DAN 8:5 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT As I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.

UST While I was thinking about what I had seen, in the vision I saw a goat come from the west. It ran across the land very quickly, with the result that it seemed that its feet did not touch the ground. This goat had one very large horn between its eyes.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE As 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.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET While I was contemplating all this, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of all the land without touching the ground. This goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes.

LSV And I have been considering, and behold, a young male goat has come from the west, over the face of the whole earth, whom none is touching in the earth; as for the young male goat, a conspicuous horn [is] between its eyes.

FBV As I was thinking about what I'd seen, a male goat came in from the west, racing in across the surface of the earth so fast it didn't touch the ground. It had a large, prominent horn between its eyes.

T4T While I was thinking about what I had seen, in the vision I saw a goat come from the west. It ran across the land so quickly, that it seemed like its feet did not touch the ground. This goat had one very large horn between its eyes.

LEB And I was considering this, and look, a he-goat coming from the west across the face of the whole earth, and it was not touching the ground;[fn] and the he-goat had _⌊a conspicuous horn_⌋[fn] between its eyes.

8:5 Or “earth,” or “land”

8:5 Literally “a horn of vision”

BBE And 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.

Moff As I was brooding over this, a he-goat from the west pushed over the whole world, scouring the earth swiftly without touching it. The goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.

JPS And 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 conspicuous horn between his eyes.

ASV And 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.

DRA And I understood: and behold a he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and he touched not the ground, and the he 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.

Drby And 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.

RV And as I was considering, behold, an 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.

SLT And I was considering, and behold, a he goat of the goats came from the west upon the face of all the earth, and not touching upon the earth: and the he goat a horn of vision between his eyes.

Wbstr And 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.

KJB-1769 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.[fn][fn]

8.5 touched…: or, none touched him in the earth

8.5 a notable…: Heb. a horn of sight

KJB-1611 [fn][fn]And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came frō the west on the face of the whole earth, & touched not the ground: and the goate had a notable horne betweene his eyes.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation and footnotes))

8:5 Or, none touched him in the earth.

8:5 Hebr. a horne of sight.

Bshps And as I considered, beholde there came a hee goate from the west, ouer the whole earth, and touched not the grounde: and this goate had a horne appeared betwixt his eyes.
(And as I considered, behold there came a he goat from the west, over the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and this goat had a horn appeared betwixt his eyes.)

Gnva And as I considered, beholde, a goate came from the West ouer the whole earth, and touched not the grounde: and this goate had an horne that appeared betweene his eyes.
(And as I considered, behold, a goat came from the West over the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and this goat had an horn that appeared between his eyes. )

Cvdl I toke hede vnto this, and then came there an hegoate from the west, ouer the whole earth, and touched not the grounde. This goate had a maruelous goodly horne betwixte his eyes,
(I took heed unto this, and then came there an hegoate from the west, over the whole earth, and touched not the ground. This goat had a marvellous goodly horn between his eyes,)

Wycl And Y vndurstood. Lo! forsothe a buk of geet cam fro the west on the face of al erthe, and touchide not the erthe; forsothe the buk of geet hadde a noble horn bitwixe hise iyen;
(And I understood. Lo! for_certain/truly a buck of goat came from the west on the face of all earth, and touched not the earth; for_certain/truly the buck of goat had a noble horn between his eyes;)

Luth Und indem ich darauf merkte, siehe, so kommt ein Ziegenbock vom Abend her über die ganze Erde, daß er die Erde nicht rührete; und der Bock hatte ein ansehnlich Horn zwischen seinen Augen.
(And by I on_it noticed, see/look, so comes a billy-goat from_the evening/night her above the whole/all earth/land/ground, that he the earth/land/ground not stirred/moved/touched; and the/of_the Bock had a at/toehnlich Horn between his eyes.)

ClVg 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.
(And I intelligebam: behold however goat goats he_was_coming away west over face of_the_whole of_the_earth/land, and not/no tangebat the_earth/land: besides/further goat had horn emblem/badge between the_eyes his_own. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 8:1–27 Daniel had a dream about a ram and a goat

At this point in the narrative, the author of the book of Daniel again began to write in the Hebrew language. He described another vision, this one occurring during the third year of Belshazzar’s reign over Babylon. In this vision Daniel was by the bank of a canal near the city of Susa. He saw a very powerful ram with two horns that charged in all directions. Next he saw a goat with one large horn between its eyes. The goat attacked and defeated the ram and grew very powerful. Its large horn broke and four prominent horns grew in its place. From one of those four horns grew a small horn. That little horn grew as high as the stars, as high as the army of heaven, and as high as the commander of the army. When it was at its highest, it stopped the daily sacrifices and desecrated the temple.

The angel Gabriel came to Daniel and explained the meaning of what he had seen. The ram and the goat represented kings and their kingdoms. The little horn represented a particularly wicked king. That king would even defy God, but in the end that wicked king would be destroyed.

Some versions have two headings within this section. For example:

NET Daniel Has a Vision of a Goat and a Ram (8:1)

An Angel Interprets Daniel’s Vision (8:15)

NRSV Vision of a Ram and a Goat (8:1)

Gabriel Interprets the Vision (8:15)

GNT Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

The Angel Gabriel Explains the Vision (8:15)

BFrCL88 Second vision: the Ram and the Goat (8:1)

Interpretation of the second vision (8:15)

GeCL97 A second vision: The battle between the Ram and the Goat (8:1)

The meaning of the vision of the ram and the goat (8:15)

There are a number of similarities between chapter eight and chapter seven. For example, both chapters use symbolic language to describe kingdoms, and both use the symbol of a horn to refer to particular rulers of those kingdoms. In spite of these similarities, it is important to understand that the symbols in the two chapters do not necessarily refer to the same things. For example, while there are similarities between the two little horns, there are also important differences. The Notes will explain some of these differences. The Notes will also suggest ways to translate these symbols.

As noted above, the chapter is divided into two parts, one that describes the vision and one that gives the interpretation of the vision. Both parts lead to a climax. In the first part the horn grew until it became so great that it succeeded in everything it did (8:12). A similar sequence of events occurs in the second part of the vision. Gabriel described the growth of the horn and its climactic success (8:24–26). At the end of the chapter, Gabriel announced that God would destroy the horn (8:25).

The vision includes a number of images that may seem obscure and confusing. It is usually best to translate these images in a literal way. Even Daniel did not understand the full meaning of what he saw.

Paragraph 8:5–7

In Daniel’s vision a male goat appeared and attacked the ram.

8:5a

As I was contemplating all this,

¶ While I was thinking about this,
¶ While I was paying attention to what was happening,

As I was contemplating all this: The Hebrew clause that the BSB translates as As I was contemplating all this indicates that Daniel was paying attention to what was happening in his dream. The Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as contemplating can include the ideas of both observing and considering something. Use the verb that is most natural for referring to paying attention to something that is happening in a dream. There is no explicit object, and the BSB has supplied the words all this. Here are some other ways to translate this:

While I was contemplating all this (NET)

While I was watching this (NCV)

8:5b

suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west,

I saw a he-goat coming from the west. It had a big/conspicuous horn between its eyes.
suddenly there appeared in the west a male goat with a long horn between its eyes.

suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as suddenly calls attention to something surprising or important. Call attention to the appearance of the goat in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

there appeared a goat, coming from the west, a great horn protruding between its eyes

look! a goat came prancing from the west, a long horn on its forehead

a goat: The Hebrew phrase that the BSB translates as a goat refers to a male goat. The English words for male goat (buck, billy) are not in common use, so the NLT says:

a male goat (NLT)

a prominent horn between his eyes: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as prominent describes something that can easily be seen, that is, is conspicuous or noticeable. Here is another way to translate this:

a conspicuous horn between his eyes (ESV)

came out of the west: The goat came out of the west from the point of view of someone in Persia. The goat is said in 8:21 to represent Greece, which is west of Persia.

8:5c

crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground.

It traveled across the entire earth so quickly that it did not even touch the ground.
It rushed/bounded all the way to the east. It ran/moved so fast that its feet did not seem/appear to touch the ground.

crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground: The goat quickly moved across the earth from the west to the east, where Daniel was situated. It approached at such a great speed that it appeared that its feet did not even touch the ground. The GNT makes this explicit:

moving so fast that his feet didn’t touch the ground (GNT)

General Comment on 8:25a–c

The BSB and some other English versions have reordered the Hebrew clauses. In some languages it may be natural to follow the Hebrew order of clauses and information, as the NRSV has done: