What does Daniel 11:3 mean?

An angel appeared to Daniel around 536 BC (Daniel 10:1) to relate further details about the future (Daniel 11:2). The prior verse indicated that four rulers would emerge after Cyrus of Persia. The fourth, later revealed as Xerxes, would amass enormous wealth and power before attacking Greece in 480 BC. This verse indicates another king, coming after Xerxes, with absolute and uncontested rule. This was fulfilled nearly 150 years after Xerxes, when Alexander the Great conquered Persia between 334 and 330 BC.

Aspects of this prediction affirm other prophecies given to Daniel. The image from Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2:1) included segments representing the Persian and Greek empires (Daniel 2:32). In chapter 7, Alexander the Great was symbolized by a leopard with wings (Daniel 7:6), and then by a "horn" of a goat in chapter 8 (Daniel 8:5). Alexander's might and power were proven by his rapid conquest of lands as far away as India. However, Alexander would die without an established heir; when he died, his massive territory was divided into four separate regions controlled by his generals (Daniel 11:4).