Daniel 8:2-4

Context
8:2 In this¹ vision I saw myself in Susa² the citadel,³ which is located in the province of Elam. In the vision I saw myself at the Ulai Canal.⁴ 8:3 I looked up⁵ and saw⁶ a⁷ ram with two horns standing at the canal. Its two horns were both long,⁸ but one was longer than the other. The longer one was coming up after the shorter one. 8:4 I saw that the ram was butting westward, northward, and southward. No animal⁹ was able to stand before it, and there was none who could deliver from its power.¹⁰ It did as it pleased and acted arrogantly.¹¹

[8:2] ¹tn Heb “the.”

[8:2] ²sn Susa (Heb. שׁוּשַׁן, shushan), located some 230 miles (380 km) east of Babylon, was a winter residence for Persian kings during the Achaemenid period. The language of v. 2 seems to suggest that Daniel may not have been physically present at Susa, but only saw himself there in the vision. However, the Hebrew is difficult, and some have concluded that the first four words of v. 2 in the MT are a later addition (cf. Theodotion).

[8:2] ³tn The Hebrew word בִּירָה (birah, “castle, palace”) usually refers to a fortified structure within a city, but here it is in apposition to the city name Susa and therefore has a broader reference to the entire city (against this view, however, see BDB 108 s.v. 2). Cf. NAB “the fortress of Susa”; TEV “the walled city of Susa.”

[8:2] ⁴tn The term אוּבַל (’uval = “stream, river”) is a relatively rare word in biblical Hebrew, found only here and in vv. 3 and 6. The Ulai was apparently a sizable artificial canal in Susa (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV), and not a river in the ordinary sense of that word.

[8:3] ⁵tn Heb “lifted my eyes.”

[8:3] ⁶tn Heb “and behold.”

[8:3] ⁷tn Heb “one.” The Hebrew numerical adjective occasionally functions like an English indefinite article. See GKC 401 §125.b.

[8:3] ⁸tn Heb “high” (also “higher” later in this verse).

[8:4] ⁹tn Or “beast” (NAB).

[8:4] ¹⁰tn Heb “hand.” So also in v. 7.

[8:4] ¹¹tn In the Hiphil the Hebrew verb גָּדַל (gadal, “to make great; to magnify”) can have either a positive or a negative sense. For the former, used especially of God, see Ps 126:2, 3; Joel 2:21. In this chapter (8:4, 8, 11, 25) the word has a pejorative sense, describing the self-glorification of this king. The sense seems to be that of vainly assuming one’s own superiority through deliberate hubris.