What does Daniel 8:3 mean?

The first thing Daniel sees in his second vision (Daniel 7:1; 8:1–2) is a ram: a male sheep. The animal's horns are large but mismatched. Daniel's comment that one horn "came up" later implies that he's seeing them grow. The later growing one became the larger of the two. Later in this chapter, Daniel will be told that this ram represents the Medo-Persian empire (Daniel 8:20). This book contains several prophetic references to Medo-Persia, most of which mention a two-part nature.

Nebuchadnezzar's dream depicted Medo-Persia as the two-armed torso of a statue (Daniel 2:32). Daniel's recent vision saw it as a bear, with one side raised above the other (Daniel 7:5). Both Nebuchadnezzar's dream and Daniel's vision depicted future events. Over time, the Persian part of the empire became dominant. Yet the Medo-Persians had not eclipsed the Babylonian empire when Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about the statue, when Daniel dreamed of the bear, or when Daniel saw the ram in his vision. History told in advance is one of the supernatural markers of God's written Word. It provides evidence that Scripture is inspired.