Daniel 11 · Verse 5

Daniel 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.
Daniel 11:5, King James Version

Daniel 11:5 in other translations

BSBThe king of the South will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow even stronger and will rule his own kingdom with great authority.
WEB“The king of the south will be strong. One of his princes will become stronger than him, and have dominion. His dominion will be a great dominion.
ASVAnd 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.
YLT‘And a king of the south--even of his princes--doth become strong, and doth prevail against him, and hath ruled; a great dominion is his dominion.
DARBYAnd the king of the south, who is one of his princes, shall be strong; but another shall be stronger than he, and have dominion: his dominion shall be a great dominion.
BBEAnd the king of the south will be strong, but one of his captains will be stronger than he and will be ruler; and his rule will be a great rule.
WebsterAnd 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.

What does Daniel 11:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. Here the prophet leaves Asia and Greece and takes up Egypt and Syria, these being in continual conflict under Alexander's successors, entailing misery on Judea, which lay between the two. Holy Scripture handles external history only so far as it is connected with God's people, Israel [Jerome]. Tregelles puts a chasm between the fourth and fifth verses, making the transition to the final Antichrist here, answering to the chasm (in his view) at Da 8:22, 23. king of ... south--literally, "of midday": Egypt (Da 11:8, 42), Ptolemy Soter, son of Lagus. He took the title "king," whereas Lagus was but "governor." one of his princes--Seleucus, at first a satrap of Ptolemy Lagus, but from 312 B.C. king of the largest empire after that of Alexander (Syria, Babylon, Media, &c.), and called therefore Nicator, that is, "conqueror." Connect the words thus, "And one of his (Ptolemy's) princes, even he (Seleucus) shall be strong above him" (above Ptolemy, his former master).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 The king of the south - This was Ptolemy Lagus, one of his generals, who had the government of Egypt, Libra, etc., which are on the south of Judea. He was strong, for he had added Cyprus, Phoenicia, Caria, etc., to his kingdom of Egypt. And one of his princes - shall be strong above him - This was Seleucus Nicator, who possessed Syria, Babylon, Media, and the neighboring countries. This was the king of the north, for his dominions lay north of Judea.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Daniel 11:1-30

The vision of the Scriptures of truth. Verses 1-30 The angel shows Daniel the succession of the Persian and Grecian empires. The kings of Egypt and Syria are noticed: Judea was between their dominions, and affected by their contests. From Dn 11:5-30, is generally considered to relate to the events which came to pass during the continuance of these governments; and from Dn 11:21, to relate to Antiochus Epiphanes, who…

Read the full comment on Daniel 11:1-30 →

Daniel 11:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְיֶחֱזַ֥קve.ye.che.Zakso he may become strongH2388
מֶֽלֶךְ\־Me.lekh-[the] king ofH4428
הַנֶּ֖גֶבha.Ne.gevthe southH5045
וּמִן\־u.min-and one ofH4480
שָׂרָ֑יוsa.Ravcommanders hisH8269
וְיֶחֱזַ֤קve.ye.che.Zakso he may become strongH2388
עָלָיו֙'a.Lavon himH5921
וּמָשָׁ֔לu.ma.Shaland he will exercise dominionH4910
מִמְשָׁ֥לmi.Shal[will be] a dominionH4474
רַ֖בravgreatH7227
מֶמְשַׁלְתּֽוֹ\׃mem.shal.Todominion hisH4475

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Daniel 11:5

  • Daniel 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.

  • Daniel 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.

  • Daniel 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.

  • Daniel 11:8-9

    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. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land.

  • Daniel 11:3-4

    And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. 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.

  • Daniel 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.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the king.Ptolemy Lagus, king of Egypt, Cyrene, etc.
8,9,11,14,25,40
and one.
3,4
he shall.Seleucus Nicator, who had Syria, etc., to which he added Macedonia and Thrace.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Daniel 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.

  • Daniel 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.

  • Daniel 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.

Read all of Daniel 11

Daniel 11:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y haráse fuerte el rey del mediodía: mas uno de los príncipes de aquél le sobrepujará, y se hará poderoso; su señorío será grande señorío.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et le roi du midi sera fort, et un de ses chefs; mais un autre sera plus fort que lui, et dominera; sa domination sera une grande domination.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und der König des Südens, und zwar einer von seinen Obersten, wird stark werden. Und einer wird stark werden über ihn hinaus und wird herrschen: seine Herrschaft wird eine große Herrschaft sein.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et confortabitur rex austri: et de principibus ejus prævalebit super eum, et dominabitur ditione: multa enim dominatio ejus.