Daniel 11:10-19

Context
11:10 His sons¹ will wage war, mustering a large army which will advance like an overflowing river and carrying the battle all the way to the enemy’s² fortress.³

11:11 “Then the king of the south⁴ 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.⁵ He will be responsible for the death⁶ of thousands and thousands of people,⁷ 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 oppose⁸ the king of the south.⁹ Those who are violent¹⁰ among your own people will rise up in confirmation of¹¹ 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.¹² The forces of the south will not prevail, not even his finest contingents.¹³ 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.¹⁴ 11:17 His intention¹⁵ will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and he will form alliances.¹⁶ He will give the king of the south¹⁷ a daughter¹⁸ in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but it will not turn out to his advantage. 11:18 Then he will turn his attention¹⁹ to the coastal regions and will capture many of them. But a commander²⁰ will bring his shameful conduct to a halt; in addition,²¹ he will make him pay for his shameful conduct.²² 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.

[11:10] ¹sn The sons of Seleucus II Callinicus were Seleucus III Ceraunus (ca. 227-223 B.C.) and Antiochus III the Great (ca. 223-187 B.C.).

[11:10] ²tn Heb “his”; the referent (the enemy of the king of the north) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:10] ³tn Heb “and he will certainly come and overflow and cross over and return and be aroused unto a fortress.” The translation has attempted to simplify the syntax of this difficult sequence.

[11:11] ⁴sn This king of the south refers to Ptolemy IV Philopator (ca. 221-204 B.C.).

[11:12] ⁷tn Heb “his heart will be lifted up.” The referent (the king of the south) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:12] ⁸tn Heb “cause to fall.”

[11:12] ⁹tn Heb “of myriads.”

[11:14] ¹⁰tn Heb “stand against.”

[11:14] ¹¹sn This was Ptolemy V Epiphanes (ca. 203-181 B.C.).

[11:14] ¹²tn Heb “sons of violence.” “Son(s) is sometimes used idiomatically in Hebrew to indicate that someone is characterized by a certain quality. So the expression “sons of violence” means that these individuals will be characterized by violent deeds.

[11:14] ¹³tn Heb “to cause to stand.”

[11:15] ¹³sn This well-fortified city is apparently Sidon. Its capture from the Ptolemies by Antiochus the Great was a strategic victory for the Seleucid kingdom.

[11:15] ¹⁴tn Or “choice troops” (BDB 104 s.v. מִבְחָר), or “elite troops” (HALOT 542 s.v. מִבְחָר).

[11:16] ¹⁶tn Heb “hand.”

[11:17] ¹⁹tn Heb “and he will set his face.” Cf. vv. 18, 19.

[11:17] ²⁰tc The present translation reads מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim, “alliances”) for the MT וִישָׁרִים (viysharim, “uprightness”).

[11:17] ²¹tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of the south) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:17] ²²tn Heb “the daughter of the women.”

[11:18] ²²tn Heb “his face.” See v. 19 as well.

[11:18] ²³sn The commander is probably the Roman commander, Lucius Cornelius Scipio.

[11:18] ²⁴tn The Hebrew here is difficult in that the negative בִּלְתִּי (biltiy, “not”) is used in an unusual way. The sense is not entirely clear.

[11:18] ²⁵tn Heb “his shameful conduct he will return to him.”