Daniel 8:20-27

8:20 The ram that you saw with the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia. 8:21 The male goat¹ is the king of Greece,² and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 8:22 The horn that was broken³ and in whose place there arose four others stands for four kingdoms that will arise from his nation, though they will not have his strength. 8:23 Toward the end of their rule, when rebellious acts⁴ are complete, a rash⁵ and deceitful⁶ king will arise.⁷ 8:24 His power will be great, but it will not be by his strength alone. He will cause terrible destruction.⁸ He will be successful in what he undertakes.⁹ He will destroy powerful people and the people of the holy ones.¹⁰ 8:25 By his treachery¹¹ he will succeed through deceit.¹² He will have an arrogant attitude,¹³ and he will destroy many who are unaware of his schemes.¹⁴ He will rise up against the Prince of princes, yet he will be broken apart – but not by human agency.¹⁵ 8:26 The vision of the evenings and mornings that was told to you is correct.¹⁶ But you should seal up the vision, for it refers to a time many days from now.”

8:27 I, Daniel, was exhausted¹⁷ and sick for days. Then I got up and again carried out the king’s business. But I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.

¹tn Heb “the he-goat, the buck.” The expression is odd, and the second word may be an explanatory gloss.

²tn Heb “Javan.”

³tn Heb “the broken one.” The word “horn” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.

⁴tc The present translation reads הַפְּשָׁעִים (happÿsha’im, “rebellious acts”) for the MT הַפֹּשְׁעִים (happoshÿ’im, “rebels”). While the MT is understandable (cf. NIV, “when rebels have become completely wicked”), the filling up of transgressions is a familiar OT expression (cf. Gen 15:16) and fits this context well. Cf. the LXX, Theodotion, the Vulgate, and the Syriac.

⁵tn Heb “strong of face.”

⁶tn Heb “understanding riddles.” Possible meanings include “double-dealing” (BDB 295 s.v. חִידָה; cf. TEV, CEV) and “with a good knowledge of intrigue” (HALOT 309 s.v. חִידָה; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

⁷tn Heb “stand” or “stand up.”

⁸tn Heb “extraordinarily he will destroy.”

⁹tn Heb “he will succeed and act.”

¹⁰tn See the corresponding Aramaic expression in 7:27. If the “holy ones” are angels, then this probably refers to the angels as protectors of God’s people. One could translate, “people belonging to (i.e., protected by) the holy ones.” If the “holy ones” are God’s people, then this is an appositional construction, “the people who are the holy ones.” One could translate simply “holy people.” For examples of a plural appositional genitive after “people,” see 11:15, 32. Because either interpretation is possible, the translation has deliberately preserved the ambiguity of the Hebrew grammar here.

¹¹tn The Hebrew term has a primary meaning of “skill, insight,” but here it has the connotation “cunning, treachery.” See BDB 968 s.v. שֵׂכֶל, שֶׂכֶל.

¹²tn Heb “he will cause deceit to succeed by his hand.”

¹³tn Heb “in his heart he will act arrogantly.”

¹⁴tn Heb “in peace.” The Hebrew word used here is difficult. It may refer to the security felt by those who did not realize the danger of imminent attack, or it may refer to the condition of being unaware of the impending danger. The latter idea is reflected in the present translation. See further, BDB 1017 s.v. שַׁלְוָה.

¹⁵tn Heb “with nothingness of hand.”

¹⁶tn Heb “truth.”

¹⁷tn The Hebrew word here is נִהְיֵיתִי (nihyetiy). Its meaning is not entirely clear. Hebrew הָיָה (hayah) normally has meanings such as “to be” or “become.” Here, however, it describes Daniel’s emotional and physical response to the enigmatic vision that he has seen. It is parallel to the following verb, which refers to illness, and seems to refer to a state of utter exhaustion due to the amazing things that Daniel has just seen. The LXX lacks the word. On the meaning of the word see further, BDB 227-28 s.v. הָיָה Niph.2; DCH 2:540 s.v. היה I Ni.3.