Daniel 8
1599 Geneva Bible
8 A vision of a battle between a ram and a goat: 20 The understanding of the vision.
1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar, a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, [a]after that which appeared unto me at the first.
2 And I saw in a vision, and when I saw it, I was in the palace of Shushan, which is in the province [b]of Elam, and in a vision me thought I was by the river of Ulai.
3 Then I looked up and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a [c]ram which had two horns, and these two horns were high: but one was [d]higher than another, and the highest came up last.
4 I saw the ram pushing against the West, and against the North, and against the South: so that no [e]beasts might stand before him, nor could deliver out of his hand, but he did what he listed, and became great.
5 And as I considered, behold, [f]a goat came from the West over the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and this goat had an [g]horn that appeared between his eyes.
6 And he came unto the ram that had the two horns, whom I had seen standing by the river, and ran unto him in his fierce rage.
7 And I saw him come unto the ram, and being moved against him, he [h]smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand against him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him, and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his power.
8 Therefore the goat waxed exceeding great, and when he was at the strongest, his great [i]horn was broken: and for it came up four that [j]appeared toward the four winds of the heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth a [k]little horn, which waxed very great toward the [l]South, and toward the [m]East, and toward the [n]pleasant land.
10 Yea, it grew up unto the [o]host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host, and of the stars to the ground, and trode upon them,
11 And extolled himself against the [p]prince of the host, from whom the [q]daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his Sanctuary was cast down.
12 And [r]a time shall be given him over the daily sacrifice for the iniquity: and it shall [s]cast down the truth to the ground, and thus shall it do, and prosper.
13 Then I heard one of the [t]Saints speaking, and one of the Saints spake unto a certain one, saying, How long shall endure the vision of the daily sacrifice, and the iniquity of the [u]desolation to tread both the Sanctuary and the [v]army underfoot?
14 And [w]he answered me, Unto the [x]evening and the morning, two thousand and three hundred: then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed.
15 ¶ Now when I Daniel had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, behold, there stood before me [y]like the similitude of a man.
16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, [z]make this man to understand the vision.
17 So he came where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for [aa]in the last time shall be the vision.
18 Now as he was speaking unto me, I being asleep fell on my face to the ground: but he touched me, and set me up in my place.
19 And he said, Behold, I will show thee what shall be in the last [ab]wrath: for in the end of the time appointed it shall come.
20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns, are the Kings of the Medes and Persians.
21 And the goat is the King of Greece, and the great horn that is between his eyes, is the first king.
22 And that that is broken, and four stood up for it, are four kingdoms, which shall stand up [ac]of that nation, but not [ad]in his strength.
23 And in the end of their kingdom, when the rebellious shall be consumed, a King of [ae]fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not [af]in his strength: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the [ag]mighty, and the holy people.
25 And through his [ah]policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall extol himself in his heart, and by [ai]peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the [aj]prince of princes, but he shall be broken down [ak]without hand.
26 And the vision of the [al]evening and the morning, which is declared, is true: therefore seal thou up the vision, for it shall be after many days.
27 And I Daniel was stricken and sick [am]certain days: but when I rose up, I did the king’s business, and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.
Footnotes
- Daniel 8:1 After the general vision, he cometh to certain particular visions as touching the destruction of the Monarchy of the Persians, and Macedonians: for the ruin of the Babylonians was at hand, and also he had sufficiently spoken thereof.
- Daniel 8:2 That is, of Persia.
- Daniel 8:3 Which represented the kingdom of the Persians and Medes, which were joined together.
- Daniel 8:3 Meaning, Cyrus, which after grew greater in power than Darius his uncle and father-in-law.
- Daniel 8:4 That is, no kings or nations.
- Daniel 8:5 Meaning, Alexander that came from Greece with great speed and expedition.
- Daniel 8:5 Though he came in the name of all Greece, yet he bore the title and dignity of the general captain, so that the strength was attributed to him, which is meant by this horn.
- Daniel 8:7 Alexander overcame Darius in two sundry battles, and so had the two kingdoms of the Medes and Persians.
- Daniel 8:8 Alexander’s great power was broken: for when he had overcome all the East, he thought to return toward Greece to subdue them that had rebelled, and so died by the way.
- Daniel 8:8 That is, which were famous: for almost in the space of fifteen years there were fifteen divers successors before this monarchy was divided to these four, whereof Cassander had Macedonia, Seleucus Syria, Antigonus Asia the less, and Ptolemy Egypt.
- Daniel 8:9 Which was Antiochus Epiphanes, who was of a servile and flattering nature, and also there were others between him and the kingdom, and therefore is here called the little horn, because neither princely conditions, nor any other thing was in him, why he should obtain this kingdom.
- Daniel 8:9 That is, toward Egypt.
- Daniel 8:9 Whereby he meaneth Ptolemeus.
- Daniel 8:9 That is, Judea.
- Daniel 8:10 Antiochus raged against the elect of God, and trode his precious stars under feet, which are so called, because they are separated from the world.
- Daniel 8:11 That is, God, who governeth and maintaineth his Church.
- Daniel 8:11 He labored to abolish all religion, and therefore cast God’s service out of his Temple, which God had chosen as a little corner from all the rest of the world to have his Name there truly called upon.
- Daniel 8:12 He showeth that their sins are the cause of these horrible afflictions: and yet comforteth them, in that he appointeth this tyrant a time, whom he would not suffer utterly to abolish his religion.
- Daniel 8:12 This horn shall abolish for a time the true doctrine, and so corrupt God’s service.
- Daniel 8:13 Meaning, that he heard one of the Angels asking this question of Christ, whom he called a certain one, or a secret one, or a marvelous one.
- Daniel 8:13 That is, the Jews’ sins, which were cause of his destruction.
- Daniel 8:13 That is, which suppresseth God’s religion, and his people.
- Daniel 8:14 Christ answered me for the comfort of the Church.
- Daniel 8:14 That is, until so many natural days be past, which make 6 years, 3 months and an half: for so long under Antiochus was the Temple profaned.
- Daniel 8:15 Which was Christ who in this manner declared himself to the old fathers, how he would be God manifest in flesh.
- Daniel 8:16 This power to command the Angel, declared that he was God.
- Daniel 8:17 The effect of this vision shall not yet appear, but a long time after.
- Daniel 8:19 Meaning, that great rage which Antiochus should show against the Church.
- Daniel 8:22 That is, out of Greece.
- Daniel 8:22 They shall not have like power as had Alexander.
- Daniel 8:23 Noting that this Antiochus was impudent and cruel, and also crafty that he could not be deceived.
- Daniel 8:24 That is, not like Alexander’s strength.
- Daniel 8:24 Both the Gentiles that dwelt about him, and also the Jews.
- Daniel 8:25 Whatsoever he goeth about by his craft, he shall bring it to pass.
- Daniel 8:25 That is, under pretence of peace, or as it were in sport.
- Daniel 8:25 Meaning, against God.
- Daniel 8:25 For God would destroy him with a notable plague, and so comfort his Church.
- Daniel 8:26 Read verse 14.
- Daniel 8:27 For fear and astonishment.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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