What is the context?
A goat with a prominent horn comes rapidly from the west, crossing the earth without touching the ground. It attacks the ram furiously, breaks both horns and tramples the ram. Now it is the ram that has no deliverer.
At the height of the goat’s power, its great horn breaks. Four horns replace it, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.
Gabriel’s later explanation identifies the goat with Greece, the great horn with its first king, and the four horns with four kingdoms that rise afterward. The succession shows how quickly the power that overthrows one kingdom can itself be divided.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry and Wesley identify the prominent horn with Alexander the Great and the replacement horns with the divisions of his empire. Both see the breaking of the great horn as the end of the conqueror’s own rule.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.