Daniel 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 commanders who fought for him, as Lysias, Philip the

And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

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 ,41, to the end; /APC 2Mac v. 24.

Daniel 11:31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily [sacrifice], and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.Ver. 31. And arms shall stand on his part,] i.e., Antiochus’ s princes and commanders, whom he sent to spoil Jerusalem; such as were Philip the Phrygian, Andronicus, Apollonius, Bacchides, &c., who made havoc of God’ s people, and revelled in their ruins. And they shall place the abomination of desolation.] The abominable idol of Jupiter Olympius. The like whereunto was done here in England in those Marian times, of abhorred memory, which yet lasted no longer than those of Antiochus, scil., five or six years.

(31) Arms.—A further statement of the assistance which the king obtains in his attacks upon all sacred institutions. The word “arms,” as in Daniel 11:5, means “assistance,” especially military assistance, or some other aid, with which is contrasted in the next verse the help given by the apostates. The sanctuary of strength.—In the Hebrew (see Theodotion) there are two nouns in apposition. Apparently the two words are a name for the Temple, which is so called because it was the spiritual support of God’s people, as well as a very powerful fortress. (See Isaiah 25:4, &c.; Psalms 31:2-4; and compare 1Ma 1:44; 1Ma 6:7; 2Ma 6:4, which speak of the various deeds of Antiochus upon this occasion.) On the daily sacrifice, and on the abomination of desolation, see the Notes on Daniel 8:13.

Verse 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 power; 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 Matthew 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.

31. And arms—i.e. forces (Daniel 11:15; Daniel 11:22)—(coming) from him shall stand up] or (following the interpunction expressed by the Heb. accents), shall stand up at his instance (Isaiah 30:1, Heb.); ‘stand up,’ i.e. be set on foot, organized (cf. in the causative conj. Daniel 11:11). The ‘arms’ are the armed force sent by Antiochus to take possession of Jerusalem (see the next note). and they shall pollute the sanctuary (even) the stronghold] The Temple at this time was fortified with high walls, which were broken down by the soldiers of Antiochus, but afterwards rebuilt (1Ma 4:60; 1Ma 6:7): hence it is called a ‘stronghold.’ For the facts, see 1Ma 1:29 ff. Apollonius (2Ma 5:24), coming with an armed force, but lulling with friendly words the suspicions of the people, fell upon the city suddenly on a sabbath-day; and having obtained possession of it, took women and children prisoners, demolished many of the houses and fortifications, and strengthening the citadel (which overlooked the Temple), established in it a Syrian garrison. Cf. 1Ma 1:34; 1Ma 1:36-37, ‘And they put there [in the citadel] a sinful nation [the Syrian garrison], transgressors of the law (ἄνδραςπαρανόμους), and they strengthened themselves therein.… And it became a place to lie in wait in against the sanctuary (ἔνεδροντῷἁγιάσματι), and an evil adversary unto Israel continually. And they shed innocent blood round about the sanctuary, and defiled the sanctuary’ (comp. Daniel 2:12). and shall take away the continual (burnt-offering)] cf. Daniel 8:11, where the expression is similar, and the reference is the same. Apollonius had not been long in possession of Jerusalem when Antiochus, wishing to unify his empire, and to assimilate as far as possible its different parts, determined to bring it all under the influence of Hellenic culture; and accordingly issued in Judah instructions to obliterate every trace of the ancient religion. All the Jewish sacrifices were to be abolished in the Temple; sabbaths and other festivals were to be disregarded; ceremonial observances (such as the prohibition to eat unclean food) were to be discontinued; the rite of circumcision was prohibited, under pain of death; books of the law were to be destroyed, and anyone found with them in his possession was to be punished with death. Special commissioners (ἐπίσκοποι) were appointed for the purpose of carrying out these directions. Not only, however, were Jewish institutions to be thrown aside, heathen ones were to take their place; the Temple was to be transformed into a sanctuary of Zeus Olympios (2Ma 6:2), heathen altars and shrines were to be set up, swine’s flesh and unclean beasts were to be sacrificed; and officers were appointed to see that all these injunctions were duly carried out (1Ma 1:41-53). The suspension of the Temple services (to which the words of the present verse allude) began in December, b.c. 168, and continued for rather more than three years (see p. 119). and they shall set up the abomination that causeth appalment] i.e. the heathen altar erected on the altar of burnt-offering.

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.

31. R.V., “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that