Most scholars believe that Daniel was foretelling the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes. He certainly fit the description.
That depends on how one interprets that great North vs South war in Daniel 11
[I have a thread on it for those interested]
One preterist commentator appears to split that Chapter into 2 separate events, [much like some partial preterist divide up Matt 24] including the 1st century great Jewish/Roman Wars in the 1st century leading up to 70AD Jerusalem and 73AD fall of Masada.
I am looking more in to it...........
Daniel 11 and the great North/Israel/Gentiles vs South/Judah War
Daniel 10:1
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, even
a great warfare<6635>
and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
Jer 3:11
Then the LORD said to me, “Backsliding
Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Jer 3:18
“In those days the
house of Judah/Southern Kingdom shall walk with
the house of Israel/Northern Kingdom, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.
====================
YLT)Daniel 11:
35And some of the teachers do stumble for refining by them, and for purifying, and for making white — till the end of the time, for [it is] yet for a time appointed.
36‘And the king hath done according to his will, and exalteth himself, and magnifieth himself against every god, and against the God of gods he speaketh wonderful things, and hath prospered till the indignation hath been completed, for that which is determined hath been done.
37And unto the God of his fathers he doth not attend, nor to the desire of women, yea, to any god he doth not attend, for against all he magnifieth himself.
38And to the god of strongholds, on his station, he giveth honour; yea, to a god whom his fathers knew not he giveth honour, with gold, and with silver, and with precious stone, and with desirable things.
39And he hath dealt in the fortresses of the strongholds with a strange god whom he hath acknowledged; he multiplieth honour, and hath caused them to rule over many, and the ground he apportioneth at a price.
40‘And at the time of the end, push himself forward with him doth a king of the south, and storm against him doth a king of the north, with chariot, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he hath come in to the lands, and hath overflowed, and passed over,
41and hath come into the desirable land, and many do stumble, and these escape from his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.
42‘And he sendeth forth his hand upon the lands, and the land of Egypt is not for an escape;
43and he hath ruled over treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt, and Lubim and Cushim [are] at his steps.
44‘And reports trouble him out of the east and out of the north, and he hath gone forth in great fury to destroy, and to devote many to destruction;
45and he planteth the tents of his palace between the seas and the holy desirable mountain, and hath come unto his end, and there is no helper to him.
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Preterist view of Daniel 11 and 1st century fulfillment...
Daniel Chapter 11:35-45 Commentary: Every Prophecy Miraculously Fulfilled! - Revelation Revolution
Who was the Willful King, and Who was the King of the North?
Many historians try to explain away the prophetic accuracy of the Book of Daniel by theorizing that this book must have been written during the second century B.C., a time in which most of Daniel’s prophecies had been fulfilled.
Daniel 11:2-35 lists a chronological sequence of events spanning 360 years from the sixth to the second century B.C.–without having made a single mistake. In these verses, Daniel describes the rise of the Greek Empire, its subsequent partition into four parts, followed by a mysteriously accurate description of the foreign relations between two of its divisions: the Seleucid and Ptolemaic Empires of Syria and Egypt respectively. In Daniel 11, the king of the Seleucids is labeled the king of the north, and the king of the Ptolemies is called the king of the south.
In this chapter, Daniel describes a chronological series of wars, treaties and marriages between these two warring empires. Highlighting significant aspects of the reign of each king, the prophet proceeds with his chronology often without specifying the death of one king and the rise of another. Each king and his successor are simply called the king of the north or the king of the south. This lack of specificity has led to the notion that the willful king of vs. 36-43 is Antiochus Epiphanies, the king of the north, the same king described earlier in v. 32.
Every Prophecy Fulfilled! Preterism and Daniel Chapter 11: Is the Willful King Antiochus Epiphanes, the King of the North?
From vs. 21-32, Daniel’s description of Antiochus Epiphanes, the king of the north, is accurate by all accounts. However, from v. 36 to the end of the chapter, the king known as the willful king mentioned here does not fit what is known of the king of the north. This fact has led some historians to suggest that the Book of Daniel may have been written by an editor just prior to the death of Antiochus Epiphanes. According to this theory, the author of the Book of Daniel recorded a history from vs. 1-35 accounting for the accuracy of this portion of the text. Then from v. 36 to the end of the chapter, the editor of the book attempted to accurately predict the fate of Antiochus Epiphanes and, as expected, failed.
However, this theory that the Book of Daniel recorded history up to v. 35 and then tried to accurately predict the immediate future is a theory that is completely untenable. Up to this point in this commentary we have shown how accurately Daniel predicted many things concerning the future as far as the first century A.D. However, even if all this evidence were ignored, this secular theory is completely invalidated by v. 37.
Daniel’s description of the willful king in v. 37 indicates that he will not regard any god. If the editor of Daniel intended to predict that the willful king was Antiochus Epiphanes, why would he make such an egregious error regarding Antiochus’ religious beliefs? One might assume that perhaps the editor of Daniel did not know Antiochus Epiphanes religious affiliation? However, this would be impossible since Antiochus Epiphanes tried to compel the Jews to worship Zeus which was one of the major causes of the Maccabean Wars. If the author of Daniel intended to predict the future after having accurately recorded the past, why would he include an inaccurate description of Antiochus Epiphanes’ most well-known attribute from the perspective a second century Jewish perspective?
Essentially every adult living in Israel in the second century B.C. would have known that Antiochus Epiphanies was strongly devoted to Zeus. They would have all known this because Antiochus Epiphanies forced this belief on the Jews which was one of the primary causes of Israel’s war with Greece!
How could someone who knew without making a single historical error the obscure historical details concerning the foreign relations between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies fail to know arguably the most well-known attribute of the Seleucid king who was currently at war with his people especially when it was the unavoidably obvious trigger of the “current” war with Greece?
1
Thus the Book of Daniel could not have been written in the second century B.C. during the Maccabean Wars. And the willful king cannot be Antiochus Epiphanies. If the willful king is not Antiochus Epiphanies, then who was he? In v. 35 the prophet writes:
35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.
