Daniel 11:10
in Daniel 11But his sons will stir up strife and assemble a great army, which will advance forcefully, sweeping through like a flood, and will again carry the battle as far as his fortress.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And his sons shall war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on, and overflow, and pass through; and they shall return and war, even to his fortress.
KJV
But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
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This verse in Daniel 11
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Antiochus penetrated to Dura (near Cæsarea), where he gave Ptolemy a four months' truce. return--renew the war at the expiration of the truce (so Da 11:13). even to his fortress--Ptolemy's; Raphia, a border-fortress of Egypt against incursions by way of Edom and Arabia-Petræa, near Gaza; here Antiochus was vanquished.
This site's exposition
the king of the south shall be strong
on Daniel 11:5-20
Sixteen verses of south against north, Ptolemies against Seleucids by the whole bench's reading, traced campaign by campaign: the king's daughter given north in a failed alliance, the branch of her roots avenging her, gods and vessels carried captive into Egypt, multitudes raised and cast down, the mount cast up against the fenced cities. At verse 16 the wars enter the glorious land, Judea as the road between the rivals, which is the corridor's whole point of view: the text watches empires through the land they trample. The raiser of taxes destroyed neither in anger, nor in battle closes the stretch, and the notes keep RESTRAINT here, the identifications carried once as the bench carries them rather than verse by verse.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Verse 10. "And his sons shall be provoked, and they shall assemble a multitude of great armies, and he shall come with haste like a flood. And he shall return and be stirred up, and he shall join battle with his army." After the flight and death of Seleucus Callinicus, his two sons, the Seleucus surnamed Ceraunus and the Antiochus who was called the Great, were provoked by a hope of victory and of avenging their father, and so they assembled an army against Ptolemy Philopator and took up arms.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But his sons shall be stirred up,....
The king of the north, Antiochus the Great, shall return with a greater army than the former; and, at the end of times (that is, years ) he shall come with a mighty army, and great riches, against the king of the south, that is, Ptolemæus Epiphanes, who succeeded Ptolemæus Philopater his father, when he was a child, which gave advantage to Antiochus the Great.
The kingdom of Syria, which was set up by Seleucus Nicanor, or the conqueror; he was one of Alexander's princes, and became stronger than the other, and had the greatest dominion of all, was the most powerful of all Alexander's successors. It was said that he had no fewer than seven-two kingdoms under him.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
But his sons shall be stirred up - That is, the sons of Callinicus, who were Seleucus Ceraunus and Antiochus, afterwards called the Great. Shall assemble a multitude - Seleucus Ceraunus did assemble a multitude of forces in order to recover his father’s dominions; but, not having money to pay them, they became mutinous, and he was poisoned by two of his own generals. His brother Antiochus was then proclaimed king; so that one only of the sons did certainly come, and overflow, and pass through; he retook Seleucia, and regained Syria.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But his sons shall be stirred up - Margin, “or, war.” The Hebrew word (יתגרוּ yı̂theggârû - from גרה gârâh) means, to be rough; then, in Piel, to excite, stir up; and then, in Hithpa, to excite one’s self, to be stirred up to anger, to make war upon .... Here it means, according to Gesenius (Lexicon), that they would be excited or angry. The reference here, according to Lengerke, Maurer, Gill, and others, is to the son of the king of the north, Seleucus Callinicus. He was killed, according to Justin (lib. xxvii. c. 3), by a fall from his horse. The war with Egypt was continued by his two sons, Seleucus Ceraunus and Antiochus the Great, until the death of the former, when it was prosecuted by Antiochus alone. See Prideaux, iii. 136. Seleueus Ceraunus succeeded his father - assuming the name of Ceraunus, or the Thunderer; but, dying soon, he left the crown to his brother, Antiochus the Great, then only fifteen years of age, by whom the war with Egypt was successfully prosecuted. And shall assemble a multitude of great forces - Against Egypt. In such a war they would naturally summon to their aid all the forces which they could command. And one shall certainly come - There is a change here in the Hebrew from the plural to the singular number, as is indicated in our translation by the insertion of the word “one.” The fact was, that the war was prosecuted by Antiochus the Great alone. Seleucus died in the third year of his reign, in Phrygia; being slain, according to one report (Jerome), through the treachery of Nicanor and Apaturius, or, according to another, was poisoned. See Prideaux, iii. 137. Antiochus succeeded to the empire, and prosecuted the war. This was done for the purpose of recovering Syria from the dominion of Ptolemy of Egypt, and was conducted with various degrees of success, until the whole was brought under the control of Antiochus. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And his sons [i.e., the sons] of the king of the north will agitate.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבָנָ֣יו | uvnov | and sons his | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִתְגָּר֗וּ | yitgaru | they will wage war | H1624 → | 14 times |
| וְאָסְפוּ֙ | veasefu | and they will gather | H622 → | |
| הֲמוֹן֙ | hamon | a multitude of | H1995 → | 83 times |
| חֲיָלִ֣ים | chayalim | armies | H2428 → | 246 times |
| רַבִּ֔ים | rabim | great | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וּבָ֥א | uva' | and it will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| ב֖וֹא | vo' | certainly <go> | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וְשָׁטַ֣ף | veshataf | and it will overflow | H7857 → | 31 times |
| וְעָבָ֑ר | veavar | and it will pass over | H5674 → | 556 times |
| וְיָשֹׁ֥ב | veyasho | and it will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וְיִתְגָּרֶ֖ה | veyitgaru | so it may wage war | H1624 → | 14 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| מָעֻזּֽוֹ׃ | mauzo | stronghold his | H4581 → | 36 times |
וּבָנָ֣יוand sons his
uvnovH1121 →4930 times
יִתְגָּר֗וּthey will wage war
yitgaruH1624 →14 times
וְאָסְפוּ֙and they will gather
veasefuH622 →
הֲמוֹן֙a multitude of
hamonH1995 →83 times
חֲיָלִ֣יםarmies
chayalimH2428 →246 times
רַבִּ֔יםgreat
rabimH7227 →454 times
וּבָ֥אand it will go
uva'H935 →2568 times
ב֖וֹאcertainly <go>
vo'H935 →2568 times
וְשָׁטַ֣ףand it will overflow
veshatafH7857 →31 times
וְעָבָ֑רand it will pass over
veavarH5674 →556 times
וְיָשֹׁ֥בand it will return
veyashoH7725 →1056 times
וְיִתְגָּרֶ֖הso it may wage war
veyitgaruH1624 →14 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
מָעֻזּֽוֹ׃stronghold his
mauzoH4581 →36 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Daniel 9:26Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end…
it leads to
- Isaiah 53:8
By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.
- Nahum 1:8
But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh and pursue His enemies into darkness.
- Luke 24:26
Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”
- Mark 13:2
“Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
- 1 Peter 2:24
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- Isaiah 53:8
Through
Jeremiah 51:42The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves.
it leads to
- Isaiah 8:7–8
the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
- Daniel 9:26
Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end…
- Isaiah 8:7–8
Through
Daniel 11:26Those who eat from his provisions will seek to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.
it leads to
- John 13:18
I am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture: ‘The one who shares My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’
- John 13:18
Where this verse is studied
About Daniel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Daniel; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER ELEVEN; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.