Advanced Commentary

Texts -- Daniel 11:1-36 (NET)

Context
11:1 And in the first year of Darius the Mede , I stood to strengthen him and to provide protection for him.)
The Angel Gives a Message to Daniel
11:2 Now I will tell you the truth . “Three more kings will arise for Persia . Then a fourth king will be unusually rich , more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches , he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece . 11:3 Then a powerful king will arise , exercising great authority and doing as he pleases . 11:4 Shortly after his rise to power , his kingdom will be broken up and distributed toward the four winds of the sky – but not to his posterity or with the authority he exercised , for his kingdom will be uprooted and distributed to others besides these . 11:5 “Then the king of the south and one of his subordinates will grow strong . His subordinate will resist him and will rule a kingdom greater than his. 11:6 After some years have passed, they will form an alliance . Then the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement , but she will not retain her power , nor will he continue in his strength . She, together with the one who brought her, her child , and her benefactor will all be delivered over at that time . 11:7 “There will arise in his place one from her family line who will come against their army and will enter the stronghold of the king of the north and will move against them successfully . 11:8 He will also take their gods into captivity to Egypt , along with their cast images and prized utensils of silver and gold . Then he will withdraw for some years from the king of the north . 11:9 Then the king of the north will advance against the empire of the king of the south , but will withdraw to his own land . 11:10 His sons will wage war, mustering a large army which will advance like an overflowing river and carrying the battle all the way to the enemy’s fortress . 11:11 “Then the king of the south will be enraged and will march out to fight against the king of the north , who will also muster a large army , but that army will be delivered into his hand . 11:12 When the army is taken away , the king of the south will become arrogant . He will be responsible for the death of thousands and thousands of people, but he will not continue to prevail . 11:13 For the king of the north will again muster an army , one larger than before . At the end of some years he will advance with a huge army and enormous supplies . 11:14 “In those times many will oppose the king of the south . Those who are violent among your own people will rise up in confirmation of the vision , but they will falter . 11:15 Then the king of the north will advance and will build siege mounds and capture a well-fortified city . The forces of the south will not prevail , not even his finest contingents . They will have no strength to prevail . 11:16 The one advancing against him will do as he pleases , and no one will be able to stand before him. He will prevail in the beautiful land , and its annihilation will be within his power . 11:17 His intention will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom , and he will form alliances . He will give the king of the south a daughter in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but it will not turn out to his advantage. 11:18 Then he will turn his attention to the coastal regions and will capture many of them. But a commander will bring his shameful conduct to a halt ; in addition , he will make him pay for his shameful conduct . 11:19 He will then turn his attention to the fortresses of his own land , but he will stumble and fall , not to be found again. 11:20 There will arise after him one who will send out an exactor of tribute to enhance the splendor of the kingdom , but after a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or battle . 11:21 “Then there will arise in his place a despicable person to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred . He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit . 11:22 Armies will be suddenly swept away in defeat before him; both they and a covenant leader will be destroyed. 11:23 After entering into an alliance with him , he will behave treacherously ; he will ascend to power with only a small force . 11:24 In a time of prosperity for the most productive areas of the province he will come and accomplish what neither his fathers nor their fathers accomplished . He will distribute loot , spoils , and property to his followers , and he will devise plans against fortified cities , but not for long . 11:25 He will rouse his strength and enthusiasm against the king of the south with a large army . The king of the south will wage war with a large and very powerful army , but he will not be able to prevail because of the plans devised against him. 11:26 Those who share the king’s fine food will attempt to destroy him, and his army will be swept away ; many will be killed in battle. 11:27 These two kings , their minds filled with evil intentions , will trade lies with one another at the same table . But it will not succeed , for there is still an end at the appointed time . 11:28 Then the king of the north will return to his own land with much property . His mind will be set against the holy covenant . He will take action , and then return to his own land . 11:29 At an appointed time he will again invade the south , but this latter visit will not turn out the way the former one did. 11:30 The ships of Kittim will come against him, leaving him disheartened . He will turn back and direct his indignation against the holy covenant . He will return and honor those who forsake the holy covenant . 11:31 His forces will rise up and profane the fortified sanctuary , stopping the daily sacrifice. In its place they will set up the abomination that causes desolation . 11:32 Then with smooth words he will defile those who have rejected the covenant . But the people who are loyal to their God will act valiantly . 11:33 These who are wise among the people will teach the masses . However, they will fall by the sword and by the flame , and they will be imprisoned and plundered for some time . 11:34 When they stumble , they will be granted some help . But many will unite with them deceitfully . 11:35 Even some of the wise will stumble , resulting in their refinement, purification , and cleansing until the time of the end , for it is still for the appointed time . 11:36 “Then the king will do as he pleases . He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will utter presumptuous things against the God of gods . He will succeed until the time of wrath is completed , for what has been decreed must occur .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

more

Arts

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Messiah's victory over His enemies will be great. David saw Messiah presently seated at God the Father's right hand (cf. Heb. 8:1; 10:12). In the future He will get off that throne to wage war (cf. Joel 3:2, 11-14; Rev. 16:16...
  • 29:1 This is another dated prophecy. It came to Ezekiel in the year before his first oracle against Tyre (26:1), namely, in 587 B.C.29:2 The Lord directed His prophet to turn his attention to the south, to Pharaoh king of Egy...
  • This message forms a fitting conclusion to the whole section of prophecies about Israel's restoration to the Promised Land (chs. 33-39) as well as to those about future invasion (chs. 38-39).39:25-26 The Lord promised to rest...
  • Theologically the book stresses the sovereignty of God."The absolute sovereignty and transcendence of God above all angels and men literally permeates the book."11"The theme running through the whole book is that the fortunes...
  • Daniel is a book of prophecy."Among the great prophetic books of Scripture, none provides a more comprehensive and chronological prophetic view of the broad movement of history than the book of Daniel. Of the three prophetic ...
  • The Book of Daniel contains many unique and significant emphases. I would like to point out some of these first before we organize them into an explanation of what God has given us this book to reveal.Theologically Daniel str...
  • I. The character of Daniel ch. 1A. Historical background 1:1-2B. Nebuchadnezzar's training program for promising youths 1:3-7C. Daniel's resolve to please Yahweh 1:8-13D. The success of the test 1:14-16E. God's blessing of Da...
  • 1:17 In addition to favor with their overseers, God gave Daniel and his three friends the ability to master the subjects they studied and wisdom in these matters (cf. James 1:5). They may have thought that Nebuchadnezzar had ...
  • 5:29 Belshazzar kept his promise (v. 16) though Daniel's honors only lasted a few hours at most, typical of the honors of this world. The king's response is surprising. We might have expected him to execute Daniel for confron...
  • "As interpreted by conservative expositors, the vision of Daniel [in chapter 7] provides the most comprehensive and detailed prophecy of future events to be found anywhere in the Old Testament."235"The vision's setting in the...
  • 8:5 The text also identifies the male goat--goats are relatives of sheep--in this vision as representing Greece (v. 21). History has confirmed the identification. Alexander the Great is clearly the conspicuous horn. Normally ...
  • 8:9 Daniel next saw a rather small horn (king, v. 23) grow out of one of the four horns (kingdoms, v. 22) that had replaced the single horn (the first king, v. 21) on the goat (Greece, v. 21). This horn is quite clearly diffe...
  • 8:15-16 As in the previous vision (7:16), Daniel needed help understanding what he had seen. He saw someone who looked like a man standing before him. Evidently this was an angel. Daniel also heard a voice that he could under...
  • "In the concluding four verses of Daniel 9, one of the most important prophecies of the Old Testament is contained. The prophecy as a whole is presented in verse 24. The first sixty-nine sevens is described in verse 25. The e...
  • We have observed that God's method of revealing what He wanted Daniel to know and to communicate about the future follows good pedagogy. God first gave the prophet a general picture of the future, first about humanity general...
  • 10:10-11 Evidently the "man"who touched Daniel and who proceeded to speak to him was the same one the prophet saw in the vision (vv. 5-6). The angel described Daniel as a man of high esteem (cf. 9:23; 10:19). We know that Dan...
  • 10:18 This is the third instance in this chapter of Daniel receiving strength from an angel who touched him (vv. 10, 16; cf. Heb. 1:14).400This human-appearing angel was probably the same one who touched Daniel's lips (v. 16)...
  • 10:20 The angel asked if Daniel knew why he had come to him. He apparently did this to focus the prophet's attention on the vision to follow anew since Daniel was quite weak.The angel informed Daniel that he needed to return ...
  • The interpreting angel now explained the long anticipated (since 10:1) revelation about the future that involved Daniel's people, the Jews. The first part of it concerns events preceding Messiah's first advent (vv. 2-35) and ...
  • 11:3 The mighty king who arose and did as he pleased proved to be Alexander the Great (cf. 2:32, 39b; 7:6; 8:5-8, 21). He was, of course, Greek. His invasion of the Persian Empire was in large part retaliation for Xerxes' att...
  • The angel now began describing the affairs of two kingdoms whose kings he called "the king of the South"and "the king of the North."These north and south directions are in relation to Palestine, the land of Daniel and his peo...
  • God gave more information about the following individual than He did about all the preceding ones combined. The reason is his devastating influence on the Jews. During his tenure as king Syria was in decline and Rome gained p...
  • In the revelation given to Daniel about the 70 sevens (years, 9:24-27), we observed that what Gabriel told the prophet in verses 24-26 has already happened. Those verses described what would happen in the first 69 sevens. Ver...
  • 11:36 "Then"signals a leap in time to the distant future.The predicted king will have the power to do as he pleases; apparently he will not be subject to a higher human authority (cf. 7:23; Rev. 13:1-10; 17:12). He will exalt...
  • 11:40 Finally the very end time will arrive (cf. vv. 27, 35; 12:4, 9). Then this king will be the focus of attack by the king of the South (cf. vv. 42-43), a power south of Palestine, and the king of the North, a force to its...
  • Whereas the previous verses have focused on the Antichrist, those in this pericope concern Israel. Here we learn that this "end time"will definitely be a time of intense persecution of Jews. This section constitutes the clima...
  • Daniel now saw two others, undoubtedly angels, beside the one who had been addressing him since 10:11, standing on either side of the Tigris River (cf. 10:4). One of these angels asked a question of the man (angel) dressed in...
  • The angel above the river swore by the eternal God that what he was about to say was true. Normally people who swore by God lifted one hand to heaven (cf. Deut. 32:40). This angel lifted both hands thus stressing the truthful...
  • 1:4 Yahweh announced that He would stretch out His hand in judgment against Judah and the people of Jerusalem. Stretching out the hand is a figure of speech that implies a special work of punishment (cf. Exod. 6:6; Deut. 4:34...
  • The visions ended and Zechariah awoke from his dream-like state. What follows is a symbolic act that took place in Jerusalem at the Lord's command."The position of this actual ceremony after the eight visions is significant. ...
  • Having referred to the words of the former prophets (v. 7), Zechariah now summarized them as an exhortation to his own generation of Israelites.7:8-10 Zechariah received another message from the Lord related to this inquiry. ...
  • The first part of this oracle focused particularly on the true King who would come and exercise sovereignty over the nations (ch. 9). Now the emphasis changes to the people of the King, the Israelites, who will return to the ...
  • "The full fate of Israel is not recounted in the rejection of the good Shepherd God raised up to tend them. The complete tale of woe centers in their acceptance of the bad shepherd God will raise up to destroy them. The one d...
  • The central theme of this incident is Jesus' authority over evil spirits.8:28 Gadara was the regional capital of the Decapolis area that lay southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Its population was strongly Gentile. This may accou...
  • Jesus proceeded to give His disciples a general picture of conditions just before He will return to end the present age and inaugurate His kingdom.24:7-8 Wars, famines, and earthquakes will anticipate the end of the present a...
  • Having given a general description of conditions preceding His return and the end of the present age, Jesus next described one particular event that would be the greatest sign of all.24:15 "Therefore"or "So"(Gr. oun) ties thi...
  • Having clarified what the sign of the coming destruction would not be, Jesus now explained what it would be. Matthew and Mark both described the destruction preceding Jesus' second coming. Luke recorded Jesus' teaching about ...
  • 2:18 John probably used a different Greek word translated "children"(paidia, also in v. 12) because it implies a child who learns. His readers needed to learn what he now revealed.In the drama of human history all of John's r...
  • Next John moved on to his second purpose. He wrote to encourage his readers to resist the false teachers who were distorting the truth and deceiving some of the believers."The presbyter's attention now moves from the existenc...
  • vv. 14-15 Jude quoted loosely from a prophecy Enoch gave recorded in the Book of 1 Enoch.62Though God had not inspired that book, He led Jude to quote Enoch's prophecy.63This was a prophecy of God's judgment as it will take p...
  • The revelation of Satan's activity, which the song of the martyrs (vv. 10-12) interrupted, now resumes.12:13 Satan will concentrate his vengeance on Israelites during the Great Tribulation, under the sovereign control of God,...
  • 17:7 The angel promised to interpret these revelations that were so baffling to John, particularly the mystery concerning the woman and the beast. More information about the beast follows in verses 7-14 and more about the wom...
  • 17:15 The angel next helped John understand the identity of the waters (v. 1). Water is a common symbol for people in the Old Testament (e.g., Ps. 18:4, 16; 124:4; Isa. 8:7; Jer. 47:2). The harlot exercises a controlling infl...
Back to Commentary Page


created in 0.06 seconds
powered by
bible.org - YLSA