Dan 8:3-4 | JFB | STEP | 3. two horns —The " two " ought not to be in italics, as if it were not in the original; for it is expressed by the Hebrew dual. "Horn" in the East is the symbol of power and royalty. one . . . higher than . . . other . . . the higher came up last —Persia, which was of little note till Cyrus' time, became then ascendant over Media, the more ancient kingdom. Darius was sixty-two years old ( ) when he began to reign; during his short reign of two years, being a weak king ( ), the government was almost entirely in Cyrus' hands. Hence HERODOTUS does not mention Darius; but XENOPHON does under the name of Cyaxares II. The "ram" here corresponds to the "bear" ( ), symbolizing clumsy firmness. The king of Persia wore a jewelled ram's head of gold instead of a diadem, such as are seen on the pillars at Persepolis. Also the Hebrew for "ram" springs from the same root as "Elam," or Persia [NEWTON ]. The "one horn higher than the other" answers to the bear "raising itself on one side " (compare Note, see on ).

Daniel 8:3-4

3. two horns—The "two" ought not to be in italics, as if it were not in the original; for it is expressed by the Hebrew dual. "Horn" in the East is the symbol of power and royalty.

one . . . higher than . . . other . . . the higher came up last—Persia, which was of little note till Cyrus' time, became then ascendant over Media, the more ancient kingdom. Darius was sixty-two years old (Da 5:31) when he began to reign; during his short reign of two years, being a weak king (Da 6:1-3), the government was almost entirely in Cyrus' hands. Hence HERODOTUS does not mention Darius; but XENOPHON does under the name of Cyaxares II. The "ram" here corresponds to the "bear" (Da 7:5), symbolizing clumsy firmness. The king of Persia wore a jewelled ram's head of gold instead of a diadem, such as are seen on the pillars at Persepolis. Also the Hebrew for "ram" springs from the same root as "Elam," or Persia [NEWTON]. The "one horn higher than the other" answers to the bear "raising itself on one side" (compare Note, see on Da 7:5).

4. ram pushing westward—Persia conquered westward Babylon, Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor.

northward—Colchis, Armenia, Iberia, and the dwellers on the Caspian Sea.

southward—Judea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya; also India, under Darius. He does not say eastward, for the Persians themselves came from the east (Isa 46:11).

did according to his will— (Da 11:3, 16; compare Da 5:19).