Daniel · 27 verses

Daniel 8

Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

The chapter

What happens here

Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

A goat crossed the entire earth without touching the ground, and Daniel, after days ill from the vision, went back to the king’s business.

The ram, the goat, and the little hornvv. 1–14

In the third year of Belshazzar, Daniel finds himself in vision at Susa, beside the Ulai Canal, where a two-horned ram is charging about with no creature able to oppose him. Then comes a goat from the west, travelling over the whole earth without touching it—a wonderfully peculiar detail, left perfectly intact by the vision—and the goat shatters the ram’s horns. At the height of its power the goat’s great horn breaks, four horns appear, and from one of them grows a little horn that reaches south, east, and toward the Beautiful Land. It casts down the host, removes the daily sacrifice, overthrows the sanctuary, and flings truth to the ground. A holy one asks how long this desolation will last. The answer is exact, though the chapter does not explain the arithmetic: 2,300 evenings and mornings, and then the sanctuary will be restored.

Gabriel explains the beastsvv. 15–26

Daniel is trying to understand the vision when a figure with the appearance of a man stands before him. A voice from between the banks of the Ulai calls Gabriel to explain it. Daniel is terrified, falls facedown, and then falls into a deep sleep while Gabriel speaks; Gabriel touches him and helps him to his feet. The ram means the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat means the king of Greece, its large horn the first king, and the four horns four lesser kingdoms rising from that nation. Later comes an insolent king, skilful in intrigue, whose power is great but not his own. He destroys mighty men and holy people, makes deceit prosper, stands against the Prince of princes, and is finally broken—not by human hands. The vision is true, but Daniel is told to seal it, for it concerns the distant future.

The king’s businessv. 27

Daniel is exhausted and lies ill for days. Then, with the vision still beyond understanding, he gets up and goes about the king’s business. After ram, goat, horns, stars, sanctuary, wrath, and distant time, the chapter ends with administration—an almost comically ordinary piece of furniture left standing beside the apocalypse.

The text

Read it

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

Dan 8:1In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one that had appeared to me earlier.
Dan 8:2And in the vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.
Dan 8:3Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a ram with two horns standing beside the canal. The horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one grew up later.
Dan 8:4I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.
Dan 8:5As I was contemplating all this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west, crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground.
Dan 8:6He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with furious power.
Dan 8:7I saw him approach the ram in a rage against him, and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him, and the goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and no one could deliver the ram from his power.
Dan 8:8Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.
Dan 8:9From one of these horns a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the Beautiful Land.
Dan 8:10It grew as high as the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the earth and trampled them.
Dan 8:11It magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host; it removed His daily sacrifice and overthrew the place of His sanctuary.
Dan 8:12And in the rebellion, the host and the daily sacrifice were given over to the horn, and it flung truth to the ground and prospered in whatever it did.
Dan 8:13Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long until the fulfillment of the vision of the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?”
Dan 8:14He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be properly restored.”
Dan 8:15While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.
Dan 8:16And I heard the voice of a man calling from between the banks of the Ulai: “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”
Dan 8:17As he came near to where I stood, I was terrified and fell facedown. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”
Dan 8:18While he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, helped me to my feet,
Dan 8:19and said, “Behold, I will make known to you what will happen in the latter time of wrath, because it concerns the appointed time of the end.
Dan 8:20The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.
Dan 8:21The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.
Dan 8:22The four horns that replaced the broken one represent four kingdoms that will rise from that nation but will not have the same power.
Dan 8:23In the latter part of their reign, when the rebellion has reached its full measure, an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne.
Dan 8:24His power will be great, but it will not be his own. He will cause terrible destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men along with the holy people.
Dan 8:25Through his craft and by his hand, he will cause deceit to prosper, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In a time of peace he will destroy many, and he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken off, but not by human hands.
Dan 8:26The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been spoken is true. Now you must seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”
Dan 8:27I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.

01 — Also here

Who else the chapter reaches

Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

02 — Read alongside

Where this is echoed

Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 349 passages were voted onto 26 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

14 Daniel 12:7And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, and times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people has finally been shattered, all these things will be completed.”
14 Revelation 11:2–3But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
14 Daniel 7:25He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.
23 Revelation 13:11–14Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon.
23 2 Thessalonians 2:9–11The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
14 Daniel 12:11And from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation set up, there will be 1,290 days.
14 Isaiah 45:25In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.
23 Revelation 19:20But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
26 Daniel 12:9“Go on your way, Daniel,” he replied, “for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.
26 Daniel 10:1In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, and it concerned a great conflict. And the understanding of the message was given to him in a vision.
5 Daniel 8:21The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.
14 Revelation 12:14But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
23 Daniel 8:9–12From one of these horns a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the Beautiful Land.
23 1 Timothy 4:1Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
26 Daniel 10:14Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.”
26 Daniel 12:4But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”

Onward

Keep reading

Next chapterDaniel 927 verses.Named hereDanielEverything the graph connects to this name.BookDanielAll 12 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.