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.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his fortress and stir up strife.
- NASB “And his sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, so that he may again wage war up to his fortress.
- NLT However, the sons of the king of the north will assemble a mighty army that will advance like a flood and carry the battle as far as the enemy’s fortress.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The northern king's sons gather great armies that surge like a flood, carrying war up to the enemy's fortress. The conflict escalates as a new generation renews the fight.
Overview
The sons of the northern king assemble overwhelming forces, foreshadowing the rise of the Seleucid power that would press hard against Egypt and threaten the land of Israel. The imagery of overflowing armies conveys the mounting intensity of these wars. Yet the prophecy's flow shows God charting each advance and retreat, none of it outside His ordained plan.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 51:42The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves.
- Dan 9:26Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
- Dan 11:26Those who eat from his provisions will seek to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.
- Dan 11:7But one from her family line will rise up in his place, come against the army of the king of the North, and enter his fortress, fighting and prevailing.
- Jer 46:7–8Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters churn?
- Dan 11:39–40He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many and distributing the land for a price.
- Isa 25:12The high-walled fortress will be brought down, cast to the ground, into the dust.
- Isa 8:7–8the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
- Dan 11:22Then a flood of forces will be swept away before him and destroyed, along with a prince of the covenant.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 11:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.