Daniel 11

An angel tells Daniel what will happen to the nations after Persia, in great detail. The story follows the wars between the kings of the South and the North, and the suffering of God’s people in the land caught between them. It rises to a cruel ruler who attacks the faithful, and it closes with the promise that the faithful will endure and that every proud ruler meets his end under God’s appointed time.

Daniel 11:1

The angel speaking says he stood by Darius the Mede to strengthen and protect him. Behind the changes of empires, heavenly servants of God are at work. The chapter begins by reminding us that God’s purposes are being carried out, even when history looks like human ambition alone.

BSA: strengthen (“to make firm, to encourage”): The angel’s help made Darius steady, not just protected, so God’s plan could move forward.

See also: Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:21.

Daniel 11:2

After this, the Persian Empire will have a few more kings. The fourth will be extremely wealthy and will use that wealth to rouse his people against Greece. The angel promises to speak truth, so Daniel can trust what follows. Persia’s long-running conflict with Greece is where the story begins.

BSA: truth (“faithfulness, stability”): The word carries the sense of something dependable that will stand, so Daniel can rest on it.

Hebrew: אֱמֶת (emet, H571) — “truth, reliability.” The Hebrew word means more than correct facts. It means what is firm and can be leaned on, and that is how God’s word proves to be.

Daniel 11:3-4

A mighty king will arise and do whatever he wants, but at the height of his power his kingdom will be broken apart and given out in four directions, not to his own sons. Many readers see here the swift rise of Alexander the Great and the division of his empire. Human power is brief.

BSA: broken up (“shattered, torn apart”): The empire does not fade quietly. It is violently split apart, showing how fragile even great power is.

Hebrew: כִרְצוֹנוֹ (chirtsono, H7522) — “according to his own will.” This phrase describes a ruler answerable to no one. Daniel uses it of proud kings, to show that their will is real but limited, because God’s will stands above it.

See also: Daniel 8:8.

Daniel 11:5

The story now centers on two of the divided kingdoms: the king of the South (Egypt’s Ptolemies) and a commander who becomes stronger and rules a kingdom in the north (the Seleucids). The land of Israel lies between them and is pulled back and forth.

BSA: commanders (“princes, captains”): The rival is a former officer of the southern king, which hints at the rivalries within these kingdoms.

Daniel 11:6

After some years the two kingdoms try to make peace by a royal marriage. The plan fails. The princess, her escort, her child’s supporters and her father are all lost. The verse shows that political schemes and arranged alliances cannot give lasting peace.

BSA: agreement (“an upright thing, a peace treaty”): The word means a settlement that appears fair, which makes its collapse more tragic.

Hebrew: מֵישָׁרִים (meisharim, H4339) — “straight, level things; an agreement.” The word literally speaks of what is straight or upright, so the treaty is called a fair arrangement, even though it ends in betrayal.

Daniel 11:7-9

A relative of the dead princess takes the throne of the South, invades the North, and carries off gods and treasures to Egypt. Then the North strikes back and returns home. The back-and-forth war shows that victories keep turning into defeats.

BSA: gods (“idols, false deities”): The idols are treated as plunder, taken away like any other treasure, so they prove powerless to protect those who trust them.

Daniel 11:10

The sons of the northern king raise a huge army that sweeps forward like a flood and pushes the war back to the southern king’s stronghold. The picture of a flood is a familiar biblical image of invading armies that no one can stop.

See also: Isaiah 8:7-8.

Daniel 11:11-12

The southern king, furious, marches out and wins a great battle. His victory makes him proud, and he cuts down thousands. But it does not last. Pride grows with success, yet the story shows that winning battles does not mean lasting triumph.

BSA: proud (“exalted, lifted up”): His heart is puffed up. The victory makes him arrogant, and arrogance comes before his next fall.

Daniel 11:13

The northern king returns years later with a bigger army and plenty of supplies. He has learned from the defeat and prepares carefully. The cycle of war keeps repeating, and neither side finds peace.

BSA: supplies (“riches, possessions”): The word shows that his strength is not just soldiers but the wealth needed to sustain a long war.

Daniel 11:14

Many rise against the king of the South. Some violent men from Daniel’s own people also try to take part, hoping to bring about the vision themselves. They fail. God’s promises are not fulfilled by rebellion or by force of human hands.

BSA: Violent ones (“robbers, destroyers”): These are not noble reformers but men of violence, who use God’s promises as an excuse for rebellion.

Hebrew: פָּרִיצֵי (pritsei, H6530) — “breakers, violent men.” The word comes from breaking through, and it describes men who burst past all limits. They try to force God’s plan, but it falls apart in their hands.

Daniel 11:15-16

The northern king builds a siege ramp, takes a fortified city, and no army of the South can stand against him. He then settles in the Beautiful Land, which means Israel, with destruction in his hand. God’s people now live under a foreign power again.

BSA: Beautiful Land (“the glorious land, a land of splendor”): Israel is called glorious because it is God’s chosen land, and that makes the invader’s presence there more painful.

Hebrew: אֶרֶץ הַצְּבִי (eretz hatzvi, H776) — “land of beauty, glory.” The word is linked with the gazelle, a creature of grace and beauty. It shows how precious the land is in God’s eyes, even when it is trampled.

Daniel 11:17

The northern king tries a new strategy: he offers his daughter in marriage to the king of the South, hoping to take over his kingdom from inside. But the plan does not work or help him. Schemes built on deceit often turn out useless.

BSA: plan (“scheme, intention”): His careful scheme looks clever, yet it will not stand, since it is not established by God.

Daniel 11:18-19

The king turns his attention to the coastlands and conquers many. Then a commander ends his insults and turns them back on him. He retreats to his own fortresses, stumbles, and is gone. Many readers see here the first clash with a rising western power, Rome.

BSA: stumble (“trip, lose balance”): The great conqueror does not fall in a grand battle but simply trips, which shows how quickly power collapses.

Daniel 11:20

His successor sends out a tax collector to raise money for the glory of the kingdom, but he is soon destroyed within a few days, not in anger or battle. He is a short, unremarkable reign, a reminder that God ends every earthly rule when He chooses.

BSA: tax collector (“exactor, one who raises taxes”): The kingdom’s glory is built on taking money from people, and this ruler’s reign is known for that burden.

Daniel 11:21

Next comes a despicable man who has no right to the throne. He arrives quietly during a time of peace and takes the kingdom through smooth words and trickery. Most Christians see here Antiochus IV, called Epiphanes, who became a bitter enemy of the Jews.

BSA: intrigue (“flatteries, smooth words, deception”): He wins not by strength but by charm and false promises, which is how many tyrants begin.

Hebrew: נִבְזֶה (nivzeh, H959) — “despised, contemptible.” The word describes someone treated as worthless. The ruler acts mighty, but God’s word calls him contemptible.

See also: Daniel 8:23-25.

Daniel 11:22-23

Armies are swept away like a flood before this ruler, and even a prince of the covenant is destroyed. He makes treaties, then breaks them by deceit, and gains power with only a small following. The prince of the covenant is often understood as the high priest of the time.

BSA: alliance (“a treaty, a covenant”): The same word as covenant is used, and he treats even solemn agreements as tools for deceit.

Hebrew: נְגִיד בְּרִית (nagid berit, H5057) — “leader of the covenant.” The words point to someone who leads God’s covenant people. The tyrant strikes at the very center of the people’s faith.

Daniel 11:24

In a time of peace he enters rich provinces and does what no ancestor did, giving plunder to his followers to buy loyalty. He also plots against strongholds, but only for a time. God sets a limit on every oppressor, and this phrase shows that this one has a limit too.

BSA: plunder (“spoils, booty”): He uses stolen wealth to buy loyalty, which is how tyrants hold their followers.

Daniel 11:25-26

He stirs up a large army against the king of the South, who also gathers a mighty force but cannot stand against the plots made against him. Even those who eat at his table betray him. The ruler’s own court is where his ruin comes from.

BSA: provisions (“choice food, delicacies”): Those who feast at the king’s table are the ones who turn on him, a picture of false friends.

Daniel 11:27

The two kings sit at one table, both planning evil, both lying, and neither succeeds. Their schemes are useless because the end still comes at God’s appointed time. Their plotting cannot rearrange what God has set.

BSA: appointed (“set, designated”): God has fixed the moment, and no scheme of kings can move it earlier or later.

Daniel 11:28

The northern king goes home with great wealth, but his heart is set against the holy covenant, meaning God’s people and their faith. He does damage on the way. The writer shows that his real enmity is aimed at God’s people, not just at rival kings.

BSA: holy (“set-apart, sacred”): The covenant is set apart for God, so an attack on it is an attack on Him.

Daniel 11:29-30

He invades the South again, but this time it fails. Ships from Kittim, usually understood as the west and the Romans, come against him and he loses heart. Frustrated, he turns his rage on the holy covenant and favors those Jews who abandon it.

BSA: forsake (“abandon, relinquish”): Some within God’s people give up their faith and side with the tyrant, which makes the danger come from inside as well.

Hebrew: כִּתִּים (kittim, H3794) — “Cyprus and the western lands.” The name first meant the people of Cyprus. It came to stand for powers across the sea to the west, so here it points to a fleet from far away that the king cannot resist.

Daniel 11:31

His forces desecrate the temple, stop the daily sacrifice, and set up the abomination of desolation. In the second century before Christ, this happened under Antiochus. Jesus later spoke of this same phrase as pointing again to a future event. It shows what happens when worship is replaced by idolatry.

BSA: abomination (“something disgusting, idolatry”): The phrase means a detestable idol-related object that makes God’s house unfit for worship.

See also: Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15.

Daniel 11:32

He uses flattery to lead astray those already weak in the covenant, but the people who truly know their God stand firm and resist. Knowing God is the difference. Faith that rests on a personal knowledge of Him does not bend under pressure.

BSA: know (“are intimately acquainted with, understand”): The knowledge is personal and close, built by living with God, not just by facts about Him.

Hebrew: יֹדְעֵי (yodei, H3045) — “those who know.” The Hebrew verb for know often means close, personal acquaintance. These people are strong because they have a living relationship with God.

Daniel 11:33-34

Those with insight teach many, yet some of them fall by sword, fire, capture and plunder. When they fall they get only a little help, and many who join them are insincere. Faithful teachers can suffer greatly, and not every follower is genuine.

BSA: insight (“having spiritual understanding, wise leaders”): These are spiritually wise people who guide others in a time of crisis.

Hebrew: מַשְׂכִּילֵי (maskilei, H7919) — “those who act wisely, the discerning.” The word describes people with understanding that shows in action. They teach others to hold on when pressure is greatest.

See also: Daniel 12:3.

Daniel 11:35

Some of the wise will fall, but their suffering has a purpose: to refine, purify and make them spotless until the time of the end, which still comes at God’s appointed time. Hardship in God’s hands cleans and strengthens His people.

BSA: refined (“tried”): The word suggests testing as metal is tested in fire, to show what is genuine. spotless (“whitened, purified”): Trials leave the faithful cleaner, as though their garments were made white.

See also: Malachi 3:3; 1 Peter 1:7.

Daniel 11:36

The king now does whatever he wants, exalts himself above every god, and speaks monstrous things against the God of gods. He prospers only until God’s time of wrath is completed. Some Christians see Antiochus here, and others see a future figure beyond him. Either way, his success has a set limit.

BSA: monstrous (“marvelous, wonderful”): The word usually means astonishing things, and here his boasts are shockingly arrogant.

Hebrew: נִפְלָאוֹת (nifla’ot, H6381) — “astonishing things.” This word is normally used of God’s wonders. Here it is twisted to describe the shocking, blasphemous claims of a proud man.

See also: Daniel 7:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

Daniel 11:37-39

He ignores the gods of his fathers and the one desired by women, and honors instead a god of fortresses, meaning power and force. He rewards his supporters with land and rank. His real god is military strength. Readers differ on who he is, but the picture of self-worship is plain.

BSA: desired (“loved, cherished”): The phrase describes a deity or object held dear by women, which he also casts aside in his pride. fortresses (“security, strongholds”): His devotion is to power and safety, which becomes the thing he worships.

Hebrew: חֶמְדַּת נָשִׁים (chemdat nashim, H2532) — “the desire of women.” The meaning is debated. It may refer to a god women loved, or to a longing among women, and in either case he scorns what others hold dear.

Daniel 11:40

At the time of the end, the king of the South attacks him, and the king of the North storms out with chariots, horsemen and many ships, sweeping through lands like a flood. The scene is a final great war. The chapter’s language now points toward the end of history.

BSA: flood (“overflowing, gushing”): The advance is like rising water, pouring over land after land.

Daniel 11:41-43

He enters the Beautiful Land and many countries fall, though Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon escape. Egypt’s treasures come into his hands, and the Libyans and Cushites follow him. His power seems unstoppable, yet God’s people are again caught in the path of an invader.

BSA: delivered (“escape, saved”): Certain neighbors are spared, which shows that even this conqueror’s reach has limits.

Daniel 11:44-45

News from the east and north alarms him, and he storms out in fury to destroy many. He pitches his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain, yet he comes to his end with no one to help him. Every proud ruler finally stands alone before God.

BSA: help (“assist, aid”): The mighty king ends with nobody at his side, in contrast to God, who helps His people.

See also: Daniel 12:1.