Daniel 11:10
King James Version (1769)
Other translations
| Verse | KJV | BSB | ASV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | But his sons will stir up strife and assemble a great army, which will advance forcefully, sweeping through like a flood, and will again carry the battle as far as his fortress. | And his sons shall war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on, and overflow, and pass through; and they shall return and war, even to his fortress. |
In context
AI-assisted, sourcedThe vision follows the wars between the 'king of the north' and the 'king of the south' after the Greek kingdom splits (11:2-4). The south has just struck the north and gone home (11:7-9). Now the northern king's sons rally huge armies, and one of them sweeps through like a flood and pushes as far as 'his fortress.' Daniel 11:4Daniel 11:7Daniel 11:8Daniel 11:9Daniel 11:10Daniel 11:11
SpeakingThe one speaking to Daniel in this vision. He says he stood to strengthen Darius the Mede (11:1), but the chapter does not name him here. Daniel 11:1Daniel overview
ToDaniel, who receives the vision. The book is written for God's people in exile and after it. Daniel 11:2Daniel overview
Also involvedThe sons of the king of the north, the king of the south whom they attack, and the lands their armies cross. Verse 11 shows the attacker is from the north. The text does not give these kings' names. Daniel 11:10Daniel 11:11Daniel 11:9
A counterattack is foretold. The northern king's sons stir themselves to war and gather 'a multitude of great forces.' One of them comes, overflows and passes through like a flood, then returns and presses on 'even to his fortress.' This sets up the southern king's angry response in verse 11. Daniel 11:10Daniel 11:11Strong's H1624Strong's H7857
The action moves between the north's realm and the south's realm, which is linked with Egypt (11:8-9). The book was written from Babylon, where Daniel served under Babylonian and then Persian kings. Daniel 11:8Daniel 11:9Daniel overview
The eventsThese events come after the Persian kings and the breakup of the mighty Greek king's realm (11:2-4), in the generations of north-south conflict that follow. They were future from Daniel's point of view. Daniel 11:2Daniel 11:3Daniel 11:4Daniel 11:10
WrittenTraditional: written by Daniel in the 500s BC; the book's events run to the third year of Cyrus, about 536 BC (10:1). Scholarly: many critical scholars date the book's final form to about 167-164 BC, because chapter 11 describes those years in detail. Daniel overview
HereThe verse shows the back-and-forth of these wars. The south's victory (11:7-9) does not last, because the north comes back with greater force. Daniel 11:7Daniel 11:9Daniel 11:10Daniel 11:13
In the whole of ScriptureDaniel shows that God sets up and removes kings and that 'the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.' Foretelling these wars in detail shows that history runs as God has 'determined' (11:36), toward 'the time appointed' (11:27, 11:35). Daniel overviewDaniel 11:36Daniel 11:27Daniel 11:35
For readersArmies that 'overflow' like floods are a familiar picture in Scripture. Isaiah says the king of Assyria 'shall overflow and go over' (Isaiah 8:7-8), and Egypt 'riseth up like a flood' (Jeremiah 46:8). Such floods rise and fall, but God's kingdom 'shall never be destroyed' (Daniel 2:44). Isaiah 8:7Isaiah 8:8Jeremiah 46:8Daniel overview
- overflowשָׁטַף
The word means to overflow, engulf or wash away. It pictures the army as a flood. Scripture uses the same picture for invading armies in Isaiah 8:8 and Daniel 11:26, 11:40. Strong's H7857Isaiah 8:8Daniel 11:26Daniel 11:40
- be stirred upגָּרָה
In this form it means to excite oneself against a foe, or to wage war. So the sons are not just upset; they are rousing themselves for battle. Strong's H1624
- fortressמָעוֹז
The word means a place of safety, refuge or stronghold. The push 'even to his fortress' answers verse 7, where the southern king entered the north's fortress. Strong's H4581Daniel 11:7
Takeaway
Daniel 11:10 foretells a northern counterattack that floods through the land after the south's earlier victory. It is one step in a chain of wars that God revealed ahead of time. It shows that the rise and fall of armies stays within what God has determined. Daniel 11:10Daniel 11:7Daniel 11:36Daniel overview
Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.
The world around the text
About 605-536 BC. King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). Where Daniel lived and served for about seventy years. The capital of the Babylonian empire, on the Euphrates south of modern Baghdad, in the land the Bible calls Shinar and Chaldea.
Who ruled
- King of BabylonNebuchadnezzar605-562 BC
The king who besieged Jerusalem, carried Daniel and the temple vessels to Babylon, and later destroyed the city and temple. His own building inscriptions boast of the Babylon he built. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 24:12 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 25:1Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- Last king of Babylon, and his son who ruled in his placeNabonidus and Belshazzar556-539 BC
Nabonidus spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar could only offer Daniel the place of "third ruler in the kingdom": he was himself second. Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:7Daniel 5:29Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Verse Account of Nabonidus
- Received the kingdom after Babylon fellDarius the MedianFrom 539 BC
Daniel says he "took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" and set 120 princes over it. Records outside the Bible do not name him; he has been identified with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon, or with Cyrus himself. Daniel 5:31Daniel 6:1Daniel 9:1Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)
- King of PersiaCyrus559-530 BC
He united the Medes and Persians, took Babylon in 539 BC, and let the exiles go home to rebuild the temple, as Isaiah had named him beforehand. Daniel 1:21Daniel 6:28Daniel 10:1Ezra 1:1-4Isaiah 44:28-45:1Cyrus Cylinder
- King of JudahJehoiakim609-598 BC
Judah's king when Daniel was taken. Jeremiah warned him and his people that the land would serve Babylon seventy years. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 23:36-24:6Jeremiah 25:1-11
What was happening, 612 BC to 167 BC
- 612 BCWarNineveh falls
Babylon and the Medes destroyed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as Nahum and Zephaniah had foretold. Babylon became the great power of the region. Nahum 3:7Zephaniah 2:13Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)
- 605 BCWarBattle of Carchemish
Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates, in Jehoiakim's fourth year. The same year he came against Jerusalem and took the first captives, Daniel among them. Jeremiah 46:2Daniel 1:1-4Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 597 BCWarJerusalem surrenders
Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his nobles and craftsmen to Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel went into exile with them. 2 Kings 24:10-17Ezekiel 1:2Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 586 BCWarJerusalem and the temple destroyed
Babylon's army burned the temple and the city and broke down its walls. Daniel later prays over "the desolations of Jerusalem" and asks God to shine on his "sanctuary that is desolate." 2 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 52:12-14Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17
- c. 575 BCBuildingBabylon rebuilt in splendor
Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great walls, palaces and the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate, and his inscriptions praise his own work. Compare his boast: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?" Daniel 4:30Nebuchadnezzar's East India House InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 1.178-183
- 562 BCRulersNebuchadnezzar dies
His son Evil-merodach became king and released Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 2 Kings 25:27-30Jeremiah 52:31-34
- c. 553-543 BCRulersNabonidus leaves Babylon to Belshazzar
King Nabonidus stayed at Tema in Arabia for about ten years, and the yearly New Year festival in Babylon was not held. Belshazzar governed in Babylon. Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Daniel 5:1Daniel 7:1
- 550 BCWarCyrus unites the Medes and Persians
Cyrus of Persia defeated Astyages king of the Medes, joining the two peoples in one kingdom. Daniel's vision names the ram's two horns as "the kings of Media and Persia," the higher coming up last. Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:20Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.127-130
- October 539 BCWarBabylon falls to Cyrus
Cyrus's army entered Babylon without a long siege. Herodotus says the people were feasting when the city was taken. Daniel records that "in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.191Cyrus Cylinder
- 538 BCGod's peopleCyrus lets the exiles return
In his first year over Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could go back and build the LORD's house in Jerusalem. Daniel "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Ezra 1:1-42 Chronicles 36:22-23Daniel 1:21Cyrus Cylinder
- c. 536 BCGod's peopleThe temple's foundation is laid
The returned exiles rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple. In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel was still in the east, mourning and praying. Ezra 3:1-11Daniel 10:1-3
- 334-331 BCWarAlexander the Great conquers Persia
Alexander of Macedon crossed into Asia and overthrew the Persian empire within four years. Daniel 8:21 names the rough goat as "the king of Grecia" and its great horn as "the first king." Daniel 8:5-8Daniel 8:21Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1-3
- 323-301 BCWarAlexander's empire is divided
Alexander died young, and after twenty years of war his generals divided his empire, chiefly into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:22 says "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8Daniel 8:22Daniel 11:4Diodorus Siculus, Library 18-20Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30
- 167 BCWarAntiochus IV defiles the temple
The Greek king Antiochus IV banned Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering. 1 Maccabees calls it "the abomination of desolation." Two centuries later Jesus spoke of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" as still to come. 1 Maccabees 1:54-59Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4Matthew 24:15
The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records of these years (the Babylonian Chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Diodorus, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.
Original Hebrew words
| English | Hebrew | Say it | Strong's | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| and sons his | וּבָנָ֣יו | uv-nov | H1121A | son: childבֵּן (ben) : child/son |
| they will wage war | יִתְגָּר֗וּ | yit-ga-RU | H1624 | to stir upגָּרָה (ga.rah) 1) to cause strife, stir up, contend, meddle, strive, be stirred up 1a) (Piel) to stir up strife, excite strife 1b)(Hithpael) 1b1) to excite oneself against, engage in strife 1b2) to excite oneself (against foe), wage war |
| and they will gather | וְאָסְפוּ֙ | ve-'a-se-FU | H0622 | to gatherאָסַף (a.saph) 1) to gather, receive, remove, gather in 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to gather, collect 1a2) to gather (an individual into company of others) 1a3) to bring up the rear 1a4) to gather and take away, remove, withdraw 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to assemble, be gathered 1b2) (pass of Qal 1a2) 1b2a) to be gathered to one's fathers 1b2b) to be brought in or into (association with others) 1b3) (pass of Qal 1a4) 1b3a) to be taken away, removed, perish 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to gather (harvest) 1c2) to take in, receive into 1c3) rearguard, rearward (subst) 1d) (Pual) to be gathered 1e) (Hithpael) to gather oneself or themselves |
| a multitude of | הֲמוֹן֙ | ha-mOn | H1995A | crowdהָמוֹן (ha.mon) 1) murmur, roar, crowd, abundance, tumult, sound 1a) sound, murmur, rush, roar 1b) tumult, confusion 1c) crowd, multitude 1d) great number, abundance 1e) abundance, wealth |
| armies | חֲיָלִ֣ים | cha-ya-LIM | H2428A | strength: soldiersחַ֫יִל (cha.yil) : soldiers/army 1) strength, might, efficiency, wealth, army 1a) strength 1b) ability, efficiency 1c) wealth 1d) force, army |
| great | רַבִּ֔ים | ra-BIM | H7227A | manyרַב (rav) adj 1) much, many, great 1a) much 1b) many 1c) abounding in 1d) more numerous than 1e) abundant, enough 1f) great 1g) strong 1h) greater than adv 1i) much, exceedingly |
| and it will go | וּבָ֥א | u-VA' | H0935G | to come (in): comeבּוֹא (bo) : come/go_in 1) to go in, enter, come, go, come in 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to enter, come in 1a2) to come 1a2a) to come with 1a2b) to come upon, fall or light upon, attack (enemy) 1a2c) to come to pass 1a3) to attain to 1a4) to be enumerated 1a5) to go 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to lead in 1b2) to carry in 1b3) to bring in, cause to come in, gather, cause to come, bring near, bring against, bring upon 1b4) to bring to pass 1c) (Hophal) 1c1) to be brought, brought in 1c2) to be introduced, be put |
| certainly go | ב֖וֹא | Vo' | H0935G | to come (in): comeבּוֹא (bo) : come/go_in 1) to go in, enter, come, go, come in 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to enter, come in 1a2) to come 1a2a) to come with 1a2b) to come upon, fall or light upon, attack (enemy) 1a2c) to come to pass 1a3) to attain to 1a4) to be enumerated 1a5) to go 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to lead in 1b2) to carry in 1b3) to bring in, cause to come in, gather, cause to come, bring near, bring against, bring upon 1b4) to bring to pass 1c) (Hophal) 1c1) to be brought, brought in 1c2) to be introduced, be put |
| and it will overflow | וְשָׁטַ֣ף | ve-sha-TAF | H7857 | to overflowשָׁטַף (sha.taph) 1) to wash, rinse, overflow, engulf, rinse or wash off 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to overflow 1a2) to flow, run 1a3) to rinse or wash off 1b) (Niphal) to be swept away, be rinsed out 1c) (Pual) to be rinsed, be scoured and rinsed |
| and it will pass over | וְעָבָ֑ר | ve-'a-VAR | H5674A | to passעָבַר (a.var) 1) to pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to pass over, cross, cross over, pass over, march over, overflow, go over 1a2) to pass beyond 1a3) to pass through, traverse 1a3a) passers-through (participle) 1a3b) to pass through (the parts of victim in covenant) 1a4) to pass along, pass by, overtake and pass, sweep by 1a4a) passer-by (participle) 1a4b) to be past, be over 1a5) to pass on, go on, pass on before, go in advance of, pass along, travel, advance 1a6) to pass away 1a6a) to emigrate, leave (one's territory) 1a6b) to vanish … |
| and it will return | וְיָשֹׁ֥ב | ve-ya-SHO | H7725J | to return: returnשׁוּב (shuv) : return 1) to return, turn back 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to turn back, return 1a1a) to turn back 1a1b) to return, come or go back 1a1c) to return unto, go back, come back 1a1d) of dying 1a1e) of human relations (fig) 1a1f) of spiritual relations (fig) 1a1f1) to turn back (from God), apostatise 1a1f2) to turn away (of God) 1a1f3) to turn back (to God), repent 1a1f4) turn back (from evil) 1a1g) of inanimate things 1a1h) in repetition 1b) (Polel) 1b1) to bring back 1b2) to restore, refresh, repair (fig) 1b3) to lead away (enticingly) 1b4) to show turning, apostatise 1c) (Pual) restored (participle) … |
| so it may wage war | וְיִתְגָּרֶ֖ה | ve-yit-ga-ru | H1624 | to stir upגָּרָה (ga.rah) 1) to cause strife, stir up, contend, meddle, strive, be stirred up 1a) (Piel) to stir up strife, excite strife 1b)(Hithpael) 1b1) to excite oneself against, engage in strife 1b2) to excite oneself (against foe), wage war |
| to | עַד־ | 'ad- | H5704 | tillעַד (ad) prep 1) as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as 1a) of space 1a1) as far as, up to, even to 1b) in combination 1b1) from...as far as, both...and (with 'min' -from) 1c) of time 1c1) even to, until, unto, till, during, end 1d) of degree 1d1) even to, to the degree of, even like conj 2) until, while, to the point that, so that even Aramaic equivalent: ad (עַד "till" H5705) |
| stronghold his | מָעֻזּֽוֹ׃ | ma-'u-zo | H4581 | securityמָעוֹז (ma.oz) 1) place or means of safety, protection, refuge, stronghold 1a) place of safety, fastness, harbour, stronghold 1b) refuge (of God) (fig.) 1c) human protection (fig.) |
Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.