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 engage in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall plan devices against him.
Daniel 11 traces a long feud between two powers that grew out of the Greek empire. Verse 25 drops us into one campaign. A northern king marches south with a huge army. The southern king meets him with an even larger one — and still loses. Why does the stronger army collapse? And why did God write down a war of ancient kings centuries before it was fought?
The titles in this chapter are geographical. North means Syria, south means Egypt, and the ground they keep fighting over is the land of Israel lying between them.
Daniel 11:1-35 is a history of the wars between the king of the north (Syria) and the king of the south (Egypt). Both were branches of the Greek empire, and they often fought in the land of Palestine, which lay between them. The prophecies are so exact that some critics have said someone must have written them after the events. Verses 21 to 35 refer to Antiochus Epiphanes, a type of the king of the north, or Assyrian, of the last days.
The northern king in this campaign is Antiochus Epiphanes. Rome stood over him, and one writer explains how that shaped his moves. He let Egypt arm first, then called his own attack self-defence.
But "even for a time" tells of a check that was coming, and the Romans were the ones who applied it. He was afraid of offending the Romans openly. So he waited until the king of the south gathered a large army against him. Then, claiming self-defence, he gathered huge forces of his own, while he had secretly decided all along to attack first. This is foretold in verse 25. He defeated the king of the south twice and took him prisoner.
The southern king's defeat did not come from a shortage of soldiers. Plots brought him down, and they worked because the men around him were bought.
Once he had taken the glorious land, he would attack the king of the south, who would meet him with a mighty army. Even so, the king of the south would be defeated, because the king of the north would plan schemes against him and corrupt the men who depended on him.
The defeat was arranged before the armies met.
Then, like the kings before him, he set out on a campaign against the king of the south. Treachery in his enemy's court and camp helped him, and he defeated him completely.
Earlier kings in this chapter get a verse or two. This one gets a long paragraph. Writers give a reason for the change of pace: the man is a picture of an enemy still to come.
We now come to a king who is called "a vile person" (v. 21). He has been chosen as the type of the Assyrian, or the king of the north, of the last days. That is why his career is told in such detail, filling the whole paragraph in verses 21-25.
The chapter's reach may not end with ancient history. Some writers see the same alignment of powers at the close of the age.
Egypt will be under the Beast and allied with him, and so a target for attack by the king of the north — Israel's determined political enemy (Dan. 11:25, 29, 42-44).
A verse about troop numbers and secret plots may look like dry reporting. Its weight lies in its date.
Daniel 11 gives us the most extraordinary and detailed prophecy in the whole Word of God. It foretells the reigns of kings, royal marriages, wars, victories, defeats, plots, treaties and assassinations. Remember that, and it stands as striking and unanswerable evidence that God knows the future. For who but God could write down such detailed prophecies, which have come true with one exception? The one exception is still future, and it awaits a fulfilment that will surely come.
- North and south. The two kings are Syria and Egypt, and the land they keep marching through is Israel's.
- Plot. The northern king lets Egypt arm first, then attacks under the cover of self-defence.
- Betrayal. Egypt's larger army fails, not for lack of strength, but because the men closest to the king were bought and plotted against him.
- Pattern. Scripture tells this reign at length because the man pictures the king of the north of the last days.
- Proof. God named the kings, wars, defeats and plots in advance. Only He could. That is proof He knows the future.
And they that eat of his delicate food shall break him, and his army shall be dissolved; and many shall fall down slain.
Daniel 11 traces the long wars between the kings ruling north and south of Israel, and verse 26 shows one of those kings destroyed by the men who ate at his own table. Two questions follow: who are these kings, and why does God record their wars in such detail?
The titles in this part of the chapter are official, not personal. They name a line of rulers, not one man.
One of these kingdoms would lie north of the land of Israel, and the other south of it. In the prophecy that follows, the ruler of the southern kingdom is called the king of the south, or Egypt. The ruler of the northern kingdom is called the king of the north, or Syria. As the prophecy goes on, these titles do not always point to the same person. They are official titles for kings of the same line.
Reading verses 25 to 28 together, the same writer sets out the sequence the verse is part of:
After taking the glorious land for himself, he would attack the king of the south. The king of the south would meet him with a mighty army. Even so, the king of the south would be defeated, because the king of the north would scheme against him and corrupt the men who depended on him.
The striking phrase is that the men living off the king's own provision are the ones who break him. That break came through desertions in the Egyptian army. The invader won the troops over by presenting himself as their rescuer.
At this time Antiochus impressed the Egyptian troops by appearing as their deliverer, so many of them deserted Ptolemy. So verse 26 was fulfilled: "Even those who eat his [Ptolemy's] food shall break him [that is, Ptolemy's power]. His [Antiochus'] army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain."
The older translation this writer used reads "his army shall overflow" — that is, Antiochus' army swept over Egypt, rather than being destroyed itself.
The defeat came from inside as much as from the battlefield:
Then, like the rulers before him, he set out on a campaign against the king of the south. Treachery in his enemy's court and camp helped him, and he defeated him completely.
This verse is one of the places where the prophets picture an army as a flood:
This picture is well known in the prophets. It stands for the overwhelming destruction brought by invading enemy armies. See, for example, Isaiah 8:7-8; Isaiah 10:22; Isaiah 28:2, 15; Jer. 47:2; Dan. 11:22, 26. It may also point back to the flood in Noah's day, when the rising waters swept away the corrupt and the godless.
Why does the chapter dwell so long on this one king? The answer lies in who he was and what he did to Israel:
This is the man who is a picture of the last king of the north. History outside the Bible calls him Antiochus Epiphanes. He was a morally vile man, but he is best known for the way he interfered with the Jews — first by flattery and corruption, and later by violence. This is the man the Spirit of God says the most about, because he meddled most with Israel, the glorious land, and the sanctuary.
The precision of these verses has always drawn one objection:
What is the main objection unbelievers raise against this prophecy? That it must have been written after the events had taken place! It is certain that no historian since those times gives us as fine an account as we have in these few verses. If I want to know the history of these two rival kingdoms, Syria and Egypt, I must look here. How completely we can trust the word of God about everything!
The detail is not an end in itself:
It may be an exception to His general rule to dwell on the kings of the north and of the south, but He does so at times. The great thing He cares about is the souls of His people. May our hearts answer to the interest He takes in us!
- Named: king of the north and king of the south are official titles, not personal names — Syria in the north, Egypt in the south. History calls the attacker Antiochus Epiphanes.
- Corrupted: the southern king falls because the men who depend on him are won over. Those fed at his table break his power.
- Overflowed: the prophets often picture an invading army as a flood. It stands for overwhelming destruction.
- Typified: this ruler fills so much of the chapter because he meddled with Israel, the land and the sanctuary. He is a picture of the last king of the north.
- Confirmed: no later historian matches the account in these few verses. That is a reason to trust God's word about everything.