The Character and Actions of the Antichrist Described in Daniel 11:37

Daniel 11:36-39 presents a description of the character and actions of the Antichrist during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.

Daniel 11:36 “Then, a unique king will do according to his desire. Consequently, he will exalt himself so that he will magnify himself above every deity. He will also issue extraordinary statements against the true God. However, despite this, he will succeed until the righteous indignation related to the end is completed because that which has been decreed must take place. 37 Also, he will have absolutely no respect for the gods of his ancestors as well as the one desired by women, likewise he will have absolutely no respect for each and every god because he will magnify himself above all.” (My translation)

The elect angel of God continues to communicate to Daniel prophecies regarding the character and actions of the Antichrist during the seventieth week.

In Daniel 11:37, the angelic being communicates four prophecies.

The first is that the Antichrist will have absolutely no regard for the gods of his ancestors and the second is that the Antichrist will have absolutely no regard for the one desired by women.

The third is that he will have absolutely no respect for each and every pagan god.

The fourth and final one is that he will magnify himself above every god worshipped by unregenerate humanity.

The fourth serves as the reason for the previous three indicating that Antichrist will reject every object of worship because he will deify himself.

In regard to the first prophetic statement some interpret the noun ʾělō∙hîm as meaning “God” referring to the God of Israel who is identified in the New Testament as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit rather than “gods” referring to pagan gods.

This is a common use of the word ʾělō∙hîm in Daniel and throughout the Old Testament.

The implication is that this unique king is Jewish and this would indicate that this unique king will have absolutely no regard for the God of his ancestors, i.e. he will have absolutely no regard for the God of Israel.

However, the Scriptures make clear that the Antichrist is emphatically not a Jew but will be a Gentile and specifically a Roman.

The “little horn” in Daniel chapter 7 is from the fourth and final beast which represents the Roman Empire and is a reference to the Antichrist and thus, he will be a Roman.

The Antichrist is the first beast in Revelation 13 who is described as arising from the sea and since the sea depicts the Gentile nations according to Revelation 17:15, he must be of Gentile origin.

Antichrist is the head of the last form of Gentile world dominion, for he is like a leopard, a bear, and a lion (Revelation 13:1; compare Daniel 7:7-8, 20, 24; Revelation 17:9-11) and as such he is a political leader.

Furthermore, in Daniel 9:26 the phrase “the people of the prince who is to come” teaches that the Antichrist will arise from the people who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in this city.

Of course, history records that the Roman’s fulfilled this prophecy in Daniel 9:26.

The idea that he could be a Jewish Roman falls apart since Revelation 13 makes clear that he will be from the Gentile race.

There are many problems with regards to the second prophetic statement in Daniel 11:37.

The noun ḥěm·dā(h) refers to a “desirable object” and is in the construct state meaning it is governing the word which follows it and is expressing a genitive relation with this word, which is the noun ʾiš·šā(h), “women.”

Now, most English translations interpret the genitive relation as a subjective genitive which specifies the agent who performs or is characterized by the concept that is implied by the construct term.

Therefore, we could translate this expression “the one loved by women, the one beloved by women” (ESV, NLT, NRSV) or “the god loved by women” (NET), or “the one desired by women” (NIV, TNIV).

Another interpretation arising from the subjective interpretation is that this expression is a reference to the natural desire of Jewish women to become the mother of the Messiah which would thus make the expression a symbol of the Messianic hope in general.

The implication of this interpretation is obvious, namely that the Antichrist will have absolutely no respect for the Son of God.

Both interpretations arising from this subjective genitive interpretation have the advantage that this expression is sandwiched between two descriptions of the Antichrist rejecting the gods of ancestors and his magnifying himself above every deity worshipped by unregenerate humanity on the earth.

The interpretation that Tammuz is in view is unlikely since the Antichrist did not live in the days of Daniel or in the ancient world when women worshipped this god and he will live during the seventieth week.

It is possible Tammuz will be worshipped then but it is more likely that Tammuz will not be worshipped then but some other will be worshipped.

The interpretation that this expression is a reference to the desire to be the mother of the Messiah has problems since the reference to “women” in this expression is ambiguous.

Is it a reference to Jewish or Gentile women or both?

If the reference to “women” in this expression was Jewish women we would expect the angel to add the phrase “your people” which would indicate that the one desired by women of “your people.”

However, the angel does not.

But one could justifiably object and say that the angel could be speaking to Daniel’s frame of reference.

In other words, when the angel speaks of the object desired by women, both he and Daniel would understand it as being the Messiah who is desired by every Jewish woman.

The genitive relation of this expression could also be interpreted as an objective meaning that the noun ʾiš·šā(h) is receiving the action implied by the noun ḥěm·dā(h).

Therefore, the translation of this expression would “the desire for women.”

The interpretation that arises from this translation is that the Antichrist will have absolutely no regard for the desire for women.

Both Young, Keil and Constable hold to this interpretation.

The implication of this interpretation is that the Antichrist would not have a love or desire for women which is natural to men or in other words, he will not have a natural affection for women.

The implication of this interpretation is that the Antichrist would be a homosexual.

However, not having a desire for women does not always necessarily mean that a man is a homosexual.

With this interpretation, it is better to understand the idea as being the Antichrist will not marry or seek to be married and start a family because he will be obsessed with ruling the world and having the world worship him.

So this interpretation indicates that not only will the Antichrist be indifferent to religion but also to women.

Some interpret that the Antichrist will be abusive to women but this is nothing but mere speculation rather than sound exegesis.

The interpretation which best fits the context is that the Antichrist will have absolutely no regard for the one desired by women, namely the Jewish Messiah since this description would be sandwiched between the description that he will reject the gods of ancestors, and for any other deity and deify himself.

In other words, the Antichrist will reject the gods of his ancestors, and every other object of worship, as well as the Messiah and will deify himself.

The interpretation that the Antichrist will have no desire for women would seem out of place whereas the Antichrist rejecting the Messiah fits perfectly.

There are no problems with the interpretation of the third and fourth prophetic statements in Daniel 11:37.

The third prophetic statement reveals that the Antichrist will have absolutely no regard for each and every object of worship.

Thus, he will be against organized religion.

The fourth prophetic statement presents the reason for the previous three and echoes the second prophetic statement recorded in Daniel 11:36 since it reveals that the Antichrist will magnify himself above every object of worship.

Thus, he will deify himself.

Thus, this fourth prophetic statement in Daniel 11:37 corresponds to the second prophetic statement in Daniel 11:36.

It also corresponds to the prophetic statements in Daniel 9:27, 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and Revelation 13:14-15 that the Antichrist will deify himself.

So this fourth prophetic statement recorded in Daniel 11:37 is actually the third time that the book of Daniel prophesies that the Antichrist will deify himself.