The Exalted King and the Final Conflict Horizon

At verse 36 the description becomes one of Daniel’s major interpretive fault lines. The king exalts himself above every god, speaks astonishing things against the God of gods, prospers until indignation is complete, and moves toward a final conflict before coming to his end with no helper.

Some interpreters continue to read Antiochus IV through verse 45, treating apparent mismatches with known events as evidence for the historical location of the vision’s author before Antiochus’s death. Many Christian interpreters see a transition or telescoping here from Antiochus to a future Antichrist or final anti-God ruler. Others read the passage typologically, with Antiochus supplying the historical pattern without requiring a sharp verse-level break.