Daniel 7:6

7:6 “After these things, ¹  as I was watching, another beast ²  like a leopard appeared, with four bird-like wings on its back. ³  This beast had four heads, ⁴  and ruling authority was given to it.

Daniel 8:5-8

8:5 While I was contemplating all this, ⁵  a male goat ⁶  was coming from the west over the surface of all the land ⁷  without touching the ground. This goat had a conspicuous horn ⁸  between its eyes. 8:6 It came to the two-horned ram that I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed against it with raging strength. ⁹  8:7 I saw it approaching the ram. It went into a fit of rage against the ram ¹⁰  and struck it ¹¹  and broke off its two horns. The ram had no ability to resist it. ¹²  The goat hurled the ram ¹³  to the ground and trampled it. No one could deliver the ram from its power. ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  in its place, ¹⁶  extending toward the four winds of the sky. ¹⁷ 

Daniel 8:21

8:21 The male goat ¹⁸  is the king of Greece, ¹⁹  and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.

[7:6]  ¹ tn Aram “this.” So also in v. 7.

[7:6]  ² tn Aram “and behold, another one.”

[7:6]  ³ tn Or “sides.”

[7:6]  ⁴ sn If the third animal is Greece, the most likely identification of these four heads is the four-fold division of the empire of Alexander the Great following his death. See note on Dan 8:8.

[8:5]  ⁵ tn The words “all this” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[8:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and behold, a he-goat of the goats.”

[8:5]  ⁷ tn Or “of the whole earth” (NAB, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[8:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “a horn of vision” [or “conspicuousness”], i.e., “a conspicuous horn,” one easily seen.

[8:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “the wrath of its strength.”

[8:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “him.”

[8:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the ram.”

[8:7]  ¹² tn Heb “stand before him.”

[8:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “he hurled him.” The referents of both pronouns (the male goat and the ram) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:7]  ¹⁴ 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.).

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn The word “horns” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[8:8]  ¹⁶ 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.

[8:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[8:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the he-goat, the buck.” The expression is odd, and the second word may be an explanatory gloss.

[8:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Javan.”