Study of Daniel chapter 8 verse by verse

Study of Daniel chapter 8

1. DANIEL 8

2. Introductory Matters
Daniel 8 is dated to the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar. This
would be the year 550 BC eleven years were still to pass before the fall of
Babylon.
Daniel 8 follows the same basic sequence of powers as Daniel 7 but there
are four significant differences:
First of all, a lion is used in Daniel 7 to represent Babylon, but in Daniel 8
there is no symbol for Babylon. Why is this? Different possibilities have
been suggested. The first suggestion is that the existence of Babylon is
assumed because the vision is dated to the reign of Belshazzar who was a
Babylonian king. This is a good point. Less enticing is the idea that no
symbol for Babylon is included because Babylon is about to disappear
from the prophetic scenario. But the fact is, as indicated above, that
Babylon did not fall until the year 539 BC a full eleven years after this
vision was given. The best explanation for the exclusion of a symbol for
Babylon is that the prophecy of the 2300 days/years began during the
period of Persian rule and not during the period of the Babylonian
kingdom.

3. Introductory Matters part 2
Secondly, Daniel 7 has four beasts and each of them is wild and
carnivorous. Daniel 8 has only two beasts and each of them is domestic. In
fact, the ram was used in the daily service of the sanctuary and the he-
goat was used in the yearly service. This clearly shows that the central
emphasis of Daniel 8 is the sanctuary. We will discover in our study that
the little horn takes away the daily (represented by the ram) and for this,
God will judge it in the yearly service (represented by the he-goat) on the
Day of Atonement.
In the third place, in Daniel 7 there are two separate symbols for pagan
and papal Rome. Pagan Rome is represented by a dragon and papal
Rome is represented by a little horn which comes up from the head of the
dragon beast. But in Daniel 8 both Pagan and Papal Rome are
represented by the little horn. Why does Daniel 8 represent the two
Rome’s with only one symbol? We will find that one reason is that the Holy
Spirit, through Daniel, wants us to think in terms of the daily and yearly
services of the sanctuary. If another beast had been introduced, this
sanctuary symbolism would have been blurred.

4. Remarks on verses three and four
Notice the emphasis on sight: ‘eyes’, ‘saw’, ‘behold’. Daniel sees a
ram next to the river. The ram has two horns but one is higher than
the other and the highest one comes out last. The meaning of the
ram symbol is interpreted in verse 20: ‘The ram which thou sawest
having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.’ Significantly,
after Darius the Mede (died in 536 BC), Cyrus (who was half Median
and half Persian and died in 530 B. C.), and Cambyses (who was
also half Median and half Persian and died in 522 B. C.), all the
remaining rulers were Persian. The tallest horn did come up last!! In
Daniel 5 we are told that Babylon fell into the hands of the Medes
and Persians. In Daniel 8 we are informed that the two horns are the
kings of Media and Persia. But after Daniel 8 this kingdom is
referred to uniformly only as ‘Persia’ .

5. Remarks on verses three and four part 2
There is a remarkable parallel between the bear of Daniel 7 and this
ram. In Daniel 7 the bear is raised up on one side. In Daniel 8 one of
the horns is higher than the other. In Daniel 7 the bear has three ribs
in its mouth and in Daniel 8 the ram conquers in three points of the
compassBwestward (Babylon 539 B. C.), northward (Lydia, 546 B.
C.), and southward (Egypt, 525 B. C.)
It is worthy of notice that the ram became ‘great’. We will soon see a
power which became ‘very great’ and still another which became
‘exceedingly great’. It is also important to realize that the ram
conquers only horizontally. In other words, it fights against other
‘beasts’ (kingdoms) on earth but does not fight vertically against the
God of heaven. We will soon see a power in this prophecy which
actually fights against God on a vertical level.

6. Analysis of verses 5 to 9
There is no doubt that the he-goat of Daniel 8 is parallel to the leopard of
Daniel 7. We know this for two reasons:

1) In Daniel 8 the he-goat is conquering so swiftly that it does not even
touch the earth. In other words, it is a flying goat. In Daniel 7 the leopard (a
swift beast in itself) is rendered even swifter because it has four wings of
an eagle.

2) The he-goat of Daniel 8 sprouts four horns and the leopard of Daniel 7
has four heads. As we compare the leopard of Daniel 7 with the he-goat of
Daniel 8 we must conclude that this kingdom had two main periods of
existence. The first was during the reign of the notable horn and the
second was after the notable horn was broken and four came up in its
place. If we had only Daniel 7 we might conclude that this was a quadruple
kingdom from the start. But Daniel 8 clearly adds to the picture by showing
that the kingdom had one ruler at first and later was divided into four parts.

7. Analysis of verses 5 to 9 part 2
It is clear, then, that the four horns represent the Antigonids (283-
168 BC) who governed Macedonia and Greece in the west, the
Seleucids (312-63 BC) who ruled Syria and Mesopotamia in the
east, the Ptolomies (323-30 BC) who ruled Egypt in the south, and
the Attalids (263-133 BC) who ruled the kingdom of Pergamum in
the north. The question still remains: Out of which of these four
kingdoms did the little horn come forth? Before we can answer this
question we must deal with two issues which are very closely
related.

8. Analysis of verses 5 to 9 part 3
Seventh-day Adventists, with few exceptions, have always believed
that the little horn of Daniel 7 and the little horn of Daniel 8 represent
the same power, namely, Papal Rome. However, this interpretation
presents an apparently insurmountable problem and it is this: The
little horn of Daniel 7 arises from the dragon beast which is a symbol
of pagan Rome. However, the little horn of Daniel 8 rises from one of
the four divisions of the Greek empire. How can the little horn arise
both from Greece and from Rome? How can this apparent
discrepancy be resolved?

9. Analysis of verses 5 to 9 part 4
There is no doubt that the pagan Roman Empire grew out of Asia
Minor. We know this for several reasons. First of all, the Roman
poet, Virgil, tells us that Roman civilization and culture came from
the ancient city of Troy in Asia Minor. In his famous epic, The Aenid
(which he wrote during a period of eleven years, 30-19 B. C.), Virgil
tells about a Trojan prince who was exiled to Italy in the 12th century
b. c. when Troy was destroyed by the Greeks. According to Virgil,
this prince established the first settlement in Italy.
That is to say, Asia Minor became the link between ancient
Babylon and pagan Rome.

10. Analysis of verses 5 to 9 part 5
As we compare the little horn of Daniel 7 with the little horn of Daniel 8 there can be no
doubt that they both refer to the same power.
Both are identified with the same symbol: a horn (7:8; 8:9). Remarkably, even though
Daniel 7 was written in Aramaic and Daniel 8 in Hebrew, both employ the same word for
‘horn’ (qeren)
Both are described as ‘little’ at the outset (7:8; 8:9)
Both are described as becoming ‘great’ later on (7:20; 8:9ff)
Both are described as persecuting powers (7:21, 25; 8:10, 24)
Both have the same target group as the object of their persecution (7:21, 25, 27; 8:24). Both
chapters call the persecuted ones ‘the people of the saints’ (7:27; 8:24)
Both are described as self-exalting and blasphemous powers (7:8, 11, 20, 25; 8:10-12, 25)
Both are described as exercising a crafty intelligence (7:8: ‘eyes of a man’; 8:23-25:
‘understands riddles, cunning and deceit’)
Both represent the final and greatest anti-God climax of their visions (7:8-9, 21-22; 25-26;
8:12-14, 25).
Both have aspects of their work delimited by prophetic time (7:25; 8:14)
The activities of both extend to the time of the end (7:25-26; cf. 12:7-9; 8:17, 19)
Both are to be supernaturally destroyed (7:11, 26; 8:25)

11. Verse 14
Daniel 8:14 constitutes the climax of the
vision and immediately precedes the angelic
explanation.

12. Comments on the vision verses 15 to 25:
Gabriel interprets the Vision
(but not the portion of 2300 time
prophecy)

13. Comments on verses 26 & 27
In verse 26 Daniel is told that the chazon (the entire vision of Daniel 8) is for many
days and that he should shut it up. It is very important to realize that up to this
point (in the first seven chapters of Daniel), God has not told Daniel to shut up
anything. It is only starting in chapter 8 that the vision is sealed. This is clear
evidence that the little sealed book of Daniel 12:4 and Revelation 10 is composed
only of the portion of Daniel which deals with the 2300 days.
Verse 27 will not only mark the conclusion to chapter 8 but will also provide the
introduction to chapter 9. This verse is of the utmost importance. When the angel
told Daniel that the vision was for ‘many days’ and that he should seal it, he Daniel
got sick and was faint for several days. Why did this happen to Daniel? He
explains: “I was astonished at the mareh (the portion of the vision related to 2300
time prophecy) but none understood it.”
Daniel was confused about the mareh portion of the chazon. Even though God
had explained the meaning of the ram, the he-goat and the little horn (the chazon),
he was still confused about the mareh. The only element left unexplained in
chapter 8 was the time aspect, the 2300 days. In chapter 8 there is no beginning
point for the 2300 days and God had not explained how the 2300 days were
related to the 70-week prophecy of Jeremiah. In chapter 9 God will fill in the
missing information so that Daniel can understand!

14. Next Review Daniel 9: