11:11 “Then the king of the south 1 will be enraged and will march out to fight against the king of the north, who will also muster a large army, but that army will be delivered into his hand. 11:12 When the army is taken away, the king of the south will become arrogant. 2 He will be responsible for the death 3 of thousands and thousands of people, 4 but he will not continue to prevail.
11:14 “In those times many will oppose 5 the king of the south. 6 Those who are violent 7 among your own people will rise up in confirmation of 8 the vision, but they will falter. 11:15 Then the king of the north will advance and will build siege mounds and capture a well-fortified city. 9 The forces of the south will not prevail, not even his finest contingents. 10 They will have no strength to prevail.
1 sn This king of the south refers to Ptolemy IV Philopator (ca. 221-204
2 tn Heb “his heart will be lifted up.” The referent (the king of the south) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “cause to fall.”
4 tn Heb “of myriads.”
5 tn Heb “stand against.”
6 sn This was Ptolemy V Epiphanes (ca. 203-181
7 tn Heb “sons of violence.” “Son(s) is sometimes used idiomatically in Hebrew to indicate that someone is characterized by a certain quality. So the expression “sons of violence” means that these individuals will be characterized by violent deeds.
8 tn Heb “to cause to stand.”
9 sn This well-fortified city is apparently Sidon. Its capture from the Ptolemies by Antiochus the Great was a strategic victory for the Seleucid kingdom.
10 tn Or “choice troops” (BDB 104 s.v. מִבְחָר), or “elite troops” (HALOT 542 s.v. מִבְחָר).