Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 8

In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar - Regarding Belshazzar, see Introduction to Daniel 5:0, Section II.

A vision appeared to me - This vision appears to have occurred to him when awake, or in an ecstasy; the former one occurred when he was asleep (Daniel 7:1). Compare Daniel 8:17-18, where the prophet represents himself as overpowered and falling to the earth because of the vision. The representation would seem to have been made to pass before his mind during the day, when he was fully awake. Compare the case of Balaam: Which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open (Numbers 24:4).

After what appeared to me at first - That occurred in the first year of Belshazzar (Daniel 7:1).

And I saw in a vision - I looked as the vision appeared to me; or I saw certain things represented to me in a vision. For more on the word "vision," see the notes on Daniel 1:17. The meaning here seems to be that a vision appeared to Daniel, and he contemplated it earnestly to understand what it meant.

That I was at Shushan - As remarked in the introduction to this chapter, this might mean that he seemed to be there, or that the vision was represented to him as being there; but the most natural construction is to suppose that Daniel was actually there himself. He has not directly informed us why he was there—whether on public or personal business. However, from Daniel 8:27—Afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business—it seems most probable that he was then in the king's service. This supposition does not conflict with the statement in Daniel 5:10-11, where the queen mother, when the handwriting appeared on the palace wall, informs Belshazzar that there was a man in his kingdom in whom was the spirit of the holy gods, etc. From this, one might object that Daniel was unknown to the king at that time and could not have been in his employ. However, it could be that he was employed by the king as a government officer, yet his power to disclose the meaning of visions had been forgotten.

He may have been employed in public service, but his services to the king's father and his extraordinary skill in interpreting dreams and visions may not have immediately occurred to the frightened monarch and his courtiers. Shushan, or Susa, the chief town of Susiana, was the capital of Persia after the time of Cyrus, where the Persian kings had their principal residence (Nehemiah 1:1; Esther 1:2–5). It was situated on the Eulaeus or Choaspes, probably on the spot now occupied by the village Shus (Rennel, Geography of Herodotus; Kinneir, Memoir of the Persian Empire; K. Porter’s Travels, ii. 4, 11; Ritter, Erdkunde, Asien, 9:294; Pictorial Bible, in loc.).

At Shus there are extensive ruins, perhaps stretching twelve miles from one extremity to the other. Like other ruins in that country, they consist of hillocks of earth and rubbish, covered with broken pieces of brick and colored tile. At the foot of these mounds is the so-called tomb of Daniel, a small building erected on the spot where the remains of Daniel are believed in that region to rest. It is apparently modern, but only the belief that this was the site of the prophet’s tomb could have led to its being built where it stands (Malcolm, History of Persia, i, 255, 256). The city of Shus is now a gloomy wilderness, inhabited by lions, hyenas, and other beasts of prey (Kitto’s Cyclopedia, article “Shushan”).

Sir John Kinneir says that the dread of these animals compelled Mr. Monteith and himself to take shelter for the night within the walls that encompass Daniel’s tomb. Of that tomb, Sir John Malcolm says, “It is a small building, but sufficient to shelter some dervishes who watch the remains of the prophet and are supported by the alms of pious pilgrims who visit the holy tomb. The dervishes are now the only inhabitants of Susa; and every species of wild beast roams at large over the spot on which some of the proudest palaces ever raised by human art once stood” (Volume i, pages 255, 256). For a description of the ruins of Susa, see Pictorial Bible, in loc.

This city was about 450 Roman miles from Seleucia and, according to Pliny (6:27), was built in a square of about 120 stadia. It was the summer residence of the Persian kings (Cyropaedia 8.6.10), as they spent the spring in Ecbatana, and the autumn and winter in Babylon. See Lengerke, in loc. It was in this city that Alexander the Great married Stateira, daughter of Darius Codomanus. The name means 'lily' and was probably given to it because of its beauty (Lengerke). Rosenmuller supposes that the vision is represented as appearing to Daniel in this city because it would be the future capital of Persia, and because so much of the vision pertained to Persia. See Maurer, in loc.

In the palace - This word (בירה bı̂yrâh) means a fortress, a castle, or a fortified palace (Gesenius). See Nehemiah 1:1; Esther 1:5; Esther 2:5; Esther 8:14; Esther 9:6, 11-12. It seems to have been given to the city because it was a fortified place. The word applied not only to the palace proper, a royal residence, but to the whole adjacent city. It is not necessary to suppose that Daniel was in the palace proper, but only that he was in the city to which the name was given.

Which is in the province of Elam - See the notes on Isaiah 11:11. This province was bounded on the east by Persia Proper, on the west by Babylonia, on the north by Media, and on the south by the Persian Gulf. It was about half as large as Persia and not quite as large as England (Kitto’s Cyclopedia). It was probably conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. In the time of Belshazzar, it was subject to Babylonian dominion. Shushan had doubtless been the capital of the kingdom of Elam while it remained a separate kingdom. It continued as the capital of the province while under the Babylonian yoke, until Cyrus subdued it as part of the empire. It was then made one of the capitals of the united Medo-Persian empire. It was when Shushan was the capital of a province that Daniel visited it and saw the vision there. Possibly, he may have lived there subsequently and died there.

And I was by the river of Ulai - This river flowed by the city of Shushan, or Susa, and emptied into the united stream of the Tigris and Euphrates. Pliny (Natural History 6.81) calls it Eulaeus, but Greek writers generally describe it under the name of Choaspes (Herodotus 5.49; Strabo 15, page 728). It is now known by the name Kerah, called by the Turks Karasu. It passes west of the ruins of Shus (Susa) and enters the Shat-ul-Arab about twenty miles below Korna (Kinneir, Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire, pages 96, 97). See Kitto’s Cyclopedia, article “Ulai.”

Then I lifted up my eyes and saw - And saw in vision, or there seemed to be before me.

There stood before the river - On the bank of the river.

A ram which had two horns - There can be no error in explaining the design of this symbol, for in (Daniel 8:20) it is expressly said that it denoted the two kings of Media and Persia. The united power of the kingdom was denoted by the ram itself; the fact that there were two powers or kingdoms combined, by the two horns of the ram.

And the two horns were high - Both indicating great power.

But one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last - The higher horn springing up last denotes Persia, which became the more powerful of the two, so that the name Media was finally almost dropped, and the united kingdom was known in Greek history as the Persian. The Median or Assyrian power was the older, but the Persian became the most powerful.

I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward - This denotes the conquests of the united kingdom. The east is not mentioned, for none of the conquests of the Medo-Persian empire extended in that direction. Yet nothing could better express the conquests actually made by the Medo-Persian empire than this representation.

On the west the conquests embraced Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Asia Minor; on the north, Colchis, Armenia, Iberia, and the regions around the Caspian Sea; and on the south, Palestine, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Lybia. - Lengerke.

This Medo-Persian power is represented as coming from the east. (Isaiah 41:2): who raised up the righteous man from the east, etc.; (Isaiah 46:11): calling a ravenous bird from the east, etc.

He did according to his will, and became great - This also expresses well the character of the Medo-Persian empire. It extended over a great part of the known world, subduing to itself a large portion of the earth. In its early conquests it met with no successful opposition, nor was it halted until it was subdued by Greece—as at Leuctra and Marathon—and then as it was finally overthrown by Alexander the Great.

And as I was considering – As I was looking on this vision. It was a vision which would naturally attract attention, and one which would not be readily understood. It evidently denoted some combined power that was attempting conquest, but we are not to suppose that Daniel would readily understand what was meant by it. The whole scene was future – for the Medo-Persian power was not yet consolidated in the time of Belshazzar, and the conquests represented by the ram continued through many years, and those denoted by the he-goat extended still much further into the future.

Behold, a he-goat came from the west – In Daniel 8:21, this is called the rough goat. There can be no doubt as to the application of this, for in Daniel 8:21 it is expressly said that it was “the king of Grecia.” The power represented is that of Greece when it was consolidated under Alexander the Great, and when he went forth to the subjugation of this vast Persian empire.

It may serve to illustrate this, and to show the propriety of representing the Macedonian power by the symbol of a goat, to remark that this symbol is often found, in various ways, in connection with Macedon, and that, for some reason, the goat was used as emblematic of that power.

A few facts, furnished to the editor of Calmet’s Dictionary by Taylor Combe, Esq., will show the propriety of this allusion to Macedonia under the emblem of a goat, and that the allusion would be readily understood in later times. They are condensed here from his account in Taylor’s Calmet, vol. 5, pp. 410-412.

1. Caranus, the first king of the Macedonians, commenced his reign 814 years before the Christian era. The circumstance of his being led by goats to the city of Edessa, the name of which, when he established there the seat of his kingdom, he converted into AEgae, is noteworthy: Urbem Edessam, ob memoriam muneris AEgas populam AEgeadas. – Justin, Book 7, Chapter 1. The adoption of the goat as an emblem of Macedon would have been early suggested by an important event in their history.

2. Bronze figures of a goat have been found as the symbol of Macedon. Mr. Combe says, “I have lately had an opportunity of procuring an ancient bronze figure of a goat with one horn, which was the old symbol of Macedon. As figures representing the types of ancient countries are extremely rare, and as neither a bronze nor marble symbol of Macedon has been previously noticed, I will trouble you with the following observations, etc.”

   He then says, “The goat which is sent for your inspection was dug up in Asia Minor, and was brought, together with other antiquities, into this country by a poor Turk.”

   The accompanying engraving is a representation of this figure. The slightest inspection of this figure will show the propriety of the representation before us.

   Mr. Combe then says, “Not only many of the individual towns in Macedon and Thrace employed this type, but the kingdom itself of Macedon, which is the oldest in Europe of which we have any regular and connected history, was represented also by a goat, with this peculiarity, that it had but one horn.”

3. In the reign of Amyntas the First, nearly 300 years after Caranus, and about 547 BC, the Macedonians, when threatened with an invasion, became tributary to the Persians. In one of the pilasters of Persepolis, this very event seems to be recorded in a manner that throws considerable light on this subject. A goat is represented with an immense horn growing out of the middle of his forehead, and a man in a Persian dress is seen by his side, holding the horn with his left hand, by which is signified the subjection of Macedon. The accompanying figure is the one referred to, and it strikingly shows how early this symbol was used.

4. In the reign of Archelaus of Macedon, 413 BC, on the reverse of a coin of that king appears the head of a goat having only one horn. Of this coin, so remarkable for the single horn, there are two varieties, one (No. 1) engraved by Pellerin, and the other (No. 2) preserved in the collection of the late Dr. W. Hunter.

5. “There is a gem,” says Mr. Combe, “engraved in the Florentine collection, which, as it confirms what has been already said, and has not previously been understood, I think worth mentioning. It will be seen by the drawing of this gem that nothing more or less is meant by the ram’s head with two horns, and the goat’s head with one, than the kingdoms of Persia and Macedon, represented under their appropriate symbols. However, from the fact that these characteristic types are united, it is extremely probable that the gem was engraved after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great.” These remarks and illustrations will show the propriety of the symbol used here, and show also how readily it would be understood in later times.

There is no evidence that Daniel understood that this ever had been a symbol of Macedonia, or that, if he had, he could have conjectured, by any natural sagacity, that a power represented by that symbol would have become the conqueror of Media and Persia. Every circumstance connected with this, therefore, only shows more clearly that he was under the influence of inspiration. Josephus affirms (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11, Chapter 8) that when Alexander was at Jerusalem, the prophecies of Daniel respecting him were shown to him by the high priest, and that this fact was the means of his conferring important favors on the Jews.

If such an event occurred, the circumstances here alluded to show how readily Alexander would recognize the reference to his own country, and to himself, and how probable the account of Josephus is, that this was the means of conciliating him toward the Jewish people. The credibility of the account, which has been called in question, is examined in Newton, On the Prophecies, pp. 241-246.

On the face of the whole earth – He seemed to move over the whole world – well representing the movements of Alexander, who conquered the known world, and who is said to have wept because there were no other worlds to conquer.

And touched not the ground – Margin, "none touched him in the earth." The translation in the text, however, is more correct than that in the margin. He seemed to bound along as if he did not touch the ground – denoting the rapidity of his movements and conquests. A similar description of great beauty occurs in Virgil, Aeneid, Book 7, line 806 and following, concerning Camilla:

“Cursu pedum praevertere ventos.
Illa vel intactae segetis per summa volaret
Gramina, nec teneras cursu laesisset aristas,
Vel mare per medium fluctu suspensa tumenti
Ferret iter, celeres nec tingeret aequore plantas”

Nothing would better express the rapid conquests of Alexander the Great than the language employed by Daniel. He died at the early age of thirty-three. Having been chosen generalissimo of the Greeks against the Persians at the age of twenty-one, the whole period occupied by him in his conquests, and in his public life, was but twelve years; yet in that time he brought the world in subjection to his arms.

A single glance at his rapid movements will show the propriety of the description here.

In the year 334 BC, he invaded Persia and defeated the Persians in the battle of the Granicus.

In the year 333 BC, he again defeated them at the battle of Issus and conquered Parthia, Bactria, Hyrcania, Sogdiana, and Asia Minor.

In the year 332 BC, he conquered Tyre and Egypt, and built Alexandria.

In the year 331 BC, he defeated Darius Codomanus, and in 330 BC completed the conquest of the Persian empire. In the year 328 BC, he defeated Porus, king of India, and pursued his march to the Ganges. In these few years, therefore, he had overrun nearly all the then known world, in conquests more rapid and more decisive than had ever before been made.

And the goat had a notable horn between his eyes – The goat represented the Macedonian power, and all this power was concentrated in the person of Alexander – undoubtedly denoted by the single horn – as if all the power of Greece was concentrated in him. The margin is, "a horn of sight." This corresponds with the Hebrew – the word rendered “notable” (חזוּת châzût) meaning, properly, look, appearance, and then something conspicuous or remarkable. The literal translation would be, a horn of appearance; that is, conspicuous, large – Gesenius, Lexicon.