Jerome : Verse 33. "And they that are learned among the people shall teach many and they shall fall by the sword and by fire and by captivity and by spoil for many days." The books of Maccabees relate the great sufferings the Jews endured at the hands of Antiochus and they stand as a testimony of their triumph; for they endured fire and sword, slavery and rapine, and even the ultimate penalty of death itself for the sake of guarding the law of God. But let no one doubt that these things are going to happen under the Antichrist, when many shall resist his authority and flee away in various directions. The Jews, of course, interpret these things as taking place at the destruction of the Temple, which took place under Vespasian and Titus, and they claim that there were very many of their nation who knew their Lord and were slain for keeping His law. — St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER ELEVEN Theodoret of Cyrus : Those who properly use the knowledge supplied by God will utterly despise that fellow's laws and will prefer death for the divine law to a life of godlessness. To suggest as much, he went on, "they will fall to the sword" … the impious one employed all kinds of different punishments in an attempt to move the godly, inflicting them untimely death and as it were robbing them of the remainder of their life. — COMMENTARY ON Daniel 11:33