Daniel 11:36

The king shall do, &c.— The prophet was speaking of the persecutions which should be permitted for the trial of the church after the empire was become Christian; and now he proceeds to describe the principal author of them. A king or kingdom, as we have before observed, signifies any government, state, or potentate; and the meaning of this verse we conceive to be, that after the empire was become Christian, there should spring up in the church an antichristian power, which should act in the most arbitrary manner, exalt itself above all laws, divine and human, dispense with the most solemn and sacred obligations, and in many respects enjoin what God had forbidden, and forbid what God had commanded. This power began in the Roman emperors, who summoned councils, and directed their determinations as they pleased. After the division of the empire, this power increased, and was executed principally by the Greek emperors in the East, and by the bishops of Rome in the West. This power too was to continue in the church, and prosper till the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done. This is the same as what was called in chap. Daniel 8:19 the last end of the indignation; and chap. Daniel 9:27 the consummation; and means the last end and consummation of God's indignation against the Jews; and this seems more clearly expressed, chap. Daniel 12:7. So long is this anti-christian power to continue! We see it still subsisting in the church of Rome; and it was an ancient tradition among the Jewish doctors, that the destruction of Rome and the restoration of the Jews shall fall out about the same period. It is a saying of Rabbi David Kimchi, "When Rome shall be laid waste, there shall be redemption for Israel." See note on chap. Daniel 8:14 and Bishop Newton.