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Daniel 11

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1And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him.)

2“Now then, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will appear in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

3Then a mighty king will appear, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases.

4After he has appeared, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the power he exercised, because his empire will be uprooted and given to others.

5“The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power.

6After some years, they will become allies. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance, but she will not retain her power, and he and his power will not last. In those days she will be handed over, together with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her.

7“One from her family line will arise to take her place. He will attack the forces of the king of the North and enter his fortress; he will fight against them and be victorious.

8He will also seize their gods, their metal images and their valuable articles of silver and gold and carry them off to Egypt. For some years he will leave the king of the North alone.

9Then the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South but will retreat to his own country.

10His sons will prepare for war and assemble a great army, which will sweep on like an irresistible flood and carry the battle as far as his fortress.

11“Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated.

12When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant.

13For the king of the North will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped.

14“In those times many will rise against the king of the South. The violent men among your own people will rebel in fulfillment of the vision, but without success.

15Then the king of the North will come and build up siege ramps and will capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will be powerless to resist; even their best troops will not have the strength to stand.

16The invader will do as he pleases; no one will be able to stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land and will have the power to destroy it.

17He will determine to come with the might of his entire kingdom and will make an alliance with the king of the South. And he will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plans will not succeed or help him.

18Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands and will take many of them, but a commander will put an end to his insolence and will turn his insolence back upon him.

19After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own country but will stumble and fall, to be seen no more.

20“His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor. In a few years, however, he will be destroyed, yet not in anger or in battle.

21“He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been given the honor of royalty. He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue.

22Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before him; both it and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed.

23After coming to an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully, and with only a few people he will rise to power.

24When the richest provinces feel secure, he will invade them and will achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did. He will distribute plunder, loot and wealth among his followers. He will plot the overthrow of fortresses–but only for a time.

25“With a large army he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots devised against him.

26Those who eat from the king's provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle.

27The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time.

28The king of the North will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country.

29“At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before.

30Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.

31“His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.

32With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.

33“Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered.

34When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them.

35Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.

36“The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.

37He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.

38Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his fathers he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.

39He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price.

40“At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.

41He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand.

42He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape.

43He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Nubians in submission.

44But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many.

45He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

Commentary

11:1-30 The angel shows Daniel the succession of the Persian and Grecian empires. The kings of Egypt and Syria are noticed: Judea was between their dominions, and affected by their contests. From ver. 5-30, is generally considered to relate to the events which came to pass during the continuance of these governments; and from ver. 21, to relate to Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a cruel and violent persecutor of the Jews. See what decaying, perishing things worldly pomp and possessions are, and the power by which they are gotten. God, in his providence, sets up one, and pulls down another, as he pleases. This world is full of wars and fightings, which come from men's lusts. All changes and revolutions of states and kingdoms, and every event, are plainly and perfectly foreseen by God. No word of God shall fall to the ground; but what he has designed, what he has declared, shall infallibly come to pass. While the potsherds of the earth strive with each other, they prevail and are prevailed against, deceive and are deceived; but those who know God will trust in him, and he will enable them to stand their ground, bear their cross, and maintain their conflict.

"\nAlso I, in the first year of Darius the Mede,.... These words more properly belong to the preceding chapter, and should have concluded that, and the "eleventh" chapter should have begun in the next verse; and they are not the words of Daniel, as Jerom and others; but of the angel telling Daniel, not only what he had been lately doing, and would do in the court of Persia for his people; but what he had done in the beginning of that monarchy, the very first year that Darius the Mede became king of Babylon, and head of the whole monarchy; see Da 5:30, the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "in the first year of Cyrus"; which was the same time; for Darius and Cyrus reigned together.\n\nEven I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him; not Michael your Prince, as Jarchi; for he being no other than the Son of God, an uncreated Angel, needed not the help and assistance of a created one, nor could receive any strength and confirmation from such an one; unless this is to be understood, not with respect to Michael himself abstractly considered, but as in relation to the people of the Jews, on whose side Michael was; and so this angel took part with him and them, and as his minister served them both, in defending them, and taking care of their affairs at this time; so Jacchiades paraphrases it, to confirm and strengthen Israel: but it seems rather to design Darius, and the sense to be, that this angel strengthened Darius and Cyrus in their good intentions to let the people of Israel go free and give them full liberty and encouragement to go into their own land, and rebuild their city and temple; about which some doubts and hesitations might arise in their minds, and objections be made by some of their nobles and courtiers to it, being moved and influenced by an evil spirit, the adversary of this good angel; but he attended them so closely, and so strongly suggested to them what they should do in this case, that he carried his point on behalf of the Jews; for this respects not so much the destruction of the Chaldean monarchy, and the establishing the Persian monarchy on the ruins of it, and settling Darius on the throne, and strengthening his kingdom and interest, as the confirmation of him and Cyrus in their designs in favour of the Jews. The Syriac version is, "from the first year of Darius the Mede, he rose up to help me, and assist me"; as if the angel was still speaking of Michael, who came to his help against the prince of Persia, and was the only one that held with him, and had done so from the beginning of the Persian empire; but the Hebrew text will not admit of such a translation.\n\n\n\n "

CHAPTER 11Da 11:1-45. This chapter is an enlargement of the eighth: The Overthrow of Persia by Grecia: The Four Divisions of Alexander's Kingdom: Conflicts between the Kings of the South and of the North, the Ptolemies and Seleucidæ: Antiochus Epiphanes.1. I—the angel (Da 10:18).first year of Darius—Cyaxares II; the year of the conquest of Babylon (Da 5:31). Cyrus, who wielded the real power, though in name subordinate to Darius, in that year promulgated the edict for the restoration of the Jews, which Daniel was at the time praying for (Da 9:1, 2, 21, 23).stood—implying promptness in helping (Ps 94:16).strengthen him—namely, Michael; even as Michael (Da 10:21, "strengtheneth himself with me") helped the angel, both joining their powers in behalf of Israel [Rosenmuller]. Or, Darius, the angel "confirming him" in his purpose of kindness to Israel.

2. three kings in Persia—Cambyses, Pseudo-Smerdis, and Darius Hystaspes. (Ahasuerus, Artaxerxes, and Darius, in Ezr 4:6, 7, 24). The Ahasuerus of Esther (see on [1101]Da 9:1) is identified with Xerxes, both in Greek history and in Scripture, appearing proud, self-willed, careless of contravening Persian customs, amorous, facile, and changeable (Da 11:2).fourth … riches … against … Grecia—Xerxes, whose riches were proverbial. Persia reached its climax and showed its greatest power in his invasion of Greece, 480 B.C. After his overthrow at Salamis, Persia is viewed as politically dead, though it had an existence. Therefore, Da 11:3, without noticing Xerxes' successors, proceeds at once to Alexander, under whom, first, the third world kingdom, Grecia, reached its culmination, and assumed an importance as to the people of God.stir up all—Four years were spent in gathering his army out of all parts of his vast empire, amounting to two millions six hundred and forty-one thousand men. [Prideaux, Connexion, 1.4. l. 410].

"\nAnd now will I show thee the truth,....

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG “እኔም በሜዶናዊ በዳርዮስ መጀመሪያ ዓመት አጸናውና አበረታው ዘንድ ቆሜ ነበር። አማርኛ BCV “ኣነውን ዳርዮስ ሜዶናዊ ምስ ነገሰ በታ ቐዳመይቲ ዓመት፥ ንእኡ ንኽሕግዝን ንኸበርትዖን ቆይመ ነበርኩ። ሕዚ ኸዓ ነቲ ሓቂ ኸፍልጠካ እየ” በለኒ። ትግርኛ GAZBIB Inni anatti dubbachaa ture sun itti dabalee,“Daariyos namni Medoon mo'ee waggaa tokkoffaa isaa keessa, ani ergamaa isa … Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ወኮነ በዓመት ቀዳሚ ለዳርዮስ ሜዶናዊ መንግሥቱ ቆምኩ ለኃትሎቱ ወለረዲኤቲ። giz GAZGAZ Inni anatti dubbachaa ture sun itti dabalee,“Daariyos namni Medoon mo'ee waggaa tokkoffaa isaa keessa, ani ergamaa isa … Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum “ኣነውን ዳርዮስ ሜዶናዊ ምስ ነገሰ በታ ቐዳመይቲ ዓመት፥ ንእኡ ንኽሕግዝን ንኸበርትዖን ቆይመ ነበርኩ። ሕዚ ኸዓ ነቲ ሓቂ ኸፍልጠካ እየ” በለኒ። ትግርኛ AMHNIV እኔም፣ ሜዶናዊው ዳርዮስ በነገሠ በመጀመሪያው ዓመት፣ እርሱን ለማገዝና ለማበረታታት በአጠገቡ ቆሜ ነበር። አማርኛ SWAHSUV Tena mimi, katika mwaka wa kwanza wa Dario, Mmedi, mimi nalisimama nimthibitishe na kumtia nguvu. Kiswahili