Daniel 8 · Verse 5

Daniel 8:5

And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
Daniel 8:5, King James Version

Daniel 8:5 in other translations

BSBAs I was contemplating all this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west, crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground.
WEBAs I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole earth, and didn’t touch the ground. The goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
ASVAnd as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
YLT‘And I have been considering, and lo, a young he-goat hath come from the west, over the face of the whole earth, whom none is touching in the earth; as to the young he-goat, a conspicuous horn is between its eyes.
DARBYAnd as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
BBEAnd while I was giving thought to this, I saw a he-goat coming from the west over the face of all the earth without touching the earth: and the he-goat had a great horn between his eyes.
WebsterAnd as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

What does Daniel 8:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. he-goat--Græco-Macedonia. notable horn--Alexander. "Touched not ... ground," implies the incredible swiftness of his conquests; he overran the world in less than twelve years. The he-goat answers to the leopard (Da 7:6). Caranus, the first king of Macedonia, was said to have been led by goats to Edessa, which he made the seat of his kingdom, and called Æge, that is, "goat-city."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 Behold, a he-goat - This was Alexander the Great; and a goat was a very proper symbol of the Grecian or Macedonian people. Bp. Newton very properly observes that, two hundred years before the time of Daniel, they were called Aegeadae, the goats' people; the origin of which name is said to be as follows: Caranus, their first king, going with a multitude of Greeks to seek a new habitation in Macedonia, was advised by an oracle to take the goats for his guides; and afterwards, seeing a herd of goats flying from a violent storm, he followed them to Edessa, and there fixed the seat of his empire, and made the goats his ensigns or standards; and called the place Aege or Aegea, the goats' town; and the people Aegeadae, the goats' people; names which are derived from αιξ, αιγος, a goat. The city Aege or Aegea, was the usual burying-place of the Macedonian kings; and, in reference to this origin, Alexander called his son by Roxana, Alexander Aegus, Alexander the goat. All this shows the very great propriety of the symbol here used. Came from the west - Europe lies westward of Asia. On the face of the whole earth - Carrying every thing before him. Touched not the ground - Seemed to fly from conquest to conquest. By the time Alexander was thirty years of age he had conquered all Asia: and, because of the rapidity of his conquests, he is represented as a leopard with four wings, in the preceding vision. A notable horn between his eyes - This, says the angel, is the first king, Dan 8:21, that is, the first kingdom of the Greeks in Asia, which was erected by Alexander; and continued some years in his brother Philip Aridaeus, and in his two young sons, Alexander Aegus and Hercules. See Newton.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Daniel 8:1-14

Daniel's vision of the ram and the he-goat. (Dn 8:1-14) The interpretation of it. (Dn 8:15-27) Verses 1-14 God gives Daniel a foresight of the destruction of other kingdoms, which in their day were as powerful as that of Babylon. Could we foresee the changes that shall be when we are gone, we should be less affected with changes in our own day. The ram with two horns was the second empire, that of Media and Persia…

Read the full comment on Daniel 8:1-14 →

Daniel 8:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַאֲנִ֣י\׀va.'a.Niand IH589
הָיִ֣יתִיha.Yi.tiI wasH1961
מֵבִ֗יןme.VinobservingH995
וְהִנֵּ֤הve.hi.Nehand there!H2009
צְפִיר\־tze.fir-[the] he-goat ofH6842
הָֽעִזִּים֙ha.'i.Zimthe goatsH5795
בָּ֤אba'[was] comingH935
מִן\־min-fromH4480
הַֽמַּעֲרָב֙ha.ma.'a.Ravthe westH4628
עַל\־'al-overH5921
פְּנֵ֣יpe.Nei[the] surface ofH6440
כָל\־khol-allH3605
הָאָ֔רֶץha.'A.retzthe earthH776
וְאֵ֥יןve.'Einand notH369
נוֹגֵ֖עַno.Ge.a'[it was] touchingH5060
בָּאָ֑רֶץba.'A.retz<in> the earthH776
וְהַ֨צָּפִ֔ירve.Ha.tza.Firand the he-goatH6842
קֶ֥רֶןKe.rena horn ofH7161
חָז֖וּתcha.ZutconspicuousnessH2380
בֵּ֥יןbein[was] betweenH996
עֵינָֽיו\׃'ei.Naveyes itsH5869

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Daniel 8:5

  • Daniel 8:21

    And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

  • Daniel 8:8

    Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

  • Daniel 11:3

    And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.

  • Daniel 7:6

    After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

  • Daniel 2:39

    And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

  • Daniel 2:32

    This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
an he-goat.
21; 2:32,39; 7:6
touched not the ground. or, none touched him in the earth.a notable horn. Heb. an horn of sight. Alexander the Great.
8,21; 11:3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Daniel 8:4

    I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

  • Daniel 8:5

    And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

  • Daniel 8:6

    And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

Read all of Daniel 8

Daniel 8:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y estando yo considerando, he aquí un macho de cabrío venía de la parte del poniente sobre la haz de toda la tierra, el cual no tocaba la tierra: y tenía aquel macho de cabrío un cuerno notable entre sus ojos:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et je considérais, et voici, un bouc venant du couchant sur la face de toute la terre, et qui ne touchait pas la terre; et le bouc avait une corne de grande apparence entre ses yeux.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und während ich achtgab, siehe, da kam ein Ziegenbock von Westen her über die ganze Erde, und er berührte die Erde nicht; und der Bock hatte ein ansehnliches Horn zwischen seinen Augen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et ego intelligebam: ecce autem hircus caprarum veniebat ab occidente super faciem totius terræ, et non tangebat terram: porro hircus habebat cornu insigne inter oculos suos.