Daniel 11:3-13

3 "Then a powerful king will appear who will rule a vast kingdom and do whatever he pleases.

4 But once he appears, his kingdom will be broken up and divided to the four winds of heaven. It won't be inherited by his descendants, and it won't be ruled with the power he had, because his kingship will be uprooted and will pass to others than his own posterity.

5 "The king in the south will be strong, and one of his princes will gain power over him and have dominion; his domain will be a great dominion.

6 After a number of years they will form an alliance. The daughter of the king of the south will approach the king of the north to make an agreement, but she won't retain her power; and he and his power won't last either. Rather, she will be surrendered, along with her attendants, her father and the one who supported her during those times.

7 But another branch from the same roots as hers will appear in her father's place. He will attack the army of the king of the north, enter his fortress and succeed in conquering them.

8 He will also carry off as booty to Egypt their gods, their cast metal images and their valuable gold and silver vessels. Then for some years, he will refrain from attacking the king of the north.

9 "Afterwards, the king of the north will invade the kingdom of the king of the south, but he will retire to his own land.

10 His sons will rouse themselves to muster a large and powerful army, which will advance like a flood passing through. In another campaign, it will march on the enemy stronghold.

11 The king of the south, enraged, will set out to do battle with the king of the north, who, in turn, will muster a large army; but this army will be defeated by his enemy

12 and carried off. The conqueror will grow proud as he slaughters tens of thousands, yet he will not prevail.

13 Rather, the king of the north will again muster an army, larger than the first one, at the end of this period, after a number of years; it will be a large, well-supplied army.

Daniel 11:3-13 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.