It magnified itself
This phrase refers to the little horn, which is often interpreted as a symbol of a powerful ruler or kingdom. Historically, this is associated with Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Seleucid king known for his arrogance and self-exaltation. The act of magnifying oneself is a common theme in Scripture, often associated with pride and rebellion against God (e.g., Isaiah 14:13-14).

even to the Prince of the host;
The "Prince of the host" is generally understood to refer to God or a divine figure, possibly the pre-incarnate Christ. This indicates a direct challenge to divine authority. In the context of Antiochus IV, this can be seen in his attempts to suppress Jewish worship and impose Hellenistic practices, directly opposing the God of Israel. This phrase also foreshadows the Antichrist, who will similarly exalt himself against God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

it removed His daily sacrifice
The daily sacrifice refers to the continual burnt offerings that were central to Jewish worship in the temple (Exodus 29:38-42). Antiochus IV famously desecrated the temple and halted these sacrifices, an act that was seen as a profound violation of Jewish religious life. This cessation of sacrifices is a key element in the prophecy of the "abomination of desolation" (Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15).

and overthrew the place of His sanctuary.
The sanctuary refers to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, the center of Jewish worship and the dwelling place of God's presence among His people. Antiochus IV's actions included the desecration of the temple, which involved setting up an altar to Zeus and sacrificing unclean animals. This historical event is a type of future desecration prophesied to occur during the end times, as seen in Revelation 13:6. The overthrowing of the sanctuary symbolizes a direct attack on God's dwelling and His covenant with Israel.

1. The Little Horn
In the context of Daniel 8, the "little horn" represents a powerful and arrogant ruler who exalts himself against God. Historically, this is often associated with Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Seleucid king known for his persecution of the Jews and desecration of the temple.

2. The Prince of the Host
This title is generally understood to refer to God Himself or a divine representative, possibly the pre-incarnate Christ. The "Prince" is the ultimate authority over the heavenly host.

3. The Daily Sacrifice
This refers to the regular offerings made in the Jewish temple, which were central to the worship and religious life of Israel. The removal of these sacrifices signifies a direct attack on the worship of God.

4. The Sanctuary
The sanctuary is the holy place of worship, specifically the temple in Jerusalem. Its desecration represents a profound spiritual and national crisis for the Jewish people.

5. Antiochus IV Epiphanes
A historical figure who ruled the Seleucid Empire and is infamous for his oppressive policies against the Jews, including the desecration of the Jewish temple.Understanding Prophetic Fulfillment
Recognize the historical and future implications of prophecy. Daniel 8:11 has both a historical fulfillment in Antiochus IV and a future application in eschatological events.

The Importance of Worship
The removal of the daily sacrifice highlights the centrality of worship in our relationship with God. We must guard against anything that disrupts our worship and devotion.

God's Sovereignty
Despite the apparent triumph of evil, God remains sovereign. The desecration of the sanctuary is temporary, and God's ultimate plan will prevail.

Spiritual Vigilance
Be aware of forces that seek to undermine faith and worship. Like the little horn, there are powers today that challenge God's authority and seek to lead believers astray.1. What is the meaning of Daniel 8:11?

2. How does Daniel 8:11 illustrate the power struggle against divine authority?

3. What does "the Prince of the host" refer to in Daniel 8:11?

4. How can we recognize and resist modern-day challenges to God's authority?

5. How does Daniel 8:11 connect to the prophecy in Daniel 7?

6. What practical steps can we take to uphold God's authority in our lives?

7. What does Daniel 8:11 mean by "the Prince of the host" being exalted?

8. How does Daniel 8:11 relate to the historical desecration of the temple?

9. Why is the removal of the daily sacrifice significant in Daniel 8:11?

10. What are the top 10 Lessons from Daniel 8?

11. What do the seventy weeks of Daniel signify?

12. When will the 2300 days prophecy be fulfilled?

13. In Daniel 9:24-27, how can the 'seventy weeks' prophecy be harmonized with known historical records and timelines for Jerusalem's rebuilding?

14. What are the different types of demons?It magnified itself

The “little horn” of Daniel 8 (v. 9) grows in arrogance until it overshadows all earthly limits.

• Daniel 8:10 says it “grew great, even to the host of heaven,” picturing ambition that knows no boundaries.

• Daniel 7:8 describes a similar horn that “had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance,” linking the two passages.

• 2 Thessalonians 2:4 points forward to a final rebel who “exalts himself above every so-called god.”

Historically, Antiochus IV Epiphanes fits the description: he enlarged his kingdom, imposed Greek culture, and elevated his own glory. Prophetically, the same spirit foreshadows the coming Antichrist (Revelation 13:5–6).

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even to the Prince of the host

The horn’s pride does not stop with people; it rises “even to the Prince of the host,” a title for the Lord Himself.

• Joshua 5:14–15 reveals “the Commander of the LORD’s army,” showing God as leader of heaven’s host.

• Daniel 10:21 speaks of “Michael your prince,” but here the “Prince” is higher, pointing to the Messiah (Isaiah 9:6, “Prince of Peace”).

Antiochus dared to challenge God by outlawing biblical faith, and the future Antichrist will do likewise, “opposing and exalting himself above every object of worship” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

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it removed His daily sacrifice

The daily burnt offering mandated in Exodus 29:38-42 was the heartbeat of Israel’s worship.

• Daniel 8:13 asks, “How long will the vision of the daily sacrifice be taken away?”

• Daniel 11:31 foretells forces that “will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation,” echoed by Jesus in Matthew 24:15.

In 167 BC Antiochus outlawed the sacrifices, erected an altar to Zeus, and forced swine’s flesh onto the bronze altar—an act mirrored on a larger scale in the last days.

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and overthrew the place of His sanctuary

To “overthrow” the sanctuary means to profane and desecrate the temple itself.

• Lamentations 2:7 laments that “the LORD has rejected His altar, He has abandoned His sanctuary.”

• Daniel 9:26 predicts that “the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary,” a pattern that began with Antiochus and continued with Rome in AD 70.

• Revelation 11:2 speaks of nations trampling the holy city for forty-two months, pointing to the climax of this hostility.

Antiochus plundered temple treasures (1 Maccabees 1:21-23) and turned God’s house into a pagan shrine. The Antichrist will again occupy a rebuilt temple, “proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

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summary

Daniel 8:11 sketches a progression: a proud ruler first magnifies himself, then challenges the very Prince of heaven, suppresses true worship, and finally desecrates God’s sanctuary. Antiochus IV fulfilled these words in miniature; the future Antichrist will fulfill them in full. The accuracy of Scripture in past history assures us that every remaining detail will unfold just as the Lord has said—and that His ultimate victory is certain.

(11) Prince of the host--i.e., Jehovah Himself. (Comp. Daniel 8:25, Daniel 11:36.)

The daily--i.e., everything permanent in the worship of God, such as sacrifices, &c. (See Note on Leviticus 6:13.) On this conduct of Antiochus see 1 Maccabees 1:39; 1 Maccabees 1:45, &c., 1 Maccabees 3:45. . . .

Verse 11. - Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. This is said by Bevan to be the most difficult verse in this whole book. There is a difference here between the Q'ri and the K'thib. The latter reads הרים, the hiphil of רום, while the former reads הרם, the hophal of the same verb At first sight the difficulty is not lessened by consideration of the versions. The Septuagint as it at present stands is utterly unintelligible, "Until the leader of the host shall save the captivity, and by him everlasting mountains were broken down, and their place and sacrifice taken away, and he placed it in the very ground, and he prospered [reading with Syriac] and was, and the holy place shall be laid waste." This confusion is due to confluence of readings, and is not difficult to disentangle with the help of the Massoretic text. Up to the last two words the Septuagint is a translation of a text differing from the Massoretic simply by intelligible variations and repetitions not uncommon in the Septuagint. The first clause of the LXX. originally was probably, "Till the prince shall deliver the captivity," reading שְׁבִי (shebee) instead of צַבָא (tzaba) - a scribe, finding צבא in his Hebrew, then added the translation of it to the margin of his Greek copy, from which it got into the text. The original of the LXX. had also יַצִּיּל (yatztzeel) instead of הִגְדִיל (hig'deel) - a confusion easily made in the elder script, in which י and ה were like. We learn from the Talmud (Shabb., 103b) that ג was liable to be mistaken by scribes for צ. Moreover, "captivity" would naturally suggest נצל, "to deliver." The second clause is, "By him the everlasting mountains were broken down." Here hayreem has been read with the K'thib, and vocalized as if it were hareem, and tameed, "continual," translated as equivalent to עולם ('olam), "everlasting." The next clause reveals the other meaning of tameed, "sacrifice," which probably had been written on the margin, and then dropped into the text. The latter part of the Septuagint verse appears to be confused with the latter part of the following verse according to the Massoretes. Theodotion is even less intelligible than the Septuagint, "Until the leader of the host shall save the captivity, and through him the sacrifice was broken down, and he prospered, and the holy place shall be made desolate." It is to be noticed that the first clause here agrees with the LXX. It is possible that "and he prospered" is a doublet, הִצְלִיַח being read for חֻשְׁלַד in some copy. The Peshitta differs from beth the Greek versions, "Until it arrive to the chiefs of the host, and by it was set up in perpetuity, and preparing he strengthened the sanctuary," and while it is difficult to understand the origin of the variation in the first clause, it is clear that in the second clause the translator must have read hish-leem for hooshlak. The one thing that seems clear is that the reading of the K'thib is to be preferred. We should read hayreem, not hooram. Only the first of these could be read "mountains." If we translate the words as they stand, we shall certainly be removed out of the region of all the commentators. It is assumed that "the little horn" is the subject of this sentence; but "horn" is feminine in Hebrew, and the verbs here are in the masculine; this is against it being the nominative. The "prince of the host," then, must be the nominative of the verbs and subject of the sentence. The rendering of the first clause ought to be, then, "Until the prince of the host magnify himself (1 Samuel 12:24), and by himself he shall offer the daily sacrifice. And he shall cast down the foundation of his holy place," reading hishlayk instead of hooshlak. We should feel strongly in. clined to transfer the first "and" to hayreem, and, changing the punctuation, read, "Until the prince of the host shall make himself greater than he" - viz, the tyrant represented by "the little horn" - "and shall offer the daily sacrifice." If we might read hishleem with the Peshitta instead of hoosh-lak, we get a satisfactory meaning to the last clause, in which case we should render, "He shall complete the place of his sanctuary." We would understand by "complete," "to perfectly purify." Taking the Massoretic text thus with little modification, we have a description of the successes of Judas Maccabseus, who was prince of the host, and as such became stronger than Epiphanes, and then cleansed the temple, and offered the continual daily sacrifice. We give, as a curiosity, the note of Saadiah Gaon: "The King of Ishmael was more powerful than the kings of Rome who had Jerusalem, and he took Jerusalem from them by force."

Parallel Commentaries ...


It magnified itself,
הִגְדִּ֑יל (hiḡ·dîl)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1431: To grow up, become great

even to
וְעַ֥ד (wə·‘aḏ)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

the Prince
שַֽׂר־ (śar-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8269: Chieftain, chief, ruler, official, captain, prince

of the host;
הַצָּבָ֖א (haṣ·ṣā·ḇā)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 6635: A mass of persons, reg, organized for, war, a campaign

it removed
הוּרַ֣ם (hū·ram)
Verb - Hofal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7311: To be high actively, to rise, raise

His daily sacrifice
הַתָּמִ֔יד (hat·tā·mîḏ)
Article | Adverb
Strong's 8548: Continuance, constant, ellipt, the regular, sacrifice

and overthrew
וְהֻשְׁלַ֖ךְ (wə·huš·laḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hofal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7993: To throw out, down, away

the place
מְכ֥וֹן (mə·ḵō·wn)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4349: A fixture, a basis, a place, as an abode

of His sanctuary.
מִקְדָּשֽׁוֹ׃ (miq·dā·šōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 4720: A consecrated thing, place, a palace, sanctuary, asylum


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OT Prophets: Daniel 8:11 Yes it magnified itself even to (Dan. Da Dn)