Study # 1
May 1, 2018
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
1769 KJV Translation:
1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, [
even unto] me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.
2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I [
was] at Shushan [
in] the palace, which [
is] in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
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.
4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither [
was there any] that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.
5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat [
had] a notable horn between his eyes.
6 And he came to the ram that had [
two] horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before 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 hand.
8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant [
land].
10 And it waxed great, [
even] to the host of heaven; and it cast down [
some] of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
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 an 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.
13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain [
saint] which spake, 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 under foot?
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
15 And it came to pass, when I, [
even] I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
16 And I heard a man's voice between [
the banks of] Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this [
man] to understand the vision.
17 So he came near 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 at the time of the end [
shall be] the vision.
18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end [
shall be].
20 The ram which thou sawest having [
two] horns [
are] the kings of Media and Persia.
21 And the rough goat [
is] the king of Grecia: and the great horn that [
is] between his eyes [
is] the first king.
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.
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify [
himself] in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told [
is] true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it [
shall be] for many days.
27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick [
certain] days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood [
it].
1901 ASV Translation:
1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me, Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.
2 And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the
palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.
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.
4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.
5 And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and
touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6 And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power.
7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
8 And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable [
horns] toward the four winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious [
land].
10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them.
11 Yea, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and
it took away from him the continual [
burnt-offering], and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
12 And
the host was given over [
to it] together with the continual [
burnt-offering] through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did [
its pleasure] and prospered.
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision [
concerning] the continual [
burnt-offering], and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings [
and] mornings; then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed.
15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought
to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
16 And I heard a man's voice between [
the banks of] the Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
17 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end.
18 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me
upright.
19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end.
20 The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
21 And the rough he-goat is the king of
Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
22 And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not
by his own power; and he shall
destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do [
his pleasure]; and he shall
destroy the mighty ones and
the holy people.
25 And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in [
their] security shall he
destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
26 And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth to many days [
to come].
27 And I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision,
but none understood it.
- I. The Structure of the Text.
- A. 8:1-2 The time and place of the vision.
- 1. The third year: approximately 550 B.C., two to three years after chapter 7.
- 2. The vision was seen from the perspective of the capital city of the Persians.
- B. 8:3-14 The contents of the vision.
- 1. Daniel first saw a ram with two horns.
- a. One horn was longer than the other and it came up out of the ram's head after the shorter horn.
- b. The ram used his horns to push westward, northward, and southward (a correspondence with the bear raised up on one side with three ribs in its mouth of chapter 7).
- c. The ram was too powerful for its adversaries and it became great (the Medo-Persian empire lasted from 538 B.C. to 333 B.C. -- 205 years).
- 2. He then saw an he-goat come from the west so rapidly that "he touched not the ground" (a correspondence to the leopard having the wings of a bird on its back in chapter 7).
- a. The he-goat had a single notable horn between its eyes.
- b. The he-goat came against the ram the attacked him in "furious power".
- c. The attack was driven by anger and the he-goat broke the two horns of the ram and then trampled him to death.
- d. Then the he-goat magnified himself until he was at the peak of his strength when the notable horn was broken and replaced by four that pointed in the four directions of the four winds of heaven (the four-fold division of the empire by Alexander's generals).
- e. Out of one of the four arose a "little horn" which moved aggressively southward, eastward, and toward "the glorious".
- 1) It grew very great and destroyed some of the host of heaven as well as some of the stars.
- 2) It then moved aggressively against the prince of the host and took "the continual" away from Him and cast down "the place of His sanctuary".
- a) The host and "continual" was given over to him because of transgression.
- b) He took away "truth" and prospered in his pursuits.
- 3) A "holy one" was asked by another "How long shall be the vision of "the continual" and the "desolating transgression" that allows both sanctuary and host to be trodden under foot?". The answer was "2300 evenings/mornings".
- C. 8:15-26 The interpretation given to Daniel of the vision.
- 1. Daniel sought an interpretation and was confronted by "a man".
- 2. "Gabriel" was instructed to give Daniel understanding. Some texts (not the Authorized Version) say that he told Daniel "the vision belongs to the time of the end".
- a. Daniel passed out, but was revived by Gabriel.
- b. The issue is "the latter end of the indignation"; it belongs to the appointed time of the end.
- c. The ram is Medo-Persia and the horns are its Median and Persian kings.
- d. The he-goat is Greece and the notable horn was its first king.
- e. The four replacement horns are four lesser kingdoms that arise after the notable horn is broken.
- f. In "the latter time of" those kingdoms (when transgressors have come into their fulness) a fierce king whose speech is enigmatic will arise.
- 1) He will grow powerful and be destructive and shall destroy "the mighty ones and the holy people".
- 2) He will magnify himself in his heart and stand against the Prince of princes, but will be "broken without hand".
- 3) The "evenings/mornings" is true but is for many days yet.
- D. 8:27 Daniel's reaction to the vision.
- 1. He fainted and was sick.
- 2. He recovered and set about the king's (Belshazzar) business and "wondered" but "none understood".