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Daniel 11

BLIVRE · Chapter 11/12

1E eu, no primeiro ano de Dario o medo, estive para confortá-lo e fortalecê-lo.

2E agora eu te declararei a verdade. Eis que ainda haverá três reis na Pérsia, e o quarto acumulará mais riquezas que todos; e fortificando-se com suas riquezas, despertará a todos contra o reino da Grécia.

3Depois se levantará um rei poderoso, que reinará com grande domínio, e fará conforme sua vontade.

4Mas quando ele estiver erguido, seu reino será quebrantado, e repartido nos quatro ventos do céu; porém não a seus descendentes, nem conforme seu domínio com que ele reinou; porque seu reino será arrancado, e será para outros fora destes.

5E o rei do sul se fortalecerá; mas um de seus príncipes se fortalecerá mais que ele, e reinará; e seus domínio será um grande domínio.

6Mas ao fim de [alguns] anos eles se aliarão, e a filha do rei do sul virá ao rei do norte para fazer os acordos. Porém ela não poderá reter a força de seu poder; por isso nem ele, nem seu poder persistirá; porque ela será entregue, e os que a tiverem trazido, e seu pai, e ao que a fortalecia naqueles tempos.

7Mas do renovo de suas raízes um se levantará em seu lugar; e virá com exército, e entrará na fortaleza do rei do norte, e agirá contra eles, e prevalecerá.

8E até seus deuses com seus príncipes, com seus vasos preciosos de prata e de ouro, levará cativos ao Egito; e por [alguns] anos ele deixará de atacar o rei do norte;

9O qual virá ao reino o rei do sul, e voltará para sua terra.

10Porém os filhos dele se agitarão [para a guerra] ,e ajuntarão uma multidão de grandes exércitos; e certamente avançará, inundará, e passará; e quando voltar, se agitará [em guerra] até sua fortaleza.

11Então o rei do sul se enfurecerá, e sairá, e lutará contra ele, o rei do norte; e mobiliza uma grande multidão, porém toda aquela multidão será entregue em sua mão.

12Quando for perdida aquele multidão, seu coração se exaltará; e ainda que derrube muitos milhares; contudo não prevalecerá.

13E o rei do norte voltará, e porá em campo uma multidão maior que a primeira, e a fim do tempo de [alguns] anos avançará com grande exército e com muitos suprimentos.

14E naqueles tempos muitos se levantarão contra o rei do sul; e filhos dos violentos de teu povo se levantarão para confirmar a visão, e cairão.

15Então o rei do norte virá, e levantará cerco, e tomará a cidade forte; e os poderes do sul não poderão subsistir, nem os melhores de seu povo, nem haverá força que possa subsistir.

16E o que virá contra ele fará sua própria vontade, e não haverá quem possa subsistir diante dele; ele estará na terra gloriosa, e o poder de destruir estará em sua mão.

17Ele decidirá vir com o poder de todo seu reino; e os corretos com ele, e [assim] fará; e lhe dará uma filha de mulheres para destruir [o reino] ; mas ela não terá sucesso, nem será para proveito dele.

18Depois virará seu rosto para as terras costeiras, e tomará muitas; mas um príncipe fará cessar sua humilhação por ele, e ainda fará tornar sobre ele sua humilhação.

19Então virará seu rosto para as fortalezas de sua terra; mas tropeçará e cairá, e não será mais achado.

20E em seu lugar se levantará um que fará passar um cobrador de impostos para glória real; mas em poucos dias será quebrantado, não por causa de ira nem de batalha.

21Depois se levantará em seu lugar um ser desprezível, ao qual não darão a honra real; mas virá durante a quietude, e tomará o reino por meio de enganos.

22E exércitos em grande volume serão repelidos diante dele, e serão quebrantados; assim como também o príncipe do pacto.

23E depois de fizerem acordos com ele, ele usará engano, e subirá; será fortalecido [mesmo] com pouca gente.

24Quando houver tranquilidade nas mais prósperas [regiões] da província, ele virá e fará o que nunca fizeram seus pais, nem os pais de seus pais; ele repartirá presa, despojos, e riquezas entre os seus; e voltará seus pensamentos contra as fortalezas; porém [somente] por um tempo.

25E despertará sua forças e sua coragem contra o rei do sul, com grande exército; e o rei do sul se agitará para a guerra com grande e muito poderoso exército; mas não prevalecerá, porque tramarão planos contra ele.

26Até os que comerem de sua comida o destruirão; e seu exército será repelido, e muitos cairão mortos.

27E o coração destes dois reis será para fazer mal, e em uma mesma mesa falarão mentiras; mas isto não terá sucesso, pois ainda [haverá] o fim no tempo determinado.

28E voltará para sua terra com grande riqueza, e seu coração será contra o pacto santo; e ele fará [o que decidir] , e voltará a sua terra.

29A certo tempo voltará a vir ao sul; mas a última [vinda] não será como a primeira.

30Porque navios de Quitim virão contra ele, de modo que ele se entristecerá, voltará, e se indignará contra o pacto santo, e ele fará [o que decidir] ; pois quando voltar, ele dará atenção aos que tiverem abandonado o pacto santo.

31E tropas virão da parte dele, e profanarão o santuário e a fortaleza; tirarão o contínuo [sacrifício] , e porão uma abominação assoladora.

32E com lisonjas ele perverterá aos violadores do pacto; mas o povo que conhece a seu Deus com força resistirá.

33E os entendidos do povo ensinarão a muitos; porém cairão à espada e a fogo, por meio de cativeiro e de despojo, por [muitos] dias.

34E quando eles caírem, serão ajudados por um pequeno socorro; contudo muitos se aliarão a eles através de enganos.

35E alguns dos sábios cairão para serem refinados, purificados e limpos, até o tempo do fim; porque [isto] ainda será para o tempo determinado.

36E o rei fará a sua vontade; e se exaltará, e se engrandecerá sobre todo deus; ele falará coisas arrogantes contra o Deus dos deuses, e será próspero, até que a ira se complete; pois o que está determinado será feito.

37Ele não respeitará os deuses de seus pais, nem para o preferido das mulheres; nem respeitará deus algum, pois se engrandecerá sobre todos.

38Mas em seu lugar honrará ao deus das fortalezas, um deus que seus pais nem sequer conheceram; ele o horará com ouro, prata, pedras preciosas, e com coisas de grande valor.

39E ele atacará fortes fortalezas com o deus estrangeiro; aos que o reconhecerem, ele aumentará a honra; e ele os fará terem domínio sobre muitos, e repartirá a terra por preço.

40E no tempo do fim o rei do sul lutará contra ele; e o rei do norte levantará como tempestade contra ele, com carruagens, cavaleiros, e muitos navios; e entrará pelas terras, arruinará como se fosse inundação, e passará.

41E virá à terra gloriosa, e muitos [povos] cairão; mas estes escaparão de sua mão: Edom, Moabe, e os líderes dos filhos de Amom.

42E estenderá sua mão a [outras] terras, e a terra do Egito não escapará.

43E se apoderará dos tesouros de ouro e prata, e de todas as coisas valiosas do Egito, os líbios e os cuxitas o seguirão.

44Porém notícias do oriente e do norte o espantarão; e ele sairá com grande furor para destruir e matar muitos.

45E armará a tendas de seu palácio entre os mares, no glorioso monte santo; mas ele virá a seu fim, e não haverá quem o ajude.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The angel reveals to Daniel an extremely detailed prophecy about future wars between kings of the north and of the south, spanning centuries of conflict between the empires that would succeed Greece, culminating in an arrogant king who will exalt himself above every god.

Explanation

This is the longest and most meticulously detailed prophecy in the entire Bible about specific political events, and scholars identify with remarkable historical precision the 'kings of the north' (the Seleucid dynasty, based in Syria) and the 'kings of the south' (the Ptolemaic dynasty, based in Egypt), both successors of the fragmented empire of Alexander the Great. A large part of the chapter (v.1-35) corresponds with striking exactness to documented historical events between the 4th and 2nd centuries B.C., including the violent reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the same tyrant already mentioned in chapter 8. From verse 36 onward, many scholars see a transition to an even more distant figure in time, a final ruler of extreme arrogance, associated by later Christian interpreters with events still future related to the end of the age.

Fun facts

  • The impressive historical precision of this prophecy, verifiable in detail through ancient Greek and Roman historians, has led even skeptical critics of the Bible to acknowledge this section as one of the most remarkable prophetic texts ever written, regardless of its origin.
  • The 'covenant with many' and the wars between the kingdoms of the north and south mentioned here reflect, with surprising detail, the so-called Syrian Wars, a series of real conflicts between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires spanning more than a hundred years.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Daniel 11:1The angel who has been speaking with Daniel since chapter 10 reveals here that he himself had already been acting behind the scenes during the reign of Darius the Mede — showing that these heavenly figures had been interfering in earthly politics for longer than Daniel imagined.
  2. Daniel 11:2The kings of Persia followed by “a mighty king” whose kingdom is divided into four parts are, in the most widely accepted historical reading, a reference to Alexander the Great and the division of his empire among his generals after his death — the text names no one, presenting it all as prophecy.
  3. Daniel 11:3The traditional reading identifies this “mighty king” with Alexander the Great, whose lightning conquest of the Persian empire is described here in a single sentence, without going into details of specific battles.
  4. Daniel 11:4The division of the empire “toward the four winds of heaven,” without passing to the king’s own sons, portrays the real fragmentation of Alexander’s empire among rival generals after his early death.
  5. Daniel 11:5The alliance sealed by a royal marriage that later fails is one example of how the chapter describes, in surprising detail, the conflicts between the Hellenistic kingdoms of the south, Egypt, and the north, Syria, that succeeded Alexander — historians identify a good portion of these verses with specific events from these dynasties.
  6. Daniel 11:6This political marriage between the dynasties of the south and the north, which ends in failure, is an example of the kind of fragile marriage alliance already announced more generically in chapter 2, about the iron that does not mix with the clay.
  7. Daniel 11:7“A branch of her roots” indicates a close relative of the princess from the previous verse taking the throne to avenge her death — tree-and-root language appears several times in the book to describe dynastic lines.
  8. Daniel 11:8Carrying off as plunder both treasures and the very images of the rival kingdom’s gods was an ancient form of symbolic humiliation, suggesting that even the enemy’s religion had been defeated along with its army.
  9. Daniel 11:9The campaign ends in a withdrawal, not a permanent conquest — a back-and-forth pattern between the two kingdoms that repeats several times throughout the chapter.
  10. Daniel 11:10The next generation takes up the conflict with even greater military force, showing that the rivalry between the two kingdoms was hereditary, passed from father to son along with the throne itself.
  11. Daniel 11:11Even though the king of the north gathers a larger army, it is the king of the south who wins this particular confrontation — the chapter shows the advantage swinging from one side to the other over decades of war.
  12. Daniel 11:12The victory brings no lasting advantage: the text already signals that the pride that follows this conquest will not translate into consolidated power over the long term.
  13. Daniel 11:13The cycle of war begins again, now with an even larger army — the structural repetition of these verses conveys the weariness of a conflict that seems to have no definitive end.
  14. Daniel 11:14“The robbers of thy people” suggests that some Jews also became politically involved in these conflicts between neighboring empires, trying to take advantage of the instability, without success according to the text.
  15. Daniel 11:15“The most fenced cities” here is usually linked by scholars to Sidon, an important coastal city fought over between the two empires during these wars.
  16. Daniel 11:16“The glorious land” is an expression that appears again later in the chapter, referring to the land of Israel — it shows that the conflict between the two great rival empires ends up passing through, and affecting, the Jewish territory caught in the middle.
  17. Daniel 11:17The plan to use a marriage to weaken the rival kingdom from within fails, echoing the same failure of the marriage alliance already described in verse 6, earlier in the chapter.
  18. Daniel 11:18“The isles” in biblical language usually points to territories of the Mediterranean, generally the Greek region — the traditional reading links this passage to the clash between Hellenistic power and the rise of Rome in the region.
  19. Daniel 11:19This king’s sudden, anonymous end, with no battle or detailed cause, contrasts with the wealth of military detail found in the rest of the chapter — his downfall is dispatched in a single short sentence.
  20. Daniel 11:20A successor remembered only as “a raiser of taxes,” whose death comes neither from war nor from fury, is portrayed as a minor figure among the great personalities of this chapter — a reign that almost passes by unnoticed.
  21. Daniel 11:21“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” is widely linked by readers and historians to a 2nd-century BC Seleucid ruler known for persecuting Jewish worship — but this identification is a traditional reading, not something the text states explicitly by name.
  22. Daniel 11:22“The prince of the covenant” probably refers to a religious authority tied to the Jerusalem temple, suggesting that this ruler interfered directly in internal Jewish affairs, not only in foreign wars.
  23. Daniel 11:23Rising to power “with a small people” describes someone who climbs through political cunning and alliances, not through brute military force — the profile of a manipulative ruler more than a direct conqueror.
  24. Daniel 11:24Distributing wealth generously and unexpectedly was a common tactic among Hellenistic rulers for buying quick political loyalty, without needing a prolonged military conquest.
  25. Daniel 11:25Mentioning that secret plans (“devices”) are the real cause of the defeat, more than military strength itself, suggests that internal betrayal weighed as heavily as the direct clash on the battlefield.
  26. Daniel 11:26Being betrayed by “they that feed of the portion of his meat,” people close to his own table, is an image of intimate betrayal similar to the one used in other biblical texts, such as Psalm 41:9.
  27. Daniel 11:27Sitting at the same table while lying to one another describes a diplomacy of appearances, common among rival rulers who pretend to negotiate in good faith only to buy time or gain an advantage.
  28. Daniel 11:28This is the first direct mention of hostility against “the holy covenant,” signaling the chapter’s turn from wars between foreign empires to a persecution that directly affects the Jewish faith.
  29. Daniel 11:29Saying that this second campaign “shall not be as the former” already warns the reader that the outcome will be different, and worse, setting up the humiliation described in the next verse.
  30. Daniel 11:30“The ships of Chittim” is generally understood as a reference to Rome stepping in to stop this king’s advance — historically linked to an episode in which Roman officials forced a ruler to withdraw from Egypt without a fight.
  31. Daniel 11:31“The abomination that maketh desolate,” which cuts off the daily sacrifice, repeats a phrase already used in chapter 8 — this specific expression for the desecration of the sanctuary became a recurring marker in Jewish apocalyptic literature and, later, in other texts that pick it up.
  32. Daniel 11:32The contrast between those who let themselves be corrupted by “flatteries” and those who resist firmly is the central point of this passage’s practical message: faithfulness here does not depend on political power, but on personal conviction.
  33. Daniel 11:33Describing religious persecution with this level of concrete detail, sword, flame, captivity, is unusual among Daniel’s more symbolic visions, bringing this passage close to an almost direct historical account.
  34. Daniel 11:34“A little help” suggests an insufficient or dubiously motivated aid arriving during the persecution — the text does not praise this support, it simply records that it existed, without fanfare.
  35. Daniel 11:35Saying that the suffering serves “to purge, and to make them white” treats the persecution as a process of spiritual refining, not just a senseless tragedy — an idea similar to the image of silver purified by fire found in other texts.
  36. Daniel 11:36This king who exalts himself “above every god” is one of the most debated points in the chapter: historical readings link the figure to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, while others read it as a portrait of any power that sets itself in God’s place.
  37. Daniel 11:37Not regarding “the desire of women” is a phrase whose meaning is debated — it may point to a rejection of popular religious practices tied to fertility goddesses, rather than a statement about the king’s personal life.
  38. Daniel 11:38Replacing the traditional gods with “the God of forces” suggests the militarization of this ruler’s own religion — a cult of military power itself, more than of any specific traditional deity.
  39. Daniel 11:39Rewarding followers with land and positions, instead of distributing them by lineage or traditional merit, describes a power structure based on personal loyalty to the ruler, typical of regimes that depend on bought support.
  40. Daniel 11:40The end of the chapter is one of the most discussed points among those who study the book: some readers understand the narrative as continuing to describe the same sequence of historical kings from earlier in the chapter, while others see here a shift to a more symbolic, future figure or period — the text itself does not settle the question, and it is honest to acknowledge that the disagreement exists.
  41. Daniel 11:41Mentioning Edom, Moab, and Ammon escaping is a curious note: these neighboring peoples of Israel, historic rivals, appear here spared for reasons the text does not explain.
  42. Daniel 11:42After so many cycles of advance and retreat throughout the chapter, this is the first time Egypt is described as completely subjugated, unable to resist.
  43. Daniel 11:43The mention of the Libyans and Ethiopians as followers shows the wide geographic reach this power would have attained, well beyond the original core of conflict between north and south.
  44. Daniel 11:44This outburst of fury triggered by news coming from other directions interrupts the linear sequence of earlier conquests, suggesting a reaction of panic or desperation, not a calmly planned campaign.
  45. Daniel 11:45The chapter ends abruptly, with no final battle and no enemy named — only the information that “none shall help him,” an ending that many scholars point out does not precisely correspond to any known historical event.

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