Daniel 11:18-28

18 Next, he will put his attention on the coastlands and islands and capture many, but an army commander will put a stop to his outrages and cause his outrages to come back upon him.

19 After this, he will put his attention on the strongholds in his own land; but he will stumble, fall and not be seen again.

20 "In his place will arise one who will send a tax collector through the Glorious Kingdom; but within a few days, he will be broken, though neither in anger nor in battle.

21 "There will arise in his place a despicable man not entitled to inherit the majesty of the kingdom, but he will come without warning and gain the kingdom by intrigue.

22 Large armies will be broken and swept away before him, as well as the prince of the covenant.

23 Alliances will be made with him, but he will undermine them by deceit. Then, although he will have but a small following, he will emerge and become strong.

24 Without warning, he will assail the most powerful men in each province and do things his predecessors never did, either recently or in the distant past; he will reward them with plunder, spoil and wealth while devising plots against their strongholds, but only for a time.

25 "He will summon his power and courage against the king of the south with a great army, and the king of the south will fight back with a very large and powerful army; but he will not succeed, because of plots devised against him.

26 Yes, those who shared his food will destroy him; his army will be swept away; and many will fall in the slaughter.

27 These two kings, bent on mischief, will sit at the same table, speaking lies to each other; but none of this will succeed; because the appointed end will not have come yet.

28 Then the king of the north will return to his own land with great wealth; with his heart set against the holy covenant, he will take action and then return home.

Daniel 11:18-28 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.