Daniel 8:9

8:9 From one of them came a small horn. ¹  But it grew to be very big, toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. ² 

Daniel 8:11

8:11 It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, ³  from whom ⁴  the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary ⁵  was thrown down.

Daniel 8:16

8:16 Then I heard a human voice coming from between the banks of the Ulai. It called out, “Gabriel, ⁶  enable this person to understand the vision.”

[8:9]  ¹ sn This small horn is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who controlled the Seleucid kingdom from ca. 175-164 B.C. Antiochus was extremely hostile toward the Jews and persecuted them mercilessly.

[8:9]  ² sn The expression the beautiful land (Heb. הַצֶּבִי [hatsÿvi] = “the beauty”) is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel. Cf. 11:16, 41, where it is preceded by the word אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”).

[8:11]  ³ sn The prince of the army may refer to God (cf. “whose sanctuary” later in the verse) or to the angel Michael (cf. 12:1).

[8:11]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “and by him,” referring to Antiochus rather than to God.

[8:11]  ⁵ sn Here the sanctuary is a reference to the temple of God in Jerusalem.

[8:16]  ⁶ sn The only angels whose names are given in the OT are Gabriel (Dan 8:16; 9:21; cf. Luke 1:19, 26) and Michael (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; cf. Jude 9; Rev 12:7). The name Gabriel means in Hebrew “man of God,” and Michael means “who is like God?”