Daniel 11:31

31. R.V., “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate.” (See notes Daniel 7:24-25; Daniel 8:11; Daniel 8:13; Daniel 9:27.)

Arms shall stand That is, the force which the king sent against the city was sufficient.

The sanctuary of strength Or, better as above, the sanctuary, even the fortress. The temple sanctuary was in any case the real fortress and strength of the city, and it may have literally been fortified at this time. The exact date at which this profanation of the temple by the invading soldiers and the apostate Jews took place is not known, but the abominable heathen altar which was erected on Jehovah’s altar was used for sacrificial purposes December 25, 168 B.C. ( 1Ma 1:54 ); while “indecent orgies” were carried on also in the courts of the temple after, and probably also before, this date. Recent discoveries suggest, however, that the phrase “abomination of desolation” may refer specifically to the Zeus worship (being a play on a well-known technical term designating this worship) rather than exclusively to the altar itself. As Nestle has pointed out there must have been an idol statue in front of this altar of Zeus and, as has long since been noticed, שׁקוצ is never used of an altar but is used of an idol (1 Kings 11:5, etc.; and see Nestle, in Stade’s Zeitschrift, 1883).