Isa 14:13, Dan 8:10, 11:37 | JFB | STEP | 13. above ... God-- In , "stars" express earthly potentates. "The stars" are often also used to express heavenly principalities ( ). mount of the congregation-- the place of solemn meeting between God and His people in the temple at Jerusalem. In , and , this is attributed to Antichrist. sides of the north-- namely, the sides of Mount Moriah on which the temple was built; north of Mount Zion ( ). However, the parallelism supports the notion that the Babylonian king expresses himself according to his own, and not Jewish opinions (so in ) thus "mount of the congregation" will mean the northern mountain (perhaps in Armenia) fabled by the Babylonians to be the common meeting-place of their gods. "Both sides" imply the angle in which the sides meet; and so the expression comes to mean "the extreme parts of the north." So the Hindus place the Meru, the dwelling-place of their gods, in the north, in the Himalayan mountains. So the Greeks, in the northern Olympus. The Persian followers of Zoroaster put the Ai-bordsch in the Caucasus north of them. The allusion to the stars harmonizes with this; namely, that those near the North Pole, the region of the aurora borealis (compare see on ; ) [Maurer, Septuagint, Syriac].

‏ Isaiah 14:13

13. above ... God--In Da 8:10, "stars" express earthly potentates. "The stars" are often also used to express heavenly principalities (Job 38:7).

mount of the congregation--the place of solemn meeting between God and His people in the temple at Jerusalem. In Da 11:37, and 2Th 2:4, this is attributed to Antichrist.

sides of the north--namely, the sides of Mount Moriah on which the temple was built; north of Mount Zion (Psa 48:2). However, the parallelism supports the notion that the Babylonian king expresses himself according to his own, and not Jewish opinions (so in Is 10:10) thus "mount of the congregation" will mean the northern mountain (perhaps in Armenia) fabled by the Babylonians to be the common meeting-place of their gods. "Both sides" imply the angle in which the sides meet; and so the expression comes to mean "the extreme parts of the north." So the Hindus place the Meru, the dwelling-place of their gods, in the north, in the Himalayan mountains. So the Greeks, in the northern Olympus. The Persian followers of Zoroaster put the Ai-bordsch in the Caucasus north of them. The allusion to the stars harmonizes with this; namely, that those near the North Pole, the region of the aurora borealis (compare see on Job 23:9; Job 37:22) [Maurer, Septuagint, Syriac].

‏ Daniel 8:10

10. great, even to ... host of heaven--explained in Da 8:24, "the mighty and holy people," that is, the Jews (Da 7:21) and their priests (compare Is 24:21). The Levites' service is called "a warfare" (Nu 8:24, 25, Margin). Great civil and religious powers are symbolized by "stars" (Mt 24:29). See 1 Maccabees 1:25, &c.; 1 Maccabees 2:35, &c.; 1 Maccabees 5:2, 12, 13. Tregelles refers "stars" to those Jews whose portion from God is heavenly glory (Da 12:3), being believers in Him who is above at God's right hand: not the blinded Jews.

cast ... stars to the ground--So Babel, as type of Antichrist, is described (Is 14:13, 14), "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." Compare Re 12:4; 2 Maccabees 9:10, as to Antiochus.

‏ Daniel 11:37

37. Neither ... regard ... the desire of women--(Compare Eze 24:16, 18). The wife, as the desire of man's eyes, is the symbol of the tenderest relations (2Sa 1:26). Antiochus would set at naught even their entreaties that he should cease from his attack on Jehovah's worship [Polanus]. Maurer refers it to Antiochus' attack on the temple of the Syrian Venus, worshipped by women (1 Maccabees 6:1, &c.; 2 Maccabees 1:13). Newton refers it to Rome's "forbidding to marry." Elliott rightly makes the antitypical reference be to Messiah. Jewish women desired to be mothers with a view to Him, the promised seed of the woman (Ge 30:23; Lu 1:25, 28).

nor regard any god--(2Th 2:4).