Daniel 11:39 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 11:39
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.
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
strong
מָֽעֻזִּים֙ma.'u.Zim
H4581
a fortified place · noun, common masculine plural absolute
holds
לְמִבְצְרֵ֤יle.miv.tze.Rei
H4013
a fortification · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
strange
נֵכָ֔רne.Khar
H5236
foreign · noun, common masculine singular absolute
god
אֱל֣וֹהַּ'e.Lo.ah
H433
a deity or the Deity · noun, common masculine singular construct
acknowledge
יַכִּ֖ירhi.kir
H5234
properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
increase
יַרְבֶּ֣הyar.Beh
H7235
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
glory
כָב֑וֹדkha.Vod
H3519
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
rule
וְהִמְשִׁילָם֙ve.him.shi.Lam
H4910
to rule · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
many
בָּֽרַבִּ֔יםba.ra.Bim
H7227
abundant (in quantity · preposition with the article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
divide
יְחַלֵּ֥קye.cha.Lek
H2505
to be smooth (figuratively) · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
land
וַאֲדָמָ֖הva.'a.da.Mah
H127
soil (from its general redness) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
gain
בִּמְחִֽירbim.Chir
H4242
price · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
Revelation 18:9-13 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they s…
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…
NEWTON translates, "to be defenders of Mahuzzim (the monks and priests who uphold saint worship), together with the strange god whom he shall acknowledge, he shall multiply honor." English Version is better: He shall do (exploits) in the most strongholds (that is, shall succeed against them) with a strange god (under the auspices of a god which he worshipped not before, namely, Jupiter Capitolinus, whose Worship he imported into his empire from Rome). Antiochus succeeded against Jerusalem, Sidon, Pelusium, Memphis.
cause them--Antiochus "caused" his followers and the apostates "to rule over many" Jews, having "divided their land" (Judea), "for gain" (that is, as a reward for their complian…
In the most strong holds with a strange god - Bishop Newton proposed the following translation, after justly finding fault with our common Version: "Thus shall he do to the defenders of Mauzzim, together with the strange god whom he shall acknowledge: he shall multiply honor, and he shall cause him to rule over many; and the earth he shall divide for a reward." The defenders of Mauzzim, these saint and angel gods protectors, were the monks, priests, and bishops; of whom it may be truly said, "They were increased with honor, ruled over many, and divided the land for gain." They have been honored and reverenced almost to adoration; their jurisdiction was extended over the purses and conscience…
The Church Fathers
He says that he will raise temples for himself and adorn them with silver, gold and precious stones and subject many people to them; that is, he will subject the many people who have been deceived by his signs or who have been weakened by his punishments. But he will also "divide the land in exchange for gifts," that is, he will bestow the largest portion of the land on those who have obediently chosen to be godless.
"And he shall take measures to fortify Maozim, together with a strange god whom he has acknowledged. And he shall increase glory and shall grant them power over many and shall divide the land as a free gift." Theodotion has interpreted as follows: "And he shall conduct these affairs so as to fortify garrisons with a strange god, and with them he shall manifest and increase glory; and he shall cause them to bear rule over many and divide up the land as a free gift." Symmachus rendered it "refuges" instead of "garrisons." Porphyry explained this as meaning that the man is going to fortify the citadel in Jerusalem and will station garrisons in the rest of the cities, and will instruct the Jews to worship a strange god, which doubtless means Jupiter. And displaying the idol to them, he will persuade them that they should worship it. Then he will bestow upon the deluded both honor and very great glory, and he shall deal with the rest who have borne rule in Judaea, and apportion estates unto them in return for their falsehood, and shall distribute gifts. The Antichrist likewise is going to make lavish bestowal of many rewards upon those whom he has deceived, and will divide up the land to his soldiery. And those whom he will not be able to subject to himself by fear he will subject through their cupidity.
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…
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).
Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,.... Or, "in the strong holds of Mahuzzim" (w) that is, in the temples, churches, and chapels, dedicated to angels and departed saints; deck and adorn their images with gold, silver, precious stones, and with desirable things, which is notorious; as well as commit the grossest idolatries with this strange breaden god; which they hold up in such places, cringe and bow to, and pay all religious worship and adoration to it:
whom he shall acknowledge, and increase with glory; as really God; the wafer being transubstantiated into the very body and blood of Christ, as is said; and own it as such, as very God, and heap religious honour a…
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…
With the help of this god, who was unknown to his fathers, he will so proceed against the strong fortresses that he rewards with honour, might, and wealth those who acknowledge him. This is the meaning of the verse, which has been very differently rendered. The majority of modern interpreters separate the two parts of the verse from each other, for they refer the first hemistich to the preceding, and in the second they find a new thought expressed. Hvernick and v. Lengerke supply a demonstrative כּה, thus: - thus shall he do to the armed fortresses together with the strange gods, i.e., fill the fortified temples with treasures, and promote their worship. But the supplement כּה is here just a…
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 11:39
And he will construct buildings.
for the fortresses of the strongholds with a foreign god i.e., in honor of a foreign god.
whomever he will recognize, he will honor increasingly He will increase the honor [and greatness] of those princes whom he will see fit to recognize their faces and to flatter.
and he will apportion to them.
for a price for little money.
