Hebrew

Some Adventist scholars, who believe that the little horn of Daniel 8 did not arise from Greece, as the symbol of the Goat indicates, have suggested that the little horn comes from one of the "four winds" of heaven, rather than out of one of the four horns of the Goat. They claim the Hebrew allows for this possible interpretation. Let’s investigate.

Daniel 8:8,9 - ..and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn..."

In Hebrew, words can be feminine, masculine, or neutral. In Dan. 8:9, the word "them" is masculine. Since "horns" is feminine, and "winds" can be either masculine or feminine, SDA scholars have suggested the word "them" must refer to "winds". And they fervently contend, that the little horn arose out of one of the four winds, separate from the Grecian Kingdom.

Why does it matter? The SDA realizes that if the ‘horn’ came out of one of the four divisions of Greece then their foundational doctrine is false; so they must contend that the little horn came out of the ‘wind’, and of course they will explain that this ‘wind’ is the far west wind of Italy. We believe with just a little study of this issue that the reader will see that the SDA reasoning for this is rather shallow.

Does Daniel 8:8 even use the word “Horns”?

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.

The actual Hebrew uses the term “four chazuwth” or four ‘appearances’, the word horns is “qeren” in the Hebrew and it is not used in reference to the four divisions. Chazuwth is the word that Daniel uses and it is a neutral word, this simply means the word ‘them’ could easily refer to the “Chazuwth”.

Also we must consider that the word "one" in Daniel 8:9 is feminine which would seem to link it back to the feminine "horns". Therefore, if we were to look only at linguistics, we cannot determine for certainty whether the little horn arose from the winds or the other horn; thus the reader would have to rely upon the context.

What does the context teach?

The context teaches that it does not matter if the verse read “And out of one of the four winds came forth a little horn” or “And out of one of the four notable ones came forth a little horn”: Because it does not change the fact that the horn from littleness rose from one of the four Grecian provinces. Let me explain: The prophecy of Daniel 8 clearly teaches that at the death of the first king of Greece, the empire would be divided toward the four winds (in four directions); which simply means there would be a northern province, a southern province, an eastern province and a western province. And of course the prophecy was fulfilled exactly; After the death of Alexander, Greece was divided among his four generals. Ptolemy, began a dynasty in Egypt (South); and Seleucus did the same in Syria (North). Lycemicus took over Asia Minor (east) and Cassander took Mesopotamia (West).

Instead of referring to these provinces by name Daniel refers to them by their wind or direction. For example he refers to Syria and Egypt as the North and South in the following verses.

Daniel 11:4-6 "And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven… Also the king of the South shall become strong… the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement…

The SDA Bible commentary will also agree that the ‘North’ is Syria, and the South is Egypt in these verses. Thus we see that out of one of the four winds, would mean the same thing as out of one of the four horns; which would simply mean out of one of the four provinces of Greece.

Those who insist that the ‘horn of littleness’ of Daniel 8 is the Roman Papacy run into quite a few difficulties.

First they must have a horn that is not attached to a beast.. A student of prophecy will quickly note that this is impossible. Horns represent kings, kings come out of kingdoms, and there cannot be a king without a kingdom. Beasts represent kingdoms and the only two kingdoms mentioned in Daniel 8 are Persia and Greece. No where in the bible do 'horns' grow out of the wind.

Secondly, the SDA teaches that the little horn is the Papacy. The Papacy came up out of the Roman beast among 10 other horns. Rome was not divided until 476 AD; the Papacy cannot be said to have appeared on the world’s stage as a ‘horn’ prior to this. Yet this ‘horn of littleness’ comes up at the latter end of the Grecian Empire, which fell around 160 BC (Daniel 8:23).

Thirdly, the first move of this ‘horn of littleness’ is to go against the South; if Rome literally went south it would be in the sea. If ‘South’ is symbolic of Egypt, then this description does not fit Rome, because Egypt was not its first conquest.

The meaning of the vision of Daniel 8 is too simple to ignore. Greece would be divided into four provinces and in the latter days of the Grecian Empire a King from one of the four provinces would attack Judea and cause 2300 sacrifices ‘evening and morning’ to cease; then the sanctuary would be put right again. The following are some bible translations that clearly show that the ‘horn of littleness’ came out of one of the four provinces of Greece.

Daniel 8:8-9 The goat became very powerful. But at the height of its power, its large horn was broken off. In the large horn’s place grew four prominent horns pointing in the four directions of the earth. From one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel. (NLT)

Daniel 8:8-9 so the male goat became very great. But when he was strong, his big horn broke off and four horns grew in place of the one big horn. Those four horns pointed in four different directions and were easy to see. Then a little horn grew from one of those four horns, and it became very big. It grew to the south, the east, and toward the beautiful land of Judah. (NCV)

Daniel 8:8-9 The goat grew more and more arrogant, but at the height of his power his horn was broken. In its place four prominent horns came up, each pointing in a different direction. Out of one of these four horns grew a little horn, whose power extended towards the south and the east and towards the Promised Land. (GNB)

Daniel 8:8-9 The male goat became very important. But when the goat became powerful, his large horn broke off. In its place grew four horns. They corresponded to the four winds of heaven. 9Out of one of the horns came a small horn. It gained power over the south, the east, and the beautiful land. (GWTB)

Daniel 8:8-9 ‘And the young he-goat hath exerted itself very much, and when it is strong, broken hath been the great horn; and come up doth a vision of four in its place, at the four winds of the heavens. And from the one of them come forth hath a little horn, and it exerteth itself greatly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beauteous land; YLT

Daniel 8:8-9 Then the he-goat made a great display of its strength. Powerful as it was, its great horn snapped and in its place there sprang out towards the four quarters of heaven four prominent horns. 9 Out of one of them there issued one small horn, which made a prodigious show of strength south and east and towards the fairest of all lands. (EB)

Daniel 8:8-9 The he-goat in turn made a great display of its strength, but when it was at the height of its power its great horn broke, and in the place of this there came up four prominent horns pointing towards the four quarters of heaven. 9 Out of one of them there emerged a little horn, which as it grew put forth its strength towards the south and the east and towards the fairest of all lands. (REB)

Daniel 8:8-9 After this, the goat became even more powerful. But at the peak of his power, his mighty horn was broken, and four other mighty horns took its place—one pointing to the north and one to the east, one to the south and one to the west. 9 A little horn came from one of these, and its power reached to the south, the east, and even to the holy land. (CEV)

Daniel 8:8-9 The victor became both proud and powerful, but suddenly, at the height of his power, his horn was broken, and in its place grew four good-sized horns pointing in four directions. 9One of these, growing slowly at first, soon became very strong and attacked the south and east, and warred against the land of Israel. (LB)

Daniel 8:8-9 The male goat became very important. But when the goat became powerful, his large horn broke off. In its place grew four horns. They corresponded to the four winds of heaven. 9Out of one of the horns came a small horn. It gained power over the south, the east, and the beautiful land. (GW)

Daniel 8:8-9 Then the billy goat swelled to an enormous size. At the height of its power its immense horn broke off and four other big horns sprouted in its place, pointing to the four points of the compass. 9 And then from one of these big horns another horn sprouted. It started small, but then it grew to an enormous size, facing south and east—toward lovely Palestine. (The Message)

BACK HOME

Babylon Forsaken
Ministries

"Come out of her My people" - Jesus Christ

IS DANIEL 8'S HORN FROM ITALY?