The first time we see a horn in the book of Daniel is in the seventh chapter. This chapter would then define the meaning of a horn. Here’s what it says:

And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings…Daniel 7:24

Let’s make sure we understand what it means by “king.”

You see, in my studies, I discovered that a horn in Bible prophecy is not just a king…it’s a kingship. What is a kingship, you ask? A kingship is all the kings that ruled a particular kingdom or empire. How do I know this? I know this because Daniel 8 actually reveals this. Notice what the prophet saw in Daniel 8:3.

Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

So the ram had two horns. Now, when I started learning about prophecy, I always believed that these two horns represented the two most prominent kings of Media and Persia—Darius and Cyrus. However, a closer look at this chapter reveals that the horns cannot be limited to just Darius and Cyrus. The reason we know this to be true is that the vision would continue by revealing to us that a goat with a notable horn would come and break the horns of the ram. Students of prophecy understand that this horn represents Alexander the Great. Now, I want you to think about this. Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC. However, Darius died in 486 BC and Cyrus died in 530 BC. Remember you count years in BC backward, so Darius and Cyrus died well over 100 years before Alexander the Great was even born! So how did Alexander the Great break Darius and Cyrus when these two rulers had already been dead? Simple, the horns represented not only Darius and Cyrus but all the kings of Media and Persia. So when Alexander the Great beat Darius III, and conquered Medo-Persia (which was really Persia at that point) Biblically, he conquered the kingships of those two powers.

Thus we should understand that a horn ALWAYS represents all the kings who ruled a particular territory while that kingdom is on prophecy’s stage.

Now, you will also discover that the horn on the goat only represented one king, which is Alexander the Great. However, you must understand that Alexander the Great was Greece’s only king, and thus we confirm that the definition of a horn is consistent across prophecy. It still represents all the kings of a nation, the difference is Greece only had one king.