Daniel 11:1-11

Conflicts to Come

1 "In the 1first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him.
2 "And now I will tell you the 2truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of 3Greece.
3 "And a 4mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and 5do as he pleases.
4 "But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out 6toward the 7four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be 8uprooted and given to others besides * them.
5 "Then the 9king of the South will grow strong, along with one of his princes who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain will be a great dominion indeed.
6 "After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the 10king of the North to carry out a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her position of power, nor will he remain with his power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who sired her as well as he who supported her in those times.
7 "But one of the descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the 11fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and display great strength.
8 "Also their 12gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years.
9 "Then the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.
10 "His sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and 13overflow and pass through, that he may again wage war up to his very fortress.
11 "The 14king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into the hand of the former.

Daniel 11:1-11 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.

Cross References 14

  • 1. Daniel 5:31; Daniel 9:1
  • 2. Daniel 8:26; Daniel 10:1, 21
  • 3. Daniel 8:21; Daniel 10:20
  • 4. Daniel 8:5, 21
  • 5. Daniel 5:19; Daniel 8:4; Daniel 11:16, 36
  • 6. Daniel 8:8, 22
  • 7. Jeremiah 49:36; Ezekiel 37:9; Daniel 7:2; Daniel 8:8; Zechariah 2:6; Revelation 7:1
  • 8. Jeremiah 12:15, 17; Jeremiah 18:7
  • 9. Dan 11:9, 11, 14, 25, 40
  • 10. Dan 11:7, 13, 15, 40
  • 11. Dan 11:19, 38, 39
  • 12. Isaiah 37:19; Isaiah 46:1, 2; Jeremiah 43:12, 13
  • 13. Isaiah 8:8; Jeremiah 46:7, 8; Jeremiah 51:42; Daniel 11:26, 40
  • 14. Daniel 11:5

Footnotes 20

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