Daniel 11:9

11:9 Then the king of the north ¹  will advance against the empire of the king of the south, but will withdraw to his own land.

Daniel 11:29

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.

Daniel 11:5

11:5 “Then the king of the south ²  and one of his subordinates ³  will grow strong. His subordinate ⁴  will resist ⁵  him and will rule a kingdom greater than his. ⁶ 

Daniel 11:25

11:25 He will rouse his strength and enthusiasm ⁷  against the king of the south ⁸  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.

Daniel 8:4

8:4 I saw that the ram was butting westward, northward, and southward. No animal ⁹  was able to stand before it, and there was none who could deliver from its power. ¹⁰  It did as it pleased and acted arrogantly. ¹¹ 

Daniel 8:9

8:9 From one of them came a small horn. ¹²  But it grew to be very big, toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. ¹³ 

Daniel 11:11

11:11 “Then the king of the south ¹⁴  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.

Daniel 11:14-15

11:14 “In those times many will oppose ¹⁵  the king of the south. ¹⁶  Those who are violent ¹⁷  among your own people will rise up in confirmation of ¹⁸  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. ¹⁹  The forces of the south will not prevail, not even his finest contingents. ²⁰  They will have no strength to prevail.

Daniel 11:40

11:40 “At the time of the end the king of the south will attack ²¹  him. Then the king of the north will storm against him ²²  with chariots, horsemen, and a large armada of ships. ²³  He ²⁴  will invade lands, passing through them like an overflowing river. ²⁵ 

Daniel 11:6

11:6 After some years have passed, they ²⁶  will form an alliance. Then the daughter ²⁷  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, ²⁸  nor will he continue ²⁹  in his strength. ³⁰  She, together with the one who brought her, her child, ³¹  and her benefactor will all be delivered over at that time. ³² 

[11:9]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of the north) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:5]  ² sn The king of the south is Ptolemy I Soter (ca. 323-285 B.C.). The following reference to one of his subordinates apparently has in view Seleucus I Nicator (ca. 311-280 B.C.). Throughout the remainder of chap. 11 the expressions “king of the south” and “king of the north” repeatedly occur. It is clear, however, that these terms are being used generically to describe the Ptolemaic king (i.e., “of the south”) or the Seleucid king (i.e., “of the north”) who happens to be in power at any particular time. The specific identity of these kings can be established more or less successfully by a comparison of this chapter with the available extra-biblical records that discuss the history of the intertestamental period. In the following notes the generally accepted identifications are briefly mentioned.

[11:5]  ³ tn Heb “princes.”

[11:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the subordinate prince mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “be strong against.”

[11:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “greater than his kingdom.”

[11:25]  ³ tn Heb “heart.”

[11:25]  ⁴ sn This king of the south was Ptolemy Philometer (ca. 181-145 B.C.).

[8:4]  ⁴ tn Or “beast” (NAB).

[8:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “hand.” So also in v. 7.

[8:4]  ⁶ tn In the Hiphil the Hebrew verb גָּדַל (gadal, “to make great; to magnify”) can have either a positive or a negative sense. For the former, used especially of God, see Ps 126:2, 3; Joel 2:21. In this chapter (8:4, 8, 11, 25) the word has a pejorative sense, describing the self-glorification of this king. The sense seems to be that of vainly assuming one’s own superiority through deliberate hubris.

[8:9]  ⁵ sn This small horn is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who controlled the Seleucid kingdom from ca. 175-164 B.C. Antiochus was extremely hostile toward the Jews and persecuted them mercilessly.

[8:9]  ⁶ sn The expression the beautiful land (Heb. הַצֶּבִי [hatsÿvi] = “the beauty”) is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel. Cf. 11:16, 41, where it is preceded by the word אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”).

[11:11]  ⁶ sn This king of the south refers to Ptolemy IV Philopator (ca. 221-204 B.C.).

[11:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “stand against.”

[11:14]  ⁸ sn This was Ptolemy V Epiphanes (ca. 203-181 B.C.).

[11:14]  ⁹ tn 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to cause to stand.”

[11:15]  ⁸ sn 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]  ⁹ tn Or “choice troops” (BDB 104 s.v. מִבְחָר), or “elite troops” (HALOT 542 s.v. מִבְחָר).

[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.”

[11:6]  ¹⁰ sn Here they refers to Ptolemy II Philadelphus (ca. 285-246 B.C.) and Antiochus II Theos (ca. 262-246 B.C.).

[11:6]  ¹¹ sn The daughter refers to Berenice, who was given in marriage to Antiochus II Theos.

[11:6]  ¹² tn Heb “the strength of the arm.”

[11:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “stand.” So also in vv. 7, 8, 11, 13.

[11:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and his arm.” Some understand this to refer to the descendants of the king of the north.

[11:6]  ¹⁵ tc The present translation reads יַלְדָּה (yaldah, “her child”) rather than the MT יֹלְדָהּ (yolÿdah, “the one who begot her”). Cf. Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate.

[11:6]  ¹⁶ sn Antiochus II eventually divorced Berenice and remarried his former wife Laodice, who then poisoned her husband, had Berenice put to death, and installed her own son, Seleucus II Callinicus (ca. 246-227 B.C.), as the Seleucid king.