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1 Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.

2 And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.

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

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.

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.

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.

7 But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail:

8 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.

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

10 But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.

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.

12 And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it.

13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches.

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.

15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.

16 But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed.

17 He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him.

18 After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him.

19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.

20 Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.

21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.

23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.

24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

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.

26 Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain.

27 And both of these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.

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 to his own land.

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.

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.

31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.

34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.

35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.

36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.

38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.

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.

41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.

42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.

45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

<html><b>As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede</b> when the kingdom of Babylon fell, and the rule of Media and Persia commenced, and the princes of Media and Persia entreated the Omnipresent to make the yoke of their frightful rule heavy upon you, I, Gabriel, stood as a supporter and as a stronghold for Michael, your prince.</html>

<html><b>Behold three more kings</b> Our Sages of blessed memory in Seder Olam (ch. 28) said: “This refers to Cyrus, Ahasuerus, and Darius who rebuilt the Temple. Now what is the meaning of fourth’? The fourth, counting from Media.” In the book of Joseph Ben Gorion, however, it is written that Cyrus had a son who succeeded him before the reign of Ahasuerus, named Cambyses. <b>and when he becomes strong</b> i.e., Darius. <b>with his wealth, he will arouse</b> his entire kingdom to wage war against the kingdom of the heathens.</html>

<html><b>And a mighty king will arise</b> in Greece, viz. Alexander of Macedon. <b>and do according to his will</b> with Darius the king of Persia, and he will slay him and receive his kingdom, and the Persians will be enslaved by the heathens [the Greeks.</html>

<html><b>And when he arises, his kingdom will be broken</b> When he becomes very strong and reaches the height of his strength, his kingdom will be broken, meaning that he will die. <b>and it will be divided to the four directions of the heavens</b> It is written in the book of Ben Gorion (ch. 14) that he divided his kingdom between the four heads of his family; they are the four heads of the leopard that Daniel saw (above 7:6): “And behold another one, like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird on its back, and the beast had four heads.” He gave this one dominion in the east, this one in the west, this one in the north and this one in the south, and so in the first vision (8:8): “an appearance of four sprouted in its stead,” concerning the horns of the he-goat. <b>but not to his posterity</b> The dominion will not come to his sons but to his family members. [The word] אַחֲרִיתוֹ coincides only with the expression of sons, and so Scripture states (Amos 4:2): “and you shall be borne on shields and your posterity (אַחֲרִיתְכֶן) in fishing boats,” which Jonathan renders: and your sons (sic) and daughters in fishermen’s boats. <b>and not like the dominion that he ruled</b> but the kingdom of these will not be as strong as that of Alexander. <b>for his kingdom will be uprooted</b> to divide to these four heads and to others besides these.</html>

<html><b>And the king of the south will overwhelm</b> The head who will reign in the south will be stronger than the head opposite him who reigns in the north, and [stronger] than his officers.</html>

<html><b>to make a compromise</b> a compromise of peace between him and her father. <b>will not retain, etc.</b> The king of the north will capture her, those who brought her, and her father who begot her and supported her in her time of trouble. <b>will not retain</b> The arm of those who brought her [will not retain] strength to stand, [and her father will not prevail] before him, neither he nor his arm, meaning his mighty men. <b>will be surrendered</b> into the hands of the king of the north, <b>she and those who brought her, and he who begot her</b>, i.e., her father.</html>

<html><b>A scion of her roots will arise</b> a son sitting on his position, on the throne of the kingdom. <b>and he will come to the army</b> to the king of the north. <b>into the stronghold of the king of the north</b> i.e., in the cities of his strength, in his fortresses. <b>and he will succeed in them</b> Heb. וְעָשָׂה בָהֶם, lit. and he will succeed against them. <b>and take hold</b> and he will conquer them.</html>

<html><b>their princes</b> [as translated,] their princes.</html>

<html><b>And he will come into the kingdom of the king of the south</b> Through the kingdom of the king of the south, who was her father’s father, he will return to his land, which is Egypt, as is stated above: “will bring in captivity to Egypt.”</html>

<html><b>And his sons</b> [i.e., the sons] of the king of the north will agitate. <b>and he will come</b> Heb. וּבָא בוֹא, like וְהוֹלֵךְ הָלוֹךְ. The son of the king of the north will come and pass to the land of the south. <b>and he will return and agitate</b> against the king of the south. <b>until his stronghold</b> his fortified city.</html>

<html><b>will wage war</b> will fight against the people. <b>and the multitude will be given into his hand</b> [i.e., the multitude] of the king of the north [will be given] into his hand.</html>

<html><b>And the multitude will be raised up</b> that of the king of the north, to become very haughty, for they planned in their hearts to be victorious in the war. <b>and he will fell myriads</b> many of the army of the king of the south. <b>but he will not prevail</b> Nevertheless, the victory of the war will not be his.</html>

<html><b>and the sons of the renegades of your people will exalt themselves to bring about the vision</b> I saw in the name of Rav Saadia Gaon that they were the renegades of Israel and their company.</html>

<html><b>and the people of his chosen ones</b> will be in the war. <b>will have no strength to stand</b> before the king of the north, and although there is a superfluous “vav” here, it is customary for Scripture to speak in this manner as in, for example: “As for its nobles, there are none (וְאֵין) who proclaim the kingdom,” Isaiah (34:12).</html>

<html><b>will do</b> The king of the north, who comes to the king of the south, [will do] as he wishes. <b>in the land of beauty</b> in the land of Israel. <b>and he will destroy it</b> He will destroy the land with his army.</html>

<html><b>And he will set his face</b> i.e., the king of the north, to come into the strength of the entire kingdom of the king of the south. <b>and the upright will be with him</b> and Israel will be with the king of the south. Also with them will the king of the north battle in those days. <b>and he will succeed</b> Heb. וְעָשָׂה, lit. and he will do. <b>Now the daughter of the women he will give him to destroy her</b> This is the nation of Israel, [referred to in Song of Songs 1:8 as] “the fairest of women.” The king of the north will command the general of his army to destroy her. I say that he is Antiochus, the king of Greece, who issued decrees against Israel, and he commanded his general, Phillip, to kill whoever identified himself as a Jew, as is written in the book of Josiphon (ch. 18). <b>but it will not stand</b> this counsel of his. <b>and she will not be for him</b> the daughter of the women, for Mattathias the son of Johanan will rise and break off his [Antiochus’s] yoke from Israel.</html>

<html><b>and the Prince will terminate his blasphemy to Him</b> His reproach and his blasphemy, with which he blasphemed the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel, as is written in the book of Josiphon (ch. 20), and He punished him, for He smote him with evil boils while he was in transit, for he went to besiege Jerusalem, and his flesh became putrid, his limbs fell off and he ordered his slaves to bring him back to Antioch, but he did not manage to get there before he died of evil illnesses.</html>

<html><b>to the strongholds of his land</b> to return to his fortified city.</html>

<html><b>And one who removes the oppressor will stand on his base</b> and Mattathias the son of Johanan, who removed the oppressor from Israel, and who is the glory of the kingdom of Israel, will strengthen himself on his base on Mt. Modin, for he will be a prince and a mighty man, he and all his descendants after him, viz. the Hasmoneans. <b>in a few days it will be broken</b> In a few days, their kingdom will be broken. <b>but not with anger</b> of another nation. <b>and not with war</b> but from themselves and with themselves, that Hyrcanus and Aristobulus will be jealous over the throne.</html>

<html><b>And a contemptible person will stand on his base</b> Then the kingdom of Rome will strengthen itself on its stand, as it says (Obad. 1:2): “you are very despised,” and the Romans will rise and take the kingdom from the Greeks.</html>

<html><b>And the arms of inundation</b> And the mighty of the kingdom, who previously were inundating and powerful, will be inundated before the Romans and be broken. <b>and also the king with whom they made a covenant</b> Also the king of Israel, who will form a treaty with them, will ultimately be inundated from before him, for [the Romans] will violate the treaty and betray them, as our Sages of blessed memory said: “Twenty-six years they kept their trust with Israel, but later they subjugated them.”</html>

<html><b>And from the alliance with him he will work deceitfully</b> And from the alliance that Rome will make with Israel, he will work deceitfully, for he will not reveal his evil plan. <b>and he will go up</b> from his place. <b>and overpower</b> in all places around the land of Judea: in Edom, in Ammon, and in Moab. <b>with few people</b> He will not require a massive army, for the king of Judea will aid him, and so it is written in the book of Josiphon (ch. 23).</html>

<html><b>plunder and spoils and belongings he will distribute to them</b> He will distribute to those who accept their yoke upon themselves until they conquer all with flattery and smooth speech. <b>will distribute</b> Heb. יִבְזוֹר, like יִפְזוֹר. and so (Ps. 68:31): “he scatters (בִּזַר) peoples.” <b>and about the fortresses</b> of the nations he will devise in his plans—to station [in them] the heads of his troops until the time that all will be conquered under them.</html>

<html><b>and he will not stand</b> the king of the south. <b>because they will devise plans against him</b> They will plot against him to fell him through the bribery that they will bribe his officers to betray him, as he concludes: “and those who eat his food will break him.”</html>

<html><b>his food</b> Heb. פַּת־בָּגוֹ, his food; one who takes a portion from his table.</html>

<html><b>As for the two kings</b> the officer of the Romans and the king with whom they made to covenant, which is mentioned above. That is Hyrcanus, who will form an alliance to aid him so that he, too, will aid him against Aristobulus his brother, ruling in Jerusalem. <b>their hearts are to do evil</b> to the people of your nation, to harm Judea. <b>and on one table</b> They will murmur lies about the kingdom of Aristobulus. <b>but it will not succeed</b> for Israel will not be surrendered to destruction in those days. <b>for there is still an end to the appointed time</b> of the destruction, at the end of sixty two weeks [of years], stated in this Book (9:25), and that appointed time is in the days of Agrippa, the son of Agrippa of the seed of Herod.</html>

<html><b>And he will return</b> The Roman king [will return] to his land from [fighting] with the king of the south with many possessions. <b>and his heart is on the covenant with the holy ones</b> to abrogate his treaty with Israel. <b>and he will succeed</b> Heb. וְעָשָׂה, lit. and he will do, i.e., and he will succeed and return to his land.</html>

<html><b>After a time</b> Heb. לַמּוֹעֵד, after a time. but this coming <b>will not be</b> as successful as the first one mentioned above (verse 7): “A scion of her roots will arise etc.,” in which the king of the north succe eded over the king of the south, or like the last, meaning this second time, about which we said: “and he will return to his land” with many possessions.</html>

<html><b>will come upon him</b> to battle with him. <b>companies</b> Heb. צִיִים. <b>Kittites</b> Romans, troops from the kingdom of Rome who will rebel against him. <b>and he will be crushed</b> He will be slightly broken. <b>and he will return and be wroth with the holy covenant</b> And he will return to his land and abrogate the treaty he had made with Israel. <b>and he will return and contemplate those who abandoned the holy covenant</b> 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 that he will succeed, and he will abrogate his treaty with them and provoke them.</html>

<html><b>And arms from him will stand</b> He will send his officers and his mighty men to Jerusalem. <b>and they will profane</b> the stronghold of the Temple.</html>

<html><b>And those who deal wickedly against the covenant</b> The renegades of Israel, who will join him and deal wickedly against their covenant with their fellows, he will flatter with smooth speech. <b>but the people that knows its God</b> but the devout of Israel, who will adhere to the fear of their God will grasp it and not abandon it. <b>and perform</b> their Torah.</html>

<html><b>And the wise of the people</b> the wise among them, such as the household of Rabbi [Judah Hanasi] and the sages of the generations. <b>will allow the public to understand</b> They will preach the Torah to the common people and encourage them to adhere to it. <b>will stumble</b> in their exile by the sword and by flames, etc.</html>

<html><b>they will be helped with a little help</b> Through bribes and the money that they will pay tribute to their enemies, they will be helped.</html>

<html><b>will stumble to clarify some of them</b> They will stumble in the calculations of the end, for they will put their mind to refine them and to resolve them to know them, but they will err concerning them.</html>

<html><b>And the king will do as he wishes</b> the kingdom of Rome. <b>and he will succeed until the fury is spent</b> until the wrath of the Holy One, blessed be He, returns from Israel. <b>when it will be finished and executed</b> when His decree will be finished. כִּי is like כַּאֲשֶׁר, when.</html>

<html><b>And he will not contemplate the God of his fathers</b> he will not put his mind to the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, his [i.e., Israel’s] forefathers. <b>the most desirable of women</b> the nation of Israel, [called] fairest of women.</html>

<html><b>But the god of the strongholds</b> the god of the cherubim who will make a treaty with him. <b>on its base he will honor</b> for he will flatter the nations to be subservient to him.</html>

<html><b>And he will construct</b> buildings. <b>for the fortresses of the strongholds with a foreign god</b> i.e., in honor of a foreign god. <b>whomever he will recognize, he will honor increasingly</b> He will increase the honor [and greatness] of those princes whom he will see fit to recognize their faces and to flatter. <b>and he will apportion</b> to them. <b>for a price</b> for little money.</html>

<html><b>And at the time of the end</b> when our redemption draws near. <b>and the king of the north will storm over him</b> over the king of the south.</html>