Why the Little Horn Must be Two Different Individuals in Daniel 7 and 8

It is well-known among Biblical scholars that although Antiochus Epiphanies is accurately described in the description of the little horn of Daniel 8, Antiochus Epiphanies does not fit the description of the little horn in Daniel 7.  This incongruity implies that two different individuals are in view in Daniel 7 and 8 even though both are called the Little Horn.  As I explain in Daniel 7: A Preterist Commentary, the Little Horn of Daniel 7 is a clear description of Caesar Titus.  How could two different people be given the same epithet?

The fact that two different individuals are both called the Little Horn should not be surprising.  The Little Horn of Daniel 7 is also called the Lawless One.  In 2 Thessalonians 2:4 the Lawless One opposes and exalts “himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”  The Little Horn does the same in Daniel 7:25: “He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws.”  Notice that both the Little Horn of Daniel 7 and the Lawless One of 2 Thess 2:4 both blaspheme God.  They are also both done away with at the coming of God and His kingdom (2 Thess 2:8; Dan 711-12).  Also notice in the rest of Daniel 7:25, the Little Horn tries “to change the set times and the laws.” The fact that the Little Horn tries to change the laws of Moses (Dan 7:25) is why he is also called the Lawless One in 2 Thess 2!

Interestingly, the term Lawless One is first mentioned in the second-century B.C. in the Psalms of Solomon 17:9-16:    


In that there rose up against them a man that was alien to our race.  According to their sins didst Thou recompense them, O God; So that it befell them according to their deeds.  God showed them no pity; He sought out their seed and let not one of them go free. . . .  The lawless one laid waste our land so that none inhabited it, They destroyed young and old and their children together.  In the heat of His anger He sent them away even unto the west, And (He exposed) the rulers of the land unsparingly to derision.  Being an alien the enemy acted proudly, And his heart was alien from our God.  And all things [whatsoever he did in] Jerusalem, As also the nations [in the cities to their gods.]

The Lawless One mentioned in Psalms of Solomon is undoubtedly Antiochus Epiphanies since Psalms of Solomon 17:9-16 is written in the past tense around the time of the Maccabean Wars.  Here we also see two different individuals being called the Lawless One, Antiochus Epiphanies (Psalms of Solomon 17:9-16) and Caesar Titus (2 Thess 2:1-12) (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12: A Preterist Commentary–The Man of Lawlessness Revealed!). Remember due to the similarities in 2 Thess 2:1-12 and Daniel 7, the Little Horn and the Lawless One are the same person. And notice that these two different individuals are AGAIN Caesar Titus.  If there are two different Lawless Ones, one clearly being Antiochus Epiphanies and the other being just as clearly Titus Caesar, then there must be two different Little Horns since the Lawless One and the Little Horn are the same and Antiochus Epiphanies clearly did not fulfill Daniel 7.

The fact that there are two different Little Horns is also implied by the abomination that causes desolation.  The abomination that causes desolation was clearly and incontrovertibly first performed by Antiochus Epiphanies (Dan 11:31) in the second century B.C, when an idol of Zeus was erected in the Temple in Jerusalem.  However, in Matthew 24:15 Jesus tells His people that the abomination that causes desolation would occur sometime in the near future: “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”  The abomination that causes desolation mentioned in Matthew 24:15 is a direct reference to the abomination that causes desolation of Daniel 9:27.  Not surprisingly, it is also Titus who is clearly in view in Daniel 9:27 (see Daniel 9:24-27 Commentary: Daniel 9 Miraculously Fulfilled!). It is the Little Horn and the Lawless One who are universally believed to be responsible for the abomination that causes desolation.  If this is true–and we can safely assume that it is–then we again see that both Antiochus Epiphanies and Caesar Titus are clearly both again in view.

The reason Antiochus Epiphanies and Ceasar Titus are given the same epithets (Lawless One and Little Horn) is because both men did the same things.  Antiochus Epiphanies set up an idol of Zeus in the Temple in Jerusalem and it was worshipped there.  Titus did the same thing when he and his army set-up the Roman ensigns (the main one being Aquila which was a symbol of Rome and the god that carried Zeus’ lightning bolt) in the Temple and the Romans worshipped them (Josephus The Wars of the Jews 6.6.1).

It is tempting to assume that the little horn is just Greek since it clearly refers to Antiochus Epiphanies in Daniel 8.  Proponents of this idea might then point to the fourth beast of Daniel 7 which is said to have ten horns and suggest that this must mean that this fourth beast is Greece because it is clearly referred to as having ten horns.  This is a logical fallacy for a number of reasons.

The first problem with this assumption is that the beast of Revelation 13 and 17 which was a contemporary reality in John’s day is explicitly identified as having ten horns and the Greek Empire had fallen centuries prior.  We know the beast of Revelation 17 was a contemporary reality in John’s day and not a previously fallen Greek Empire since John says five of the kings/heads of this kingdom had fallen and that one was alive today: “The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.  They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.” (Rev 17:9-10) Few would ever suggest the highly dubious idea that the ten-horned sea beast of Revelation is the fallen Greek Empire.   

The next problem with this assumption is the fact that horns are a generic and general Biblical symbol for kings throughout the Bible which is why ancient kings of Israel were anointed with a horn of oil. Every beast kingdom in Daniel’s vision obviously had kings so any one of these empires could be said to have horns.  And that is exactly what we see when comparing Daniel 7 with Daniel 8.  In Daniel 7 the Medo-Persian and the Greek Empires are symbolized without horns as a bear and leopard and yet in Daniel 8 these same two empires are symbolized as a two-horned ram and one-horned goat respectively.  Thus here we see two empires previously identified without horns later shown with horns in the following chapter thus proving that the Greek Empire is not the only empire with horns in the Book of Daniel. And if the Greek Empire is not the only Empire with horns it need not be the only empire with a “little horn.”