John Calvin Commentary Daniel 8:4

"I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself." — Daniel 8:4 (ASV)

The Prophet now briefly sketches the great success that would attend this double kingdom. He says, The ram struck all the nations towards the west, and north, and south. The Persian and Median territory lay to the east of Babylon, Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece. This, without doubt, extends to all the successors of Cyrus, who are recorded as having convulsed the whole world.

Cyrus himself was soon afterwards cruelly and basely slain, according to many historians, although Xenophon affirms that he died in his bed. But I have warned you before not to put your trust in that writer, although most excellent, since, using the image of that king, he wished to set before us an example of perfect manliness; and therefore he presents him as speaking on his deathbed, and exhorting his sons to kingly virtues.

Whichever is the true account, Cyrus was clearly overtaken in the midst of his career. In this way God wished to chastise his insatiable cupidity, a vice in which he resembled Alexander. As to his successors, they caused such commotion in the whole world as to stir up heaven and earth.

Xerxes alone said he could bind the sea with fetters! And we know the greatness of the army that he commanded; and this passage deals not only with one king, but with all those of Persia. As they obtained a dominion so vast, their ambition and pride always inflamed them, and there was no end to their warfare until they had subdued the distant boundaries of the world.

We are also acquainted with their numerous attempts to destroy the liberty of Greece. The Prophet encompasses all this in very few words. God also wished to give his Prophet a brief glance into the future, as far as such knowledge could be useful. I saw, then, he says, a ram, namely, a beast that possessed a double horn, representing the Medes and Persians united in the same sovereignty.

He struck the west, and the north, and the south, so that no beasts could stand before him. As the Persian kingdom is here depicted under the image of a ram, all kings and people are called beasts. Thus, no beast stood before him, and no one could deliver out of his hand. It is well known, indeed, how Xerxes and others failed in their attacks, and how many wars the Monarchs of Persia attempted in which they were conquered by the Greeks; but still their conquerors were in no better condition, as they were compelled to seek peace like suppliants.

So great became the power of the Persians that they inspired all nations with fear. For this reason the Prophet says, he did according to his pleasure, not implying the complete success of these Monarchs according to their utmost wishes, for their desires were often frustrated, as we have already described, based on historical evidence.

Still, they were always formidable, not only to their neighbors who submitted to their yoke, but also to the most distant nations, as they crossed the sea and descended from Asia upon Greece. In the last word, he expresses this fact—the ram became mighty. For the Persian king became the greatest of all Monarchs in the world, and it is sufficiently well-known that his dignity and strength were so great that no one could augment them. It follows: