And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
Parallel translations
- WEB As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole earth, and didn’t touch the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
- BSB As 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.
- NKJV And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
- NASB While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a prominent horn between his eyes.
- NLT While I was watching, suddenly a male goat appeared from the west, crossing the land so swiftly that he didn’t even touch the ground. This goat, which had one very large horn between its eyes,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A swift male goat with a single notable horn rushes from the west to attack the ram. Greece's rapid conquest under its first great king is introduced.
Overview
The goat, identified as Greece (8:21), races so fast it scarcely touches the ground, and its prominent horn represents its first king, Alexander the Great. The imagery captures the breathtaking speed of Greek conquest. Once more the vision shows one empire decisively replacing another, all according to the timetable of the God who governs history.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Dan 8:21And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
- Dan 8:8Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
- Dan 11:3And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
- Dan 2:39And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
- Dan 7:6After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
- Dan 2:32This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
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Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 8:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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