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Daniel’s 11th horn is the Church of the Roman Empire.

Overview

To present an overview of world history, from the Babylonian Empire until Christ’s return, Daniel 7 uses four animals symbolizing four successive empires. From the fourth, 10 horns grew. After them, an 11th horn grew up, uprooting three previous horns. At first, it was small, but it grew and eventually dominated the other horns. It is different from the others. It blasphemes God and persecutes His people. It will only be destroyed when Christ returns. This 11th horn is the main character in Daniel 7. The only reason that Daniel 7 mentions the preceding four empires and ten kingdoms is to enable the reader to identify it.

Previous articles identified the four animals as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire, and the eleven horns as the kingdoms into which the Roman Empire fragmented in the fifth to eighth centuries.

The Beast’s 11th horn is the Antichrist. The purpose of the current article is to show that several similarities identify the 11th horn as the Church of the Roman Empire:

(1) The Roman Church was one of the horns.

Since the horns are the fragments into which the Roman Empire divided, they (a) were part of the Roman Empire and (b) existed as distinct entities after the Empire fragmented.

(1a) The Roman Church was part of the Roman Empire.

In the Roman Empire, the emperors decided which religions and factions of religions to allow. In the fourth century, the Church was divided, mainly between Arian and Nicene factions. However, in 380, the Roman Empire made Nicene theology the State Religion of the Roman Empire, meaning that it was the only legal religion but also that it was subject to the authority of the emperors. At the same time, the Empire outlawed and persecuted Arianism. Outside the Empire, Christianity remained Arian.

(1b) Was a distinct entity after the Empire collapsed.

The Roman Church, with its teachings and hierarchy of bishops, survived as a distinct organization after Arian nations in the fifth century wrestled control of the Western Empire from the Romans. It also survived after Muslim armies subjected the Eastern Empire in the eighth century.

(2) It was the last of the 11 horns.

The first 10 horns symbolize the Arian kingdoms that were formed after the Germanic tribes took control of the Western Empire from the Romans in the fifth century. As a result, the Roman Church in the West was under Arian control. It only began to dominate the Arian Church in the next (sixth) century when the Eastern Empire liberated it by defeating the Arian nations that posed the greatest threat.

(3) It uprooted three other horns as it came up.

The forces of the Eastern Empire defeated three Arian kingdoms: the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and the Visigoths.

(4) The 11th horn began small.

After the Eastern Empire liberated and protected it, the Roman Church remained subject to the Eastern Empire. After the Eastern Empire also lost much of its power in the eighth century, the Roman Church survived but was protected by and subject to first the Carolingian and then the Ottonian Dynasties.

(5) The 11th horn grew “larger than its associates.”

Until the 10th century, the Roman Church always relied on monarchs for protection. However, in the 11th century, for the first time, it became able to appoint popes and bishops without outside interference. Starting in the 12th century, during the High Middle Ages, the Roman Church attained power that rivaled and exceeded that of the Western Monarchs. It became the Church of the Middle Ages, dominating the nations of Europe.

(6) The 11th horn will “wear out the saints of the Most High.”

In the Middle Ages, through the civil rulers, the Roman Church engaged in brutal forms of coercion, such as the Albigensian Crusade, the Inquisition, and the Waldensian massacres, seeking to compel or exterminate the true people of God who dared to stand up against its evil innovations.

(7) The 11th horn will only be destroyed when Christ returns.

The Roman Church still exists today.

Conclusion

The Roman Church is the only historical entity that fits both the timing and the characteristics of the 11th horn of Daniel 7.

– END OF OVERVIEW –

Daniel 7

The Horns of the Fourth Animal are the kingdoms into which the Roman Empire fragmented. 
Antichristus, a woodcut by Lucas Cranach, the Elder, of the pope using temporal power to grant authority to a generously contributing ruler.

Daniel 7 presents world history, from the Babylonian Empire until Christ’s return, by symbolizing four empires as four beasts (See here). A previous article identified the Fourth Animal as the Roman Empire. (See here)

At first, 10 horns grew out of the fourth beast. In Daniel, horns symbolize divisions of an empire. These 10 horns symbolize the fragments of the Roman Empire, namely, the kingdoms that arose after it collapsed in the fifth to eighth centuries.

This is confirmed by the parallel vision of the statue of a man in Daniel 2, in which the Iron Legs are equivalent to the fourth animal in Daniel 7, and the Feet of Iron and Clay are equivalent to the horns of the fourth animal. Since the Feet exist after the Legs, the horns exist after the Fourth Animal. [Show More]

The Beast’s 11th Horn is the Antichrist. 

After the first ten horns in Daniel 7, an 11th horn came up by uprooting three of the other horns. It will be “little” or “small” when it comes up (Dan 7:8; 8:9) but will grow “larger than its associates” (Dan 7:20, 24), meaning it will dominate the other kingdoms that arose when the Empire fragmented. It will blaspheme God and persecute His people for a time, times, and half a time (Dan 7:25). It will become so important that a court will sit in heaven to judge between it and God’s people (Dan 7:26, 9-11, and 14) but it will only be destroyed when Christ returns (Dan 7:26, 11). It is the main character in Daniel 7. The only reason that Daniel 7 mentions the preceding four empires and ten kingdoms is to enable the reader to identify that evil 11th horn. Therefore, this horn symbolizes the Antichrist.

Overview of History

This section provides an overview of the history to explain what the Church of the Roman Empire is, how it survived after the Empire fragmented, uprooted three other kingdoms when it came up, began small, received its power from the Empire, and became more powerful than the other kingdoms that fragmented from the Empire.

After being an illegal and persecuted religion for three centuries, Christianity was legalized by Emperor Constantine in 313. However, the Roman emperors ruled over the Church. They decided which religions were legal, and when there were divisions in the church, they decided which divisions to allow and which to squash. [Show More]

Church and State was one because the emperor was the head of the church. [Show More]

The so-called ecumenical councils were really the meetings through which the emperors governed the Church to ensure that it complied with the emperors’ wishes. [Show More]

In 380, the Roman Empire made Nicene Christianity the State Religion of the Roman Empire; the Roman Church.

In the fourth century, factions existed within Christianity, with Nicene and Arian theologies being the main factions. Most of the time, the majority view was Nicene in the West but Arian in the East. However, in 380, the Eastern Emperor Theodosius, with the support of the Western Emperor Gratian, made Nicene Christianity the State Religion of the Roman Empire. ‘State Religion’ that Nicene theology:

      • Became the sole legal religion in the Empire. Theodosius outlawed and ruthlessly persecuted Arianism, which previously dominated in the East, into extinction, at least among the Roman elite. 
      • Received protection and authority over people from the emperors.
      • Was subject to the authority of the emperors. Read Article

At that time in history, each kingdom had its god, and the Roman Empire had selected the Christian God, specifically as explained by Nicene theology. The State Religion of the Roman Empire is here referred to as the ‘Roman Church’.

In the 5th century, Arian tribes took control of Europe, leaving the Roman Church subject to Arian rule.

Arian Germanic tribes, who previously migrated into the Empire, wrestled control of the Western Empire (current Europe) from the Romans and divided it into several Arian nations. The Roman Empire continued to rule in the east. These ‘Arian’ nations claimed to remain part of the Roman Empire. Therefore, the Roman Church survived and even flourished in the West. But it had to exist alongside a hierarchy of Arian bishops and under Arian rule. Read Article.

In the 6th century, Justinian, the Eastern Roman Emperor, sent troops to the West and liberated the Papacy.

Justinian’s aim was to free the ‘Roman Church’ in the West from Arian domination. His troops subjected the three Arian nations who were the most direct threat to the Papacy. 

In 533–534, his troops dispersed the Vandals of North Africa to the fringes of the empire.

After a protracted war, Justinian defeated the Ostrogoths in Italy in 553. They returned to South Austria.

In 552, Justinian recovered a strip of land that barricaded the Visigoths from being a threat to the Roman Church in Italy.

Read Article

Then, for two centuries, the Eastern Empire ruled the Western Nations through the Papacy. 

Justinian then set up the Byzantine Papacy, a system in which the Eastern Emperors in Constantinople ruled the Papacy but also ruled the Western nations through the Papacy. This continued for two centuries, transforming the Roman Church into a very powerful political animal and an important part of the Roman Empire. Read Article

In the 8th century, Islamic forces significantly weakened the Eastern Roman Empire, ending the Byzantine Papacy. 

The Byzantine Empire lost its richest provinces to Islamic armies. Suddenly, much of the Christian world was under Islamic rule. (Wikipedia) Consequently, the Byzantine Empire could no longer control or protect the Western Roman Church. Byzantine authority in Italy evaporated. Islam had put an end to the Byzantine Papacy. [Show More]

In the ninth century, the Papacy found a new protector in the Carolingian dynasty, which also dominated the Papacy.

The Papacy had to find a new protector. After a volatile period, the popes found a powerful protector in the Frankish-dominated Carolingian dynasty. This was a large Frankish-dominated empire founded by Charlemagne (Charles the Great). However, the Carolingians followed the example of their Roman predecessors by asserting “immense authority over the Western church” (Britannica). [Show More]

After Carolingian power waned, the Ottonians protected the Papacy in the tenth century but also dominated it.

Carolingian power waned in the late 9th century. In the 10th century, the Ottonian dynasty in Germany established a new imperial line and became the preeminent power in Latin Europe. The Ottos treated churches as their property, appointed bishops, and forbade appeals to Rome. (Britannica) [Show More]

In the eleventh century, the Papacy transformed from being subject to the civil powers to being supreme over them. 

Up to this point in history, the Papacy was always ruled over by civil powers, namely, by:

      • The Roman Emperors in the fourth century,
      • Arian kings in the fifth,
      • Eastern Emperors in the Byzantine Papacy, from the 6th to 8th centuries,
      • The Carolingians in 9th, and by
      • Ottonians in the 10th century.

In the 11th century, for the first time, the Papacy began to escape from such domination.

Traditionally, the monarchs controlled appointments (investitures = investing a person with honors or rank) of popes and high-ranking church officials. However, in the 11th century, the Papacy restricted political interference by forming the College of Cardinals to appoint new popes and challenged the authority of monarchs to control appointments in higher church offices. With the Concordat of Worms in 1122, the Emperor agreed to allow the Church to appoint its officials but retained the right to veto the appointments of bishops. [Show More]

The humiliation of King Henry IV before Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy illustrates how powerful the Papacy had become. Henry IV, the mightiest king in Europe at the time, had to wait for three days, stripped of his royal robes and clad as a penitent, barefoot in ice and snow, before Pope Gregory was willing to withdraw his ex-communication. [Show More]

In the subsequent centuries, known as the High Middle Ages, the Roman Church was the dominant power in Europe.

It claimed that the pope stood between God and humankind as the vicar (stand in the place) of Christ and, therefore, claimed authority over emperors and kings; not only in Europe but worldwide. It claimed jurisdiction over all matters relating to sin. Emperors and kings, to reign lawfully, had to be in communion with the Pope. Otherwise, the Pope could declare the ruler unfit to reign. [Show More]

The Papacy massacred Christians. 

The Roman Church continued the principles of the Roman Empire, killing countless numbers of God’s people. For example:

Innocent III (1198–1216) called the Albigensian Crusade, which was intended to end heresy in southern France and resulted in the massacre of Christians whom the Papacy classified as heretics.

The Inquisition, which was a powerful office set up within the Catholic Church to root out and punish heresy, is infamous for the severity of its tortures. The Spanish Inquisition alone resulted in some 32,000 executions. (History.com)

The Catholic Church authorized the Waldensian massacres. Read Article The Waldensians criticized Catholic beliefs and identified the Church as the harlot of the Apocalypse. In response, the Catholic Church called for the destruction of the Waldensians, absolving all who would perpetrate such crimes. In consequence, the Waldensians were looted, raped, tortured, and massacred.

The Church’s Powers

The factors that allowed the Church to become “larger” than the kings of Europe include the following:

The Church became wealthy by demanding that all people contribute 10% of their earnings. 

Ordinary people across Europe had to ‘tithe’ 10 percent of their earnings to the Church. This allowed the Church to amass a great deal of money and power, as attested by the cathedrals. Built during the Middle Ages, were the largest buildings and could be found at the center of towns and cities across the continent.

The Church ruled by fear by teaching that people are damned to eternal hell unless they found salvation through church sacraments. 

To control the gates of hell can be quite a lucrative business. The church used this monopoly on salvation to wield power over political rulers:

Popes EXCOMMUNICATED disobedient kings. This meant the king was denied salvation, and his vassals were freed from their duties to him.

If an excommunicated king continued to disobey the pope, the popes used an even more frightening weapon; the INTERDICT, which meant that many sacraments and religious services could not be performed in the king’s lands, causing civil unrest because the king’s subjects believed they are doomed to hell.

The Church made very strict rules around marriages, forcing people to seek permission from the Church for marriage. 

The Church attempted to control most marriages among the great by prohibiting marriages involving blood kin and kin by marriage to the seventh degree of relationship. Under these rules, almost all great marriages required special approval from the Papacy.

Monastic communities became storehouses of knowledge, education, crafts, artistic skills, and agriculture. 

Christian monasticism, which is the practice of living ascetic and typically secluded lives dedicated to worship, became popular in the Middle Ages. 

Before the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, books were works of art. Craftsmen in monasteries created handmade books with colored illustrations, gold and silver lettering, and other adornments.

The Crusades greatly enhanced papal prestige. 

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Catholic Church authorized military expeditions called Crusades to expel Muslim “infidels” from the Holy Land and to return it to Christian control. The crusades gave the people a common purpose and inspired waves of religious enthusiasm.

Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade in 1095. Crusaders, who wore red crosses on their coats to advertise their status, believed that their service would guarantee the remission of their sins and ensure them eternal life. They also received worldly rewards, such as papal protection of their property and forgiveness of some kinds of debts.

Since the pope called for the crusades, they were also a sign of the authority of the popes over the political rulers. By participating in the crusades, in a sense, the kings submitted to the Pope’s authority.

Conclusions

The Roman Church is the only historical entity that fits both the timing and the characteristics of the 11th horn of Daniel 7.

There are also other identifications of the 11th horn in Daniel 7, such as the “time, times, and half a time,” that are not discussed in this article. Furthermore, the 11th horn is the same as the Beast of Revelation (Read Article). Therefore, another article identifies it from the Book of Revelation (Read Article).

To believe in God is not always easy. We live in a world where we see evil and pain, birth and death. We get used to these things, and sometimes we fail to see the infinite miracles of the life in us and around us. See – Inner Life of a Cell. We must also observe the miracles in the Bible, such as the miracle of His laws, for example, the Sermon on the Mount, and the miracles in His prophecies. Daniel 9 seems to be a clear prediction of the life and death of Jesus Christ. And, for me, Daniel 7 seems to be a clear prediction of the Church of the Roman Empire. 

Other Articles

FOOTNOTES

  • 1
    The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318-381. 1988
  • 2
    Hanson, RPC, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God – The Arian Controversy 318-381, 1987. Hanson is a wo
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Overview of the prophecies in the Book of Daniel relating to the Antichrist.

Excerpt: This article gives an overview of the four kingdoms and the horns in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7.  The Eleventh Horn is the main character in the Book of Daniel.  The horn in Daniel 8 is a symbol for the same power as the horn in Daniel 7.  This article identifies the horn by identifying the kingdom out of which it comes as the Roman Empire.  It discusses the Critics’ assumption of a separate Mede kingdom.  It analyzes the phrase “from one from them” to show that the horn does not come out of the Greek Empires.  It then continues to explain Daniel 11 consistent with Daniel 7 and 8.

This article has since been replaced by the series of articles on the Book of Daniel, starting with Daniel 2 which might be a bit easier to follow

The complete article is available at:
The evil horn-king in Daniel’s prophecy

A Word version of this article can be downloaded:
Daniel’s evil horn–Greek or Roman
Summary in Work format

This summary omits many key points.  The full document should rather be read.  The purpose of this summary is only to provide a high-level overview.

ANTIOCHUS IV

The Macedonian (Greek) Empire, which included the nation of Israel (Judea), ruled from about 330 B.C. for nearly 300 years.  Antiochus IV was one of the many kings of this empire.  He ruled between 168 and 165 BC.  He defiled the temple in Jerusalem in the year 168 B.C. and persecuted the Jews.

PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE

In academic circles (critics) it is believed that he was the evil king presented in the prophecies of the Book of Daniel; chapters 7, 8 and 11.  The purpose of this document is to oppose this view and to show that the evil king in the Book of Daniel arises in time after Rome has become the dominant power and therefore cannot be Antiochus IV.

DANIEL 2

Using the statue of a man, consisting of four different metals, the vision in Daniel 2 divides world history into six phases:

        1. Babylonian (Gold) Empire
        2. Silver (another) kingdom
        3. Bronze (third) kingdom
        4. Iron (fourth) kingdom
        5. Iron and clay; divided kingdom – no supreme ruler
        6. Eternal kingdom – destroys the entire image

The fifth phase is represented by the statue’s feet consisting partly of iron and partly of clay (2:33).  Iron is the same metal as the fourth kingdom, indicating that the feet continue the fourth kingdom.  But it is explained as “a divided kingdom” (2:41).  In other words, a supreme king will rule all nations during each of the four kingdoms (2:37-40), but during the “divided kingdom” there will be no supreme king.

DANIEL 7

Daniel 2 has four metals and Daniel 7 has four beasts.  Both the four metals and the four beasts represent successive kingdoms.  Both Daniel 2 and 7 end with the “everlasting kingdom” (7:28).  Both have a phase of many kings after the first four, which continue the fourth empire, and which exist until the sixth or eternal kingdom.  This phase is symbolized by the horns of the fourth beast in Daniel 7 and by the feet of the statue (the divided kingdom) in Daniel 2.  The horns are therefore equivalent to the divided kingdom.  Daniel 7, therefore, divides world history into the same 6 successive phases as Daniel 2:

 

Daniel 2

Daniel 7

1

Head of fine gold

Lion

2

Breast and its arms of silver

Bear

3

Belly and its thighs of bronze

Leopard

4

Legs of iron

Dreadful beast

5

Feet of iron and clay

Horns

6

Everlasting Kingdom

Everlasting dominion

Since the divided kingdom in Daniel 2 follows after the fourth kingdom, the horns are not individual kings of the fourth kingdom, but separate kingdoms that came about after the end of the fourth kingdom.  Further, since the divided kingdom consists of a number kings that reign at the same time, the ten kings do not exist one after the other, but at the same time.

Daniel 7 adds detail about the four kingdoms in the form of descriptions of beasts.  But most additional information is about the evil eleventh horn that arises from the fourth beast and rules during the divided kingdom.  This evil horn-king persecutes the saints and blasphemes God (7:25).

DANIEL 8

Daniel 8 also uses beasts as symbols for kingdoms.  The first is a ram that is explicitly identified as Mede-Persia (8:20).  The second is a goat that is explicitly identified as Greece (8:20-21).

Daniel 8 then describes the four horns of the goat that represent the four kingdoms into which Alexander’s Greek empire was divided.

It also describes a horn that is small at first but expands.  It attacks God’s people and the temple.

It is generally agreed that the evil horn of Daniel 8 is the same as the evil horn of Daniel 7.  Both are horns, both begin small and become great (7:8 and 8:9) and both blasphemes God and persecutes His people. 

INTERPRETATIONS

This little horn is identified differently by the different schools of prophetic interpretation:

Preterists hold that the little horn points to Antiochus IV.

Futurists see Antiochus as a type of an end-time Antichrist who is to arise in the final years before the return of Christ, and pollute a literal temple, to be rebuilt in Jerusalem.

Historicists hold that the little horn represents the Roman Church.  The purification of the sanctuary is interpreted as the restoration after the distortion of the Middle Ages.

To evaluate these views, the kingdom from which this horn arises must be identified:

VIEWS EVALUATED

ALIGNMENT

Conservatives align the kingdoms in the Book of Daniel as follows:

Daniel 2

Gold (Babylon)

Silver

Brass

Iron

Daniel 7

Lion

Bear

Leopard

Dreadful Beast

Daniel 8

  

Ram (Mede-Persia)

Goat (Greece)

 (Rome)

In this view the bear is Mede-Persia and the Leopard is the Greek Empire.  It follows that the Dreadful Beast must represent Rome because that was the next empire in history. Then the little horn comes about in or after the Roman period.

The Preterist School split Mede-Persian Empire into two separate empires and aligns the symbols as follows:

Daniel 2

Gold

Silver

Brass

Iron

Daniel 7

Lion

Bear

Leopard

Dreadful Beast

Daniel 8

  

Ram (Medes)

Ram (Persia)

Goat (Greece)

In this schema, the Ram of Daniel 8 is equal to both the Bear and the Leopard of Daniel 7, and the Goat of Daniel 8 is equivalent to the Dreadful Beast of Daniel 7. 

COMPARE DESCRIPTIONS

One way to determine which schema best fits the text of the Book of Daniel is to compare the descriptions of the animals in Daniel 7 and Daniel 8:

The Ram and the Leopard do not appear similar.  The Ram has two horns while the Leopard has four heads.

The Goat and the Dreadful Beast do not appear similar.  The Goat has one horn at first and then later four.  The Dreadful Beast first has 10 horns, and then an 11th comes up which “pluck out” three of the ten horns by their “roots”, leaving 8 horns.

The Ram and the Bear appear similar.  For both their two sides are emphasized, with one side higher than the other.  Both conquered three others.  This implies that they represent the same empire, namely “the kings of Media and Persia” (8:20).

The Goat and the Leopard appear similar.  Both are represented as very fast and both consist of four parts.  This implies that they represent the same empire, namely “the kingdom of Greece” (8:21).

This analysis of the characteristics of the beasts supports the conservative interpretation, which identifies the fourth beast of Daniel 7 as the Roman Empire.  It follows that the horn comes out of Rome.  It cannot be Antiochus IV.

TWO SEPARATE EMPIRES

Critics defend their schema by proposing that the author of the Book of Daniel viewed the Medes and Persians as two separate empires with the Neo-Babylonian Empire falling firstly to the Medes under “Darius the Mede” (5:30-31; 6:28) and later to the Persians under Cyrus the Great (10:1).  This is not consistent with the Book of Daniel.  Daniel’s author consistently viewed the Medes and Persians as a single entity (5:28, 6:9, 13 and 16; 8:20).

DARIUS THE MEDE

Critics argue that the author of Daniel committed a historical blunder when he referred to Darius the Mede.  In a separate article on this website, it is argued that Darius might have been the throne name for Ugbaru, the general who conquered Babylon for Cyrus, and who ruled over the province of the Chaldeans (9:1) for (at most) three weeks.  This short period explains why archaeologists have not yet found him in recorded history.

OUT OF ONE OF THEM

Daniel 8:9 says that the little horn came “out of one of them”.  Since the previous verse referred to the four Greek horns, critics argue that 8:9 confirms that the little horn comes from one of the four Greek horns, and must, therefore, be a Greek king, like Antiochus IV.  However, an analysis of the genders of the nouns and pronouns indicates that the “them” in 8:9 can only to the “heavens”, which is the last word in 8:8.  The “out of one of them” can then be interpreted as either:

        1. Out of one of the horns of the heavens, or
        2. Out of one of the winds (compass directions) of the heavens

The first option is not acceptable because heavens do not have horns and horns nowhere else in the Book of Daniel come out of horns.  Since “the four winds of heaven” is the last phrase in verse 8, the second option is preferred.  The little horn, therefore, came from one of these four winds of the heavens, that is, from one of the directions of the compass.  It, therefore, did not come from one of the Greek horns and is therefore not Greek in origin.

WHERE ROME IS IN DANIEL 8?

Critics challenge the conservative interpretation by asking: Where Rome is in Daniel 8?  Daniel 8 does not seem to describe another kingdom between the Greek Empire and the evil horn. 

Firstly, both Daniel 2 and 7 describe the beast and its dreadful horn as a single entity (7:11).  Secondly, the growth of the horn in Daniel 8, as described in verses 9 to 11, consists of two phases.  The first phase is horizontal (political) growth (8:9) and the second phase is vertical (religious) growth.  The horizontal expansion parallels the fourth beast of Daniel 7.  The vertical expansion parallels the evil horn of Daniel 7.  Daniel 8, therefore, merges the beast and its prominent horn into a single symbol—the horn.

DANIEL 11

ANTIOCHUS III

Critics agree that verses 14 to 19 describe Antiochus III, the father of Antiochus IV.  To quote a critical scholar:

Daniel 11:2-20 is a very accurate & historically corroborated sequence of events from the third year (10:1) of the Persian era up to the predecessor of Antiochus IV: some 366 years!  Only the names and dates are missing.  Most of the details are about the conflicts between the kings of the South (the Ptolemies of Egypt) and the kings of the North (the Seleucids of Mesopotamia/ Syria).  The Seleucids are shown to become stronger and stronger …  Of course, Jerusalem was in the middle and changed hand (197, from Egypt to Syria).

VILE PERSON

The remaining 25 verses of Daniel 11 describe the activities of a “vile person” (KJV; 11:21).  It is generally agreed that this “vile person” is equivalent to the horn of Daniel 8 and Daniel 7 because:

Elaborate: The later prophecies in the Book of Daniel elaborate on the earlier prophecies.

Persecute: Both the horn and the vile person persecutes God’s people (7:25; 11:32-34) for 3½ times (7:25; 12:7).

Temple: Both set up “the abomination that makes desolate” (11:31; 8:13), profanes the strong temple (11:31; 8:11) and remove the continual (tamid) (8:11; 11:31).

PRINCE OF THE COVENANT

Daniel 11:22 indicates that the nagid (prince) of the covenant will be broken before the vile person.  This refers to the death of Jesus Christ:

The word ‘sar’ (translated “prince”) occurs several times in the Book of Daniel, but the word ‘nagid’, which is also translated “prince”, occurs only in 11:22 and in 9:24-27.  The word “covenant” is also used several times in Daniel, but only 11:22 and 9:24-27 link a prince to the covenant.  In both 9:24-27 and 11:22 the nagid is destroyed.  It is therefore concluded that the nagid in these two passages is the same individual and that the two passages refer to the same events.  Daniel 9:24-27 refers to the death of Jesus Christ in the first century AD.  The same must, therefore, apply to 11:22.

Since the events in Daniel 11 are given in their chronological order, everything that follows after 11:22 must be sought sometime after the death of Christ.  This applies in particular to the setting up of the abomination (11:31) and the persecution of God’s people (11:32-34), which are the main activities of the vile person.  The vile person, therefore, cannot be the Greek king Antiochus IV that ruled between 168 and 165 BC, but must be an anti-God ruler that will arise later.

DETAIL ABOUT ANTIOCHUS III

Daniel 11 is quite brief about the earlier kings, but provides much detail about Antiochus III; the father and predecessor of Antiochus IV.  Critics argue that this emphasis on Antiochus III is a clear indication that the prophecy of the vile person points to Antiochus IV.

To this we respond as follows:  The reign of the father of Antiochus IV (Antiochus III the Great) was the critical turning point for the Greek Empire.  Just as the victory of the Persians over the Medes was the critical turning point that shifted the balance of ‘world power’ from the Babylonian to the Persian Empire, and just as the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in the time of Xerxes was the turning point that shifted ‘world dominance’ from the Persians to the Greek Empire, Rome’s victories over Antiochus III—the most powerful Greek kingdom at the time—was the critical turning point that shifted ‘world dominance’ from the Greek to the Roman Empire.  This explains the attention to Antiochus III in Daniel 11.  It was for the same reason that Xerxes was emphasized in 11:2, namely because his reign was the key turning point.

WHERE IS THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN DANIEL 11?

But the critics ask: Where is the Roman Empire in Daniel 11?  Daniel 11 seems to continue, without an intervening empire, from the Greek Empire (Antiochus III) to the vile person. 

To respond, it is proposed here that Daniel’s prophecies, once the key turning point has been reached, no longer mention the previous empire, but jump right over the remaining kings to the next empire.  For instance, Xerxes’ war against the Greeks was a key turning point in history (11:2).  Then the prophecy jumps over the next 150 years, during which seven Persian kings reigned, to the first Greek emperor (11:3).  Similarly, Antiochus III’s war against Rome was a key turning point in history.  Then the prophecy jumps over the next 170 years, during which several Greek kings reigned, to the next empire (Rome).

But the Roman Empire is not mentioned separately.  Similar to Daniel 8 the vile person serves as a symbol for both the fourth kingdom in Daniel 7 (Rome) and the evil horn that arise from it.  Political Rome is the flood that flows away the “overflowing forces” (11:22).  By far most of the description in Daniel 11 is about the subsequent anti-God king.

VERSES 21-35 FIT ANTIOCHUS

But the critics argue that Antiochus IV fits the sequence of kings in Daniel 11 quite well and that the history of Antiochus IV fits the descriptions of the “vile person” in the verses after 11:21 quite well.  This is granted. 

In this context, it is very important to realize that the description of the “vile person” exceeds Antiochus IV.  For instance, Antiochus did not magnify himself above every god or not have regard for the god of his fathers.  Verses 21-35 fit Antiochus’s time perfectly, but Antiochus IV by no means exhausts the passage.

Daniel 11 may, therefore, be understood as two stories intertwined.  The text seems to describe the history up to and including Antiochus IV, but while discussing Antiochus IV it jumps to a future and worldwide evil king.  Understood this way, Antiochus IV is only a partial fulfillment of Daniel 11, to be followed by the final and fuller fulfillment by a later and much larger worldwide anti-God ruler.

CONCLUSION

A fundamental principle, accepted by all schools of thought, is that the little horn of Daniel 7 is equivalent to the little horn of Daniel 8 and to the vile person in Daniel 11.  However, the various schools of thought explain this evil king in different ways.

Critics do not accept the possibility that the minutely accurate descriptions in the Book of Daniel of historical events up to the time of Antiochus IV could have been written in the sixth century BC.  They assume that these descriptions were written after the fact in the form of prophecies.  But since the New Testament refers a number of times to the book of Daniel, and since it takes a long time for a book to become accepted as inspired Scripture, the book of Daniel must have been written hundreds of years before the NT was written.

Antiochus IV fit the sequence of kings and the activities of the evil king in Daniel 11 quite well.  Critics therefore propose that Daniel was written in the time of Antiochus IV, that it was written in response to the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus IV, and that the evil king in Daniel represents this Antiochus.  Therefore Daniel would have been written approximately 200 years before the NT was written.

With this as the accepted view, critics have to interpret the prophecies accordingly.  To fit this view to Daniel 11, critics explain the prince of the covenant in 11:22 as the high priest Onias.  He was killed in the time on Antiochus.  But to fit this view to Daniel 2 and 7 is more difficult. To do that critics have a rather forced interpretation of the prophecy of those chapters.  This document has provided proof that the forced interpretation of Daniel 2 and 7 is incorrect.  It has also been shown that Daniel 8 does align to the obvious interpretation of Daniel 7.

With respect to Daniel 11, it has been shown above that the breaking of the prince of the covenant in 11:22 refers to the death of Jesus Christ in the first century AD and therefore that the flood that shatters the nagid-prince of the covenant in 11:22 is the Roman Empire.  This means that the anti-temple activities and the persecution of God’s people later in that chapter must occur some historical time after Christ’s death, and therefore during or after the Roman period.

This document then had to explain the high level of detail of Antiochus III in Daniel 11, how Daniel 11:19-22 can be interpreted as a jump from Antiochus III to the Roman Empire if Antiochus IV fits the sequence of kings in Daniel 11 and the apparent absence of the Roman Empire in Daniel 8 and 11. 

This document, therefore, supports the view that the book of Daniel was written before the time of Antiochus IV, and that the prophecies are real predictions of future events.  God is in control of history:

there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days (2:28).

the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes (5:21)

ARTICLES IN THE EXPANDED SERIES

The metal man of Daniel 2 divides world history into six ages.
The four beasts of Daniel 7 
Three interpretations of the little horn
Compare Daniel 7 and 8 to identify the fourth kingdom.
Daniel 8: The evil horn does not come out of a Greek horn.
Daniel 11’s Vile Person: Antiochus or Antichrist?  
Antiochus IV does not fit the profile of Daniel’s Evil King.

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