Daniel 8 is the eighth
chapter
Chapter or Chapters may refer to:
Books
* Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document
* Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10
* Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...
of the
Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. It is ostensibly a narrative detailing the experiences and Prophecy, prophetic visions of Daniel, a Jewish Babylonian captivity, exile in Babylon ...
. It tells of
Daniel
Daniel commonly refers to:
* Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname
* List of people named Daniel
* List of people with surname Daniel
* Daniel (biblical figure)
* Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...
's vision of a two-horned ram destroyed by a one-horned goat, followed by the history of the "little horn", which is Daniel's code-word for the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
king
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( 215 BC–November/December 164 BC) was king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. Notable events during Antiochus' reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, his persecution of the Jews of ...
.
Although set during the reign or regency of
King Belshazzar (who probably died in 539 BCE), the subject of the vision is Antiochus's oppression of the
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
people during the second century BCE: he outlawed Jewish traditions such as
circumcision
Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...
, the
Three Pilgrimage Festivals
The Three Pilgrimage Festivals or Three Pilgrim Festivals, sometimes known in English by their Hebrew name ''Shalosh Regalim'' (, or ), are three major festivals in Judaism—two in spring; Passover, 49 days later Shavuot (literally 'weeks', or ...
, dietary law (''
Kashrut
(also or , ) is a set of Food and drink prohibitions, dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to halakha, Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed ko ...
''), and
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
,
[Known as '' Chodesh'', ''Millah'', ''Shabbos''] made ownership of a
''Sefer Torah'' a capital offense, and built an altar to
Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus.
Zeus is the child ...
in the
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...
(the "
abomination of desolation
"Abomination of desolation" is a phrase from the Book of Daniel describing the pagan sacrifices with which the 2nd century BC Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes replaced the twice-daily offering in the Second Temple, Jewish temple, or alternativel ...
"). His program sparked a popular uprising that led to the retaking of Jerusalem and the Temple by
Judas Maccabeus
Judas Maccabaeus or Maccabeus ( ), also known as Judah Maccabee (), was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE).
The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah ("Ded ...
(164 BCE), an event described in
1 Maccabees
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest hi ...
.
Summary
In the third year of
Belshazzar
Belshazzar ( Babylonian cuneiform: ''Bēl-šar-uṣur'', meaning " Bel, protect the king"; ''Bēlšaʾṣṣar'') was the son and crown prince of Nabonidus (), the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Through his mother, he might have been ...
, king of Babylon, Daniel in a vision sees himself in
Susa
Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...
, which is in
Elam
Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...
, in modern-day western
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. In his vision he sees a
ram
Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to:
* A male sheep
* Random-access memory, computer memory
* Ram Trucks, US, since 2009
** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans
** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks
Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...
with two horns, one greater than the other; the ram charges to the west, north and south, and no other beast can stand against it. Daniel then sees a male
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...
with a single horn come from the west without touching the ground; it strikes the ram and destroys it. At the height of his power the goat's horn is broken and in its place four horns grow. One of the horns is small but grows great and prospers in everything it does, throwing stars down to the earth, stopping the daily sacrifice, destroying the sanctuary and throwing truth to the ground. Daniel is told the vision will be fulfilled in 2,300 evenings and mornings, when the sanctuary will be cleansed. The angel
Gabriel
In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...
appears and tells Daniel that this is a vision about the
time of the end.
Composition and structure
The
Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. It is ostensibly a narrative detailing the experiences and Prophecy, prophetic visions of Daniel, a Jewish Babylonian captivity, exile in Babylon ...
originated as a collection of
folktale
Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used va ...
s among the Jewish community in Babylon and Mesopotamia in the Persian and early
Hellenistic
In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
periods (5th to 3rd centuries BCE), and was later expanded by the visions of chapters 7–12 in the
Maccabean
The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees (, or , ; or ; , ), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. Its leaders, the Hasmoneans, founded the Hasmonean dynasty, whic ...
era (mid-2nd century). Daniel is a legendary figure and his name was presumably chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition. The structure of the chapter can be described as follows:
I. Introduction: date and place (verses 1–2);
II. Vision report: ram, he-goat, angelic conversation (3–12);
III. Epiphany (appearance) of interpreter: circumstances and desire for interpretation, epiphany (15–17);
IV. Interpretation: circumstances, interpretation of images, concluding statement by the angel (18–26);
V. Concluding statement of visionary's reaction, v.27.
Genre and themes
The Book of Daniel is an
apocalypse
Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...
, a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient; such works are characterized by visions, symbolism, an other-worldly mediator, an emphasis on cosmic events, angels and demons, and pseudonymity (false authorship). Apocalypses were common from 300 BCE to 100 CE, not only among Jews and Christians, but Greeks,
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
, Persians and
Egyptians
Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...
. Daniel, the book's hero, is a representative apocalyptic seer, the recipient of the divine revelation: has learned the wisdom of the Babylonian magicians and surpassed them, because his God is the true source of knowledge; he is one of the ''maskil'', the wise, whose task is to teach righteousness. The book is also an
eschatology
Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...
, meaning a divine revelation concerning the end of the present age, a moment in which God will intervene in history to usher in the final kingdom.
Daniel 8 conforms to the type of the "symbolic dream vision" and the "regnal" or "dynastic" prophecy, analogous to a work called the "Babylonian Dynastic Prophecy"–a more extensive example appears in Daniel 11. For its sources it draws on Daniel 7, which supplies the symbolism of the "little horn" and the "holy ones" (angels), as well as on the
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Nevi'im#Latter Prophets, Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and one of the Major Prophets, major prophetic books in the Christian Bible, where it follows Book of Isaiah, Isaiah and ...
, which provides the location by a river and the epiphany of the angel, and on the
Book of Habakkuk
The Book of Habakkuk is the eighth book of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The book has three chapters. It is attributed to the prophet Habakkuk. Most scholars agree that the book was probably composed in the period during Jehoiak ...
with its concern with the "end of time." The "little horn" which casts some of the stars to the ground recalls
Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...
14:12 and
Lucifer
The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology.
He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...
, which in turn presupposes the
Ugarit
Ugarit (; , ''ủgrt'' /ʾUgarītu/) was an ancient port city in northern Syria about 10 kilometers north of modern Latakia. At its height it ruled an area roughly equivalent to the modern Latakia Governorate. It was discovered by accident in 19 ...
ic (Canaanite) myth of Attar's attempt to take the throne of
Baal
Baal (), or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The ...
.
Chapter 8 is about the actions of the world-powers at the "end-time". The course of history is pre-determined, and Antiochus is merely playing a role in the unwinding of God's plan. Daniel 8 is thus a reinterpretation and expansion of Daniel 7: where chapter 7 spoke only cryptically of the change-over from the Medo-Persian empire to the age of the Greek kings, chapter 8 makes this explicit; by the same token, chapter 8 speaks cryptically of the "little horn," whose story will be taken up in detail in the following chapters.
Interpretation
Historical background
Daniel 8 is an interpretation of the author's own time, 167–164 BCE, with a claim that God will bring to an end the oppression of the Jewish people. It begins with the
conquest of the Achaemenid Empire, touches on the rise of the four Greek successor kingdoms, and then focuses on the career of
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( 215 BC–November/December 164 BC) was king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. Notable events during Antiochus' reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, his persecution of the Jews of ...
, who took the throne of the
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...
in 175 BCE. Antiochus found himself in conflict with the Jews, and while the details are obscure, it appears that there was a revolt in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, he sent troops to suppress it, and as a result the
daily sacrifice in the
Second Temple
The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...
was stopped and the Temple itself defiled. The date for this is usually 167 BCE. The attempt to wipe out traditional religion and culture inevitably provoked a reaction, and the
rebels led by Judas Maccabee and his brothers, won sufficient military victories over the Seleucids to take back and purify the temple three years later.
The ram, the he-goat, the great horn and the four new horns
The symbols of the ram and he-goat, explained in the text of Daniel 8 as representing the kings of
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, are drawn from
the constellations
The Constellations is an American hip hop/rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia. They have a psychedelic soul-rock sound.
History
Formed in Atlanta, the band was signed to a four-album deal with Virgin Records.
Their song “We’re Here To Sav ...
that preside over Persia and
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
in
Hellenistic astrology
Hellenistic astrology is a tradition of horoscopic astrology that was developed and practiced in the late Hellenistic period in and around the Mediterranean Basin region, especially in Egypt. The texts and technical terminology of this tradition ...
. Scholars agree that the goat's first horn, which is broken, is
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
, and the four horns which then arise are the four generals who divided his empire. The detail that the goat does not touch the ground as he attacks the ram may reflect the speed of Alexander's conquest.
The "little horn" and his war on God
The "little horn" which arises from the four horns is
Antiochus Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( 215 BC–November/December 164 BC) was king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. Notable events during Antiochus' reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, his persecution of the Jews of ...
. It "grows in power to the south and to the east and towards the beautiful land", reflecting Antiochus' campaigns in Egypt (169–168 BCE), Persia (166 BCE) and Israel (the "beautiful land"). "Truth was flung to the ground" by the little horn as it tramples the land: this is probably a reference to the
Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
, the Law of Moses.
's "holy ones" most likely means
angels
An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
, rather than saints, as in the King James Version. Sometimes in the Hebrew Bible it seems to refer to the Israelites. Stars were commonly identified with angels in ancient Israel, and in 8:10 the reader is told that the little horn "grew great ... and some of the host of the stars it cast down to the ground and trampled upon them", indicating that Antiochus fights against the "heavenly host" of God's angels. Indeed, he "aspired to be as great as the Prince of the host," God himself.
Daniel is the only book in the Hebrew Bible which gives names to angels.
Gabriel
In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...
may have received his because he "has the appearance of a man" (Hebrew ''gaber''); he appears here as a messenger and interpreter of God's message, the same role he was later given by the author of
Luke
Luke may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Luke (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Luke (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luk ...
's
annunciation
The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...
scene (,). Michael is depicted as Israel's
guardian angel
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played ...
and a warrior. The prominence given these divine beings in Daniel is typical of Hellenistic Jewish literature, but much more restricted than in contemporary works such as
First Enoch.
The 2,300 evenings and mornings
In verse 13 Daniel overhears two "holy ones" (angels). One asks" "For how long is this vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over the sanctuary and host to be trampled?" and Daniel is informed that it will be "for 2,300 evenings and mornings," or 1,150 days. This is contradicted (twice in one sentence) at the end of Daniel 12, which says that "from the time the regular burnt offering is taken away ... there shall be 1,290 days; happy are those that persevere and attain the 1,335 days" (): the different numbers, first 1,150 days, then 1,290, finally 1,335, are presumably revisions made when the earlier numbers passed without fulfillment although the contradiction could also be understood by the author's use of different competing calendars.
John Goldingay
John Edgar Goldingay (born 20 June 1942) is a British Old Testament scholar and translator and Anglican cleric. He is the David Allan Hubbard Professor Emeritus of Old Testament in the School of Theology of Fuller Theological Seminary in Califo ...
(2019), ''Word Biblical Commentary: Daniel, Revised Edition, Vol. 30'', p. 551-552
The period in question was initially the duration of the desecration of the Temple, but 1,150 days is slightly less than three and a half years, while the desecration lasted only three years. It seems likely that the focus of the author shifted from the desecration and re-dedication of the Temple to the end of history, which would be marked by the resurrection of the dead: the final number in is followed by the instruction to Daniel to "go your way and rest; you shall rise for your reward at the end of days."
The interpretation of the 2,300 evenings and mornings as equivalent to half that number of days–1150 days–appears to be the most common, but
C. L. Seow, a leading Daniel scholar, takes it to mean 2,300 full days. This would be equivalent to about seven years; assuming that the end-point is the re-dedication of the Temple and restoration of sacrifices in 164 BCE, the starting point would then be the murder of the high priest
Onias III
Onias III, son of Simon II () called Onias Simonides in Koine Greek, was High Priest of Israel during the Second Temple period under the rule of the Seleucid Empire. He is described in the scriptures as a pious man who opposed the Hellenization o ...
in 171, another notable year in the events leading up to the desecration.
Christian eschatological readings
The Book of Daniel, and along with
Revelation
Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...
, formed one of the foundations of Christian
eschatology
Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...
. The authors of the
Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
identified
Jesus
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
with
Daniel 7
Daniel 7 (the seventh chapter of the Book of Daniel) tells of Daniel's vision of four world-kingdoms replaced by the kingdom of the saints or "holy ones" of the Most High, which will endure for ever. Four beasts come out of the sea, the Ancien ...
's "one like a
son of man", and by the 3rd century CE the stone of
Daniel 2
Daniel 2 (the second chapter of the Book of Daniel) tells how Daniel related and interpreted a dream of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon. In his night dream, the king saw a gigantic statue made of four metals, from its head of gold to its feet ...
and the fourth figure in the furnace in Daniel 3 were interpreted as
Christ
Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
, the fourth kingdom of Daniel 7 was
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, and the "little horn" was the
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...
(his identification as Antiochus was denied by
Jerome
Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome.
He is best known ...
in a famous exchange with the pagan philosopher
Porphyry
Porphyry (; , ''Porphyrios'' "purple-clad") may refer to:
Geology
* Porphyry (geology), an igneous rock with large crystals in a fine-grained matrix, often purple, and prestigious Roman sculpture material
* Shoksha porphyry, quartzite of purple c ...
). Daniel's timetable was reinterpreted to fit Christian expectations: the prophecy of 70 weeks in , for example, was commonly held to end either with the life and death of Christ or with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
dissident
Catholics
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, and later
Martin Luther
Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
, identified the
pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
as the Antichrist, while the "little horn" included
Mohammed
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...
, Antiochus, and the papacy, depending on which chapter of Daniel involved. In the 17th century the English
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
interpreted their struggle in terms of God's army (themselves) battling the
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...
(the pope) and his ally (the king), and the
Fifth Monarchy Men
The Fifth Monarchists, or Fifth Monarchy Men, were a Protestant sect with millennialist views active between 1649 and 1660 in the Commonwealth of England. The group took its name from a prophecy that claimed the four kingdoms of Daniel would p ...
took their name and ideal of government from Daniel 7.
See also
*
Abomination of desolation
"Abomination of desolation" is a phrase from the Book of Daniel describing the pagan sacrifices with which the 2nd century BC Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes replaced the twice-daily offering in the Second Temple, Jewish temple, or alternativel ...
*
Day-year principle
The day-year principle or year-for-a-day principle is a method of interpretation of Bible prophecy in which the word ''day'' in prophecy is considered to be symbolic of a ''year'' of actual time. It was the method used by most of the Reformers, an ...
*
Four kingdoms of Daniel
The four kingdoms of Daniel are four kingdoms which, according to the Book of Daniel, precede the " end-times" and the "Kingdom of God".
The four kingdoms
Historical background
The Book of Daniel originated from a collection of legends ci ...
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
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* Louis F. Hartman and Alexander A. Di Lella, "Daniel", in
Raymond E. Brown
Raymond Edward Brown (May 22, 1928 – August 8, 1998) was an American Sulpician priest and prominent biblical scholar. He was a specialist on the hypothetical Johannine community, which he speculated contributed to the authorship of the Gosp ...
et al., ed., ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary'', 1990, pp. 406–20.
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John F. Walvoord, ''Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation'', 1989. .
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{{Book of Daniel
08
Seventh-day Adventist theology
Biblical dreams and visions
Gabriel
Antiochus IV Epiphanes