Daniel 8

8:1-27 This vision expands the vision of ch 7, developing additional symbolism regarding the second and third beasts (7:5-6). Its report about a small horn that arises from the goat has similarities with the “little horn” of 7:8, 20-25; the “ruler” of 9:26-27; and the “despicable man” of 11:21-45.8:1 The author probably changes back to Hebrew because he now focuses again (as with 1:1–2:4a) on the holy people, Israel, for the remainder of the book. • The third year of King Belshazzar’s reign was around 554~551 BC. It was about two years after the vision of ch 7 and over a decade before the fall of Babylon in 539 BC (5:31).

8:2 Susa, located in the lowlands southwest of the Zagros Mountains, was one of Persia’s capital cities (cp. Ezra 4:9; Neh 1:1; Esth 1:2). It was a fortified capital whose architecture was decorated with glazed griffins, winged bulls, and lions. • The Ulai River was probably a man-made canal.

8:3-4 Two long horns implies that there were two major nations in this kingdom represented by a ram (see 8:20-21). • God allowed the nation to do as it pleased; God was still in control (cp. Isa 45:1-4).

8:5-12 The symbolism is explained in 8:21-25.

8:10 The heavenly army could refer to (1) actual divine beings, since the “small horn” attempted to destroy Israel’s divinely given religion and Israel was protected by God’s watchful eye and his armies; and/or (2) the human defenders of Israel that were fighting for God’s holy people and the Temple. Both the physical and the spiritual realms were affected by these events.

8:11-12 God is the Commander of heaven’s army (cp. Josh 5:13-15; 1 Sam 4:4; 1 Kgs 22:19) to whom the daily sacrifices were offered in his Temple, where God’s name resided and Israel worshiped its King (Isa 18:7; Ezek 43:6-7). • destroying (literally casting down): The religious function of the Temple was disabled. • God restrained the heavenly army for reasons known only to him. • The truth of God’s law, embodied in true worship, was also overthrown (literally cast down).

8:13-14 How long: God’s people were called en masse to endure this period to the end. • The Temple would then be made right for its proper religious functions, not rebuilt physically (see 8:11-12; study note on 8:26).

8:15-16 The name Gabriel means “man of God”; he appeared like a man to Daniel (see also 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26).

8:17 Son of man means “human being,” as opposed to a divine being, “a son of the gods” (cp. 7:13; see, e.g., Ezek 2:1, 3, 6, 8).

8:19-26 These verses provide the interpretation of the vision of 8:3-14.8:19 the very end of time: There is an appointed time for the end of history.

8:20 The smaller horn represents Media, which began as an independent kingdom in 670 BC. The larger horn represents Persia, which dominated Media during Cyrus’s reign (see 7:5).

8:21 The large horn represents Alexander the Great, the mighty first king who forged the Greek Empire. Two centuries after Daniel, Alexander would swiftly conquer the world (8:5); he overcame Persia in 331 BC. Alexander died in 323 BC at the age of thirty-three, but not before he arrogantly allowed himself to be called a god. • Josephus records that some Jewish priests showed the book of Daniel to Alexander, but Alexander treated Homer’s Iliad as his Bible and relied on it for guidance.

8:22 After Alexander’s death in 323 BC, his kingdom was divided into four major kingdoms, ruled by his generals (see “The Greeks” Profile).

8:23-25 The small horn (8:9) was a fierce king. The description matches Antiochus IV (175–163 BC), one of the Seleucids (cp. 11:21-45). He bore the name “Epiphanes” (“The Manifest Presence [of God]”), but many, including Jews, mockingly called him “Epimanes” (“Mad Man”). By desecrating the Temple and Jewish worship (8:11-12), Antiochus tried to destroy Judaism and unify his kingdom under the cult of Hellenistic culture. Some Jews were swept up in the program of Hellenism and adopted Greek ways.

8:24 not by his own power: God remained in sovereign control of the seemingly fortuitous events of history that brought Antiochus IV to power. • a shocking amount of destruction: See 1 Maccabees 1:10-63, which describes many of the evils that Antiochus IV instigated.

8:25 The Prince of princes is the King of Israel, the ruler of heaven and earth (7:9-10, 13-14). Antiochus, at the time of his death, exalted himself as God and intended to destroy Jerusalem. • he will be broken: Just as Antiochus IV’s rise was not by his own power (8:24), so he was destroyed by God’s hand rather than by human power. His end was to be eaten by worms (1 Maccabees 6:7-16 and 2 Maccabees 9:4-28; cp. Herod Agrippa, Acts 12:20-23).

8:26 about the 2,300 evenings and mornings: This could refer to a period of 1,150 days (1,150 evenings + 1,150 mornings, about 31/2 years) or 2,300 days (about 7 years). Antiochus IV deposed high priest Onias III in 171 BC. He desecrated the Temple in December 167 BC and offered unclean sacrifices. The Temple and the altar were cleansed and used again in December 164 BC, seven years after Onias was deposed and just over three years after the Temple was desecrated (see 1 Maccabees 1:54; 4:52-53; 2 Maccabees 10:5). • keep this vision a secret: It would have been unwise for Daniel to share this vision at that time during Belshazzar’s reign, when it would have smelled of insurrection or treason.