Daniel 11:14-24

14 "And in these times many will rise [up] against the king of the south, and {the violent ones of your people} will lift themselves {to fulfill} [the] vision, but they will fall.
15 And the king of the north will come, and he will throw up siege ramps and capture a city of fortifications and the military forces of the south and {his choice troops} will not stand, for there is no strength [left] to resist.
16 And the [one] coming to him will act {according to} his pleasure, and there is no [one who] {will stand} {before him}, and he will stand in {the beautiful land} and complete destruction [will be] in his power.
17 And he will set his face to come with the authority of his whole kingdom and will form an agreement; and he will {act}, and the daughter of women he will give to him to destroy it, but [the ploy] will not succeed {and she will not support him}.
18 And he will turn his face to [the] coastlands, and he will capture many, but a commander will end his insults to him {so that instead his insults will turn back upon him}.
19 And he will turn back his face toward the strongholds of his land, but he will stumble and he will fall and will not be found.
20 "Then in his place will arise [one] sending an official [throughout] [the] glory of [his] kingdom, and {in a few days} he will be broken, but not in anger and not in battle.
21 And in his place a despicable person will arise on whom they have not conferred the majesty of [the] kingdom, and he will come in {without warning} and he will seize [the] kingdom by deceit.
22 And {before him} {mighty military forces} will be utterly swept away, and they will be broken, and also [the] leader of [the] covenant.
23 And after an alliance [is made] with him, he will act deceitfully, and he will rise and he will become powerful with few people [backing him].
24 In [a time of] ease and in [the] rich parts of [the] province, he will come and he will do what {his predecessors} did not do; he will distribute plunder and spoil and possessions to them, and he will devise his plans against fortifications, but [only] {for a time}.

Daniel 11:14-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 11

In this chapter the angel makes good his promise to Daniel, that he would show him what was written in the Scripture of truth, concerning the monarchies of the earth, and what would befall his people the Jews in the latter days; and after he had observed that he had strengthened and confirmed Darius the Mede, who was the first king of the then present flourishing monarchy, Da 11:1, he foretells the number of the kings of Persia, and particularly describes the fourth, Da 11:2 predicts the rise of the Grecian monarchy under Alexander the great, and the disposition of it after his death, Da 11:3,4 and then proceeds to give an account of the two principal kingdoms of that monarchy, into which it was divided, the Seleucidae and Lagidae; and of their kings, the king of Egypt, and the king of Syria, under the names of the king of the south, and the king of the north, and of their power and agreement, Da 11:5,6 and then of their various wars between themselves and others, and the success of them, Da 11:7-20, and particularly of Antiochus, his character and manner of coming to the kingdom, and of his wars with the king of Egypt, and the issue of them, Da 11:21-29 and of his persecution of the Jews, and the distress he should bring on them, and the use it should be of to the godly among them, Da 11:30-35, and then his antitype, antichrist, is described; the western antichrist, his character and actions, Da 11:36-39 then the eastern, his power, wealth and riches, hail and rain, Da 11:40-45.

Footnotes 24

  • [a]. Literally "the sons of the lawless ones of your people"
  • [b]. Literally "to cause to stand"
  • [c]. Hebrew "ramp"
  • [d]. Literally "the army of his chosen troops"
  • [e]. Hebrew "and"
  • [f]. Literally "as"
  • [g]. Literally "standing"
  • [h]. Literally "to the face of him"
  • [i]. Literally "in the land of the beauty"
  • [j]. Or "treaty," or "peace proposal"; the Hebrew is difficult
  • [k]. Literally "do, perform"
  • [l]. Or "her"
  • [m]. Literally "and not for him will she be"
  • [n]. Hebrew "and"
  • [o]. Literally "so that not his insults he will return against him"
  • [p]. Hebrew "to"
  • [q]. Or "splendor"
  • [r]. Literally "in some days"
  • [s]. Hebrew "him"
  • [t]. Literally "in ease"
  • [u]. Literally "to the face of him"
  • [v]. Literally "military forces of the flood"
  • [w]. Literally "his fathers and the father of his fathers"
  • [x]. Literally "until time"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.