Daniel 11:3-20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 But a powerful king[a] shall appear and rule with great might, doing as he wills. 4 No sooner shall he appear than his kingdom shall be broken and divided in four directions under heaven; but not among his descendants or in keeping with his mighty rule, for his kingdom shall be torn to pieces and belong to others.
5 [b]“The king of the south shall grow strong, but one of his princes shall grow stronger still and govern a domain greater than his. 6 [c]After some years they shall become allies: the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to carry out the alliance. But she shall not retain power: and his offspring shall not survive, and she shall be given up, together with those who brought her, her son, and her supporter in due time. 7 A descendant of her line shall succeed to his place, and shall come against the army, enter the stronghold of the king of the north, attack and conquer them. 8 Even their gods, with their molten images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, he shall carry away as spoils of war into Egypt. For years he shall have nothing to do with the king of the north. 9 Then the latter shall invade the land of the king of the south, and return to his own country.
10 “But his sons shall be aroused and assemble a great armed host, which shall pass through like a flood and again surge around the stronghold. 11 [d]The king of the south, enraged, shall go out to fight against the king of the north, who shall field a great host, but the host shall be given into his hand. 12 When the host is carried off, in the pride of his heart he shall bring down tens of thousands, but he shall not triumph. 13 [e]For the king of the north shall raise another army, greater than before; after some years he shall attack with this large army and great resources. 14 In those times many shall resist the king of the south, and violent ones among your people shall rise up in fulfillment of vision, but they shall stumble. 15 [f]When the king of the north comes, he shall set up siegeworks and take the fortified city by storm. The forces of the south shall not withstand him, and not even his picked troops shall have the strength to withstand. 16 The invader shall do as he wills, with no one to withstand him. He shall stop in the glorious land, and it shall all be in his power. 17 [g]He shall resolve to come with the entire strength of his kingdom. He shall make an alliance with him and give him a daughter in marriage in order to destroy him, but this shall not stand. 18 [h]He shall turn to the coastland and take many prisoners, but a commander shall put an end to his shameful conduct, so that he cannot retaliate. 19 He shall turn to the strongholds of his own land, but shall stumble and fall, to be found no more. 20 [i]In his stead one shall arise who will send a collector of tribute through the glorious kingdom, but he shall soon be destroyed, though not in conflict or in battle.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 11:3 A powerful king: Alexander the Great, who broke Persian dominance by his victory at Issus in 333 B.C.
- 11:5–45 These verses describe the dynastic histories of the Ptolemies in Egypt (the king of the south) and the Seleucids in Syria (the king of the north), the two divisions of the Hellenistic empire that were of interest to the author (v. 6). Verses 10–20 describe the struggle between the two kingdoms for the control of Palestine; the Seleucids were eventually victorious.
- 11:6 The marriage of Antiochus II Theos and Berenice of Egypt about 250 B.C., which ended in tragedy.
- 11:11 The battle of Raphia (217 B.C.), in which Egypt defeated Syria.
- 11:13 Syria defeated Egypt at the battle of Paneas in 200 B.C. Judea then passed under Syrian rule.
- 11:15 The siege of Sidon after the battle of Paneas.
- 11:17 Antiochus III, the Great, betrothed his daughter to Ptolemy Epiphanes in 197 B.C.
- 11:18 The Roman general Scipio defeated Antiochus at Magnesia in 190 B.C.
- 11:20 Seleucus IV, who sent Heliodorus to Jerusalem (cf. 2 Mc 3).
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