Daniel 11 · WEB
Kings of the North and South
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
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"As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.
2Now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall stand up in Persia. The fourth shall be far richer than all of them. When he has grown strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.
3A mighty king shall stand up, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
4When he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of the sky, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides these.
5"The king of the south shall be strong. One of his princes shall be stronger than him, and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion.
6At the end of years they shall join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the strength of her arm. He shall also not stand, nor his arm; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and he who became the father of her, and he who strengthened her in those times.
7But out of a shoot from her roots shall one stand up in his place, who shall come to the army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail.
8He shall also carry their gods, with their molten images, and with their goodly vessels of silver and of gold, captive into Egypt. He shall refrain some years from the king of the north.
9He shall come into the realm of the king of the south, but he shall return into his own land.
10"His sons shall wage war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on, and overflow, and pass through. They shall return and wage war, even to his fortress.
11The king of the south shall be moved with anger, and shall come out and fight with him, even with the king of the north. He shall send out a great multitude, and the multitude shall be given into his hand.
12The multitude shall be lifted up, and his heart shall be exalted. He shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.
13The king of the north shall return, and shall send out a multitude greater than the former. He shall come on at the end of the times, even of years, with a great army and with much substance.
14"In those times many shall stand up against the king of the south. Also the children of the violent among your people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall fall.
15So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city. The forces of the south won't stand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to stand.
16But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand before him. He shall stand in the glorious land, and destruction shall be in his hand.
17He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and with him equitable conditions. He shall perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women, to corrupt her; but she shall not stand, and won't be for him.
18After this shall he turn his face to the islands, and shall take many; but a prince shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease. Yes, moreover, he shall cause his reproach to turn on him.
19Then he shall turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.
20"Then shall stand up in his place one who shall cause a tax collector to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory; but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
21"In his place shall stand up a contemptible person, to whom they had not given the honor of the kingdom; but he shall come in time of security, and shall obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
22The overwhelming forces shall be overwhelmed from before him, and shall be broken. Yes, also the prince of the covenant.
23After the league made with him he shall work deceitfully; for he shall come up, and shall become strong, with a small people.
24In time of security shall he come even on the fattest places of the province. He shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers. He shall scatter among them prey, and plunder, and substance. Yes, he shall devise his devices against the strongholds, even for a time.
25"He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall wage war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand; for they shall devise devices against him.
26Yes, those who eat of his dainties shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow; and many shall fall down slain.
27As for both these kings, their hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper; for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.
28Then he shall return into his land with great substance. His heart shall be against the holy covenant. He shall do his pleasure, and return to his own land.
29"At the time appointed he shall return, and come into the south; but it shall not be in the latter time as it was in the former.
30For ships of Kittim shall come against him. Therefore he shall be grieved, and shall return, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and shall do his pleasure. He shall even return, and have regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31Forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
32He shall corrupt by flatteries those who do wickedly against the covenant; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
33Those who are wise among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder, many days.
34Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall join themselves to them with flatteries.
35Some of those who are wise shall fall, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.
36"The king shall do according to his will. He shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods. He shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done.
37Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all.
38But in their place he shall honor the god of fortresses. He shall honor a god whom his fathers didn't know with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god. Whoever acknowledges him he will increase with glory. He shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for a price.
40"At the time of the end the king of the south shall contend with him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships. He shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through.
41He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
42He shall stretch out his hand also on the countries. The land of Egypt shall not escape.
43But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. The Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44But news out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and utterly to sweep away many.
45He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one shall help him.
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Summary
The heavenly messenger unveils a stunningly detailed prophecy covering centuries of conflict between the "king of the north" and the "king of the south" — historically the Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties that emerged from Alexander the Great's divided empire. The prophecy narrows in on a contemptible ruler (Antiochus IV Epiphanes) who desecrates the temple, sets up the abomination of desolation, and persecutes the people of God. The chapter closes with a final "king of the north" who exalts himself above every god, invades the glorious land, and ultimately meets his end — a figure many read both as Antiochus and as a foreshadowing of a final antichrist.
Themes
- God's sovereign knowledge of future history
- The rise and fall of human kingdoms
- Persecution and faithfulness of God's people
- The abomination that makes desolate
- Suffering used to refine and purify the wise
- The arrogance and certain end of tyrants
Key verses
- Dan 11:32 — “He shall corrupt by flatteries those who do wickedly against the covenant; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.”
- Dan 11:35 — “Some of those who are wise shall fall, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time of the end.”
- Dan 11:36 — “The king shall do according to his will. He shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god.”
- Dan 11:45 — “Yet he shall come to his end, and no one shall help him.”
Context & background
This prophecy, given around 536 BC, traces events through the Persian empire (modern Iran), Alexander the Great's Greek conquest (the "mighty king" of verse 3), and the division of his empire into four. The "king of the north" refers to the Seleucid dynasty ruling Syria and Mesopotamia (modern Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and parts of Turkey), while the "king of the south" refers to the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. The "contemptible person" of verse 21 is Antiochus IV Epiphanes (reigned 175-164 BC), who profaned the Jerusalem temple in 167 BC by sacrificing a pig on the altar and setting up an image of Zeus — the abomination of desolation that sparked the Maccabean revolt. "Kittim" (v.30) refers to the Romans. The "glorious land" is Israel, and "Edom, Moab, Ammon" are regions of modern Jordan.
Cross-references
- 1 Maccabees 1:41-64 — historical account of Antiochus IV's desecration of the temple
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 — the man of lawlessness who exalts himself above every god
- Daniel 8:9-14 — earlier vision of the "little horn" (Antiochus IV)
- Matthew 24:15 — Jesus applies "the abomination of desolation" to a future event
- Revelation 13:5-8 — the beast who speaks blasphemies and wars against the saints