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1 Maccabees describes what it considers the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy about a desolating sacrilege, when Antiochus IV erected a pagan altar on the temple's altar of burnt offering in 167 BCE.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Daniel 11:31
Hebrew Bible
29 At an appointed time he will again invade the south, but this latter visit will not turn out the way the former one did. 30 The ships of Kittim will come against him, leaving him disheartened. He will turn back and direct his indignation against the holy covenant. He will return and honor those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 His forces will rise up and profane the fortified sanctuary, stopping the daily sacrifice. In its place they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. 32 Then with smooth words he will defile those who have rejected the covenant. But the people who are loyal to their God will act valiantly. 33 These who are wise among the people will teach the masses. However, they will fall by the sword and by the flame, and they will be imprisoned and plundered for some time.
Date: 200–101 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Maccabees 1:54
Deuterocanon
52 From the people were gathered together to them many, everyone who had forsaken the law; and they did evil things in the land. 53 They made Israel to hide themselves in every place of refuge which they had. 54 On the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred forty fifth year, they built an abomination of desolation upon the altar, and in the cities of Judah on every side they built idol altars. 55 At the doors of the houses and in the streets they burned incense. 56 They tore the books of the law which they found in pieces and set them on fire. 57 Anyone who was found with any a book of the covenant, and if any consented to the law, the king’s sentence delivered him to death.
Date: 134–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... This passage stands as the earliest interpretation of the phrase in Daniel. The reference is to the disruption of the Jewish cult by Antiochus Epiphanes and involves a structure placed on the great altar of sacrifice. The nature of that structure is disputed: Josephus says that the king also built a pagan altar upon the temple-altar and slaughtered swine thereon, thereby practising a form of sacrifice neither lawful nor native to the religion of the Jews. This testimony is partially supported by 2 Macc 6:5, which says that the altar was covered with abominable offerings that were forbidden by the laws ..."
John J. Collins, Daniel: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993), 391.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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