Daniel 8
Summary for Dan 8:1-27: 8:1-27 a This vision expands the vision of ch 7 b, developing additional symbolism regarding the second and third beasts (7:5-6 c). Its report about a small horn that arises from the goat has similarities with the “little horn” of 7:8 d, 20-25 e; the “ruler” of 9:26-27 f; and the “despicable man” of 11:21-45 g. 8:1 h The author probably changes back to Hebrew because he now focuses again (as with 1:1–2:4a i) 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 j and over a decade before the fall of Babylon in 539 BC (5:31 k).
8:2 l Susa, located in the lowlands southwest of the Zagros Mountains, was one of Persia’s capital cities (cp. Ezra 4:9 m; Neh 1:1 n; Esth 1:2 o). 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.
Summary for Dan 8:3-4: 8:3-4 p Two long horns implies that there were two major nations in this kingdom represented by a ram (see 8:20-21 q).
• God allowed the nation to do as it pleased; God was still in control (cp. Isa 45:1-4 r).
Summary for Dan 8:5-12: 8:5-12 s The symbolism is explained in 8:21-25 t.
8:10 u 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.
Summary for Dan 8:11-12: 8:11-12 v God is the Commander of heaven’s army (cp. Josh 5:13-15 w; 1 Sam 4:4 x; 1 Kgs 22:19 y) to whom the daily sacrifices were offered in his Temple, where God’s name resided and Israel worshiped its King (Isa 18:7 z; Ezek 43:6-7 aa).
• 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).
Summary for Dan 8:13-14: 8:13-14 ab 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 ac; study note on 8:26).
Summary for Dan 8:15-16: 8:15-16 ad The name Gabriel means “man of God”; he appeared like a man to Daniel (see also 9:21 ae; Luke 1:19 af, 26 ag).
8:17 ah Son of man means “human being,” as opposed to a divine being, “a son of the gods” (cp. 7:13 ai; see, e.g., Ezek 2:1 aj, 3 ak, 6 al, 8 am).
Summary for Dan 8:19-26: 8:19-26 an These verses provide the interpretation of the vision of 8:3-14 ao. 8:19 ap the very end of time: There is an appointed time for the end of history.
8:20 aq 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 ar).
8:21 as 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 at); 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 au After Alexander’s death in 323 BC, his kingdom was divided into four major kingdoms, ruled by his generals (see profile for The Greeks at end of chapter).
Summary for Dan 8:23-25: 8:23-25 av The small horn (8:9 aw) was a fierce king. The description matches Antiochus IV (175–163 BC), one of the Seleucids (cp. 11:21-45 ax). 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 ay), 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 az 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 ba The Prince of princes is the King of Israel, the ruler of heaven and earth (7:9-10 bb, 13-14 bc). 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 bd), 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 be).
8:26 bf 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.
Profile: The Greeks
Greek civilization played a major role in the ancient world, and Greek culture was a primary influence on the world into which Jesus was born and in which the New Testament was written.
Mycenaean Civilization (1450–1200 BC)
The Mycenaeans lived during the “heroic age” that Greeks later immortalized in the epics of Homer. Their civilization was centered at Mycenae, about thirty miles south of the site of Corinth. The Mycenaeans traded extensively and were successful in war. The Greek gods and myths familiar from later literature have their roots in Mycenaean Greece. Mycenaean documents were written in Linear B, a syllabic script.
Mycenaean civilization ended violently around 1200 BC at the hands of Dorian Greek invaders. The several hundred years which followed have been called the “Greek Dark Ages”—Linear B usage ceased, and there are no written records.
Archaic Age, City-States (850–546 BC)
Eventually Greek towns and villages began organizing into city-states that controlled entire areas. This era also saw a rise of cooperation and a shared sense of identity among the Greeks; for example, the first Olympic games were held in 776 BC.
As trade with the surrounding world increased, the Greeks made contact with the Phoenicians and adopted their script. Homer wrote the Iliad and Odyssey, chronicling the shared memories and myths of the earlier Mycenaean civilization and their gods.
Many of the city-states looked to a dictator (Greek tyrannos, “tyrant”) to provide political stability. In many places there was also a written constitution that provided a basis for authority in law. Athens, for its part, developed an oligarchy led by the Areopagus Council. Later, Solon, an Athenian statesman, instituted reforms and created the context in which democracy bloomed in later decades.
Persian Wars, Classical Period (546–336 BC)
In 546 BC, the Greek colonies in Asia Minor fell under the rule of Cyrus the Great of Persia. Ionia unsuccessfully attempted to revolt around 500 BC, prompting Darius I to invade the Greek mainland in 492 BC. In the wars that followed, Greek forces were badly outnumbered, but they often outmaneuvered the Persians with superior skill and strategy. In the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, the Greeks soundly defeated the Persians. Ten years later, the Persian army under Xerxes famously crossed the Hellespont while the vast Persian fleet sailed into Greek waters. The Persians burned Athens, but in the end the Greeks were victorious, and Xerxes withdrew.
After the Persian Wars ended, Athens was rebuilt and entered into a remarkable period of greatness. Pericles led Athens to establish a full democracy. Vast buildings were erected on the Acropolis. Athens became wealthy, and Athenian sea power grew. It was a golden age of spectacular achievement in art, thought, literature, and architecture.
Macedonian Empire, Hellenistic Civilization (336–146 BC)
Philip II of Macedon, with ambitions of empire, overwhelmed Athens and Thebes in 338 BC and united Greece into the Macedonian Empire. After Philip was assassinated in 336 BC, his son Alexander took his place. Alexander brutally destroyed a rebellious Thebes in 335 BC, then set out to conquer Babylon and Persia, which he did with lightning speed (cp. Dan 8:5-8 bg). When Alexander suddenly died in 323 BC, his vast territories were divided among four generals. After a period of conflict, three major divisions emerged: Egypt; Asia Minor, Syria, and Babylon; and Macedonia and Achaia.
Alexander’s conquest spread Greek culture and influence around the ancient world. The resulting conflict between Greek culture and Judaism eventually contributed to the Maccabean revolt in Judea in the 160s BC.
Roman Rule (168 BC–AD 330)
Rome expanded its power and influence into Greece beginning in 198 BC. In 168 BC, Rome defeated the Macedonians at the battle of Pydna, and in 148 BC, Rome annexed Macedonia as a province. Then, in 146 BC, Rome destroyed Corinth. Greece was now firmly in the grip of Rome, as it continued to be until Constantine made Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire in AD 330. Greek culture and Roman rule formed the context for the earthly life of Jesus and the beginning of Christianity.
Passages for Further Study
Dan 8:5-8 bh
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