Daniel 8:9

Daniel next saw a rather small horn (king, Daniel 8:23) grow out of one of the four horns (kingdoms, Daniel 8:22) that had replaced the single horn (the first king, Alexander, Daniel 8:21) on the goat (Greece, Daniel 8:21). This horn is quite clearly different from the little horn that came up among the 10 horns on the fourth beast in the previous vision (cf. Daniel 7:8; Daniel 7:11; Daniel 7:24-26).

". . . the little horn arising from the third kingdom serves as a prototype of the little horn of the fourth kingdom. The crisis destined to confront God’s people in the time of the earlier little horn, Antiochus Epiphanes, will bear a strong similarity to the crisis that will befall them in the eschatological or final phase of the fourth kingdom in the last days (as Christ himself foresaw in the Olivet Discourse [Matthew 24:15])." [Note: Archer, "Daniel," p. 99.]

This little horn grew very great to the south, the east, and "the beautiful." The first problem with this description is: What is the reference point for these directions? History has identified this little horn as Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), the eighth king of the Seleucid dynasty. He ruled Syria from 175 to 164 B.C. (cf. 1 Maccabees 1:10; 1 Maccabees 6:16), and he conducted military campaigns in all of these directions (cf. 1 Maccabees 1:20). [Note: Walvoord, Daniel . . ., p. 185.] Therefore, the point of reference must be Syria.

The second problem is the identification of "the beautiful." This is quite evidently a reference to Palestine (cf. Daniel 11:16; Daniel 11:41; Daniel 11:45; Jeremiah 3:19; Ezekiel 20:6; Ezekiel 20:15). Here the vision begins to focus on the future of Israel and the Jews. Antiochus was especially vengeful against the Jews, whom he persecuted brutally.

"He is . . . one of the greatest persecutors Israel has ever known." [Note: Whitcomb, p. 111. Cf. Hebrews 11:35-38.]

"In one assault on Jerusalem, 40,000 Jews were killed in three days and 10,000 more were carried into captivity." [Note: Campbell, p. 95. The ancient sources of information about Antiochus’ persecutions are 1 and 2 Maccabees and Josephus.]

"This suppression came to a head in December 168 B.C., when Antiochus returned in frustration from Alexandria, where he had been turned back by the Roman commander Popilius Laenas, and vented his exasperation on the Jews. He sent his general, Apollonius, with twenty thousand troops under orders to seize Jerusalem on a Sabbath. There he erected an idol of Zeus and desecrated the altar by offering swine on it. This idol became known to the Jews as ’the abomination of desolation’ (hassiqqus mesomem, Daniel 11:31), which served as a type of a future abomination that will be set up in the Jerusalem sanctuary to be built in the last days (cf. Christ’s prediction in Matthew 24:15)." [Note: Archer, "Daniel," p. 98.]

Four years later, on December 25, 164 B.C., Judas Maccabaeus, a Jewish nationalist, led the Jews in rededicating the temple to Yahweh. This is the event that Jews have celebrated with Hanukkah ever since.