia. This vision foreshadows the rise and dominance of the Medo-Persian Empire in the future, as well as the unfolding of God's plan for the nations. It serves as a prophetic insight into the political events that will shape history and the eventual fulfillment of God's purposes.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

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, Dan 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.

John Gill Bible Commentary

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, Dan 8:20, an emblem of power and dominion, and sometimes used to signify kings and kingdoms; see Dan 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) "aries unus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c. (n) Hist. l. 19. (o) . (p) Travels, vol. 3.

Daniel 8:3

Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

Then I lifted up 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.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Free Bible Version

I looked around and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two long horns, one longer than the other, even though the longer one had grown last.

King James (Authorized) 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.

Translation for Translators

I looked up and saw a ram that was standing alongside the canal. It had two long horns, but the newest one was longer than the other one.

Unlocked Literal Bible

Noah Webster 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.

World English Bible

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

Young's Literal Translation

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Daniel 8:3

Verse

Context

Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat

Sermons

Summary

Commentary

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Daniel 8:3

Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat

(Common Market) the Unity of the Market

The Medes and the Persians

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes