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Daniel 8:5
ESV As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.
NIV As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground.
NASB While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a prominent horn between his eyes.
CSB As I was observing, a male goat appeared, coming from the west across the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.
NLT While I was watching, suddenly a male goat appeared from the west, crossing the land so swiftly that he didn’t even touch the ground. This goat, which had one very large horn between its eyes,
KJV 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.

What does Daniel 8:5 mean?

Daniel's vision (Daniel 8:1) has included a male sheep—a ram (Daniel 8:2–3)—running wild without any restrictions. This will later be interpreted as the Medo-Persian empire (Daniel 8:20). As Daniel watched, another animal appeared: a goat. As with much of Old Testament prophecy, the imagery is dramatic and symbolic.

The goat doesn't touch the ground as it moves; this implies tremendous speed. Upcoming verses show this animal charging at and defeating the ram already seen (Daniel 8:6–7). Later, an angel will explain that this goat represents the kingship of Greece—located west of Medo-Persia—and that the horn represents the first king (Daniel 8:21). This parallels Daniel's earlier dream of a four-winged leopard (Daniel 7:6), which also represented Greece. This prophecy predicts Alexander the Great, who led Greece to conquest, only to fall and be replaced by four successors (Daniel 8:8, 22).
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