And he shall stretch forth his hand upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
This verse belongs to the closing campaign of Daniel 11, where a northern conqueror sweeps down at "the time of the end." Two questions follow: who is this conqueror, and why can Egypt not escape?
Daniel 11 has three rulers in view: "the king" of verse 36, also called the wilful king, plus the king of the south and the king of the north. This verse settles which of them is invading. A ruler who plunders Egypt cannot be Egypt's own king.
Beyond question he is not king of the glorious land, because he enters it as an enemy. Clearly it is the king of the north, and not the wilful king who is before us here. "He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape" (Dan. 11:42). This proves he cannot be the king of the south, because he attacks Egypt and plunders it.
Egypt is not merely raided here. Her own ruler's reign ends.
Verse 42 announces that the king of the south loses his kingdom. See Isaiah 11:15.
The previous verse named three nations delivered out of his hand: Edom, Moab and Ammon. This verse puts Egypt on the other side of that line.
When the Jews are settled again in their land, these ancient nations that once surrounded it will re-appear, within the borders God first gave them. We know from Isaiah that Israel will carry out God's judgment on these three nations (Isa. 11:14), so it may be that the king of the north is not allowed to touch them. Still, he is permitted to overthrow the Egyptians and strip them of their riches. The Libyans and Ethiopians will apparently do his bidding.
He stretches out his hand, and country after country falls. Yet commentators read the whole movement as controlled. God sets both his success and its limit.
He is the blind instrument of God's will. So he may overcome all the forces sent against him, enrich himself with the treasures of Egypt, and carry out God's judgment on that country. But when his work is done he must return, for "news from the east and the north shall alarm him."
Another writer explains why he gets his run at all, and what draws him south.
The king of the North will be granted temporary success so that the evil Jews may receive their chastisement. He will sweep through the land, destroying everything before him. Jerusalem will fall, and the conqueror will pass south into Egypt. The king of that land had dared to claim the country the Northern King wants for himself.
The Egypt of this prophecy is not the Egypt we see today. That difference is part of why commentators read the passage as still ahead.
This clearly shows that "the king of the north" is hostile to "the king of the south," and in fact ravages his kingdom, apparently much changed from what it now is — Egypt then being as rich as she is now notoriously poor.
Another writer places the same events in the last days.
The closing part of Daniel 11 confirms this. There "the king of the south" stands for Egypt, and we are told that "the king of the north" will yet overrun and plunder Egypt in the last days.
Egypt's failure to escape is not the last word about Egypt. Writers place this stripping inside a longer story that ends in mercy.
Egypt and Assyria will both have a special blessing in the future. Two things should be considered here. First, both lie close to the "glorious land," as they did in the old days — the one on the north, the other on the south. Second, God had used both as rods to chasten His people. A third thing should be noticed: both of these nations will be judged before they are blessed.
- Identity. The one stretching out his hand is the king of the north. He plunders Egypt, so he is not the king of the south. He enters the glorious land as an enemy, so he is not the wilful king who reigns there.
- Reach. His hand goes out over "the countries." Egypt's fall costs the king of the south his whole kingdom.
- Limit. Edom, Moab and Ammon are delivered out of his hand. Egypt is not. God draws the line between escape and capture, not armies.
- Instrument. He is a blind instrument of God's will. His success is temporary. He must turn back the moment his work is done.
- Horizon. Commentators read this as still future. Egypt and Assyria are judged first, then blessed.
And he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
Daniel's long prophecy ends with a northern invader sweeping down through Israel into Egypt and stripping its wealth, with Libya and Cush trailing behind him. Who is this conqueror, why does Egypt hold such treasure, and who sets the limits on his victories?
The peoples named here have deep roots. Genesis traces them to Ham's family, and they surface again at the end of the story.
Genesis 10:6 points out the children of Ham. Of these, Canaan has been destroyed, and his country turned over to Israel. Cush (Ethiopia) and Phut are also found under Gog (Ezek. 38:5) — those of Cush only in part. One branch of the family of Cush settled on the Euphrates, the other on the Nile, that is, north and south of Israel. Mizraim, or Egypt (Mizraim is simply the Hebrew name for Egypt), and the rest of Cush and the Libyans, you will find in the scenes of the last day; Daniel 11:43.
Daniel 11 has several rulers moving at once. So who is the "he" of this verse? The plunder of Egypt settles it, and shows what happens to the beaten peoples.
"He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape" (Dan. 11:42). This proves he cannot be the king of the south, because he attacks Egypt and spoils it. He will also have power over the treasures of gold and silver and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites will follow in his train (Dan. 11:43). The conquered are forced to fight under his banner.
So Libya and Cush are not volunteers. They march because he has crushed them, and they swell his army as he goes.
A country with treasures of gold and silver worth seizing is a rich country. That is not the Egypt the world sees now.
This clearly shows that "the king of the north" is hostile to "the king of the south," and in fact ravages his kingdom. That kingdom looks much changed from what it is now. Egypt will then be as rich as she is now famously poor.
The invader looks unstoppable. Yet the prophecy that hands him Egypt's gold also refuses him any more ground. He is working for Someone else without knowing it.
But it would not fit God's purpose for him to go further, or even to make his conquests in these southern regions secure. As the blind instrument of God's will, he may overcome every force brought against him, enrich himself with the treasures of Egypt, and so be the executor of God's judgment on that country. But when his work is done, he must return, and "news from the east and the north shall alarm him."
That news pulls him back, and there his story ends.
Whatever the news is, he hurries back from Egypt, pitches his royal tents between the seas — the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea — and there comes to his end, cut off, not by man, but by God.
The seizure of Egypt's wealth is a reckoning, not an accident. But it is not God's last word about that land.
Egypt was a broken stick that the Israelites leaned on: it oppressed them and even attacked and looted Jerusalem. But it has been punished, and it remains desolate to this day. Further, as the kingdom of the South, it will yet be dealt with: compare Daniel 11:42-43. Afterwards God will also heal and bring it into blessing: in grace He says "Blessed be Egypt my people."
- Ancient names. Egypt, Libya and Cush are families traced from Genesis 10, and Scripture brings them back on stage "in the scenes of the last day."
- Identified by his plunder. The attacker cannot be the king of the south, because he is the one who spoils Egypt — the conqueror is the king of the north.
- Forced allies. Libya and Cush follow him as beaten peoples, "compelled to fight under his banner," not as willing partners.
- Rich prey. Gold, silver and precious things point to an Egypt far richer than the poor Egypt we see now — and all of it becomes the invader's spoil.
- Leashed and stopped. He is "the blind instrument of God's will." God lets him punish Egypt, refuses him any more ground, and then cuts him off. Afterwards God heals Egypt and calls it "my people."
But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to exterminate, and utterly to destroy many.
Daniel 11 ends with a conqueror at the height of his success. He is deep in the south, holding Egypt's treasure, when a report from two directions turns him around. Who is he? What news could shake a man this powerful, and why does it end in slaughter?
The chapter has several kings in it. Which one does the news alarm? One writer works through the passage step by step and shows that the same figure runs from verse 40 to the end:
First, the passage itself shows that this northern king is the person last spoken of through most of verse 40. So "he" in the verses that follow is the same man, the great actor who at last comes to an abrupt end. Next, he will "enter also into the beautiful land" (Judaea) as well as many other lands. This does not apply properly to the king who was at home and reigning there, but to an enemy from outside. Thirdly, it cannot be "the king of the south," since verse 42 tells us in plain terms that "the land of Egypt shall not escape."
He is far from home when the report reaches him:
It is when he is down in the south, beyond Palestine, that he hears these rumours of trouble in the north and east. He had come from the north himself, and he had conquered the east as well. Now news from those areas disturbs him. He hurries back from the land of Egypt and reaches Palestine.
Scripture does not say what the report contains, and commentators differ. One reading takes it as unrest in his own territory:
It is clear that news of enemies coming from the east, the east of Syria, will reach him. There may be enemies at home too, since the north points to his own country. Flushed at the moment with his successes, he will start out confident in his own power, and "with great fury," to deal with his foes.
Another writer links the news to the ten tribes of Israel, whom Assyria carried away long ago:
I have little doubt that the news is about the movement of the ten tribes. God is working in them to bring them back from those parts to the land of their fathers. The king of Assyria moved them there long ago. And now the last holder of that power is on the alert to oppose their return.
The Old Testament uses several different words for anger. One writer sorts them out and places this verse among them:
In Lamentations 2:4, khemah, warmth, heat of anger; in Daniel 11:44, it is khema, fury.
That heat is what makes him careless. He charges back into a region already crowded with armies:
Already the proud powers of the west had gathered there for their doom, but he does not consider this, even if he knew it. Men are easily blinded by their passions; and there will also be the special delusion of Satan.
The verse does not name the people he means to destroy. One writer does:
Here he is back, angry to the highest degree and set on destroying the Jews.
For all his momentum, something limits how far he goes — and it is not an enemy:
But God's purpose would not have him go further, or even secure his conquests in these southern regions. As the blind instrument of God's will, he may overcome every force brought against him. He may enrich himself with the treasures of Egypt, and so carry out God's judgment on that country. But, his work done, he must return.
An earlier Assyrian army met a sudden end in the night. One writer reads that night as the pattern for this last king:
That very night the camp of the Assyrians was struck. In the morning they were all dead bodies. It will be like this also that the Assyrian of the end time, the king of the North, shall meet his judgment.
Another writer treats that older invasion as a preview of the last one:
Isaiah 10 has much in it that looks on to the Assyrian of the last days. Sennacherib was only a foreshadowing of him.
- Rumour. The news alarms the king of the north — the invader from outside in verses 40-43, not the king reigning inside the land.
- Rage. His fury is a word for heat of anger. That heat blinds him, and he storms back toward a region where armies are already gathered for judgment.
- Reach. His victories are real, and Egypt's treasure is in his hands. Yet he goes as far as God's purpose allows and no further.
- Return. He is the blind instrument of God's judgment on Egypt. When that work is done, a rumour turns him back, set on destroying the Jews.
- Ruin. Sennacherib's army died in one night. That night is the pattern for how this last king of the north meets his end.