Daniel Chapter 8 - Transcription of Video Three

Having given the background information, namely the location and timing of the vision, Daniel then began his description of the vision proper. The vision itself consists of three separate parts, which I have called, Parts One, Two and Three.

In part one of the vision, Daniel made use of two chiasms. The first chiasm spans this entire part of the vision. It is structured as follows:

1. And I lifted up my eyes. And I saw. And behold one ram standing before the canal. And he has two horns. And the two horns are high. And the one is higher from the second, and the higher is coming up last.			1. ואשא עיני ואראה והנה איל אחד עמד לפני האבל ולו קרנים והקרנים גבהות והאחת גבהה מן-השנית והגבהה עלה באחרנה
	2. I saw the ram butting seaward, and tsfonward, and negevward. And none of the beasts will stand before him. And there is no deliverer from his hand. And he will do according to his will. And he will expand.		2. ראיתי את-האיל מנגח ימה וצפונה ונגבה וכל-חיות לא-יעמדו לפניו ואין מציל מידו ועשה כרצנו והגדיל
		3. And I, I was understanding. And behold a kid of the goats came from the west upon the face of the whole earth, and not touching the earth. And the kid, a horn of appearance between his eyes. And he came until the ram, the lord of the two horns, which I saw standing before the canal. And he ran unto him in the fury of his strength.	3. ואני הייתי מבין והנה צפיר-העזים בא מן-המערב על-פני כל-הארץ ואין נוגע בארץ והצפיר--קרן חזות בין עיניו ויבא עד-האיל בעל הקרנים אשר ראיתי עמד לפני האבל וירץ אליו בחמת כחו
	4. And I will see him arrive near the ram. And he was embittered unto him. And he struck the ram. And he broke his two horns. And there was no strength in the ram to stand before him. And he threw him earthward. And he trampled upon him. And there was no deliverer for the ram from his hand. And the kid of the goats expanded until much.		4. וראיתיו מגיע אצל האיל ויתמרמר אליו ויך את-האיל וישבר את-שתי קרניו ולא- היה כח באיל לעמד לפניו וישליכהו ארצה וירמסהו ולא-היה מציל לאיל מידו וצפיר העזים הגדיל עד-מאד
5. And at his power, the large horn was broken, and an appearance of four arose under it, to the four winds of the heavens.			5. וכעצמו נשברה הקרן הגדלה ותעלנה חזות ארבע תחתיה לארבע רוחות השמים

This chiasm has five parts, meaning the first part pairs with the fifth, and the second with the fourth. The third part stands alone. Daniel left clues within the text to show where each part of the chiasm begins. The second chiasm that Daniel used is to be found nestled inside this larger chiasm, specifically within its third part. I will discuss this more in detail later.

The First Part of the Chiasm

And I lifted up my eyes. And I saw. And behold one ram standing before the canal. And he has two horns. And the two horns are high. And the one is higher from the second, and the higher is coming up last.

In the introduction, in the second chiasm, Daniel stated that the vision was, that is, began, with his seeing, meaning the real Daniel saw that the Daniel of the vision was seeing. The first part of this chiasm begins with the words, "And I lifted up my eyes. And I saw…", indicating that Daniel has now begun his description of the vision proper.

"And behold one ram standing before the canal." At the end of the vision, Daniel was given an interpretation in which he was told that this ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. Daniel was not told what the horns of the ram represent. Presumably the symbolism was already obvious to Daniel and no explanation was necessary. However to me it wasn't and I had to do some research on the events that were occurring at the time Daniel received the vision. This task was easier said than done. There is so much that is not certain about the events of those times, and I did come across a lot of conflicting information. Still I've done the best I can.

In the year 559 BC, eight years before Daniel received this vision, Cyrus succeeded his father, and became the king of Ashan. Ashan was a small kingdom that was once part of Elam. Cyrus also succeeded his uncle Arsames as king of Persia and united the two kingdoms into one. At this time, this kingdom, along with several others, were all subject to the kingdom of the Medes, whose king was Astyages. In either 553 BC or 552 BC, Cyrus revolted against Astyages. According to the Babylonian document, the Chronicle of Nabonidus, in the sixth year of Nabonidus, which would have begun in the year 550 BC, one year after Daniel received his vision, Cyrus successfully overthrew Astyages and became the ruler of the empire of the Medes and the Persians. Thus the Achaemenid Dynasty had begun.

So how does this fit the picture of a ram with the two horns standing before the canal? First that the ram was standing, does not mean that the ram was simply standing peacefully on its legs minding its own business, rather the verb "to stand" indicates the fighting of a war. At the time Daniel received this vision, a civil war was going on in the Median Empire. Second this civil war would bring about a change of leadership of the empire. No longer would it be the empire of the Medes, but the empire of the Medes and the Persians. So how is this change represented in the vision? The answer is the ram's horns. Both are high, but "the one" is higher from the second, and this horn is coming up last. Therefore the horns must symbolize the two kingships, that of the Medes and that of the Persians. So when Daniel was told that the ram represents the kings of Media and Persia, the best way I can understand this, is that the body of the ram represents the kingdoms of Media and Persia, and his horns their respective kingships. That is to say the word "king" in this vision isn't referring to the monarch specifically, rather it has a broader meaning. It can denote either kingdom or kingship or both. Remember at the beginning of this account, Daniel called Belshazzar a king, even though he was only a prince regent.

As for the relationship between the two horns, Daniel said “the one”, not just “one” rather “the one”, is higher from the second. This is important, since later on in the vision, Daniel used this phrase “the one” again. The horn that Daniel called “the one”, must symbolize the kingship of Cyrus of Persia, since this horn rises up last. That it is higher from the second means it used the height of the second horn to become even higher. Cyrus initially was subservient to Astyages, but because he revolted against him, he became the king of the whole empire. Therefore the phrase “the one” must imply supremacy or dominance.

The Second Part of the Chiasm

I saw the ram butting seaward, and tsfonward, and negevward. And none of the beasts will stand before him. And there is no deliverer from his hand. And he will do according to his will. And he will expand.

The clue that Daniel left in the text that indicates a beginning of a new part of the chiasm is the word, ra'iti "I saw..." In the Hebrew bible, sentences almost always start with the word “and”, and the writings of Daniel are no exception. One would have expected Daniel to write va'er'eh "And I saw..." That he didn't shows that indeed a new part of the chiasm has begun.

Note how the first verb of this part of the chiasm, "I saw" is in the past tense, but the rest of its verbs are in the future tense.

“…And none of the beasts will stand before him…".

“…And he will do according to his will…"

“…And he will expand…"

This sentence, "...And there is no deliverer..." is an exception, since the corresponding Hebrew sentence does not have a verb, therefore tense is irrelevant. Also note that in this part chiasm, we also see another use of the verb “to stand”, when referring to war, as in “…And none of the beasts will stand before him…”

In sixth year of Nabonidus, the year Cyrus the Great became king of the Medes and the Persians, the political map of the Middle East looked something like this.

The area was dominated by four empires, Egypt, Lydia, Babylon and the empire of the Medes and the Persians. In the year 547 BC or perhaps a bit later, the Lydian empire and the coastal Greek cities, were conquered by Cyrus. At this stage he may also have conquered Cilicia. This matches Daniel’s description of the ram butting seaward, the sea being the Mediterranean Sea.

Having overcome Lydia, according to the Greek historian Herodotus, Cyrus then was minded to conquer Egypt, Babylon, the Bactrians, and the Sakas. Cyrus never conquered Egypt. However at this stage, though it is not 100% certain, is quite plausible that Cyrus did conquer Sogdiana, and perhaps other lands to the northeast and to the east as well. This again matches with Daniel’s description of the ram butting tsfonward, toward the unknown.

At this time, to people in the Middle East, these lands in the north east and east represented the ends of the earth. The lands beyond them were unknown. Thus in the context of this vision, the word tsafon cannot mean a specific direction, as in the north since these lands are not geographically north of Shushan, rather it has to be interpreted according to the meaning of its root, “the unknown”.

In 540 BC, Cyrus turned his attention to Babylon, and in 539 BC, Babylon and her empire were added to that of the Medes and the Persians. If Elam had been an independent state, then it is likely that it also fell to Cyrus at this time. This matches the ram butting negevward.

Remember the word negev means a dry place, and the lands to the west and south of Babylon are a desert. Hence in the context of this vision, the word negev means the land of Babylon.

Daniel finished the description of the ram by stating that he will do according to his will, and he will expand. Cyrus the Great died in the year 530 BC, but the kings that came after Cyrus continued to conquer other territories, and by the time of Daruis I, the Persian empire was the largest the ancient world had ever seen. Hence the ram did according to the will of Cyrus even after his death.