What Does Daniel 11:37 Mean?
He does not discern the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women. He does not discern any god, for above all he grows great.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
His refusal to regard anything beyond himself is not neutral absence, it ends with the self placed above all.
THE MEANING
The verse names a movement: he gives no regard to the God of his fathers, the desire of women, or any god, then magnifies himself above all. Refusing to recognize anything beyond the self culminates in making the self the highest measure.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that rejecting every claim beyond the self is neutral: here, that refusal becomes the claim that the self is above all.
THE ROOT
יִתְגַּדֵּל
yitgaddēl
GROWS FROM
ג־ד־ל
g-d-l
To grow or become great; in this reflexive form, to make oneself great.
“for above all he grows great” in this verse is yitgaddēl. The phrase carries the sense of making oneself great. What the verse describes is more than being great in one’s own eyes: the self claims the highest place, above all others.
ALSO GROWS
gādōl: Great; large or mighty.
גָּדוֹל
The adjective names the greatness this figure claims for himself.
higdil: To make great or magnify.
הִגְדִּיל
This form makes the act explicit: greatness is being raised up, and here the subject raises himself.
יָבִין
yāḇîn
GROWS FROM
ב־י־ן
b-y-n
To discern, understand, or distinguish.
“does not discern the God of his fathers” in this verse is yāḇîn. The Hebrew verb translated “regard” also carries the sense of understanding or discerning, and it occurs twice in the verse. The line thus links refusing to reckon with the God of his fathers and any god to the self-exaltation that follows.
ALSO GROWS
bināh: Understanding; the capacity to discern.
בִּינָה
This branch shows the perceptive depth that the English word “regard” can leave unseen.
tevūnāh: Understanding, insight, or discernment.
תְּבוּנָה
The repeated verb describes a refusal to recognize any god, not just a lack of outward attention.
חֶמְדַּת
ḥemdat
GROWS FROM
ח־מ־ד
ḥ-m-d
To desire, take pleasure in, or regard as precious.
The root can name both desiring and what is desirable or precious. “The desire of women” leaves its object and precise sense unstated, so the verse’s force rests on the figure giving it no regard alongside every god.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāmad: To desire or covet.
חָמַד
This branch shows desire as an active reaching toward what one wants.
ḥemdāh: Something desired, precious, or treasured.
חֶמְדָּה
The root can also point to what is valued, deepening the contrast with a figure who regards nothing beyond himself.
THE PATTERN
When the self claims the highest place, anything beyond it loses its claim to be regarded.
The wicked, with his nose held high, will not seek God; God is not in all his schemes.For you said in your heart, I will go up to the heavens. Above the stars of God I will lift my throne. I will sit on the mountain of assembly, on the flanks of the north.He who is set against and lifts himself up over all that is called God, or what is bowed to, so that he sits down in the temple of God as God, displaying himself that he is God.THE THREAD
The king does according to his will, and he lifts himself up and grows great above every god. He speaks marvels against the God of gods, and he breaks through until the rage runs out, for what is cut is done.“Magnify himself” in both verses comes from גדל (g-d-l), “to grow or become great.” Verse 36 states the self-exaltation; verse 37 shows its next expression in giving no regard to any god.
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