Daniel Chapter 8 Vs. 3

 Daniel's Vision of the Ram and the Goat

Daniel 8:3 "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."

Then I lifted... The 12th prophecy in Daniel (Dan. 8:3-14; 8:3-8 are fulfilled; Dan. 8:9-14 are unfulfilled). Next, Dan. 8:17.

saw, and behold,... Thirty-sixfold Vision of the Ram and the He Goat

1. A ram stood by the river Ulai.

2. He had two horns.

3. The horns were high.

4. One horn was higher than the other.

5. The higher horn came up last (Dan. 8:3).

6. The ram pushed westward, northward, and southward.

7. No beast could stand before him.

8. No beast could deliver from him.

9. He did according to his will.

10. He became great (Dan. 8:4).

11. A he-goat came from the west, covering the face of the whole earth (Dan. 8:5).

12. He was going so fast he touched not the ground as he went.

13. He had a notable horn between his eyes.

14. He came to the two-horned ram.

15. He ran into him in the fury of his power (Dan. 8:6).

16. He was moved with anger against him.

17. He smote the ram and broke his horns.

18. There was no power in the ram to stand against the he-goat.

19. He cast the ram down to the ground and stamped upon him.

20. None could deliver the ram out of the hands of the he-goat (Dan. 8:7).

21. The he-goat became very great.

22. When he was strong the great horn between his eyes was broken.

23. In its place came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven (Dan. 8:8).

24. Out of one of them came forth a little horn.

25. The little horn became exceeding great toward the south, east, and the pleasant land (Dan. 8:9).

26. The little horn became great even to the host of heaven.

27. It cast down some of the host of heaven to the ground.

28. It stamped upon them (Dan. 8:10).

29. The little horn magnified himself even to the prince of the host.

30. By him the daily sacrifice was taken away.

31. The place of his sanctuary was cast down (Dan. 8:11).

32. A host was given him against the daily sacrifice because of sin abounding on every hand.

33. The little horn cast down the truth to the ground.

34. He practiced and prospered (Dan. 8:12).

35. One saint speaking to another asked, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden down (Dan. 8:13)?

36. The answer was, Unto 2,300 days (evening morning sacrifices); then shall the sanctuary be cleansed (Dan. 8:14).

the two horns... The kings of Media and Persia, Darius (Dan. 5:31) and Cyrus (2Ch. 36:22-23).

came up last... Referring to Cyrus the Persian who was king of the Medes and Persians after Darius the Mede. Under him and his successors Persia attained to a greater power than ever under the Medes.

The imagery of verses 3-9 is unfolded historically. The ram pictures the Medo-Persian Empire, as a whole, its two horns standing for the two entities (the Medes and the Persians) that merged into one. The history of this empire is briefly noted in v.4, as it is seen conquering for the East to the West, South and North, under Cyrus, as predicted also by Isaiah 150 years earlier (Isa. 45:1-7).

The longer horn, which appeared last, represents Persia. 

The goat (v.5) represents Greece with its great horn Alexander, who with his army of 35,000, moved with such speed that he is pictured as not even touching the ground. The broken horn is Alexander in his death; the 4 horns are generals who became kings over 4 sectors of the Grecian empire after Alexander.

The small horn is Antiochus Epiphanes, who rose from the third empire to rule the Syrian division in 175-164 B.C. and is the same king dominant in 11:21-35; 8:24-26 where a similar “little horn” clearly represents the final Antichrist.

The reason both are described as “little horns” is because one prefigures the other. A far more detailed summary of the “little horn” will come later in 11:2-35.

The vision of the ram

In his vision Daniel saw a ram with two long horns near the canal. The significant thing was that one horn was longer than the other. The horns did not arise simultaneously; the longer one arose after (grew up later than) the shorter one. The disparity between the ram’s two horns recalls the bear raised up on one side (Dan. 7:5).