OET interlinear DAN 11:30

11:30a

Ships of Kittim will come against him: This verse part begins to explain how and why this second invasion turned out differently. The king of the North was attacked by some Ships of Kittim. The word Kittim was a term used to refer to people from the islands and coastlands of the western Mediterranean.11:30 The ancient Jewish historian Josephus wrote that the term Kittim came to be used “for all islands and most maritime countries.” See Lucas, page 286. Scholars agree that here this is a reference to the Romans, and you may wish to mention this in a footnote. Some Roman forces confronted Antiochus in 168 B.C. and demanded that he withdraw from Egypt, which he did. Here are some other ways to translate this:

Ships of Kittim will sail against him (REB)

Ships from the west will come to attack him (CEV)

The men of the west will come in ships to fight/oppose him

11:30b-c

Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage: After the Romans confronted him, Antiochus left Egypt and attacked Jerusalem. See 1 Maccabees 1:29–40 and 2 Maccabees 5:24–26 for a description of the events surrounding this.

11:30b

and he will lose heart: The Hebrew clause that the BSB translates as and he will lose heart means “he will become discouraged.” Here are some other ways to translate this:

and he will be disheartened

and he will be discouraged (CEV)

and he will give up the/his attempt to invade the south

11:30c

rage against the holy covenant and do damage: The Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as rage is literally “curse, scold.” The idea is that the king would be very angry and would express that anger. Here are some other ways to translate this:

be enraged and take action against the holy covenant (ESV)

show his anger against the holy agreement (NCV)

So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant: This verse part indicates that the king of the North would go back to Jerusalem. This refers to the same journey as the previous verse part. There he would favor unfaithful Jews, those of the Jewish people who were unfaithful to their God and religion. Here are some other ways to translate this:

so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant (NASB)

He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant (ESV)

Since the previous verse mentions “turning back” to Jerusalem, some translations do not repeat the travel verb (he will return) here. Only one journey is involved, described with two verbs. For example:

while showing kindness to those who are unfaithful (CEV)

He will be good to those who have stopped obeying the holy agreement (NCV)

and…will favor those who forsake that holy covenant (NJB)

show favor: The Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as show favor is more literally “pay attention.” It is implied that he will pay attention in a positive way to these people, listening to them and helping them.

those who forsake the holy covenant: The phrase those who forsake the holy covenant refers to Jewish people who were unfaithful to Yahweh and his covenant with Israel. These people were willing to follow the pagan practices of the king of the north.

11:30d