We have already made an argument that Daniel 2, 7, and 8 predicts the four world empires (Babylonia, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome; see our article “Daniel and the End of Human History”). Also, we argued earlier that the “little horn” of chapter 7 is the Antichrist (see Daniel 7 “Who is the Little Horn?”). However, in chapter 8, we run into a similar figure called the “small horn.” Who is this person? Should we think the little horn is the same figure as the small horn?

Is Daniel’s “little horn” the same as the “small horn”?

There are many similarities between the little horn (Dan. 7) and the small horn (Dan. 8), which we should consider:

However, there are also many crucial differences between these two figures, leading us to the conclusion that these are two separate individuals: one is the Antichrist (Dan. 7) and the other is Antiochus Epiphanes IV:

Because of these stark differences, we hold that these two figures a separate people. The little horn of Daniel 7 refers to the Antichrist, and the small horn of Daniel 8 refers to Antiochus Epiphanes.

The small horn: Antiochus Epiphanes IV

The description of the “small horn” in Daniel 8 lines up closely with Antiochus Epiphanes IV:

(Dan. 8:10) It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down.

Antiochus Epiphanes IV began to persecute the Jews in 170 BC by killing the Jewish high priest Onias III. He then killed thousands of Jews, plundering the Temple, and killing 80,000 men, women, children, and even infants (1 Macc. 1:20–24; 2 Macc. 5:1ff). He also forbade the circumcision of baby boys on the 8th day and the celebration of any of the Jewish feasts. A few brave women and men defied him. Josephus tells us about two women who had their newborn sons circumcised on 8th day according to Jewish law. When Antiochus found out about it, he had each baby killed, tied each baby to a rope, and tied each rope around neck of each baby’s mother. Then he forced these poor women to parade their dead babies around the streets of Jerusalem while crowds of people scorned them and laughed at them. Then the women were pushed off the city walls, falling to their deaths with their babies hanging from their necks (2 Macc. 6:10-11).

Josephus tells another story of a woman who defied Antiochus by reading Scripture to her seven sons and observing Jewish feasts with them. Antiochus’ men heated a flat iron red hot and burned each of her sons alive in front of her. Then they killed her. Miller writes, “In December 167 B.C. Antiochus committed his crowning act of sacrilege against the Jewish religion by erecting an altar to Zeus in the temple precincts and offering swine on it (cf. 1 Macc 1:37, 39, 44–47, 54, 59; 2 Macc 6:2–5).”[1]

(Dan. 8:11) It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down.

Antiochus decreed laws that banned Jewish religious practice, including dietary laws, circumcision, Sabbaths, and feasts. He also demanded that the Jews worship him, rather than God (1 Macc. 1:41–50).

(Dan. 8:14) He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.”

What are the 2,300 evenings and mornings mentioned here?

There are two ways of interpreting the 2,300 evenings and mornings:

Option #1: This refers to 1,150 days. If we hold that the evenings and mornings are referring to the same day, then this would cut the total amount of days from 2,300 to 1,150 (or a little over three years). If we take this view, then we would begin this period from Antiochus’ altar to Zeus in the Temple (1 Macc. 1:54) and end it in December of 164 BC when Judas Maccabeus rededicated the temple (1 Macc. 4:52). However, as Miller notes, the 1,150 would actually end in September/October of 164 BC—not December. He writes, “Either the date is to be taken as a close approximation or, as Archer suggests, the daily sacrifice may have been abolished even before the altar was erected, a suggestion that is plausible.”[2]

Option #2: This refers to 2,300 actual days. Keil notes that the expression here is literally “until evening morning, 2,300.” This is used of a full day in Genesis 1—not two halves of a day. He also shows that when the Jews were trying to distinguish two parts of a day, then used the phrase “days and night,” rather than “evenings and mornings” (c.f. Gen 7:4, 12). Moreover, Daniel 7:25, 9:27, and 12:11-12 do not refer to Antiochus; they refer to the Antichrist. So these passages cannot be used to correlate a three and a half year period from this number (2,300). If this option is used (which this author prefers), then we would begin the period in 170 B.C. at the murder of Onias III and end it with the rededication of the temple under Judas Maccabeus.

(Dan. 8:25) And through his shrewdness he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; and he will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, but he will be broken without human agency.

Antiochus died in 163 B.C. (1 Macc. 6:1–16) after he was defeated at Elymais in fulfillment of this prophecy (“he will be broken without human agency”). Because of these close predictions, we hold that the small horn of Daniel 8 must be referring to Antiochus Epiphanes IV, rather than the Antichrist.