
Text -- Daniel 11:31 (NET)




Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Not only of his own army, but many Jews.

The statue of Jupiter placed in the temple.
Namely, of the human body; not weapons; human forces.

JFB: Dan 11:31 - -- Antiochus' hosts confederate with the apostate Israelites; these latter attain the climax of guilt, when they not only, as before, "forsake the covena...
Antiochus' hosts confederate with the apostate Israelites; these latter attain the climax of guilt, when they not only, as before, "forsake the covenant" (Dan 11:30), but "do wickedly against" it (Dan 11:32), turning complete heathens. Here Antiochus' actings are described in language which reach beyond him the type to Antichrist the antitype [JEROME] (just as in Psa. 72:1-20 many things are said of Solomon the type, which are only applicable to Christ the Antitype); including perhaps Rome, Mohammed, and the final personal Antichrist. SIR ISAAC NEWTON refers the rest of the chapter from this verse to the Romans, translating, "after him arms (that is, the Romans) shall stand up"; at the very time that Antiochus left Egypt, the Romans conquered Macedon, thus finishing the reign of Daniel's third beast; so here the prophet naturally proceeds to the fourth beast. JEROME'S view is simpler; for the narrative seems to continue the history of Antiochus, though with features only in type applicable to him, fully to Antichrist.

JFB: Dan 11:31 - -- Not only naturally a place of strength, whence it held out to the last against the besiegers, but chiefly the spiritual stronghold of the covenant-peo...
Not only naturally a place of strength, whence it held out to the last against the besiegers, but chiefly the spiritual stronghold of the covenant-people (Psa 48:1-3, Psa 48:12-14). Apollonius "polluted" it with altars to idols and sacrifices of swine's flesh, after having "taken away the daily sacrifice" (see on Dan 8:11).

JFB: Dan 11:31 - -- That is, that pollutes the temple (Dan 8:12-13). Or rather, "the abomination of the desolater," Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Maccabees 1:29, 37-49). Compare...
That is, that pollutes the temple (Dan 8:12-13). Or rather, "the abomination of the desolater," Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Maccabees 1:29, 37-49). Compare Dan 9:27, wherein the antitypical desolating abomination of Rome (the eagle standard, the bird of Jupiter, sacrificed to by Titus' soldiers within the sacred precincts, at the destruction of Jerusalem), of Mohammed and of the final Antichrist, is foretold. 1 Maccabees 1:54, uses the very phrase, "the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty-fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation on the altar"; namely, an idol-altar and image of Jupiter Olympius, erected upon Jehovah's altar of burnt offerings. "Abomination" is the common name for an idol in the Old Testament. The Roman emperor Adrian's erection of a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus where the temple of God had stood, A.D. 132; also the erection of the Mohammedan mosque of Omar in the same place (it is striking, Mohammedanism began to prevail in A.D. 610, only about three years of the time when Popery assumed the temporal power); and the idolatry of the Church of Rome in the spiritual temple, and the final blasphemy of the personal Antichrist in the literal temple (2Th 2:4) may all be antitypically referred to here under Antiochus the type, and the Old Testament Antichrist.
Clarke -> Dan 11:31
Clarke: Dan 11:31 - -- And arms shall stand on his part - After Antiochus, arms, that is, the Romans, shall stand up: for arms in this prophecy every where denote military...
And arms shall stand on his part - After Antiochus, arms, that is, the Romans, shall stand up: for arms in this prophecy every where denote military potter, and standing up, the power in activity and conquering. Both Sir Isaac Newton and Bp. Newton agree, that what follows is spoken of the Romans. Hitherto Daniel has described the actions of the kings of the north and of the south, that of the kings of Syria and Egypt; but, upon the conquest of Macedon by the Romans, he has left off describing the actions of the Greeks, and begun to describe those of the Romans in Greece, who conquered Macedon, Illyricum, and Epirus, in the year of the era of Nabonassar, 580. Thirty-five years after, by the will of Attalus, they inherited all Asia westward of Mount Taurus; sixty-five years after they conquered the kingdom of Syria, and reduced it into a province; and thirty-four years after they did the same to Egypt. By all these steps the Roman arms stood up over the Greeks; and after ninety-five years more, by making war upon the Jews, they polluted the sanctuary of strength, - the temple, (so called by reason of its fortifications), and took away the daily sacrifice and placed the abomination that maketh desolate, or of the desolator; for that this abomination was thus placed after the time of Christ, appears from Mat 24:15
In the sixteenth year of the Emperor Adrian, a.d. 132, they placed this abomination by building a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, where the temple of God in Jerusalem stood; upon which the Jews, under Barchocab, rose up against the Romans. But in this war they had fifty cities demolished, nine hundred and fifty of their best towns destroyed, and eighty thousand men were slain by the sword; and in the end of the war, a.d. 136, were banished Judea on pain of death; and thenceforth the land became desolate. See Observations on Daniel, and Bp. Newton on the Prophecies.
Calvin -> Dan 11:31
Calvin: Dan 11:31 - -- Here the angel describes the intestine evils of the Church, and more fully explains what he touched on in the last verse. He says, The arms shall st...
Here the angel describes the intestine evils of the Church, and more fully explains what he touched on in the last verse. He says, The arms shall stand up for Antiochus Some explain this of the garrison which that tyrant imposed on Jerusalem But it is seems too far-fetched. I do not hesitate to suppose the angel to refer here to the apostates and forsakers of the Law. Arms, then, shall stand up from him, meaning, he shall not contend in his own strength, but shall rely upon the people’s assistance. Many should offer themselves in obedience to him, and thus Antiochus would find a party devoted to himself at Jerusalem, which should willingly prostitute itself to his will. He afterwards adds, They shall profane the sanctuary of strength The angel here joins together Antiochus and these impious apostates. (2Ma 5:2.) To favor him, the temple is said to be polluted, and this was fulfilled when the statue of Jupiter Olympius was erected there. The tyranny and violence of Antiochus continued long afterwards, as we shall see in its own place. He brought the statue of the Olympian Jove into the temple, for the purpose of overthrowing the worship of God, and then he introduced other corruption’s, which vitiated the purity of God’s service. He might in one moment have overthrown the whole Law, but he first tried to mingle many superstitions with God’s Law, and thus to estrange the Jews by degrees from true and sincere piety. The angel speaks of the sanctuary of power, to shew the faithful that Antiochus is not the conqueror of God, who was never deprived of his power, but continued the guardian and keeper of his temple even unto the end. He uses this epithet for the temple, to assure the pious that God had not given way to the violence of the tyrant. His authority stood untouched and untainted, although his temple was exposed to such foul pollution.
Lastly, he wished the faithful to retain by this teaching a sense of God’s unconquered power in choosing that temple for his dwelling-place, although for a time Antiochus was so insulting, and was permitted to profane it with his impious crew. This instruction urged the pious to look upon God’s power with the eye of faith, although it was then hidden from their view, and was trampled under foot by the impious in the pride of their audacity. Sorrowful indeed was the spectacle of this statue erected within the temple, for God, according to our previous statement, promised to be the defender of that sacred mountain. When the impious were raging thus insultingly, who would not have thought God to be altogether conquered and unable to defend his residence any longer? The angel then here encourages the faithful to cultivate far different thoughts from those suggested by the prospect before them. The temple, then, seemed weak and deprived of every protection, and yet with respect to God it was still a sanctuary of strength. He next adds, And they shall abolish the continual sacrifice, which really occurred; but I pass it over shortly now, as I shall have another opportunity of explaining it suitably and fully. And they shall place, or set up, that abomination which shall cause astonishment For who would not have been astonished when he saw the temple deserted by the Almighty? For if God cared for the temple services, why did he not resist rage like this? Why did he suffer himself to be subjected to such disgraceful indignity? The angel meets such temptations as these by saying, even if the very best men are astonished at such disgrace, yet nothing happens by chance; for God had already foreseen and decreed all things. They would not have been predicted, unless God had wished to prove the people’s faith, and to exact the penalty for their ingratitude. But I cannot complete the subject to-day.
Defender -> Dan 11:31
Defender: Dan 11:31 - -- Antiochus Epiphanes here becomes a type of the final antichrist (compare Mat 24:15, where Christ emphasized that the prototypical "abomination of deso...
Antiochus Epiphanes here becomes a type of the final antichrist (compare Mat 24:15, where Christ emphasized that the prototypical "abomination of desolation" was still to come). It is believed that Epiphanes, aided by traitorous Jews, sacrificed a sow on the altar and erected a statue of Zeus in the temple at Jerusalem. The motive behind this act was his ambition to unify the great empire extending all the way to India, left him by his father, by compelling all people in the empire to adopt the Graeco/Roman system of culture and pantheistic religion."
TSK -> Dan 11:31
TSK: Dan 11:31 - -- arms : Dan 8:24; Rev 17:12
they shall pollute : Dan 8:11, Dan 12:11; Lam 1:10, Lam 2:7; Eze 7:20,Eze 7:21, Eze 9:7, Eze 24:21, Eze 24:22
shall take : ...

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Dan 11:31
Barnes: Dan 11:31 - -- And arms shall stand on his part - Up to this verse there is a general agreement among commentators, that the reference is to Antiochus Epiphan...
And arms shall stand on his part - Up to this verse there is a general agreement among commentators, that the reference is to Antiochus Epiphanes. From this verse, however, to the end of the chapter, there is no little diversity of opinion. One portion suppose that the description of Antiochus and his deeds continues still to be the design of the prophet; another, that the Romans are here introduced, and that a part of the predictions in the remainder of this chapter are yet to be fulfilled; another, as Jerome, and most of the Christian fathers, suppose that the reference is to Antiochus as the type of Antichrist, and that the description passes from the type to the antitype. In this last class are found Bishop Newton, Gill, Calvin, Prideaux, Wintle, Elliott (Apocalyapse, iv. 137, following), and others; in the former, Grotius, Lengerke, Bertholdt, Maurer .... In this same class is found the name of Porphyry - who maintained that the whole referred to Antiochus, and that the allusion was so clear as to prove that this portion of the book was written "after"the events had occurred.
The reason suggested for the change in the supposed reference, as alleged by Bishop Newton "on the Prophecies,"p. 296, is, substantially, that what follows can be applied only in part to Antiochus. Whether this portion of the chapter can be shown to refer to him, we shall be able to determine as we proceed. Nothing can be clearer than the allusion up to this point. The word rendered "arms,"in the verse before us (
(a) the reference in the previous verses was, undoubtedly, to Antiochus, and the narrative seems to proceed as if there were no change.
(b) There is nothing in the statement which does not agree with what was done by Antiochus.
As a matter of fact, as attested by all history, he detached Apollonius with twenty-two thousand men, on his mortified return to his own land, to attack and lay waste Jerusalem, and Apollonius did all that is here said would be done. Bishop Newton concedes (p. 294) that "this interpretation might be admitted, if the other parts were equally applicable to Antiochus; but,"says he, "the difficulty, or rather impossibility of applying them to Antiochus, or any of the Syrian kings, his successors, obliges us to look out for another interpretation."Accordingly, he says that Jerome and the Christians of his time contend that these things apply to Antichrist; and he himself adopts the view proposed by Sir Isaac Newton, that it refers to the Romans, and that the allusion is to the fact that, at the very time when Antiochus retreated out of Egypt, the Romans conquered Macedonia, "putting an end to the reign of Daniel’ s third beast,"and that the prophet here leaves off the description of the actions of the Greeks, and commences a description of those of the Romans in Greece. As, however, all that is "here"said is strictly applicable to what was done by Antiochus, such an interpretation is unnecessary.
And they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength - The "sanctuary of strength"seems to refer to the fortifications or defenses that had been set up to protect Jerusalem, or the temple. At various points the temple was defended in this manner, not only by the walls of the city, but by fortifications erected within, and so as to prevent an army from approaching the temple, even if they should penetrate the outer wall. Compare 1 Macc. 1:36. The temple itself might thus be regarded as fortified, or as a place of strength - and, as a matter of fact, when Titus ultimately destroyed the city, the chief difficulty was to obtain possession of the temple - a place that held out to the last. When it is said that they would "pollute the sanctuary of strength,"the reference is to what was done by Apollonius, at the command of Antiochus, to profane the temple, and to put an end to the sacrifices and worship there.
Compare 1 Macc. 1:29, 37-49; Jos. "Ant."b. xii. ch. v. Section 4. The account in the book of Maccabees is as follows: "Thus they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary and defiled it, insomuch that the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them, wherefore the city was made a habitation of strangers, and became strange to those who were born in her, and her own children left her. Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, and her feasts were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach, her honor into contempt. As had been her glory, so was her dishonor increased, and her excellency was turned into mourning. Moreover, king Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, and every one should leave his laws; so all the pagan agreed, according to the commandment of the king. Yea, many Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the Sabbath. For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, that they should follow the strange laws of the land, and forbid burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and drink-offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the sabbaths and festival days, and pollute the sanctuary and holy people; set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine’ s flesh and unclean beasts; that they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation, to the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances."
And shall take away the daily sacrifice - That is, shall forbid it, and so pollute the temple and the altar as to prevent its being offered. See the quotation above. This occurred in the month of June, 167 b.c. See Jahn, "Heb. Commonwealth,"p. 267.
And they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate - Margin, or, "astonisheth."The Hebrew word
The very expression occurs in 1 Macc. 1:54: "Now, the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred and forty-fifth year, they set up the "abomination of desolation"upon the altar, and builded idol-altars throughout the cities of Judah on every side."This would seem, from 1 Macc. 1:59, to have been an idol-altar erected "over"or "upon"the altar of burnt-offerings. "They did sacrifice upon the idol-altar, which was upon the altar of God.""At this time an old man, by the name of Athenaeus, was sent to Jerusalem to instruct the Jews in the Greek religion, and compel them to an observance of its rites. He dedicated the temple to Jupiter Olympius; and on the altar of Jehovah he placed a smaller altar, to be used in sacrificing to the pagan god."- Jahn, "Heb. Commonwealth,"pp. 267, 268. The reference here is, probably, to this altar, as being in itself and in the situation where it was located an "abominable"thing in the eyes of the Hebrews, and as being placed there by a "desolater,"or "waster."The same "language"which is used here is applied in Dan 9:27, and in the New Testament, with great propriety to what the Romans set up in the temple as an indication of its conquest and profanation; but that fact does not make it certain that it is so to be understood "here,"for it is as applicable to what Antiochus did as it is to what was done by the Romans. See the notes at Dan 9:27.
Poole -> Dan 11:31
Poole: Dan 11:31 - -- Arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength i.e. Antiochus shall come with armed power to assist the deserters, an...
Arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength i.e. Antiochus shall come with armed power to assist the deserters, and force the faithful Jews by his garrisons.
Shall take away the daily sacrifice for he polluted the sanctuary by taking away the holy vessels, and forbidding the public worship; but he added a third pollution, by setting up in the temple the
abomination of desolation , i.e. the abominable idol of Jupiter Olympius, with many more, /APC 1Mac 1:21-23,41 , to the end; /APC 2Mac v. 24.
Haydock -> Dan 11:31
Haydock: Dan 11:31 - -- Arms, ( brachia ) or strong men, Apollonius, Philip, &c. (2 Machabees vi.) and likewise the senator from Antioch, who executed his decrees. (Calmet) ...
Arms, ( brachia ) or strong men, Apollonius, Philip, &c. (2 Machabees vi.) and likewise the senator from Antioch, who executed his decrees. (Calmet) ---
Abomination. The idol of Jupiter Olympius, which Antiochus ordered to be set up in the sanctuary of the temple, which is here called the sanctuary of strength, from the Almighty that was worshipped there. (Challoner) ---
Other idols were set up, and the people were compelled to sacrifice. (Calmet) ---
Yet even in the hottest persecutions some remained faithful. (Worthington)
Gill -> Dan 11:31
Gill: Dan 11:31 - -- And arms shall stand on his part,.... Powerful armies sent by him into Judea; garrisons of soldiers placed in Jerusalem; mighty generals and commander...
And arms shall stand on his part,.... Powerful armies sent by him into Judea; garrisons of soldiers placed in Jerusalem; mighty generals and commanders who fought for him, as Lysias, Philip the Phrygian, Andronicus, Apollonius, Bacchides, and others:
and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength; the temple, which stood in Jerusalem, a fortified city, and was itself a building strong and stable; and especially it was so called, because here the mighty God had his residence, the symbol of which was the ark of his strength, and here he gave strength unto his people: this holy place, sacred to his worship and service, the commanders and soldiers of Antiochus defiled by entering into it, who were men unholy and unclean; by making it a place of luxury and rioting, of whoredom, and all manner of uncleanness; by bringing things into it which were not lawful, and filling the altar with what was abominable, in the Apocrypha:
"4 For the temple was filled with riot and revelling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots, and had to do with women within the circuit of the holy places, and besides that brought in things that were not lawful. 5 The altar also was filled with profane things, which the law forbiddeth.'' (2 Maccabees 6)
particularly by erecting a high place upon the altar, and sacrificing swine upon it, as Josephus f relates; with which agrees what is said of Antiochus, in the Apocrypha in is written that he ordered:
"46 And pollute the sanctuary and holy people: 47 Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts:'' (1 Maccabees 1)
and shall take away the daily sacrifice; the sacrifice of the lamb in the morning, and in the evening, which the priests were hindered from offering, by the crowds of Heathens in the temple; or prohibited by the order of Antiochus; for he forbad burnt offerings, sacrifice, and libation, to be made in the temple, in the Apocrypha:
"Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts:'' (1 Maccabees 1:47)
and Josephus g expressly says, that he forbad the daily sacrifices to be offered, which were used to be offered to God, according to the law: and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate; either a garrison of Heathen soldiers in the temple, which drove the priests and people from it, and made it desolate; or rather an idol in it, it being usual in Scripture to call idols abominations, as they are to God and all good men; the image of Jupiter Olympius, as is thought, which was placed upon the altar of God by Antiochus, on the fifteenth day of the month Cisieu, in the hundred and forty fifth year of the Seleucidae, and is called the abomination of desolations, in the Apocrypha:
"And whosoever was found with any the book of the testament, or if any committed to the law, the king's commandment was, that they should put him to death.'' (1 Maccabees 1:57)
and the temple itself was ordered to be called the temple of Jupiter Olympius, in the Apocrypha:
"And to pollute also the temple in Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter Olympius; and that in Garizim, of Jupiter the Defender of strangers, as they did desire that dwelt in the place.'' (2 Maccabees 6:2)
and what with this and other things that were done, the temple and city were left desolate; for it is said in the Apocrypha:
"Now Jerusalem lay void as a wilderness, there was none of her children that went in or out: the sanctuary also was trodden down, and aliens kept the strong hold; the heathen had their habitation in that place; and joy was taken from Jacob, and the pipe with the harp ceased.'' (1 Maccabees 3:45)
It may be rendered, "the abomination that maketh astonished" h; for it struck the people of the Jews with astonishment; it amazed and stupefied them, when they saw such an idol placed in their temple. The Karaite Jews, who by the others are called Sadducees, give a very foreign interpretation of this passage, which Aben Ezra observes:
"it is marvellous (says he) that the wise men of the Sadducees should explain this of future time, and say that this sanctuary is Mecca, where the Ishmaelites or Turks keep a feast; "the daily sacrifice", to be removed, their five prayers; and the "abomination" set up is their idolatrous worship.''
Sir Isaac Newton understands all this of the Romans, and their building a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, where the temple in Jerusalem had stood.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Dan 11:1-45
TSK Synopsis: Dan 11:1-45 - --1 The overthrow of Persia by the king of Grecia.5 Leagues and conflicts between the kings of the south and of the north.30 The invasion and tyranny of...
MHCC -> Dan 11:31-45
MHCC: Dan 11:31-45 - --The remainder of this prophecy is very difficult, and commentators differ much respecting it. From Antiochus the account seems to pass to antichrist. ...
Matthew Henry -> Dan 11:21-45
Matthew Henry: Dan 11:21-45 - -- All this is a prophecy of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, the little horn spoken of before (Dan 8:9) a sworn enemy to the Jewish religion, and a...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Dan 11:31
Keil-Delitzsch: Dan 11:31 - --
Here is stated what he accomplished by the help of the apostate Jews. זרעים , arms , figuratively for help (Dan 11:5), are warlike forces, as...
Constable: Dan 8:1--12:13 - --III. Israel in relation to the Gentiles: God's program for Israel chs. 8--12
Two things signal the beginning of ...

Constable: Dan 10:1--12:13 - --C. Daniel's most detailed vision of the future chs. 10-12
We have observed that God's method of revealin...

Constable: Dan 11:2-35 - --2. The near future 11:2-35
The interpreting angel now explained the long anticipated (since 10:1...
