Daniel 11:2-35

Daniel 11:2-35

[2] And now will I shew  thee the truth.  Behold, there shall stand up  yet three  kings  in Persia;  and the fourth  shall be far  richer  than they all:  and by his strength  through his riches  he shall stir up  all against the realm  of Grecia.  [3] And a mighty  king  shall stand up,  that shall rule  with great  dominion,  and do  according to his will.  [4] And when he shall stand up,  his kingdom  shall be broken,  and shall be divided  toward the four  winds  of heaven;  and not to his posterity,  nor according to his dominion  which he ruled:  for his kingdom  shall be plucked up,  even for others  [5] And the king  of the south  shall be strong,  and one of his princes;  and he shall be strong  above him, and have dominion;  his dominion  shall be a great  dominion.  [6] And in the end  of years  they shall join themselves together;  for the king's  daughter  of the south  shall come  to the king  of the north  to make  an agreement:  but she shall not retain  the power  of the arm;  neither shall he stand,  nor his arm:  but she shall be given up,  and they that brought  her, and he that begat  her, and he that strengthened  her in these times.  [7] But out of a branch  of her roots  shall one stand up  in his estate,  which shall come  with an army,  and shall enter  into the fortress  of the king  of the north,  and shall deal  against them, and shall prevail:  [8] And shall also carry  captives  into Egypt  their gods,  with their princes,  and with their precious  vessels  of silver  and of gold;  and he shall continue  more years  than the king  of the north.  [9] So the king  of the south  shall come  into his kingdom,  and shall return  into his own land.  [10] But his sons  shall be stirred up,  and shall assemble  a multitude  of great  forces:  and one shall certainly  and overflow,  and pass through:  then shall he return,  and be stirred up,  even to his fortress.  [11] And the king  of the south  shall be moved with choler,  and shall come forth  and fight  with him, even with the king  of the north:  and he shall set forth  a great  multitude;  shall be given  into his hand.  [12] And when he hath taken away  the multitude,  his heart  shall be lifted up;  and he shall cast down  many ten thousands:  but he shall not be strengthened  by it. [13] For the king  of the north  shall return,  and shall set forth  a multitude  greater  than the former,  and shall certainly  after  certain  years  with a great  army  and with much  riches.  [14] And in those times  there shall many  stand up  against the king  of the south:  also the robbers  of thy people  shall exalt  themselves to establish  the vision;  but they shall fall.  [15] So the king  of the north  shall come,  and cast up  a mount,  and take  the most fenced  cities:  and the arms  of the south  shall not withstand,  neither his chosen  people,  neither shall there be any strength  to withstand.  [16] But he that cometh  against him shall do  according to his own will,  and none shall stand  before  him: and he shall stand  in the glorious  land,  which by his hand  [17] He shall also set  his face  to enter  with the strength  of his whole kingdom,  and upright ones  with him; thus shall he do:  and he shall give  him the daughter  of women,  corrupting  her: but she shall not stand  on his side, neither be for him. [18] his face  unto the isles,  and shall take  many:  but a prince  for his own behalf shall cause the reproach  offered by him to cease;  without  his own reproach  he shall cause it to turn  upon him. [19] Then he shall turn  his face  toward the fort  of his own land:  but he shall stumble  and fall,  and not be found.  [20] Then shall stand up  in his estate  a raiser  of taxes  in the glory  of the kingdom:  but within few  days  he shall be destroyed,  neither in anger,  nor in battle.  [21] And in his estate  shall stand up  a vile person,  to whom they shall not give  the honour  of the kingdom:  but he shall come  in peaceably,  and obtain  the kingdom  by flatteries.  [22] And with the arms  of a flood  shall they be overflown  from before  him, and shall be broken;  yea, also the prince  of the covenant.  [23] And after the league  made with him he shall work  deceitfully:  for he shall come up,  and shall become strong  with a small  people.  [24] He shall enter  peaceably  even upon the fattest places  of the province;  and he shall do  that which his fathers  have not done,  nor his fathers'  he shall scatter  among them the prey,  and spoil,  and riches:  yea, and he shall forecast  his devices  against the strong holds,  even for a time.  [25] And 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 be stirred up  to battle  with a very  great  and mighty  army;  but he shall not stand:  for they shall forecast  devices  [26] Yea, they that feed  of the portion of his meat  shall destroy  him, and his army  shall overflow:  and many  shall fall  down slain.  [27] And both  these kings'  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.  [28] Then shall he return  into his land  with great  riches;  and his heart  shall be against the holy  covenant;  and he shall do  exploits, and return  to his own land.  [29] At the time appointed  he shall return,  and come  toward the south;  but it shall not be as the former,  or as the latter.  [30] For the ships  of Chittim  shall come  against him: therefore he shall be grieved,  and return,  and have indignation  against the holy  covenant:  so shall he do;  he shall even return,  and have intelligence  with them that forsake  the holy  covenant.  [31] And arms  shall stand  on his part, and they shall pollute  the sanctuary  of strength,  and shall take away  the daily  sacrifice, and they shall place  the abomination  that maketh desolate.  [32] And such as do wickedly  against the covenant  shall he corrupt  by flatteries:  but the people  that do know  their God  shall be strong,  and do  [33] And they that understand  among the people  shall instruct  many:  yet they shall fall  by the sword,  and by flame,  by captivity,  and by spoil,  many days.  [34] Now when they shall fall,  they shall be holpen  with a little  help:  but many  shall cleave  to them with flatteries.  [35] And some of them of understanding  shall fall,  to try  them, and to purge,  and to make them white,  even to the time  of the end:  because it is yet for a time appointed. 

What does Daniel 11:2-35 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The interpreting angel now explained the long anticipated (since Daniel 10:1) revelation about the future that involved Daniel"s people, the Jews. The first part of it concerns events preceding Messiah"s first advent ( Daniel 11:2-35), and the second part, events preceding Messiah"s second advent ( Daniel 11:36 to Daniel 12:4). [1]
Four future Persian kings11:2
This revelation begins at the same place as the vision of the ram and the goat in chapter8. It begins with the second kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar"s image (ch2) and with the second of the four beasts (ch7), namely, Medo-Persia.
Daniel learned that three more Persian kings would arise after Darius (Cyrus, cf. Daniel 10:1). Historically, these proved to be Cambyses, Pseudo-Smerdis (also known as Gaumata and Bardiya), and Darius I. The fourth Persian king to appear did become stronger than his predecessors, and he attacked Greece-just as predicted. He was Xerxes I (Ahasuerus). Some conservative scholars do not count Pseudo-Smerdis, but identify the third king as Xerxes, and the fourth as Artaxerxes I (465-424 , Ezra 7:11-26). However, Artaxerxes did not contend with Greece as Xerxes did. Xerxes attacked Greece in480 B.C. with a huge army, but he suffered defeat and never recovered. This battle probably happened between chapters1,2of Esther. [2]
"After his [3] great army (estimated by Herodotus at a million men) had subdued virtually all of Greece down to the Isthmus of Corinth and the city of Athens had been reduced to ashes, Xerxes" navy was thoroughly worsted by the united Greek fleet at the Battle of Salamis in480 B.C. This unexpected setback prompted him to beat a hasty retreat to Asia. The one-hundred-thousand-man land army he left behind under the command of Mardonius was completely crushed in the following year by the allied forces of the Greeks at the battle of Plataea." [4]