Daniel 8:20
in Daniel 8The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
KJV
The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
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This verse in Daniel 8
Commentary
8 notes on this verse"As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, this is the king of the Medes and the Persians." [Gabriel] alludes to Darius. "The two horns" signify the two kingdoms, the Persian and the Mede. "The male goat is the king of Greece": …
This site's exposition
the kings of Media and Persia
on Daniel 8:20-22
The ram is “the kings of Media and Persia”, the shaggy goat “the king of Greece”, and the large horn “the first king”. The older commentators read that king unanimously as Alexander, and the four kingdoms that rise from his nation “will not have the same power”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
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 stood holding me, and when he came, I was astounded and fell upon my face and he said to me, 'Understand son of man. For the vision is for the end of time.' And while he spoke with me I was astounded and I fell upon my face upon the ground and he touched me and stood me on my feet and he said, 'Behold, I myself make known to you what will be at the end of wrath. For the vision is of the end of time. The ram which you saw, who had horns, he is the king of the Persians and Medes. And the male goat is king of the Greeks. And the great horn which was above the midst of his eyes, he is the first king. And after he is shattered, four horns stood up after him, four kings from his nation shall arise and not in his strength. And at the end of their kingdom, when their sins are full, a king, shameless in countenance, shall arise, and who understands riddles. And his rule shall be strong and not in his own strength and he shall destroy wonderful things and he shall prosper and he shall practice and he shall destroy the mighty and the holy people, and the yoke of his chain shall prosper. Cunning is in his hand and in his heart he shall be magnified and in cunning he shall destroy many and he shall stand for the destruction of many and he shall shatter people as eggs in a hand. And the vision of evening and morning which was said is true. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12 And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:98%@v11-12
The ram which thou sawest having two horns,....
The ram signified the succession of the kings of Media and Persia; the rough goat signified the kings of Greece; the great horn was Alexander; the four horns that rose in his room were the four kingdoms into which his conquests were cantoned, of which before,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The ram which thou sagest - See this explained under the vision itself, Dan 8:3 (note), etc.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The ram which thou sawest ... - See the notes at Dan 8:3. This is one of the instances in the Scriptures in which symbols are explained. There can be no doubt, therefore, as to the meaning.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָאַ֥יִל | haayil | the ram | H352 → | 187 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| רָאִ֖יתָ | raita | you saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בַּ֣עַל | baal | [the] possessor of | H1167 → | |
| הַקְּרָנָ֑יִם | hakeranayim | the two horns | H7161 → | 76 times |
| מַלְכֵ֖י | malkhei | [is] [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| מָדַ֥י | madai | Media | H4074 → | |
| וּפָרָֽס׃ | ufaras | and Persia | H6539 → | 28 times |
הָאַ֥יִלthe ram
haayilH352 →187 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
רָאִ֖יתָyou saw
raitaH7200 →1300 times
בַּ֣עַל[the] possessor of
baalH1167 →
הַקְּרָנָ֑יִםthe two horns
hakeranayimH7161 →76 times
מַלְכֵ֖י[is] [the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
מָדַ֥יMedia
madaiH4074 →
וּפָרָֽס׃and Persia
ufarasH6539 →28 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Daniel 8:3Then 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…
it leads to
- Daniel 10:5
I lifted up my eyes, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.
- Ezra 1:2
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at…
- Zechariah 6:1
And again I lifted up my eyes and saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze.
- Isaiah 13:17
Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes, who have no regard for silver and no desire for gold.
- Daniel 2:39
But after you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule the whole earth.
- Daniel 10:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Daniel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 8:20; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 4.27.1-2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.