His sons: that is, the sons of the king of Syria (“the king of the north”). It is important to ensure that the persons referred to by the pronoun be made clear. This will mean using a noun phrase like “the king’s sons” in place of the pronoun. This is especially important at the beginning of a new paragraph.

Wage war and assemble a multitude: if the first verb is taken to mean “make war,” as the Revised Standard Version rendering so indicates, then this expression is not in logical order. But the meaning here is rather “prepare for war” as in Good News Translation and New International Version. Compare also New American Bible, which is more literal: “But his sons shall prepare and assemble a great armed host.” The most important element in preparing for war is the gathering together of a large group of warriors. The multitude of great forces consists therefore of soldiers, and it will be important to make this clear in most languages.

The second half of this verse switches the subject abruptly from a plural subject, His sons, to the third person singular masculine pronoun. It is confusing to say “he” without a singular noun that it can refer back to (as in New Jerusalem Bible and New Jerusalem Bible), and misleading to use the relative pronoun which (New International Version and New Revised Standard Version) referring to the assembled armies. Some versions attempt to reflect the singular pronoun by saying “one of them” (New English Bible/Revised English Bible and Good News Translation), referring to one of the sons of the Syrian king. This is probably the best solution to a difficult problem.

The Hebrew text that follows contains no less than five different verbs in series. The first is repeated in the infinitive form. A literal rendering of these verbs is:

(a) he will come on to come on and
(b) he will overflow and
(c) he will pass along and
(d) he will turn and
(e) he will do battle

In the following comments, discussions of these verbs are marked by letters within brackets for the sake of easier reference.

(a) The duplication of the first verb, come on, serves as a kind of emphasis. The King James Version rendering “shall certainly come” is not bad. The verb translated come on is the ordinary word “come” used several times in the verses immediately preceding. The translation come on is repeated in verse 13, but there is no reason to translate by any verb other than “come.” It is the repetition here that requires a more emphatic translation.
(b) The verb overflow gives a picture of flowing water that spills over the banks of its normal course. Since this is incompatible with a singular subject, it is possible to shift the subject once again and add “and with his soldiers, he will….” The imagery of an army as a flood is taken from Isa 8.8. The flood image is retained in most English versions.
(c) The verb translated pass through can also mean “cross over” and possibly refers to crossing over the border into the other country, but this can also be taken as a part of the flood imagery.
(d) The next verb is the subject of considerable debate. It may mean “carry on” or “turn back,” or simply again. New American Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and King James Version take it to mean “return,” “turn back,” or “retreat.” New International Version, New English Bible, An American Translation, and Moffatt prefer the meaning “press forward” or “carry on.” And New Jerusalem Bible and New American Standard Bible, as well as Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, translate the same term “again.” The meaning “press forward” is probably to be preferred.
(e) According to the traditional written text, this verb has a plural subject, “they will attack (or do battle),” but the ancient specialists in the Jewish holy books noted in the margin of the manuscripts that it should be read as a singular, “he will attack.” This suggestion is followed by most modern versions.

His fortress: the possessive pronoun his in this case refers back to the king of Egypt. The reference here is probably to “the fortress of Gaza” (Moffatt), which was the strongest fortification in southern Judea. However, it is probably better not to be as precise as this in translation. It can be rendered “the enemy’s strongest town” or something similar. New Jerusalem Bible has “the southern stronghold,” while Revised English Bible has simply “the enemy stronghold.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .