Daniel 11 Study Notes

11:21-35 Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BC), the little horn in 8:9-12,23-25 (cp. notes there), is emphasized in this section because he would have a terrible and oppressive effect on the Jewish people in the near term, and his reign is a picture of the future world ruler (the antichrist) who will also oppress the Jewish people.

11:21 Antiochus IV was not of the royal line, but took control by intrigue while the rightful heir, Demetrius, was held in Rome. The prediction called him a despised person because of his hatred of the Jewish people, his attempt to destroy Judaism, his desecration of the temple, and his megalomania displayed in calling himself Epiphanes (“Manifest One, Illustrious One”). People of that time also called him Epimanes (“madman”).

11:22 Despite Ptolemy VI Philometor (181-146 BC) attacking with a flood of forces, Antiochus IV would be able to defeat them and depose the covenant prince, the Jewish high priest Onias III.

11:23-24 Antiochus IV would increase in power by sharing the wealth of his conquests, lavishing plunder, loot, and wealth on his followers.

11:25-26 These verses refer back to the war with Ptolemy VI (v. 22), predicting that not only would the power of Antiochus IV defeat Ptolemy VI, but also that plots . . . against him would cause his army to be swept away.

11:27-28 After the defeat of Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VII took control of Egypt. Then the other two kings, Antiochus IV and Ptolemy VI, would meet, speaking lies at the same table, to plot Ptolemy VI’s restoration to the throne. After initial limited success, they would eventually fail. Then Antiochus IV (the king of the North), having plundered Egypt, would return to his land, with his heart . . . set against the holy covenant. On the way home, he would attack Israel, kill eighty thousand Jewish men, women, and children, and plunder the holy temple (169 BC).

11:29-30 Antiochus IV would launch another attack against Egypt, but this time ships of Kittim (cp. Nm 24:24)—the Roman fleet led by Gaius Popilius Laenas—would force him to withdraw in humiliation.

11:31-32 Antiochus IV would once again attack Israel (167 BC) while returning to Syria, this time desecrating the temple in Jerusalem. Antiochus would prefigure the future antichrist’s actions (9:27; 12:11) by abolishing the regular sacrifice and committing the abomination of desolation. In response, the people who know their God will . . . take action, as expressed in the Maccabean revolt (see note at 8:13-14).

11:33-35 The Maccabees would experience suffering in their battle with Antiochus. In the end, the Maccabees would defeat Antiochus, rededicate the holy temple in Jerusalem, and establish the festival of Hanukkah (Eng “Dedication”) which the Lord Jesus celebrated (Jn 10:22) and which Jewish people still observe today.

11:36-45 At this point, the predictions shift away from Antiochus IV and focus on the end of days. The king mentioned in this section is the future antichrist, already identified as the “little” horn (7:8,20,24-25) and “the coming ruler” (9:26).

11:36-39 These verses provide a clear description of the future antichrist. The god desired by women (lit “the desire of women”) may be a reference to the longing of Jewish women to give birth to the Messiah.

11:40-44 During the great tribulation, the antichrist will be attacked in a pincer movement from both the north and the south. Yet he will be successful, sweeping through like a flood. He will also invade Israel, the beautiful land, ignoring some nations that are in alliance with him but conquering others, including Egypt, Libya, and Sudan (the Cushites). Reports of nations from the east and the north coming to attack will both terrify and infuriate him, leading him to pursue a course of genocidal warfare against his enemies, especially many of the Jewish people (cp. Zch 13:8-9).

11:45 The antichrist will establish his military capital in Israel, pitching his royal tents between the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Jerusalem, situated on the beautiful holy mountain. There the nations of the earth will gather (Zch 14:2) at Mount Megiddo to begin the campaign of Armageddon (Rv 16:13-16). At that time, when the nation of Israel calls on the Messiah Jesus, he will return (Mt 23:37-39) to deliver them, and the antichrist will meet his end with no one to help him.