Daniel 11 – Kings, Kingdoms, and the Final Conflict
Daniel 11 unfolds a detailed prophecy of earthly kings and battles, leading to a final confrontation between the king of the north and the king of the south. This chapter bridges ancient empires with end-time events.
From Ancient Thrones to End-Time Thrones
This chapter is a prophetic timeline in motion. It begins with Persian and Greek empires and transitions through Roman influence, the rise of religious-political powers, and finally a last-day struggle between the king of the north and the king of the south. Though historical at first, it crescendos into end-time prophecy.
✔ Persia and Greece rise and fall.
✔ Rome, both pagan and papal, exerts global influence.
✔ The king of the north and south wage spiritual warfare.
✔ God’s people are caught in the crossfire—but not forgotten.
📖 Key Verse: “But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” – Daniel 11:32
🔎 History is not random—it follows prophetic design, revealing spiritual allegiances behind every political shift.
Daniel Chapter 11 Overview
Daniel 11:1–20 – The Rise of Persia and the Divided Empire
📖 Daniel 11:1–2 – “There shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all…”
🔎 The prophecy begins with Persia:
🔹 After Cyrus, three more kings rise: Cambyses, Smerdis (false king), and Darius I.
🔹 The fourth, Xerxes I, becomes exceedingly wealthy and launches a massive war against Greece.
🔹 His aggression provokes a long-standing conflict, setting the stage for Greece’s eventual rise.
➡️ Historical Match: Xerxes’ invasion (including the famous Battle of Thermopylae) fulfills this verse precisely.
📖 Daniel 11:3–4 – “A mighty king shall stand up… his kingdom shall be broken…”
🔎 Greece arises through Alexander the Great:
🔹 Alexander conquers swiftly and powerfully—“shall rule with great dominion.”
🔹 But he dies young and without an heir—his kingdom is divided into four parts, not passed to his lineage.
🔹 These four divisions eventually evolve into the Seleucid (north) and Ptolemaic (south) empires, which dominate the rest of the chapter.
➡️ Prophetic Precision: Once again, history aligns exactly with prophecy—kingdoms rise, but none last without divine permission.
📖 Daniel 11:5–6 – “The king of the south shall be strong… and in the end of years they shall join themselves together.”
🔎 The kings of the north and south begin their rivalry:
🔹 The Ptolemies (Egypt, king of the south) and Seleucids (Syria, king of the north) dominate this next section.
🔹 An attempt at unity is made through marriage—Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy II, marries Antiochus II.
🔹 The peace fails. Betrayal and murder follow, igniting further war.
➡️ Spiritual Symbolism: Temporary alliances for power always fall—only God’s covenant unites in truth.
📖 Daniel 11:7–9 – “Out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up…”
🔎 Berenice’s family retaliates:
🔹 Her brother, Ptolemy III, invades Syria and temporarily defeats the king of the north.
🔹 He captures idols and treasures and returns to Egypt—this symbolizes the south’s brief superiority.
🔹 The power swings again and again—each move fulfilling the intricate details laid out in the prophecy.
➡️ Prophetic Principle: God doesn’t just control kingdoms—He knows every retaliatory move in advance.
📖 Daniel 11:10–19 – “His sons shall be stirred up… and shall overflow…”
🔎 Intense battles follow:
🔹 The Seleucid kings (especially Antiochus III) launch massive campaigns to reclaim lost ground.
🔹 Victories and defeats flow like tides. The king of the south (Egypt) resists, but not always successfully.
🔹 Eventually, Rome enters the scene—as Antiochus’ ambitions are checked by the emerging western power.
🔹 Rome begins to dominate the region, setting the stage for the transition to Daniel 11:21.
➡️ Historical Fulfillment: These wars are recorded by historians in stunning alignment with Daniel’s prophecy—every shift, betrayal, and power play was foretold.
📖 Daniel 11:20 – “Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes…”
🔎 A foreshadowing of Rome’s growing control:
🔹 This refers to Caesar Augustus, who issued the decree that “all the world should be taxed” (Luke 2:1).
🔹 Though powerful, he is not seen as a conqueror—but as one who solidifies dominion through administration and taxation.
🔹 He is quickly followed by one “destroyed neither in anger nor in battle”—likely pointing to a political transition rather than violent overthrow.
➡️ Prophetic Transition: This verse closes the Greco-Syrian conflicts and prepares the reader for Rome’s central role in the next section.
Daniel 11:21–35 – The Destructive Power and Corruption of Rome
📖 Daniel 11:21 – “And in his estate shall stand up a vile person… but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.”
🔎 A new power enters—Rome, in its deceptive and manipulative phase:
🔹 This “vile person” fits Tiberius Caesar, who followed Augustus—known for his cruelty and cunning.
🔹 He rises not by battle, but through flattery, deception, and political maneuvering.
🔹 This marks the transition from the Grecian world to the Roman empire, both in politics and prophetic significance.
➡️ Prophetic Pattern: As always, the powers that appear strongest often emerge through deceit, not force alone.
📖 Daniel 11:22–24 – “With the arms of a flood… also the prince of the covenant shall be broken.”
🔎 Rome expands, and Christ is crucified:
🔹 The “prince of the covenant” refers unmistakably to Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Roman rule (see Isaiah 53, Luke 3:1).
🔹 Rome’s armies sweep through like a flood, conquering and subduing nations.
🔹 The deceit continues—Rome uses diplomacy to enter “peaceably” and gain control through manipulation.
➡️ Messianic Fulfillment: Jesus, the true Prince, is “broken” not by force—but by betrayal and unjust judgment under Rome.
📖 Daniel 11:25–28 – “His heart shall be against the holy covenant…”
🔎 Religious conflict deepens:
🔹 These verses reveal the internal and external struggles of Rome—military, political, and religious.
🔹 Rome fights against Egypt but also begins turning its attention against the holy covenant—God’s people and His truth.
🔹 This foreshadows the emergence of papal Rome, blending religion and state to corrupt worship and persecute dissenters.
➡️ Spiritual Warning: Prophecy now shifts from political wars to religious compromise and control—the true battleground.
📖 Daniel 11:29–31 – “They shall pollute the sanctuary of strength… and shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”
🔎 A spiritual system replaces true worship:
🔹 Pagan Rome transitions into papal Rome, now controlling doctrine and persecuting truth.
🔹 “Polluting the sanctuary” refers to corrupting the gospel—replacing Christ’s priesthood with manmade mediators.
🔹 The “abomination of desolation” is a key phrase tied to false worship, forced compliance, and spiritual ruin (see Matthew 24:15).
➡️ Historic Fulfillment: This abomination refers to the papal system enforcing unbiblical doctrines during the Dark Ages—foreshadowing a final crisis in Revelation.
📖 Daniel 11:32–35 – “The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.”
🔎 A remnant rises in resistance:
🔹 Despite persecution, God’s faithful resist with courage—through the Reformation, martyrdom, and revival.
🔹 “They that understand among the people shall instruct many” – a reference to those who teach truth during spiritual darkness.
🔹 Many fall by sword, flame, captivity, and spoil—but their testimony strengthens the cause of truth.
➡️ End-Time Echo: Just like Revelation 12 and 13, God’s people endure persecution but remain victorious in spirit and witness.
Daniel 11:36–45 – The Final War Between North and South
📖 Daniel 11:36 – “And the king shall do according to his will… and shall exalt himself above every god…”
🔎 This king represents a powerful, blasphemous system:
🔹 This aligns closely with 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4, where the man of sin exalts himself above all that is called God.
🔹 He speaks “marvelous things” against the true God—symbolizing spiritual arrogance and deception.
🔹 He prospers “till the indignation be accomplished”—meaning this power lasts until the appointed time of judgment.
➡️ Prophetic Echo: This mirrors the little horn of Daniel 7 and Daniel 8—a religious-political power that counterfeits God’s authority.
📖 Daniel 11:37–39 – “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers… but in his estate shall he honor the god of forces.”
🔎 A shift from pure religion to power-based worship:
🔹 This power rejects the true God and instead exalts military strength, wealth, and control.
🔹 “God of forces” (Hebrew: fortresses) implies a god of protection and domination—a system built on coercion.
🔹 He promotes false religion through material rewards and strategic alliances.
➡️ Spiritual Insight: This reflects the use of political force to enforce religious unity, a key theme in Revelation 13.
📖 Daniel 11:40 – “At the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him…”
🔎 The final spiritual showdown begins:
🔹 The king of the south represents secularism, atheism, or Egypt-like rebellion (see Exodus 5:2, Revelation 11:8).
🔹 The king of the north—aligned with papal and apostate religious power—responds with overwhelming force.
🔹 This spiritual war intensifies in the last days, paralleling the final conflict between truth and error.
➡️ End-Time Conflict: These kings symbolize ideological forces—secular rebellion vs. spiritual counterfeit—with God’s people caught in the middle.
📖 Daniel 11:41–43 – “He shall enter also into the glorious land… and many countries shall be overthrown.”
🔎 Global religious control expands:
🔹 The “glorious land” (Israel or God’s covenant people) is targeted—God’s remnant church faces pressure.
🔹 Nations fall under the king of the north’s control—representing the spread of spiritual deception and forced unity.
🔹 Wealthy regions (Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia) are absorbed—economic control complements religious power.
➡️ Modern Parallel: Economic sanctions, religious mandates, and global alliances will all play a role in enforcing false worship.
📖 Daniel 11:44–45 – “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him…”
🔎 The final confrontation before deliverance:
🔹 “Tidings out of the east” often symbolize Christ’s return or messages of truth (see Matthew 24:27, Revelation 7:2).
🔹 The king of the north is troubled by the loud cry and final warning given by God’s people.
🔹 He prepares for all-out war—planting his palace between the seas (peoples) and the glorious holy mountain (God’s people).
🔹 But “he shall come to his end, and none shall help him”—this spiritual power will be fully and finally judged.
➡️ Final Hope: Truth will triumph. The last war belongs to God—and the persecuting powers will fall.
Daniel Chapter 11 - Deeper Study
Overview: Prophetic History in Motion
🔹 Timeframe: Continuing from Daniel 10, still in the third year of Cyrus.
🔹 Setting: A detailed prophetic explanation given by the angel.
🔹 Theme: The interplay between political kingdoms and spiritual forces through time.
Key Takeaways from Daniel 7
🔑 Prophecy reveals both the visible and invisible war.
🔑 Rome’s dual identity—pagan and papal—is crucial to understanding history.
🔑 God’s people are refined through persecution, but not forsaken.
🔑 End-time conflict will again polarize the world—north vs. south, truth vs. error.
🔑 Victory belongs to those who know their God.
Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment
🔮 Persia to Greece to Rome – Echoes Daniel 2, 7, and 8.
🔮 The king of the north – A spiritual-religious power aligned with Rome.
🔮 The king of the south – A secular, atheistic, or Egypt-like force opposing God.
🔮 Final conflict – Mirrors Revelation 11 and 13’s war on truth and God’s people.
Historical & Future Significance
📜 Seleucid and Ptolemaic Empires – Northern and southern divisions of Alexander’s empire.
📜 Antiochus, Caesar, Constantine – Key historical figures echoed in the text.
📜 Papal supremacy and French Revolution – Linked to the prophetic symbolism of north and south powers.
💡 Final Reflection: Do You Understand the Times?
Daniel 11 is not just a history lesson—it’s a spiritual map. From ancient Persia to the end of days, every shift in power points to a larger struggle between good and evil.
📌 Are you interpreting headlines through a prophetic lens?
📌 Can you recognize the spiritual forces behind political powers?
📌 Will you stand firm when the final conflict unfolds?
🚀 Empires will clash. Powers will rise. But only those who know their God will stand strong.
The Kings of the South and the North
Dan 11:1 Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
Dan 11:2 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.
Dan 11:3 And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
Dan 11:4 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 beside those.
Dan 11:5 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.
Dan 11:6 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.
Dan 11:7 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:
Dan 11:8 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.
Dan 11:9 So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land.
Dan 11:10 But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
Dan 11:11 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; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
Dan 11:12 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.
Dan 11:13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches.
Dan 11:14 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.
Dan 11:15 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.
Dan 11:16 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 shall be consumed.
Dan 11:17 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.
Dan 11:18 After this shall he turn 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.
Dan 11:19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
Dan 11:20 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.
Dan 11:21 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.
Dan 11:22 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.
Dan 11:23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
Dan 11:24 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’ 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.
Dan 11:25 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 against him.
Dan 11:26 Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain.
Dan 11:27 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.
Dan 11:28 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.
Dan 11:29 At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
Dan 11:30 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.
Dan 11:31 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.
Dan 11:32 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 exploits.
Dan 11:33 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.
Dan 11:34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
Dan 11:35 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.
Dan 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
Dan 11:37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
Dan 11:38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
Dan 11:39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
Dan 11:40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
Dan 11:41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
Dan 11:42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
Dan 11:43 But 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.
Dan 11:44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
Dan 11:45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
Date Written
605–536 BC
Written By
Daniel – a Hebrew prophet during the Babylonian exile
Language
Hebrew (Chapters 1-2:4a, 8-12)
Aramaic (Chapters 2:4b-7)
Verses
45