Someone recently heard a preacher on the radio. The preacher used the passage in Daniel 11 to prove that the Antichrist will be a homosexual.
What does Daniel 11 say?
Click this link for entire chapter on Bible Gateway. Let’s read Daniel 11: 37 in a few English translations for comparison of interpretation.
(KJV) 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.
(NASB 2020) And he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will boast against them all.
(ESV) He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all.
(LEB) He will not pay respect to the gods of his ancestors, or to the darling of women, and not to any god will he pay respect, for he will consider himself great over all gods.
What’s wrong with the preacher’s interpretation?
- No version of this verse says that the Antichrist will not desire women. Rather, we find that Daniel 11:37 says that the man will not regard the object of women’s desire.
- The preacher is applying his own agenda upon this one verse. This is the kind of stuff that gives Christians a bad reputation. People have told me, “You can make the Bible say anything that you want it to say.” However, making the Bible say what we want it to say is bad practice. The Bible should be read without smothering it in our own opinions. Read it as if you want to learn the original meaning. Do not read the Bible to find proof texts as backup for your favorite rants or as justification for your personal behavior.
- The preacher changes the original structure of the sentence. It’s easy to see through the transformation from a man who does not regard the object of women’s desire into a man who does not desire women. However, it just isn’t appropriate to do this to this passage of Holy Scripture.
- The preacher provides information not found in the original passage. Even if the passage said he won’t desire women, it wouldn’t make him a homosexual by default… that would require an addition of “his (sexual) desire is for men” into the passage. Other Scriptures indicate that a holy man can live a celibate lifestyle of sexual abstinence.
What is the short answer?
Daniel 11:37 is about a man that is not influenced by the feelings expressed by women.
Exactly. Thank you for posting.