但以理书 8
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
公绵羊和公山羊的异象
8 在看见先前的异象之后，我但以理在伯沙撒王执政第三年又看见一个异象。 2 我在异象中看见自己在以拦省的书珊城，又看见自己站在乌莱河畔。 3 我举目观看，见一只长着长角的公绵羊站在河边，其中一角比另一角长，较长的角是后长出来的。 4 我看见这公绵羊向西方、北方和南方顶撞，没有兽能抵挡它，或逃脱它的威力。它随心所欲，狂妄自大。
5 我正沉思的时候，忽然从西面出现一只公山羊，穿越大地，脚不沾地。它双眼之间有一个大角。 6 这公山羊来到我之前看见的那只站在河边的双角公绵羊那里，愤怒地向它顶去。 7 我看见公山羊愤怒地顶向公绵羊，攻击它，折断了它的双角。公绵羊无力抵挡，被撞倒在地，践踏在脚下，无人能救它脱离公山羊的威力。 8 公山羊极其狂妄自大。但正值鼎盛之时，它的大角突然折断，在原处又长出四个奇特的角，朝着天的四方。 9 其中一个角又长出一个小角，向南方、东方和佳美之地[a]扩张势力。 10 它逐渐强大，高及天军，将一些天军和星宿抛到地上，用脚践踏。 11 它狂妄自大，要与天军的统帅比高，它废除日常献给祂的祭，毁坏祂的圣所。 12 因为反叛的缘故，天军和日常所献的祭都交给了它。它将真理抛在地上，它所行的无不顺利。
13 接着，我听见一位圣者在说话，另一位圣者问他：“异象中出现的有关日常所献的祭，毁灭性的反叛和践踏圣所及天军的事要持续多久呢？” 14 他对我说：“两千三百个昼夜。之后，圣所才会洁净。”
解释异象
15 我但以理看见这异象，正想明白它的意思，忽然有一个外貌像人的站在我面前。 16 我听见有人声从乌莱河两岸之间呼喊：“加百列啊，要让此人明白这异象。” 17 于是，他朝我站的地方走来，当他走来的时候，我吓得俯伏在地。他对我说：“人子啊，你要明白，这异象是关于末后的时期。” 18 他和我说话的时候，我伏在地上昏睡过去，他便轻拍我，扶我起来， 19 对我说：“我要告诉你将来上帝发烈怒时所发生的事，因为这异象是关于那定好的末后时期。 20 你看见的那只有两角的公绵羊指玛代和波斯的诸王。 21 公山羊指希腊王，在它双眼之间的大角指第一个王。 22 大角折断后，从原处长出四个角表示四个国必从这国兴起，但都不及这国强大。 23 在四国的末期，人们恶贯满盈的时候，必有一个面貌凶恶、诡计多端的王兴起。 24 他势力强大，却不是靠自己的力量。他必带来可怕的毁灭，而且凡事亨通，他必毁灭强者和圣民。 25 他利用诡计和骗术得逞，心高气傲，乘人不备突然毁灭许多人，甚至要攻击万君之君，然而他终必被击垮，但并非被人的手击垮。 26 异象中所说的两千三百个昼夜是真的。但你要保密，不可告诉别人，因为这指的是遥远的将来。”
27 我但以理精疲力尽，病了几天。后来我起来照常办理王的事务，但我对这异象感到惊奇不已，不明白它的意思。
Daniel 8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 8
The Ram and the He-goat.[a] 1 After this first vision, I, Daniel, had another, in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar. 2 In my vision I saw myself in the fortress of Susa[b] in the province of Elam; I was beside the river Ulai. 3 I looked up and saw standing by the river a ram with two great horns, the one larger and newer than the other. 4 I saw the ram butting toward the west, north, and south. No beast could withstand it or be rescued from its power; it did what it pleased and grew powerful.
5 As I was reflecting, a he-goat with a prominent horn on its forehead suddenly came from the west across the whole earth without touching the ground. 6 It came to the two-horned ram I had seen standing by the river, and rushed toward it with savage force. 7 I saw it reach the ram; enraged, the he-goat attacked and shattered both its horns. The ram did not have the strength to withstand it; the he-goat threw the ram to the ground and trampled upon it. No one could rescue the ram from its power.
8 The he-goat grew very powerful, but at the height of its strength the great horn was shattered, and in its place came up four others, facing the four winds of heaven. 9 Out of one of them came a little horn[c] which grew and grew toward the south, the east, and the glorious land. 10 It grew even to the host of heaven,[d] so that it cast down to earth some of the host and some of the stars and trampled on them. 11 It grew even to the Prince of the host, from whom the daily sacrifice was removed, and whose sanctuary was cast down. 12 The host was given over together with the daily sacrifice in the course of transgression. It cast truth to the ground, and was succeeding in its undertaking.
13 I heard a holy one speaking, and another said to whichever one it was that spoke, “How long shall the events of this vision last concerning the daily sacrifice, the desolating sin,[e] the giving over of the sanctuary and the host for trampling?” 14 He answered him, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be set right.”
15 While I, Daniel, sought the meaning of the vision I had seen, one who looked like a man stood before me, 16 and on the Ulai I heard a human voice that cried out, “Gabriel,[f] explain the vision to this man.” 17 When he came near where I was standing, I fell prostrate in terror. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision refers to the end time.”[g] 18 As he spoke to me, I fell forward unconscious; he touched me and made me stand up. 19 “I will show you,” he said, “what is to happen in the last days of wrath; for it is for the appointed time of the end.
20 “The two-horned ram you saw represents the kings of the Medes and Persians.[h] 21 The he-goat is the king of the Greeks, and the great horn on its forehead is the first king. 22 The four that rose in its place when it was shattered are four kingdoms that will issue from his nation, but without his strength.
23 “At the end of their reign,
when sinners have reached their measure,
There shall arise a king,
impudent, and skilled in intrigue.
24 He shall be strong and powerful,
bring about fearful ruin,
and succeed in his undertaking.
He shall destroy powerful peoples;
25 his cunning shall be against the holy ones,
his treacherous conduct shall succeed.
He shall be proud of heart
and destroy many by stealth.
But when he rises against the Prince of princes,
he shall be broken without a hand being raised.
26 As for the vision of the evenings and the mornings,
what was spoken is true.
But you, keep this vision secret:
it is for the distant future.”
27 I, Daniel, was weak and ill for some days; then I arose and took care of the king’s affairs. But the vision left me desolate, without understanding.
Footnotes
- 8:1–27 This vision continues images of the preceding one, and develops it in more detail. As explained in vv. 20–22 the two-horned ram represents the combined kingdom of the Medes and Persians, destroyed by Alexander’s Hellenistic empire originating in the west. Once again the author is interested only in the Seleucid dynasty, which emerged from the dissolution of Alexander’s empire after his death in 323 B.C.
- 8:2 The fortress of Susa: the royal palace of the Persian kings in the ancient territory of Elam, east of Babylonia. The river Ulai: a canal along the northern side of Susa. Some scholars argue that the Hebrew word understood as “river” here should instead be translated “gate.”
- 8:9 A little horn: as in chap. 7, Antiochus IV. The glorious land: Israel.
- 8:10–12 The host of heaven: the angelic host, symbolized by the stars. The Prince of the host: the Most High God, whose worship Antiochus suppressed (1 Mc 1:45).
- 8:13 The desolating sin: the Hebrew contains a wordplay (shomem) on the name Baal Shamem (“lord of the heavens,” identified by some as the Greek Zeus Olympios). The reference is to some object with which Antiochus profaned the Temple of Jerusalem (2 Mc 6:2), most probably a pagan altar.
- 8:16 The angel Gabriel is mentioned here for the first time in the Bible. There is wordplay in the preceding verse on geber, “manlike figure.”
- 8:17 The end time: the time when God sits in judgment on the wicked (v. 19).
- 8:20 The Medes and Persians: the Medes had been allies of the Babylonians in destroying the Assyrian empire (late seventh century B.C.), and Cyrus the Persian defeated the Medes en route to conquering the Babylonians. The Book of Daniel, however, treats the Medes and Persians as a dual kingdom; cf. also 5:28; 6:9; and note on 6:1.
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