OET interlinear DAN 11:17

11:17a

He will resolve to come with the strength of his whole kingdom: The Hebrew phrase that the BSB translates as He will resolve is literally “and he will set his face.” This means that the king of the North would make a firm decision. He decided to advance with all his forces toward the kingdom of the South. Here are some other ways to translate this:

He will resolve to advance with the full might of his kingdom (REB)

His intention will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom (NET)

Then the northern king will decide to invade with the power of his entire kingdom

11:17b

and will reach an agreement with the king of the South: There is a textual problem here. The majority of MT manuscripts say “and upright ones/things with him and he will do.” This is not clear, and some scholars suggest the text should read “he will make a treaty/alliance with him.” This is the reading of some ancient versions and some Hebrew manuscripts. However, since “upright things” can be understood as referring to a peace agreement,11:17 The KJV and the GW are alone among major English versions in keeping the reference to upright people. the translation of the two options may be very similar. Apparently, instead of attacking the king of the South, the king of the north decided to make a peace treaty. Here is another way to translate this:

but will then make a treaty with him (NJB)

an agreement: In this context the word that the BSB translates as an agreement refers to an agreement between two kings or countries to not go to war with one another. Other ways to translate it include:

terms of an agreement (ESV)

terms of peace (NRSV)

peace proposal

In some languages it may be more natural to translate this with a descriptive phrase, as the CEV has done:

he will attempt to make peace (CEV)

11:17c

He will give him a daughter in marriage: The pronouns He and him may be confusing here. The meaning is that the king of the North gave his daughter (the first Cleopatra) to the king of the South (Ptolemy V). It may be helpful to make the referent of one or both pronouns explicit. For example:

He will give the king of the south a daughter in marriage (NET)

The king of the North will give one of his daughters as a wife to the king of the South (NCV)

in order to overthrow the kingdom: The kingdom that the king of the North wished to overthrow was the southern kingdom, that is, Egypt. It may be necessary to make that clear in some way. For example:

to destroy his enemy’s kingdom (GNT)

in order to destroy the southern kingdom (GW)

11:17d

but his plan will not succeed or help him: The Hebrew text that the BSB translates as but his plan will not succeed or help him is more literally “but not it [or she] will stand and not it will happen to him.” This verse part indicates that the northern king’s plan to gain more power by marrying his daughter to the Egyptian Pharaoh did not benefit him. His daughter eventually chose to be loyal to her new husband and to Egypt rather than to her father. Here are some other ways to translate this:

but it shall not succeed or be to his advantage (NRSV)

but it will not turn out to his advantage (NET)

but his plans will fail

In some languages it may be natural to translate this as a separate sentence. For example:

But those plans will not succeed or help him (NCV)