דניאל, פרק י״א, פסוק י׳

The geopolitical struggle between rival powers intensifies as the conflict passes to the next generation, bringing massive military recruitment and intense campaigns. The primary approach among commentators is that the sons of the Northern king take up arms, actively starting a new war against the king of the South. This renewed aggression is driven by a desire to avenge the loss of their father in the previous conflict [יוסף אבן יחיא]. To achieve this, they gather an enormous army drawn from many different nations.

The military advance is marked by continuous, unstoppable movement [רש״י]. This relentless progression represents either the sheer magnitude of the gathered troops [אבן עזרא, מצודת דוד] or the focused leadership of a single surviving son who takes sole command of the campaign [מלבי״ם]. The nature of the invasion is compared to a fast flowing flood, with the army violently washing away and destroying everything in its path as it moves southward [מצודת דוד, יוסף אבן יחיא, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. While this destruction is primarily a land invasion, it may also involve the deployment of warships [אבן עזרא].

The conflict does not conclude with this initial surge. The Northern forces eventually return to launch another offensive against the Southern king. This return to the battlefield is the result of a broken temporary peace agreement. The Southern king had deceitfully requested peace merely to buy time and rebuild his strength; once the Northern leader discovers this trickery, he strikes a second time [מלבי״ם]. The ultimate goal of this deep Northern invasion is to penetrate all the way to the Southern king's heavily fortified royal city [רש״י, מצודת דוד], or at the very least, to reach his strategic border fortress [מלבי״ם, יוסף אבן יחיא].