Footnotes

1. Daniel 8:7 tn Heb “him.”
2. Daniel 8:7 tn Heb “the ram.”
3. Daniel 8:7 tn Heb “stand before him.”
4. Daniel 8:7 tn Heb “he hurled him.” The referents of both pronouns (the male goat and the ram) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
5. Daniel 8:7 sn The goat of Daniel’s vision represents Greece; the large horn represents Alexander the Great. The ram stands for Media-Persia. Alexander’s rapid conquest of the Persians involved three battles of major significance that he won against overwhelming odds: Granicus (334 b.c.), Isus (333 b.c.), and Gaugemela (331 b.c.).
6. Daniel 8:8 tn The word “horns” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
7. Daniel 8:8 sn The four conspicuous horns refer to Alexander’s successors. After his death, Alexander’s empire was divided up among four of his generals: Cassander, who took Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus, who took Thrace and parts of Asia Minor; Seleucus, who took Syria and territory to its east; and Ptolemy, who took control of Egypt.
8. Daniel 8:8 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
9. Daniel 8:9 sn This small horn is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who controlled the Seleucid kingdom from ca. 175-164 b.c. Antiochus was extremely hostile toward the Jews and persecuted them mercilessly.
10. Daniel 8:9 sn The expression the beautiful land (Heb. הַצֶּבִי [hatsevi] = “the beauty”) is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel. Cf. 11:16, 41, where it is preceded by the word אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “land”).