Daniel 11:38 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 11:38
But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
a stand · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
honour
יְכַבֵּ֑דye.kha.Bed
H3513
to be heavy · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
God
וְלֶאֱלֹ֙הַּ֙ve.le.'e.Lo.ah
H433
a deity or the Deity · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
forces
מָֽעֻזִּ֔יםma.'u.Zim
H4581
a fortified place · noun, common masculine plural absolute
god
וְלֶאֱל֜וֹהַּve.le.'e.Lo.ah
H433
a deity or the Deity · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
fathers
אֲבֹתָ֗יו'a.vo.Tav
H1
father · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
knew
יְדָעֻ֣הוּye.da.'U.hu
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
honour
יְכַבֵּ֛דye.kha.Bed
H3513
to be heavy · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
gold
בְּזָהָ֥בbe.za.Hav
H2091
gold · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
silver
וּבְכֶ֛סֶףuv.Khe.sef
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
precious
יְקָרָ֖הye.ka.Rah
H3368
valuable (objectively or subjectively) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
stones
וּבְאֶ֥בֶןuv.'E.ven
H68
a stone · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
things
חֶמְדָּהchemdâh
H2532
delight
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 44:9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they s…
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines…
Revelation 13:12-17 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast…
Revelation 17:1-5 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the…
Revelation 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine w…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 11:21–end
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 bitter persecutor of those that adhered to it. What troubles the Jews met with in the reigns of the Persian kings were not so particularly foretold to Daniel as these, because then they had living prophets with them, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage them; but these troubles in the days of Antiochus were foretold, because, before that time, prophecy would cease, and they would find it necessary to have recourse to the written word. Some things in this prediction concerning Antiochus are alluded to in the New Testament predictions of the antichris…
God of forces--probably Jupiter Capitolinus, to whom Antiochus began to erect a temple at Antioch [LIVY, 41.20]. Translate, "He shall honor the god of fortresses on his basis," that is, the base of the statue. NEWTON translates, "And the god 'Mahuzzim' (guardians, that is, saints adored as 'protectors' in the Greek and Roman churches) shall he honor."
honour with gold, &c.--Compare Rev 17:4 as to Antiochus' antitype, Antichrist.
Adam Clarke on Daniel 11:38
Shall he honor the god of forces - מעזים mauzzim, or gods protectors, as in the margin; worshipping saints and angels as guardians, and protectors, and mediators; leaving out, in general, the true God, and the only Mediator, Jesus Christ.
And a god whom his fathers knew not - For these gods guardians, the Virgin Mary, saints and angels, were utterly unknown as mediators and invocable guardians in the primitive apostolic Church.
Shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones - How literally does this apply to the Church of Rome! See the house of our lady at Loretto; the shrines of saints; the decorated images, costly apparel, gold, jewels, etc., profusely used about images of…
Whereas all his ancestors acknowledged their natural limitations and did not presume to name themselves as god over all things, he gives himself the title God mighty and strong (the sense of Maozeim)—hence his putting "in his place," meaning himself.
And so the prophet, having described what has already occurred and has been accomplished in its own time, he proclaims another mystery to us, making an indication of the end of times. For he speaks in this way, "And another shameless king shall arise and he shall be exalted over every god and shall be magnified and he shall say immoderate things and he shall prosper until the wrath is consummated. For it is to be consummated. And he shall not regard any god of his fathers nor desire women and he shall not regard any god, because he shall be magnified over all. And he shall glorify the god of Moazeim in his place and a god which his fathers did not know; he shall honor in gold and silver and precious stones and he shall multiply glory and shall subject many to them and divide the earth in gifts." [Daniel 11:36-39]
"But he shall worship the god Maozim in his place, and a god which his fathers knew not shall he worship with gold and silver and precious stones and things of great price." Instead of "the god Maozim (m'dym)," as the Hebrew has it, Aquila renders, "the God of mighty powers (fortitudinum)," whereas the Septuagint says, "the most mighty God." As for the god Maozim, Porphyry has offered an absurd explanation, asserting that Antiochus's generals set up a statue of Jupiter in the village of Modin, from which came Mattathias and his sons; moreover they compelled the Jews to offer blood-sacrifices to it, that is, to the god of Modin. The next statement, "...and he shall worship a god whom his fathers did not know" is more appropriate to the Antichrist than to Antiochus. For we read that Antiochus held to the religion of the idols of Greece and compelled the Jews and Samaritans to worship his own gods.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Mauzzim — (fortresses). The marginal note to the Authorized Version of (Daniel 11:38) “the god of forces,” gives as the equivalent of the last word “Mauzzim, or gods protectors, or munitions.” There can be…
Precious Stones · Used for: Honouring idols — Used for: Honouring idols
Syria · Prophecies respecting: Its history in connection with the Macedonia empire — Prophecies respecting: Its history in connection with the Macedonia empire
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
But in his estate shall he honour the god of forces,.... Or god Mahuzzim (q); departed saints and their images, whom the Papists make their protectors, defenders, and guardians: the word signifies towers, strong holds, fortresses; and by these titles the martyrs, saints departed, are called by the ancient fathers, who first introduced the worship of them: So Basil (r), speaking of the forty martyrs, says,
"these are they, who obtaining our country, like certain towers, afford us a refuge against the incursion of enemies:''
and a little after thus addresses them,
"O ye common keepers of mankind, the best companions of our cares, the suffragans of our prayers and wishes, "most powerful" amb…
Daniel 11:38-39
38. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
38. Et Deum fortitudinum, vel, munitionum, in loco suo honorabit: et Deum quem non cognoverunt patres ejus honorabit cum auro, et argento, et lapide pretioso, et desiderabilibus, [189] hoc est, rebus omnibus pretiosis.
39. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
39. Et faciet adversus munitiones fortitudinum cum Deo alieno, quem agnoverit, multipl…
On the other hand, he will honour the god of fortresses. That מעזּים is not, with Theodotion, the Vulgate, Luther, and others, to be regarded as the proper name of a god, is now generally acknowledge. But as to which god is to be understood by the "god of fortresses," there is very great diversity of opinion. Grotius, C. B. Michaelis, Gesenius, and others think on Mars, the god of war, as the one intended; Hvernick, v. Lengerke, Maurer, and Ewald regard Jupiter Capitolinus, to whom Antiochus purposed to erect a temple in Antioch (Livy, xli. 20); others, Jupiter Olympius; while Hitzig, by changing מעזּים into ים מעז, fortress of the sea, thinks that Melkart, or the Phoenician Hercules, is ref…
no respect for the gods of his ancestors: Antiochus IV forsook the Syrian gods in order to worship Greek gods. • The god loved by women might be one of the Canaanite or Egyptian fertility deities. • No god of fortresses is known from history, but this description might be fulfilled by the lavish gifts that Antiochus gave to cities and to Greek temples, perhaps to increase his reputation and power (see Livy, History 41.20).
Rashi on Daniel 11:38
But the god of the strongholds the god of the cherubim who will make a treaty with him.
on its base he will honor for he will flatter the nations to be subservient to him.
