Daniel 11:30 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 11:30
For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
a ship (as a fixture) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Chittim
כִּתִּים֙ki.Tim
H3794
a Kittite or Cypriote · proper noun, a place name
come
וּבָ֨אוּu.Va.'u
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
grieved
וְנִכְאָ֔הve.nikh.'Ah
H3512
to despond · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
return
וְשָׁ֛בve.Shav
H7725
to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
indignation
וְזָעַ֥םve.za.'Am
H2194
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
holy
ק֖וֹדֶשׁKo.desh
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular absolute
covenant
בְּרִֽיתbe.rit-
H1285
a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · noun, common feminine singular construct
do
וְעָשָׂ֑הve.'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
return
וְשָׁ֣בve.Shav
H7725
to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
intelligence
וְיָבֵ֔ןve.ya.Ven
H995
to separate mentally (or distinguish) · conjunction + verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
forsake
עֹזְבֵ֖י'o.ze.Vei
H5800
to loosen · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
holy
קֹֽדֶשׁKo.desh
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular absolute
covenant
בְּרִ֥יתbe.Rit
H1285
a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · noun, common feminine singular construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 10:4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
Numbers 24:24 And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.
Isaiah 23:12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have…
Jeremiah 2:10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
Daniel 11:28 Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return…
Isaiah 23:1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it…
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: an…
Matthew 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 11:21–end
All this is a prophecy of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, the little horn spoken of before (Dan 8:9) a sworn enemy to the Jewish religion, and a bitter persecutor of those that adhered to it. What troubles the Jews met with in the reigns of the Persian kings were not so particularly foretold to Daniel as these, because then they had living prophets with them, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage them; but these troubles in the days of Antiochus were foretold, because, before that time, prophecy would cease, and they would find it necessary to have recourse to the written word. Some things in this prediction concerning Antiochus are alluded to in the New Testament predictions of the antichris…
ships of Chittim--the Roman ambassadors arriving in Macedonian Grecian vessels (see on Jer 2:10). Chittim, properly Cyprian, so called from a Phœnician colony in Cyprus; then the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean in general.
grieved--humbled and dispirited through fear of Rome.
indignation against the holy covenant--Indignant that meantime God's worship had been restored at Jerusalem, he gives vent to his wrath at the check given him by Rome, on the Jews.
intelligence with them that forsake the . . . covenant--namely, with the apostates in the nation (1 Maccabees 1:11-15). Menelaus and other Jews instigated the king against their religion and country, learning from Greek philoso…
For the ships of Chittim shall come against him - Chittim is well known to mean the Roman empire. Antiochus, being now in full march to besiege Alexandria, and within seven miles of that city, heard that ships were arrived there from Rome, with legates from the senate. He went to salute them. They delivered to him the letters of the senate, in which he was commanded, on pain of the displeasure of the Roman people, to put an end to the war against his nephews. Antiochus said he would go and consult his friends; on which Popilius, one of the legates, took his staff, and instantly drew a circle round Antiochus on the sand where he stood, and commanded him not to pass that circle till he had giv…
The Church Fathers
"And those who arrive from Kittim will come to him, and they will be brought low." He will ally himself with many Cypriots and other islanders (Kition to the present day is the main city of Cyprus); then he will set out against Egypt but return defeated and humiliated. "And he will return and become angry at the holy covenant." He will spew forth against the holy covenant all his anger that came about because of his defeat. And he will show this anger in action, for he says, "and he will act." At his second coming he will slaughter many, and he will make a treaty with those who had abandoned the holy covenant. He will accomplish every plan of the transgressors, that is, those who wish to deny that they are Jews and who wish instead to act as Greeks.
"And the galleys shall come upon him, and the Romans, and he shall be dealt a heavy blow." Or, as another has rendered it, "...and they shall threaten him with attack." Both the Greek and the Roman historians relate that after Antiochus had been expelled from Egypt and had gone back once more, he came to Judaea, that is, against the holy covenant, and that he despoiled the Temple and removed a huge amount of gold; and then, having stationed a garrison in the citadel, he returned to his own land. And then two years later he gathered an army against Ptolemy and came to the South. And while he was besieging his two nephews, the brothers of Ptolemy and sons of Cleopatra, at Alexandria, some Roman envoys arrived on the scene, one of whom was Marcus Popilius Laenas. And when he had found Antiochus standing on the shore and had conveyed the senatorial decree to him by which he was ordered to withdraw from those who were friends of the Roman people and to content himself with his own domain, then Antiochus delayed his reply in order to consult with his friends. But Laenas is said to have made a circle in the sand with the staff which he held in his hand, and to have drawn it around the king, saying, "The senate and people of Rome give order for you to make answer in this very spot as to what your decision is." At these words Antiochus was greatly alarmed and said, "If this is the good pleasure of the senate and people of Rome, then I must withdraw." And so he immediately set his army in motion. But he is said to have been dealt a heavy blow, not that he was killed but that he lost all of his proud prestige. As for the Antichrist, there is no question but what he is going to fight against the holy covenant, and that when he first makes war against the king of Egypt, he shall straightway be frightened off by the assistance of the Romans. But these events were typically prefigured under Antiochus Epiphanes, so that this abominable king who persecuted God's people foreshadows the Antichrist, who is to persecute the people of Christ. And so there are many of our viewpoint who think that Domitius Nero was the Antichrist because of his outstanding savagery and depravity. "And he shall return and shall be angry at the covenant of the sanctuary, and he shall succeed; and he shall return and take thought concerning (Vulgate: against) those who have abandoned the covenant of…
Dictionary and topics
Chittim, Kittim — (bruisers), a family or race descended from Javan. (Genesis 10:4; 1 Chronicles 1:7) Authorized Version Kittim. Chittim is frequently noticed in Scripture. (Numbers 24:24; Isaiah 23:1,12; Jeremiah…
Ptolemaeus, Or Ptolemy — was the common name of the Greek dynasty of Egyptian kings. PTOLEMAEUS I. SOTER, the son of Lagus, a Macedonian of low rank, distinguished himself greatly during the campaigns of Alexander; at whose…
Forsaking God · Is forsaking: His covenant — Is forsaking: His covenant
Navy · Of Chittim — Of Chittim
Ship · Warships used by Chittim — Warships used by Chittim
Ships · Mentioned in scripture: Of Chittim — Mentioned in scripture: Of Chittim
Syria · Prophecies respecting: Its history in connection with the Macedonia empire — Prophecies respecting: Its history in connection with the Macedonia empire
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
For the ships of Chittim shall come against him,.... Ptolemy king of Egypt, and his brother, being come to an agreement, sent an embassy to the senate of Rome, to implore their help and assistance against Antiochus, who was preparing to besiege them in Alexandria; upon which they sent their ambassadors Caius Popilius Laenas, Caius Decimus, and Caius Hostilius, in ships from Macedonia (z), or Greece, to Antiochus, to require him to desist from making war upon Ptolemy, and that he quit the land of Egypt; see Numbers 24:24. Macedonia is called the land of Cittim, in the Apocrypha:
"And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had sm…
Daniel 11:29-30
29. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
29. Ad tempus revertetur et veniet in AEgyptum: et non erit ut prius, it a posterius. [174]
30. For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
30. Et venient contra eum naves Cithim, et debilitabitur, [175] et revertetur, et indignabitur adversus foedus sanctitatis, et faciet, et revertetur, et intelliget, [176] ad desertores foederis sanctitatis.
First of al…
In order that he might bring Egypt wholly under his power, he undertook a new expedition thither (וּבא ישׁוּב, he comes again). But this expedition, like the first, was not successful (כ־כ, as-so, cf. Jos 14:11; Eze 18:4). For the ships of Chittim come against him. כּתּים ציּים, ships the Chittaei, for כּתּים מיד צים, Num 24:24, whence the expression is derived כּתּים is Cyprus with its chief city Κίττιον (now Chieti or Chitti); see under Gen 10:4. Ships coming from Cyprus are ships which come from the west, from the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. In 1 Macc. 1:1 and 8:5 כּתּים is interpreted of Macedonia, according to which Bertholdt and Dereser think of the Macedonian fleet with…
Antiochus IV invaded the south [Egypt] . . . once again (see Polybius, Histories 29.1). • The warships from western coastlands refers to the Romans. The Roman general Popilius Laenas drew a circle in the sand, forced Antiochus to stand inside it, and made him decide whether to return home or prepare for war with Rome before exiting the circle. Fearing the Roman fleet, Antiochus chose to withdraw and return home. He then vented his anger and humiliation against the Jews, the people of the holy covenant. He took Jerusalem in 167 BC and rewarded those who would come over to him. He polluted the altar (see Dan 8:9-14, 23-26), stopped the sacrifices, set up a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the T…
will come upon him to battle with him.
companies Heb. צִיִים.
Kittites Romans, troops from the kingdom of Rome who will rebel against him.
and he will be crushed He will be slightly broken.
and he will return and be wroth with the holy covenant And he will return to his land and abrogate the treaty he had made with Israel.
and he will return and contemplate those who abandoned the holy covenant He will put his mind to it and contemplate that Israel has abandoned the holy covenant (and law), and unwarranted hatred and controversy will increase in the Second Temple [era], as is written in the book of Josiphon (ch. 45), and they will shed innocent blood, and he will rely on this and know t…