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Daniel 11:36-37 KJV
And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
Most modern scholars assert that Daniel 7-12 was written during the Maccabean Rebellion as an attempt to bring comfort to the traditional Jews at the time who faced persecution by the then emperor Antiochus IV who outlawed many of the Jewish practices.
The prophecy of chapter 11, therefore, is seen as vaticinium ex eventu: prediction after the fact. Verses 36-37 is interpreted to be describing Antiochus IV, being simply referred to as “the king”.
To me the language appears to suggest that the author is being critical of the king’s disregard for his own gods. Could this suggest that the supposed author was henotheistic – worshiping one god but not denying the existence of other gods, or was the supposed author definitely monotheistic?
I’ve posted a similar question before regarding whether or not the author of Daniel 7-12 was a traditionalist. This is different as “traditionalist” may be an ambiguous term. One can be a traditionalist and not necessarily be monotheistic.
