From here to the end of the prophecy, the king of the south is often involved in conflict. All the way to verse 40 it is unmistakably identified with Egypt and it is never considered to be a symbol of atheism, simply because atheism was not a part of Egyptian ideology at this time. There is no indication that this identity is to change in verse 40. Nor is there any indication that the application is to shift from literal world powers to symbolic ones in this verse.