Page 34 - Heavenly Signs II by Mel Gable

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Matthew Henry - He saw a little horn which became a great persecutor of the church and people of God; and this was the
principle thing that was intended to be shown to him in this vision, as afterwards, ch.11:30, etc. All agree that this was Antiochus
Epiphanes (so he called himself)—the illustrious, but others called him Antiochus Epimanes—Antiochus the furious. He is
called here (as before, ch.7:8), a little horn, because he was in his original contemptible; there were others between him and the
kingdom, and he was of a base servile disposition, had nothing in him of princely qualities, and had been for some time a hostage and
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prisoner at Rome, whence he made his escape, and, though, the youngest brother, and his elder living, got the kingdom.

Holman - The four horns reflected the fourfold division of Alexander’s empire following his untimely death. The little horn
represented Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian ruler (about 175–164 B.C.) who opposed God’s people and desecrated the
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temple.

Unger - “Thus the career of Antiochus Epiphanes (175-163 B.C.) is prophetically outlined in verses 9 to 14, and there is
no adequate reason for viewing it otherwise than fulfilled from the standpoint of our times, although throughout it closely parallels the
career of the Antichrist, who will arise during the Great Tribulation preceding the setting up of Israel's Kingdom, as the rest of the
Chapter attests." (V. 14) "In obedience to the voice to give understanding of the vision, the very first point Gabriel made to Daniel
as son of man (cf. comment on Ezek. 2:1) was he had to understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end...to the appointed
time of the end (NASB), specified even more plainly by the words by in the last end of the indignation, that is, 'the final period of the
indignation' (NASB)" …in those words, 'I will make thee know what shall be the last end of the indignation, we have the key to
the meaning of the vision" (W.C. Stevens, The Book of Daniel, p. 120). To the pre millenarian expositor, the reference is obviously
to 'the end' of the times of the Gentiles, which will be brought to their consummation by the second advent of Christ -- the stone
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striking the image (Daniel 2:34-35, 45)." (V.17b-19); Unger p. 1653

Cooper Abrams - Daniel's prophecy although involves Antiochus Epiphanes it also has a more far reaching prediction. The
prophecy foreshadows the coming Antichrist of Daniel's 70th week or the Seven Year Tribulation that will follow the Rapture of the
body of Christ. This is clearly indicated by statements "of the time of the end" (8:17) or "the final period of the indignation" (8:19)
which refers to the end of the age or the coming time when God will pour out His wrath on the earth followed by the return of Jesus
the Messiah. Thus, Antiochus Epiphanes prefigures the king of the north of Daniel 11:6 who is the coming Antichrist revealed in
the future seven year Tribulation.

These Bible commentaries agree that it was Antiochus Epiphanes. Nevertheless, Antiochus never destroyed the
Temple which is stated in Daniel 8:11 “….and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down.” Antiochus placed a statue
of Jupiter, the king of the gods in the Temple. He also sacrificed a pig or swine on the altar prohibited by the
Law. Therefore, this scripture passage is referring to the Temple’s destruction during the Roman times. It is
Roman history that has recorded this event. In mid-May 70 AD Titus, the son of Vespasian, destroyed the newly
built Third Wall with a ram, breached it as well as the Second Wall, and turned his attention to the Fortress of
Antonia just north of the Temple Mount. After several failed attempts to breach or scale the walls of the Antonia
Fortress, the Romans finally launched a secret attack, overwhelmed the Jews and took the fortress. Christ also
predicts that the Temple would be totally destroyed just as Daniel said “was thrown down.” Christ in Matthew 24
makes the statement that parallels that of Daniel with the use of the words “be torn down.” Most Bible scholars
understand that Christ was proclaiming the destruction of the Holy Temple by the Roman Empire.

Matthew 24:1-2 “Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to
point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I
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say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

40 Henry, M. (1996). Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Da 8:1–14). Peabody:
Hendrickson.

41 Chisholm, R. B. (1998). The Major Prophets. In D. S. Dockery (Ed.), Holman Concise Bible Commentary: Simple, straightforward
commentary on every book of the Bible (D. S. Dockery, Ed.) (337). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
42 Merrill F Unger (2002). Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament. Tyndale Theological Seminar, published by AMG
Publishers