Daniel 11:36--12:3

11:36 “Then the king ¹  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 ²  wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur. ³  11:37 He will not respect ⁴  the gods of his fathers – not even the god loved by women. ⁵  He will not respect any god; he will elevate himself above them all. 11:38 What he will honor is a god of fortresses – a god his fathers did not acknowledge he will honor with gold, silver, valuable stones, and treasured commodities. 11:39 He will attack ⁶  mighty fortresses, aided by ⁷  a foreign deity. To those who recognize him he will grant considerable honor. He will place them in authority over many people, and he will parcel out land for a price. ⁸ 

11:40 “At the time of the end the king of the south will attack ⁹  him. Then the king of the north will storm against him ¹⁰  with chariots, horsemen, and a large armada of ships. ¹¹  He ¹²  will invade lands, passing through them like an overflowing river. ¹³  11:41 Then he will enter the beautiful land. ¹⁴  Many ¹⁵  will fall, but these will escape: ¹⁶  Edom, Moab, and the Ammonite leadership. 11:42 He will extend his power ¹⁷  against other lands; the land of Egypt will not escape. 11:43 He will have control over the hidden stores of gold and silver, as well as all the treasures of Egypt. Libyans and Ethiopians ¹⁸  will submit to him. ¹⁹  11:44 But reports will trouble him from the east and north, and he will set out in a tremendous rage to destroy and wipe out many. 11:45 He will pitch his royal tents between the seas ²⁰  toward the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, with no one to help him.

12:1 “At that time Michael,

the great prince who watches over your people, ²¹ 

will arise. ²² 

There will be a time of distress

unlike any other from the nation’s beginning ²³ 

up to that time.

But at that time your own people,

all those whose names are ²⁴  found written in the book,

will escape.

12:2 Many of those who sleep

in the dusty ground will awake –

some to everlasting life,

and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence. ²⁵ 

12:3 But the wise will shine

like the brightness of the heavenly expanse.

And those bringing many to righteousness

will be like the stars forever and ever.

[11:36]  ¹ sn The identity of this king is problematic. If vv. 36-45 continue the description of Antiochus Epiphanes, the account must be viewed as erroneous, since the details do not match what is known of Antiochus’ latter days. Most modern scholars take this view, concluding that this section was written just shortly before the death of Antiochus and that the writer erred on several key points as he tried to predict what would follow the events of his own day. Conservative scholars, however, usually understand the reference to shift at this point to an eschatological figure, viz., the Antichrist. The chronological gap that this would presuppose to be in the narrative is not necessarily a problem, since by all accounts there are many chronological gaps throughout the chapter, as the historical figures intended by such expressions as “king of the north” and “king of the south” repeatedly shift.

[11:36]  ² tn The words “the time of” are added in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ³ tn Heb “has been done.” The Hebrew verb used here is the perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of fulfillment.

[11:37]  ⁴ tn Heb “consider.”

[11:37]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the one] desired by women.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “act against.”

[11:39]  ⁷ tn Heb “with.”

[11:39]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps “for a reward.”

[11:40]  ⁹ tn Heb “engage in thrusting.”

[11:40]  ¹⁰ tn The referent of the pronoun is most likely the king of the south, in which case the text describes the king of the north countering the attack of the king of the south.

[11:40]  ¹¹ tn Heb “many ships.”

[11:40]  ¹² tn This most likely refers to the king of the north who, in response to the aggression of the king of the south, launches an invasion of the southern regions.

[11:40]  ¹³ tn Heb “and will overflow and pass over.”

[11:41]  ¹⁴ sn The beautiful land is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel.

[11:41]  ¹⁵ tn This can be understood as “many people” (cf. NRSV) or “many countries” (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

[11:41]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “be delivered from his hand.”

[11:42]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hand.”

[11:43]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Nubians” (NIV, NCV); Heb “Cushites.”

[11:43]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Libyans and Cushites [will be] at his footsteps.”

[11:45]  ²⁰ sn Presumably seas refers to the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea.

[12:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “stands over the sons of your people.”

[12:1]  ²² tn Heb “will stand up.”

[12:1]  ²³ tn Or “from the beginning of a nation.”

[12:1]  ²⁴ tn The words “whose names are” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[12:2]  ²⁵ sn This verse is the only undisputed reference to a literal resurrection found in the Hebrew Bible.