Dànyǐlǐshū 8:3

3 Wǒ jǔmù guānkàn , jiàn yǒu shuāng jiǎo de gōng miányáng zhàn zaì hé bian , liǎng jiǎo dōu gāo . zhè jiǎo gāo guō nà jiǎo , gēng gāo de shì hòu zhǎng de .

Dànyǐlǐshū 8:3 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 8:3

Then I lifted up mine eyes
To see what was to be seen in this place, where he in the vision was brought; he lifted up the eyes of his understanding, being enlightened by the vision of prophecy, and the eyes of his body, to which objects of corporeal things formed in the fancy were represented: and saw, and, behold;
he saw something wonderful in a visionary way, and which struck his mind, and raised his attention: there stood before the river;
the river Ulai, near Shushan, the palace, the seat of the kings of Persia, to the east: a ram, which had two horns;
a symbol of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, signified by the two horns, ( Daniel 8:20 ) , an emblem of power and dominion, and sometimes used to signify kings and kingdoms; see ( Daniel 7:24 ) and these as united in one monarchy, under one monarch, Cyrus, and continued in his successors unto the times of Alexander; and therefore called "a ram", or "one ram" ^F13, as in the original; and which in sound has some likeness to Elam or Persia: and this kingdom or monarchy may be signified by it, partly because of its strength and power, and partly because of its riches, as some think, as well as because it is a fighting creature; and it may be chiefly because this monarchy was mild, and kind, and gentle to the Jewish nation: and it is very remarkable, that, according to Ammianus Marcellinus ^F14, the ram was the royal ensign of the Persians; whose kings used to wear for a diadem something made of gold, in the shape of a ram's head, set with little stones: and the two horns were high;
grew straight up on high, and so were different from the usual horns of a ram, which are crooked; denoting the great power, authority, wealth, and riches, these two kingdoms rose up unto: but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last;
I think the words might be rendered better, "and the first was higher than the second, but it ascended, or grew up, higher at last" ^F15; the kingdom of the Medes was the first kingdom, and it was at first superior to the kingdom of Persia; but afterwards the kingdom of Persia became greater than that, under Cyrus and his successors: and Sir John Chardin says {p}, that rams' heads, with horns one higher than another, are still to be seen in the ruins of Persepolis.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F13 (dxa lya) "aries unus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus
F14 Hist. l. 19.
F15 (hnwrxab hle hhbghw tynvh Nm hxbg txahw) .
F16 Travels, vol. 3.

Dànyǐlǐshū 8:3 In-Context

1 Bǎi shā sǎ wáng zaì wèi dì sān nián , yǒu yìxiàng xiàn yǔ wǒ Dànyǐlǐ , shì zaì xiānqián suǒ jiàn de yìxiàng zhī hòu .

2 Wǒ jiàn le yìxiàng de shíhou , wǒ yǐwéi zaì Yǐlán shĕng Shūshān chéng ( huò zuò gōng ) zhōng. wǒ jiàn yìxiàng yòu rú zaì wū lái hé bian .

3 Wǒ jǔmù guānkàn , jiàn yǒu shuāng jiǎo de gōng miányáng zhàn zaì hé bian , liǎng jiǎo dōu gāo . zhè jiǎo gāo guō nà jiǎo , gēng gāo de shì hòu zhǎng de .

4 Wǒ jiàn nà gōng miányáng wǎng xī , wǎng bĕi , wǎng nán dǐ chù . shòu zaì tā miànqián dōu zhàn lì bù zhù , yĕ méiyǒu néng jiù hù tuōlí tā shǒu de . dàn tā rènyì ér xíng , zì gāo zì dà .

5 Wǒ zhēng sīxiǎng de shíhou , jiàn yǒu yī zhī gōng shānyáng cóng xī ér lái , biàn xíng quán dì , jiǎo bú zhān chén . zhè shānyáng liǎng yǎn dāngzhōng yǒu yī fēicháng de jiǎo .