(6) Ran unto him.—The wonderful rapidity of Alexander’s movements, incredible, if it were not so well attested in history, is here pointed out. From the battle of Granicus to that of Arbela only three years elapsed. During this brief period the whole Persian empire fell to pieces.

Daniel 8:6-7. And he came to the ram that had two horns, &c. — “The ram had before pushed westward, and the Persians, in the reign of Darius Hystaspes and Xerxes, had poured down with great armies into Greece; but now the Grecians, in return, carried their arms into Asia, and the he- goat invaded the ram that had invaded him. And he came to the ram &c., which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. One can hardly read these words without having some image of Darius’s army standing and guarding the river Granicus, and of Alexander on the other side, with his forces plunging in, swimming across the stream, and rushing on the enemy with all the fire and fury that can be imagined. And I saw him come close unto the ram — He had several close engagements, or set battles, with the king of Persia, and particularly at Granicus in Phrygia, at the straits of Issus in Cilicia, and in the plains of Arbela, in Assyria. And he was moved with choler against him — For the cruelties which the Persians had exercised toward the Grecians; and for Darius’s attempting to corrupt sometimes his soldiers to betray him, and sometimes his friends to destroy him: so that he would not listen to the most advantageous offers of peace, but determined to pursue the Persian king, not as a generous and noble enemy, but as a poisoner and a murderer, to the death which he deserved. And smote the ram, and brake his two horns — He subdued Persia and Media, with other provinces and kingdoms of the Persian empire; and it is remarkable, that in Persia he barbarously sacked and burned the royal city of Persepolis, the capital of the empire; and in Media, Darius was seized and made prisoner by some of his own treacherous subjects, who not long afterward basely murdered him. And there was no power in the ram to stand before him, &c. — He conquered wherever he came; routed all the forces, took all the cities and castles, and entirely subverted and ruined the Persian empire. And there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand — Not even his numerous armies could defend the king of Persia, though his forces in the battle of Issus amounted to 600,000 men, and in that of Arbela, to 10 or 1100,000, whereas the whole number of Alexander’s was not more than 47,000 in either engagement.” — Bishop Newton.

8:1-14 God gives Daniel a foresight of the destruction of other kingdoms, which in their day were as powerful as that of Babylon. Could we foresee the changes that shall be when we are gone, we should be less affected with changes in our own day. The ram with two horns was the second empire, that of Media and Persia. He saw this ram overcome by a he-goat. This was Alexander the Great. Alexander, when about thirty-three years of age, and in his full strength, died, and showed the vanity of worldly pomp and power, and that they cannot make a man happy. While men dispute, as in the case of Alexander, respecting the death of some prosperous warrior, it is plain that the great First Cause of all had no more of his plan for him to execute, and therefore cut him off. Instead of that one great horn, there came up four notable ones, Alexander's four chief captains. A little horn became a great persecutor of the church and people of God. It seems that the Mohammedan delusion is here pointed out. It prospered, and at one time nearly destroyed the holy religion God's right hand had planted. It is just with God to deprive those of the privileges of his house who despise and profane them; and to make those know the worth of ordinances by the want of them, who would not know it by the enjoyment of them. Daniel heard the time of this calamity limited and determined; but not the time when it should come. If we would know the mind of God, we must apply to Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; not hid from us, but hid for us. There is much difficulty as to the precise time here stated, but the end of it cannot be very distant. God will, for his own glory, see to the cleansing of the church in due time. Christ died to cleanse his church; and he will so cleanse it as to present it blameless to himself.And he came to the ram ... - Representing the Medo-Persian power.

And ran unto him in the fury of his power - Representing the fierceness and fury with which Alexander attacked the Persians at the Granicus, at Issus, and at Arbela, with which he invaded and overthrew them in their own country. Nothing would better express this than to say that it was done in "the fury of power."

6. standing before the river—Ulai. It was at the "river" Granicus that Alexander fought his first victorious battle against Darius, 334 B.C. The ram that had two horns, i.e. the king of Media and Persia, and joined battle presently and furiously, Jehu like.

And he came to the ram that had two horns,.... Alexander being chosen and made by the states of Greece captain general of all Greece against the Persians, marched from thence with his army, passed the Hellespont, and entered into the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, signified by the ram with two horns, and came up to Darius Codomannus, possessed of this large monarchy, and at the head of a numerous army:

which I had seen standing before the river; the river Ulai, near to Shushan, the royal seat of the kings of Persia; here Darius stood in his royal majesty and dignity, as the defender of his empire, and unconcerned at the attempt of Alexander, having nothing to fear, as he thought, from such a puny adversary:

and ran unto him in the fury of his power; or, "heat of his power" (b); which denotes the haste Alexander made with his army into Asia; his eager desire, and the fervour of his mind to engage with the Persians: the historian says, that he passed the Hellespont into Asia, "incredibli ardore mentis accensus"; fired with an incredible ardour of mind: and a little after, having conquered the rebels of Pisidia, he marched against Darius, "summo mentis ardore"; with the greatest ardour of mind, and with no less alacrity (c); which exactly agrees with the sacred text. The running of the he goat to the ram in a hostile way is described in allusion to the manner of those creatures when they fight with one another, or attack an enemy.

(b) "fervore virtutis suae", Munster; "cum ardore virium suarum", Cocceius; "in aestu robaris sui", Michaelis. (c) Supplem. in Curt. l. 2. p. 26, 28.

And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.