What Does Daniel 11:18 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew repeats the root for “turn”: he turns toward the coastlands, then the reproach he sends turns back upon him.
THE MEANING
An advance toward distant shores gathers many, but a commander interrupts the reproach and turns it back upon its sender. The movement is not one-way: what is aimed outward can return to its source while the one who redirects it remains without reproach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that whoever gains ground can keep contempt pointed outward: the reproach can be stopped and returned to the one who sent it.
THE ROOT
וְיָשֵׁב
wəyāšēḇ yāšîḇ
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
to turn back, return
The same root describes the turn toward the coastlands and the reproach’s return upon its sender. English presents two moments; Hebrew binds them with one movement, so the advance already carries the possibility of reversal.
ALSO GROWS
teshuvah: return, turning back
תְּשׁוּבָה
This branch makes the root’s return-movement explicit: the verse’s final turn sends the reproach back where it came from.
meshiv: one who returns or restores
מֵשִׁיב
The root can describe bringing something back, echoing the commander’s redirection of the reproach.
הִשְׁבִּית
hišbît
GROWS FROM
שׁבת
sh-b-t
to cease, stop, come to rest
The commander first makes the reproach cease; the return follows that stoppage. The verse’s answer to reproach is both an end to its forward motion and a reversal of its direction.
ALSO GROWS
shavat: to cease, stop, rest
שָׁבַת
This verb is the root’s basic action: the reproach is brought to a stop.
shabbat: Sabbath, cessation or rest
שַׁבָּת
The Sabbath name carries the same root of stopping, illuminating the still point before the reproach turns back.
חֶרְפָּתוֹ
ḥerpātô
GROWS FROM
חָרַף
ḥ-r-p
to reproach, taunt, shame
The verse uses the same word for the reproach that is stopped and the reproach that is returned. It treats contempt as something directed from one person to another, and then changes who bears it.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāraph: to reproach, taunt
חָרַף
The verb names the act behind the noun in the verse: reproach is sent toward another.
məḥārēph: one who reproaches or taunts
מְחָרֵף
This branch names the person doing the reproaching; the verse’s closing turn directs the reproach back to its sender.
THE PATTERN
What is directed outward can return to its source, while a countering authority brings the attempted harm to a stop.
His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.THE THREAD
His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.Daniel uses שׁוּב (shuv, “turn” or “return”) for both the turn toward the coastlands and the reproach’s return. Psalm 7:16 uses that same root for mischief returning upon its maker, making the reversal a shared word as well as a shared pattern.
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