And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground. (Dan. 8:15)
The prophet is said to have beheld the great he-goat coming “from the west over the face of the whole earth,” and also “touching not the ground,” reminiscent of the four wings in Daniel 7:6. These facts are significant for it was from far west of Persia that the swift Macedonian power originated.
The Notable Horn
The angel’s interpretation of Daniel’s vision offers further evidence which helps the reader identify a clear allusion to Alexander himself.
And the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. (Dan. 8:21)
This text describes the first king of the Grecian Empire, a king whose identity can historically match only one man: Alexander of Macedon.
The power succeeding the Persian Empire is identified in chapter 8:21 as ‘Grecia.’ This ‘Grecia’ must not be confused with the Greece of the classical period, insomuch as that period preceded the fall of Persia. The ‘Grecia’ of Daniel was the semi-Greek Macedonia Empire of Alexander the Great which inaugurated what is called the Hellenistic period. Not until Alexander’s day could reference be made to the ‘first king’ (Chapter 8 :21) of the Grecian Empire who was ‘a mighty king’ with ‘great dominion.’
Since Greece did not become a monarchy before Alexander’s time, but only after the defeat of the Persian Empire, the identification of Alexander as the “notable horn” or first king of Greece (Dan. 8:21) can then be considered an established fact.
Baldwin points out:
The specific identification of the two beasts provides the writers’ own understanding of the sequence of future events. He envisions one Medo-Persian Empire followed by a Greek Empire, inaugurated by one powerful king, the great horn, who in the event was Alexander the Great.
It is evident then scripturally, as well as historically, that the notable horn (or first king) upon the forehead of the he-goat, Grecia, represents Alexander the Great, the first king of the Greco-Macedonian Empire.