Psalms 75:10

75:10 God says, ¹ 

“I will bring down all the power of the wicked;

the godly will be victorious.” ² 

Lamentations 2:3

ג (Gimel)

2:3 In fierce anger ³  he destroyed ⁴ 

the whole army ⁵  of Israel.

He withdrew his right hand ⁶ 

as the enemy attacked. ⁷ 

He was like a raging fire in the land of Jacob; ⁸ 

it consumed everything around it. ⁹ 

Daniel 7:8

7:8 “As I was contemplating the horns, another horn – a small one – came up between them, and three of the former horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. ¹⁰  This horn had eyes resembling human eyes and a mouth speaking arrogant ¹¹  things.

Daniel 8:7-9

8:7 I saw it approaching the ram. It went into a fit of rage against the ram ¹²  and struck it ¹³  and broke off its two horns. The ram had no ability to resist it. ¹⁴  The goat hurled the ram ¹⁵  to the ground and trampled it. No one could deliver the ram from its power. ¹⁶  8:8 The male goat acted even more arrogantly. But no sooner had the large horn become strong than it was broken, and there arose four conspicuous horns ¹⁷  in its place, ¹⁸  extending toward the four winds of the sky. ¹⁹ 

8:9 From one of them came a small horn. ²⁰  But it grew to be very big, toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. ²¹ 

Daniel 8:21

8:21 The male goat ²²  is the king of Greece, ²³  and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.

Zechariah 1:19-21

1:19 So I asked the angelic messenger ²⁴  who spoke with me, “What are these?” He replied, “These are the horns ²⁵  that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ²⁶  1:20 Next the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. ²⁷  1:21 I asked, “What are these going to do?” He answered, “These horns are the ones that have scattered Judah so that there is no one to be seen. ²⁸  But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies ²⁹  and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.” ³⁰ 

¹ tn The words “God says” are not in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation to clarify that God speaks in v. 10.

² tn Heb “and all the horns of the wicked I will cut off, the horns of the godly will be lifted up.” The imagery of the wild ox’s horn is once more utilized (see vv. 4-5).

³ tc The MT reads אַף (’af, “anger”), while the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate) reflect אַפּוֹ (’appo, “His anger”). The MT is the more difficult reading syntactically, while the ancient versions are probably smoothing out the text.

⁴ tn Heb “cut off, scattered.”

⁵ tn Heb “every horn of Israel.” The term “horn” (קֶרֶן, qeren) normally refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Israel. This term is often used figuratively as a symbol of strength, usually in reference to the military might of an army (Deut 33:17; 1 Sam 2:1, 10; 2 Sam 22:3; Pss 18:3; 75:11; 89:18, 25; 92:11; 112:9; 1 Chr 25:5; Jer 48:25; Lam 2:3, 17; Ezek 29:21) (BDB 901 s.v. 2), just as warriors are sometimes figuratively described as “bulls.” Cutting off the “horn” is a figurative expression for destroying warriors (Jer 48:25; Ps 75:10 [HT 11]).

⁶ tn Heb “he caused his right hand to turn back.” The implication in such contexts is that the Lord’s right hand protects his city. This image of the right hand is consciously reversed in 2:4.

⁷ tn Heb “from the presence of the enemy.” This figurative expression refers to the approach of the attacking army.

⁸ tn Heb “he burned in Jacob like a flaming fire.”

⁹ tn Or “He burned against Jacob, like a raging fire consumes all around.”

¹⁰ tn Aram “were uprooted from before it.”

¹¹ tn Aram “great.” So also in vv. 11, 20.

¹² tn Heb “him.”

¹³ tn Heb “the ram.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “stand before him.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “he hurled him.” The referents of both pronouns (the male goat and the ram) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ sn The goat of Daniel’s vision represents Greece; the large horn represents Alexander the Great. The ram stands for Media-Persia. Alexander’s rapid conquest of the Persians involved three battles of major significance which he won against overwhelming odds: Granicus (334 B.C.), Isus (333 B.C.), and Gaugemela (331 B.C.).

¹⁷ tn The word “horns” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

¹⁸ sn The four conspicuous horns refer to Alexander’s successors. After his death, Alexander’s empire was divided up among four of his generals: Cassander, who took Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus, who took Thrace and parts of Asia Minor; Seleucus, who took Syria and territory to its east; and Ptolemy, who took control of Egypt.

¹⁹ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

²⁰ sn This small horn is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who controlled the Seleucid kingdom from ca. 175-164 B.C. Antiochus was extremely hostile toward the Jews and persecuted them mercilessly.

²¹ sn The expression the beautiful land (Heb. הַצֶּבִי [hatsÿvi] = “the beauty”) is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel. Cf. 11:16, 41, where it is preceded by the word אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”).

²² tn Heb “the he-goat, the buck.” The expression is odd, and the second word may be an explanatory gloss.

²³ tn Heb “Javan.”

²⁴ tn See the note on the expression “angelic messenger” in v. 9.

²⁵ sn An animal’s horn is a common OT metaphor for military power (Pss 18:2; 75:10; Jer 48:25; Mic 4:13). The fact that there are four horns here (as well as four blacksmiths, v. 20) shows a correspondence to the four horses of v. 8 which go to four parts of the world, i.e., the whole world.

²⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²⁷ tn Heb “craftsmen” (so NASB, NIV; KJV “carpenters”), a generic term which can mean “metalworker, smith, armorer” (HALOT 358 s.v. חָרָשׁ). “Blacksmiths” was chosen for the present translation because of its relative familiarity among contemporary English readers.

²⁸ tn Heb “so that no man lifts up his head.”

²⁹ tn Heb “terrify them”; the referent (Judah’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁰ tn Heb “to scatter it.” The word “people” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.