Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 11:37

"Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all." — Daniel 11:37 (ASV)

Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers - The God that his fathers or ancestors had worshipped. This means he would not be bound or restrained by the religion of his own land, or by any of the usual laws of religion. He would worship any God that he pleased, or none as he pleased. The usual restraints that bind men—the restraints derived from the religion of their ancestors—would in this case be of no avail. See the notes at Daniel 11:36. This was in all respects true of Antiochus. At his pleasure, he worshipped the gods commonly adored in his country, or the gods worshipped by the Greeks and Romans, or no gods.

Specifically, instead of honoring the god of his fathers and causing the image of that god to be placed in the temple at Jerusalem, as one might have supposed he would, he caused the altar of Jupiter Olympius to be set up there, and his worship to be celebrated there. In fact, as Antiochus had been educated abroad and had passed his early life in foreign countries, he had never paid much respect to the religion of his own land.

The attempt to introduce a foreign religion into Judea was an attempt to introduce the religion of the Greeks (Jahn, Heb. Commonwealth, p. 267); and in no instance did he attempt to force upon them the peculiar religion of his own nation. In his private feelings, therefore, and in his public acts, it might be said of Antiochus that he was characterized eminently by a want of regard for the faith of his ancestors. The language used here by the angel properly denotes great infidelity and impiety.

Nor the desire of women - The phrase “the desire of women” is ambiguous and may either mean what they desire—that is, what is agreeable to them, or what they commonly seek and for which they would plead—or it may mean his own desire. That is, he would not be restrained by the desire of women, by any regard for women, for honorable matrimony, or by irregular passion. The phrase here is probably to be understood in the former sense, as this best suits the connection.

There has been great variety in the interpretation of this expression. Some have maintained that it cannot be applicable to Antiochus at all, since he was a man eminently licentious and under the influence of abandoned women. Jerome, in loc., John D. Michaelis, Dereser, Gesenius, and Lengerke suppose that this means that he would not regard the beautiful statue of the goddess Venus whose temple was in Elymais, which he plundered.

Staudlin and Dathe suggest that he would not regard the weeping or tears of women—meaning he would be cruel. Bertholdt suggests that he would not spare little children, the object of a mother’s love—meaning he would be a cruel tyrant. Jerome renders it, Et erit in concupiscentiis faminarum, and explains it as unbridled lust, applying it principally to Antiochus. Elliott, strangely, it seems to me (Apocalypse, iv. 152), interprets it as referring to what was so much the object of desire among the Hebrew women—the Messiah, the promised seed of the woman; and he says that he had found this opinion hinted at by Faber on the Prophecies (Exodus 5:0), i. 380-385. Others explain it as meaning that he would not regard honorable matrimony but would be given to unlawful pleasures.

It may not be possible to determine with certainty the meaning of the expression, but it seems to me that the design of the whole is to show the impiety and hard-heartedness of Antiochus. He would not regard the gods of his fathers; that is, he would not be controlled by any of the principles of the religion in which he had been educated, but would set them all at defiance and do as he pleased. Similarly, he would be unaffected by the influences derived from the female character. He would disregard the objects that were nearest to their hearts: their sentiments of kindness and compassion, their pleadings, and their tears. He would be a cruel tyrant, equally regardless of all the restraints derived from heaven and earth—the best influences from above and from below.

It is not necessary to say that this agrees exactly with the character of Antiochus. He was sensual and corrupt, given to licentious indulgence, incapable of honorable and pure love, and a stranger to all those gentle and pure affections produced by interaction with refined and enlightened women. If one wishes to describe a high state of tyranny and depravity in a man, it cannot be done better than by saying that he disregards whatever is attractive and interesting to a virtuous female mind.

Nor regard any god - Any religious restraints whatever—the laws of any god worshipped in his own land or elsewhere, in heaven or on earth. This means he would be utterly irreligious in heart and, where it conflicted with his purposes, would treat as nothing every consideration derived from reverence to God.

This harmonizes well with the previous declaration about women. The two commonly go together.

He who is unrestrained by the attractive virtues of the female mind and character; he who has no regard for the sympathies and kindnesses that interest virtuous women; he who sees nothing lovely in what commonly engages their thoughts; and he who throws himself beyond the restraints of their society and the effects of their conversation, is commonly a man who cuts himself loose from all religion and is at the same time a despiser of virtuous women and of God.

No one will expect piety toward God to be found in a heart that sees nothing to interest him in the sympathies and virtues of the female mind; and the character of a woman-hater and a hater of God will uniformly be found united in the same person.

Such a person was Antiochus Epiphanes; and such men have often been found in the world.

For he shall magnify himself above all - Above all the restraints of religion and all those derived from the interaction of virtuous social life—disregarding all the restraints that usually bind men. Compare the notes at Daniel 8:10-11.