מ וּבְעֵת קֵץ, יִתְנַגַּח עִמּוֹ מֶלֶךְ הַנֶּגֶב, וְיִשְׂתָּעֵר עָלָיו מֶלֶךְ הַצָּפוֹן בְּרֶכֶב וּבְפָרָשִׁים, וּבָאֳנִיּוֹת רַבּוֹת; וּבָא בַאֲרָצוֹת, וְשָׁטַף וְעָבָר.
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, as he passes through.
מא וּבָא בְּאֶרֶץ הַצְּבִי, וְרַבּוֹת יִכָּשֵׁלוּ; וְאֵלֶּה, יִמָּלְטוּ מִיָּדוֹ--אֱדוֹם וּמוֹאָב, וְרֵאשִׁית בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן.
41 He shall enter also into the beauteous land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
מב וְיִשְׁלַח יָדוֹ, בַּאֲרָצוֹת; וְאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, לֹא תִהְיֶה לִפְלֵיטָה.
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
מג וּמָשַׁל, בְּמִכְמַנֵּי הַזָּהָב וְהַכֶּסֶף, וּבְכֹל, חֲמֻדוֹת מִצְרָיִם--וְלֻבִים וְכֻשִׁים, בְּמִצְעָדָיו.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
In light of
recent developments, could the king of the north be NATO and Qaddafi be the king of the south? Qaddafi
was proclaimed and proclaimed himself King of Kings of Africa - which is "Negev" in both senses of the word - South and dry.
In 2008 a group of more than 200 African kings and traditional rulers proclaimed Gaddafi King of Kings of Africa.
and
On 29 August 2008, Gaddafi held a public ceremony in Benghazi in the presence of over 200 African traditional rulers and kings in which he proclaimed himself to be "King of Kings of Africa" as part of a grassroots effort to encourage African heads of state and government to join with Gaddafi toward a greater political cohesion.[79]
On the other hand, I don't see NATO entering Israel or Egypt so soon, but one never can count that out.
Anyways, looking at the
Malbim on Daniel 12:7, he says:
ולפירוש רי"א שאז תכלינה ממשלות ישמעאל בעצמו, ודבר הנאמר בשבועה אי אפשר שישונה בשום אופן, כי הוא הזמן האחרון שמוכרחים להגאל אז, וכבר בארתי זמן הזה למעלה במה שכתוב עדן עדנים ופלג עדן. א"ל אחר שיכלו מועד מועדים וחצי מן הזמן הכולל, ובעת שיכלה נפץ יד עם קדש, דהיינו זמן פיזור עם קדש ונפוצתם מה שאזלת יד ואפס עצור ועזוב, אז תכלינה כל אלה, והרי"א פירש שתכלינה ממשלות השרים העומדים על שפת היאור, כי אז תתחיל מלכות שמים, כמו שכתוב למעלה במחזה הראשונה וליה יהיב שלטן ויקר
It's unclear to me if יאור means the Tigris (like מצודת דוד says) or the Nile or both.
Translation upon request.
Update: I didn't have time to translate this before Shabbat. So, I'll try to do it now to the best of my ability. First of all,
the verse is (Mechon Mamre translation):
ז וָאֶשְׁמַע אֶת-הָאִישׁ לְבוּשׁ הַבַּדִּים, אֲשֶׁר מִמַּעַל לְמֵימֵי הַיְאֹר, וַיָּרֶם יְמִינוֹ וּשְׂמֹאלוֹ אֶל-הַשָּׁמַיִם, וַיִּשָּׁבַע בְּחֵי הָעוֹלָם: כִּי לְמוֹעֵד מוֹעֲדִים וָחֵצִי, וּכְכַלּוֹת נַפֵּץ יַד-עַם-קֹדֶשׁ--תִּכְלֶינָה כָל-אֵלֶּה.
7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he lifted up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by Him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
The Malbim says (my translation):
And according to the explanation of Ribbi Yitzhak Abravanel,
then the kingdoms of Yishmael himself will be finished, and something that was said as a vow cannot be changed in any way - because that is the final time that we will be then be required to be redeemed. I already explained this time period earlier [Daniel 7:25] in what it says "a time, times, and a half a time". It's possible to say that after a time, times and a half will be finished from the inclusive time period, and at the time "when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people", which is the scattering of the holy people and their dispersion is [due to the fact] "
that their stay is gone, and there is none remaining, shut up or left at large", then all these things will be finished. And Ribbi Yitzhak Abravanel explains that
the kingdoms of officers who stand on the bank of the river will be finished because then is when the Kingdom of Heaven begins, as it says earlier [Daniel 7:14] "And there was given him dominion, and glory".