Lectionary Calendar
Friday, July 18th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

King James Version

Daniel 8:20

The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Horn;   Ram;   Thompson Chain Reference - Persia;   The Topic Concordance - Empires/world Powers;   Last Days;   War/weapons;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Horns;   Medo-Persian Kingdom;   Prophets;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Shushan;   Vision;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Greece;   Horn;   Media;   Persia;   Vision;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Allegory;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Media;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Antichrist;   Gog;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Daniel, Book of;   Medes, Media;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Thessalonians, Second Epistle to the;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Horn;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Horns;   Medes, Media ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Darius;   Persia;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Cyrus;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Babylonish Captivity, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Alexander the Great;   Horn;   Medes;   Persia;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Darius I;   Gabriel;   Media;   Persia;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.
Hebrew Names Version
The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Madai and Paras.
English Standard Version
As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.
New American Standard Bible
"The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
New Century Version
"You saw a male sheep with two horns, which are the kings of Media and Persia.
Amplified Bible
"The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
Geneva Bible (1587)
The ramme which thou sawest hauing two hornes, are the Kings of the Medes and Persians.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
Berean Standard Bible
The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.
Contemporary English Version
The two horns of the ram are the kings of Media and Persia,
Complete Jewish Bible
You saw a ram with two horns which are the kings of Media and Persia.
Darby Translation
The ram that thou sawest having the two horns: they are the kings of Media and Persia.
Easy-to-Read Version
"You saw a ram with two horns. The horns are the countries of Media and Persia.
George Lamsa Translation
The ram which you saw with two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
Good News Translation
"The ram you saw that had two horns represents the kingdoms of Media and Persia.
Lexham English Bible
"The ram that you saw who had two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
Literal Translation
The ram which you saw with two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The ramme which thou sawest with the two hornes, is the kynge off the Medes ad Perses:
American Standard Version
The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
Bible in Basic English
The sheep which you saw with two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
The ram which thou sawest having the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
King James Version (1611)
The ramme which thou sawest hauing two hornes, are the kings of Media, and Persia.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The ramme which thou sawest hauing two hornes, is the king of the Medes and Perses,
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The ram which thou sawest that had the horns is the king of the Medes and Persians.
English Revised Version
The ram which thou sawest that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
World English Bible
The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The ram, whom thou siyest haue hornes, is the kyng of Medeis and of Perseis.
Update Bible Version
The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
Webster's Bible Translation
The ram which thou sawest having [two] horns [are] the kings of Media and Persia.
New English Translation
The ram that you saw with the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia.
New King James Version
The ram which you saw, having the two horns--they are the kings of Media and Persia.
New Living Translation
The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia.
New Life Bible
The ram you saw had two horns which are the kings of Media and Persia.
New Revised Standard
As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The ram which thou sawest, having the two horns, representeth the kings of Media and Persia;
Douay-Rheims Bible
The ram, which thou sawest with horns, is the king of the Medes and Persians.
Revised Standard Version
As for the ram which you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.
Young's Literal Translation
`The ram that thou hast seen possessing two horns, [are] the kings of Media and Persia.
THE MESSAGE
"‘The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings of the Medes and Persians. The billy goat stands for the kingdom of the Greeks. The huge horn on its forehead is the first Greek king. The four horns that sprouted after it was broken off are the four kings that come after him, but without his power.

Contextual Overview

15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. 17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. 18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright. 19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. 20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. 23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Daniel 8:3, Daniel 11:1, Daniel 11:2

Reciprocal: Esther 1:3 - of Persia Isaiah 21:2 - Go up Jeremiah 51:28 - the kings Daniel 2:39 - another kingdom Daniel 5:28 - Thy Daniel 7:6 - lo Acts 2:9 - Medes

Cross-References

Genesis 4:4
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Genesis 7:2
Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
Genesis 8:1
And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;
Genesis 8:4
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
Genesis 8:7
And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
Genesis 8:8
Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
Genesis 8:15
And God spake unto Noah, saying,
Genesis 8:16
Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
Genesis 8:17
Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
Genesis 13:4
Unto the place of the altar, which he had make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord .

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The ram which thou sawest having two horns,.... Here begins the particular explanation of the above vision, and of the first thing which the prophet saw in it, a ram with two horns: which two horns, he says,

are the kings of Media and Persia; Darius the first king was a Mede, and Cyrus, that succeeded him, or rather reigned with him, was a Persian: or rather the ram with two horns signifies the two kingdoms of the Medes and Persians united in one monarchy, of which the ram was an emblem; :- for Darius and Cyrus were dead many years before the time of Alexander; and therefore could not personally be the two horns of the ram broken by him; nor is it to be understood of the kings of two different families, as the one of. Cyrus, and the other of Darius Hystaspes, in whose successors the Persian monarchy continued till destroyed by Alexander, as Theodoret.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The ram which thou sawest ... - See the notes at Daniel 8:3. This is one of the instances in the Scriptures in which symbols are explained. There can be no doubt, therefore, as to the meaning.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Daniel 8:20. The ram which thou sawest — See this explained under the vision itself, Daniel 8:3, &c.


 
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