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Friday, August 1st, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible

The NET Bible®

Daniel 8:20

The ram that you saw with the two horns stands for 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.
King James Version
The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
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 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 While I, Daniel, was watching the vision, I sought to understand it. Now one who appeared to be a man was standing before me. 16 Then I heard a human voice coming from between the banks of the Ulai. It called out, "Gabriel, enable this person to understand the vision." 17 So he approached the place where I was standing. As he came, I felt terrified and fell flat on the ground. Then he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision pertains to the time of the end." 18 As he spoke with me, I fell into a trance with my face to the ground. But he touched me and stood me upright. 19 Then he said, "I am going to inform you about what will happen in the latter time of wrath, for the vision pertains to the appointed time of the end. 20 The ram that you saw with the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The male goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The horn that was broken and in whose place there arose four others stands for four kingdoms that will arise from his nation, though they will not have his strength. 23 Toward the end of their rule, when rebellious acts are complete, a rash and deceitful king will arise. 24 His power will be great, but it will not be by his strength alone. He will cause terrible destruction. He will be successful in what he undertakes. He will destroy powerful people and the people of the holy ones.

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
But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock—even the fattest of them. And the Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering,
Genesis 7:2
You must take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate,
Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over the earth and the waters receded.
Genesis 8:4
On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.
Genesis 8:7
and sent out a raven; it kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.
Genesis 8:8
Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground.
Genesis 8:15
Then God spoke to Noah and said,
Genesis 8:16
"Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives with you.
Genesis 8:17
Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!"
Genesis 13:4
This was the place where he had first built the altar, and there Abram worshiped 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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