Daniel Chapter 8 Vs. 22

The Interpretation of the Vision

Daniel 8:22 "Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power."


Now that being... The great horn being broken represents the death of Alexander the Great (vs. 8; 11:4).

whereas four stood... 4 horns growing out of the head of the he goat in the place of the great horn represents four kingdoms being formed out of the old Grecian Empire after the death of Alexander the Great.

four kingdoms shall... Alexander died at age 33 in 323 B.C., leaving no heir ready to reign. So four men, after 22 years of fighting, assumed rule over 4 Grecian sectors:

(1) Cassander, Macedonia;

(2) Lysimachus, Thrace and Asia Minor;

(3) Seleucus, Syria and Babylonia;

(4) Ptolemy, Egypt and Arabia. These are the four referred to in “toward the four winds” (v.8).

but not in... indicates they did not have Alexander’s power or direct family lineage.

Rome conquered Greece by 146 B.C., only a few years later, and became the next dominant empire.

The far fulfillment sees prophetically illustrating the final tribulation period and the Antichrist. In such a view, the king here is also the “little horn,” as in 7:7, 8:9 and the willful king in 11:36-45.

Since Alexander had no heirs to succeed him, the kingdom was divided several years later among his four generals, represented here by the four horns (cf. Dan. 8:8; cf. Dan. 11:4). But the divided kingdom of Greece never had the same power Greece had enjoyed under Alexander. To Ptolemy was given Egypt and parts of Asia Minor. Cassander was given the territory of Macedonia and Greece. Lysimachus was given Thrace and parts of Asia Minor (western Bithynia, Phrygia, Mycia, and Lydia). Seleucus was given the remainder of Alexander’s empire which included Syria, Israel, and Mesopotamia.