Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, August 5th, 2025
the Week of Proper 13 / Ordinary 18
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World English Bible

Daniel 8:20

The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they 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.
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.
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 It happened, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. 16 I heard a man's voice between [the banks of] the 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 frightened, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end. 18 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright. 19 He said, Behold, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end. 20 The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The rough male goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 As for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power. 23 In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce face, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do [his pleasure]; and he shall destroy the mighty ones 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
Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat of it. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering,
Genesis 7:2
You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female.
Genesis 8:1
God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.
Genesis 8:4
The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat's mountains.
Genesis 8:7
and he sent forth a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
Genesis 8:8
He sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the surface of the ground,
Genesis 8:15
God spoke to Noah, saying,
Genesis 8:16
"Go forth from the ark, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.
Genesis 8:17
Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, cattle, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth."
Genesis 13:4
to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the name of Yahweh.

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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