OET interlinear DAN 11:5

11:5a

The king of the South will grow strong: The phrase The king of the South refers to the ruler of Egypt. This becomes clear in verse 8. You may wish to include a footnote stating that the South is a reference to Egypt. Many scholars believe this particular king to be Ptolemy I. He was one of Alexander the Great’s generals. After Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., Ptolemy received power in Egypt. His title was first Satrap and then Pharaoh. He ruled Egypt until his death in 282 BC. He began the Ptolomaic dynasty, which ruled in Egypt until 30 B.C. All the male rulers of this dynasty were named Ptolemy. The references to The king of the South in the rest of this chapter can refer to any of these Ptolomaic kings.

11:5b

but one of his commanders will grow even stronger: The Hebrew more literally says, “but one of his commanders will become strong over/against him.” This indicates that one of the Egyptian military commanders would rebel against the king of the South, the Egyptian pharaoh. Here are some other ways to translate this:

one of his officers shall grow stronger than he (NRSV)

one of his own officials will become more powerful than he (NLT)

One of his subordinates/generals will also grow strong. He will resist the king of the south.

one of his commanders: The phrase one of his commanders refers to one of the military officers of the king of the South. Here is another way to translate this:

One of his generals (GNT)

This is probably a reference to the general named Seleucus. He was one of Alexander the Great’s generals and later a commander under Ptolemy. He himself came to rule a great empire now called the Seleucid Empire. He was succeeded by his son Antiochus I in 281 B.C. His family line, the Seleucid dynasty, remained in power until 64 B.C. The Seleucid Empire came to include the lands that are now known as Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. These lands are all north of Egypt, and this chapter of Daniel refers to the ruler of the Seleucid Empire as “the king of the North.” Some English versions, such as the GNT, refer to this empire as “Syria.” However, it was much larger than the country now known as Syria.

You may wish to put some of this information in a footnote.

11:5c

and will rule his own kingdom with great authority: There is a textual problem here:

1. The traditional Hebrew text says “and he will rule a dominion great his dominion.” For example, the RSV follows this text says:

   and his dominion shall be a great dominion (RSV) (BSB, RSV, KJV, NASB, ESV, NLT, GW, NCV)

2. Other texts indicate a comparison with the dominion/kingdom of the king of the south. For example, the GNT follows these texts and says:

   and rule a greater kingdom (GNT) (GNT, NRSV, NJB, REB, NET, CEV)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), that of the Masoretic Text.11:5 This is the recommendation of HOTTP, CTAT, and the UBS Handbook.