Big Idea: Even though powerful, evil rulers oppose God and his angels, persecute his people, and defile his sanctuary, God emerges victorious in the end.

Understanding the Text

Daniel 8:1–27 is woven into the book’s overall literary structure in several ways. First, it is the second of Daniel’s four apocalyptic visions, as well as the second of two paired, symbolic visions (chaps. 7 and 8). Second, it advances the already reset chronology of chapter 7. Third, it begins the concentric Hebrew section of Daniel (chaps. 8–12) that parallels the book’s Hebrew prologue (chap. 1). Fourth, it forms a chiastic pair with the literary unit of Daniel 10–12, sharing a common focus on Greek persecutions of Judea, while framing chapter 9, where the mysterious “seventy sevens” appear.1

The focus in 8:1–14 on…