God’s Word for You

Daniel 11:9-10 just as he had promised

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, January 9, 2026

In the centuries between the Old and New Testaments, there were six wars that ravaged the land of Israel, from 274 until 168 BC. Those six Syrian Wars were followed by the more famous Maccabean revolt that lasted until just about the time that Palestine was taken over by the Romans under Pompey the Great in 63 BC. In these opening verses of Daniel 11, we have already seen, in concise words, the first three Syrian Wars. Verses 9-10 prophesy the aftermath of the third and the beginning of the fourth of these wars.

One detail that is not present in the prophecies is an order given by the previous Egyptian king, Ptolemy II. He ordered the building of a library in Egypt, which was carried out in Alexandria. The project had been suggested to his father, Ptolemy I (one of Alexander the Great’s generals), but it was Ptolemy II who carried out the construction. At its peak, this library may have held almost half a million documents, mostly scrolls of papyrus or calfskin or clay tablets. One of the results of this command was the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, which became known as the Septuagint or LXX translation. As far as we know, it was the first translation of the Bible into another language.

9 Then, the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South, but he will return to his own land.

The king of the North in verse 9 was Seleucus II, called Callinicus. After the Third Syrian war, he tried to firm up his position in the north and put down a rebellion in Babylon. After he accomplished this, he planned to march to the west to conquer Asia Minor, but in 225 BC he fell from his horse and died from his injury. Verse 9 correctly states that he made an expedition against Egypt, but it was unsuccessful. This was when he returned to the north and did not fight against the Ptolemies any longer, pursuing instead “all the pleasures of the world.”

10 His sons shall prepare for war and assemble a vast army. Then one will surge like a flood and pass through, and he will return and carry the war as far as his fortress.

The sons of Seleucus II were Seleucus III and Antiochus III. Together they planned to resume the war and accomplish their father’s goal of conquering the lucrative cities on the coast of Palestine such as Gaza and Ashkelon, known in our time as the Gaza Strip. These cities of the former Philistia were located on what was and still is an excellent road running all the way to the Nile Delta.

The older brother, Seleucus III, assembled a very large army, helped by his brother. Seleucus marched into Asia Minor. While marching through Galatia (an S-shaped region in the middle of Asia Minor or modern Turkey) he began to display his personal inability for military command and political weakness. Then just west of Galatia in Phrygia (note their proximity in Acts 18:23) a conspiracy claimed his life. The historian Polybius writes: “The young Seleucus, immediately on ascending the throne, having learnt that Attalus had appropriated all his dominions on this side of the Taurus hastened there to defend his interests. He crossed the Taurus at the head of a great army, but perished assassinated by the Gaul Apaturius and Nicanor.” (Histories 4.48.7-8)

After this, Antiochus III took the throne and took over command of the huge army he and his brother had organized. This is why the text says that “they” prepared the army but that “one” will surge like a flood.

This flood tide of an army retook several strongholds that the Egyptians had captured under Ptolemy III. But now Ptolemy IV was reigning in Egypt, and his general incompetence (Egypt was really in the hands of the king’s court favorites) led to the fall of everything his father had gained in the north, Seleucia on the Orontes River, Tyre, and other cities in northern Syria (also called Phoenicia). Antiochus III swept down the coast as far as Gaza, taking it in 217 BC, “carrying the war,” as the Angel foresees, “as far as his fortress.”

Through prophecy and fulfillment, this passage shows the omniscience of God and the obedient service of his angels (and Christ) who deliver his Word to his people. There is no doctrine here in this verse, however, that requires that we understand it perfectly, even if an interpreter such as I myself maintains that he is correct in his application of the verses. Sinful man is capable of misunderstanding or failing to understand the Scriptures. However, when the Scriptures are clear in saying that we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8), and that we are not saved by our works (Ephesians 2:9), that must be clearly understood by anyone who wants to call themselves a follower of Christ. And in the same way, the Scripture is clear and unmistakable in saying that Christ forgave all our sins on the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).

Confident of this, we also see that God was being merciful to his people Israel ahead of time when he gave this prophecy. For although the Lord was silent during these four hundred years from Malachi to John, he was no more silent than he had been between Noah and Abraham. He told his people in these brief words what was coming, in amazing detail, so that they would await the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed Christ, just as he had also promised (Daniel 9:25). For these prophecies both came to Daniel in the first year of Darius the Mede, the underking of Cyrus the Great, just as the screen door of the Persian Period squeaked open, and a new life entered into the front porch of God’s holy people. “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:7). This was a new life with many changes, but those changes included their permission to return home, to rebuild the temple, to sweep out their homes, and make a life where the Lord had led them, just as he had promised.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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