Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Daniel 8:5

One thing you need to know is that a decree was enacted that Israel would be subjugated to four kingdoms, not counting the period of servitude in Egypt, for Israel was not yet a people and not designated as the people of God until they entered the land and constructed the Temple. These four nations were revealed to our father Abraham during “the covenant between the pieces” [Gen. 15], just as they were shown to Daniel.¹⁴⁰See Daniel 8. The three year old calf of Abraham’s vision is the kingdom of Babylon, that is to say Nebuchadnezzar its king; the three-year old goat is Greece, that is, Alexander the Macedonian, and he is the ram [tzfir ‘izim] mentioned in Daniel [8:4]. The turtledove represents Rome, also known as Edom.

And its visibility (וַחֲזוֹתֵ֖הּ): [Meaning] its branches/foliage (שֶׂעֲפָיו - se'apayiv). [Ibn Ezra interprets the tree's visibility as stemming from its extensive branches/foliage]. And similar to it [using the root ח.ז.ה related to vision/appearance] is: “a conspicuous horn” (קֶרֶן חָזוּת - keren chazut) [found in Daniel 8:5], because it [the horn] has the likeness of branches/foliage (שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ כִּדְמוּת שְׂעִיפִים - sheyesh lo kidmut s'ifim). [Ibn Ezra interprets keren chazut not just as 'visible' but as prominent or conspicuous like spreading branches, linking the concept of visibility/appearance in both verses to the idea of branching structure].

[Daniel 4:9] Its foliage (עׇפְיֵ֤הּ): Yefet [ben Ali] says [this means] its branches (עֲנָפָיו - anafayv). And similar to it [using a related word for foliage/branches] is: “from among the foliage (עֳפָאיִם) they give voice” [Psalms 104:12]. He [Yefet] also interpreted “and its visibility” (vachazoteh, from the previous verse [Daniel 4:8]) as its thickness/density (עֳבִיּוֹ - ovyo), and similarly [interpreted] “a conspicuous horn” (keren chazut, from Daniel 8:5) [in terms of its thickness or prominence rather than branching structure as Ibn Ezra preferred]. And some [other commentators] say that “its foliage” (ofyeh) means its leaves (עָלָיו - alav).