Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Daniel 11:11
And the king of the south shall be moved with anger, and shall come forth and fight with him, [even] with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
11. the king of the south ] Ptolemy Philopator.
shall be moved with choler (Dan 8:7), and shall come forth ] to meet the advancing army of Antiochus ( Dan 11:10 b). In the narrative of Polybius, however, Ptolemy appears as the first in the field.
11 b 12 a. Very ambiguous. The two alternative explanations are:
(1) And he (Ptolemy) will raise a great army, and it will be placed under his (Ptolemy’s) command [361] , the fact being mentioned on account of Ptolemy’s unwarlike nature and usual indifference, ( 12) and the multitude (the army of Ptolemy) shall lift itself up (viz. to attack: cf. Isa 33:10 A.V.), its [362] (or his [363] , i.e. Ptolemy’s) heart being exalted, i.e. elated with the prospect of success (von Lengerke, Hitzig, Ewald, Meinhold); (2) And he (Antiochus) will raise a. great army (cf. Dan 11:13 a), but it will be given into his (Ptolemy’s) hands, ( 12) and the multitude (the army of Antiochus) shall be carried away (R.V. marg.; cf. for the rend. Isa 8:4; Isa 40:24; Isa 41:16), and [364] his (Ptolemy’s) heart shall be exalted, i.e. elated with the victory (Bev., Behrm., Keil for Dan 11:11 b, Prince). There are objections to each of these interpretations, both on the score of Heb. usage, and relation to the context, and also on account (see above) of imperfect agreement with the history; but, on the whole, the second is preferable. To be exalted (or lifted up), of the heart, as ch. Dan 5:20; Deu 8:14; Deu 17:20.
[361] ‘Give into the hand,’ as Gen 32:17; Gen 39:4 , 2Sa 10:10.
[362] Heb. text (with no ‘and’).
[363] Heb. text (with no ‘and’).
[364] Heb. marg. (with ‘and’).
set forth ] lit. cause to stand up, i.e. raise; so Dan 11:13.
and he (Ptolemy) shall cause tens of thousands to fall ] at the battle of Raphia.
but he shall not be strong ] he will gain no permanent advantage in consequence. Ptolemy by his victory recovered Cle-Syria; but he did not pursue his success further; he again gave way to his natural indolence, and quickly resumed his dissolute life (Polyb. xiv. 12); so that when Antiochus sent to ask for terms of peace, he readily granted them. Justin (xxx. 1) writes of him, ‘Spoliasset regno Antiochum, si fortunam virtute iuvisset.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the king of the south shall be moved with choler – With anger. That is, that his provinces were invaded, and his strongholds taken – referring particularly to the invasion of Syria and Palestine as mentioned in the previous verse, and the attempt to wrest them out of the hands of the king of Egypt. Nothing would be more natural than that this should occur.
And shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north – There were frequent and almost constant wars between these two kingdoms. Yet the reference here is to Ptolemy Philopator, who succeeded Ptolemy Euergetes in Egypt, and who was exasperated at the conduct of Antiochus in invading Syria and Palestine. He assembled an army, and marched with it to Raphia, where he met Antiochus, and a battle was fought.
And he shall set forth a great multitude – This army of Ptolemy, according to Polybius, chapter 86, was led through Arabia Petraea, and consisted of seventy thousand infantry, and five thousand cavalry, and seventy-three elephants. The army of Antiochus consisted of sixty-two thousand foot, six thousand horse, and a hundred and two elephants. – Prideaux, Con. iii. 151.
But the multitude shall be given into his hand – That is, the multitude of the army of Antiochus. In the battle that was fought at Raphia, Ptolemy gained the victory. Ten thousand of the army of Antiochus were slain, four thousand taken prisoners, and with the remainder of his forces Antiochus retreated to Antioch. – Prideaux, iii. 152, 153. Perhaps also the expression the multitude shall be given into his hand may refer not only to the army, and his victory over it, but to the fact that the inhabitants of Coelo-Syria and Palestine would hasten to submit themselves to him. After this great battle at Raphia, and the retreat of Antiochus, we are told that the cities of Coelo-Syria and Palestine vied with each other in submitting themselves to Ptolemy. They had been long under the government of Egypt, and preferred that to the government of Antiochus. They had submitted to Antiochus only by force, and that force now being removed, they returned readily to the authority of their old masters. Had Ptolemy possessed energy and capacity for government, it would have been easy to have retained the control over these countries.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. The king of the south] Ptolemy Philopater, who succeeded his father Euergetes.
Shall come forth and fight with him] He did come forth to Raphia, where he was met by Antiochus, when a terrible battle was fought between these two kings.
And he (Antiochus, the king of the north) shall set forth a great multitude] Amounting to sixty-two thousand foot, six thousand horse, and one hundred and two elephants; but yet the multitude was given into his hand, the hand of the king of the south; for Ptolemy gained a complete victory. Raphia, and other neighbouring towns, declared for the victor; and Antiochus was obliged to retreat with his scattered army to Antioch, from which he sent to solicit a peace. See 3Macc 1:1-6, and Polybius, lib. v.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Enraged by his losses, and the affronts put upon him, he fought with Antiochus, and slew ten thousand of his army, and took four thousand prisoners. So historians relate of it, Polybius and Strabo.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. the king of the south . . .moved with cholerat so great losses, Syria having been wrestedfrom him, and his own kingdom imperilled, though otherwise anindolent man, to which his disasters were owing, as also to the odiumof his subjects against him for having murdered his father, mother,and brother, whence in irony they called him Philopater,“father-lover.”
he shall set forth a greatmultitudeAntiochus, king of Syria, whose force was seventythousand infantry and five thousand cavalry.
but . . . multitude . . .given into his handinto Ptolemy’s hands; ten thousand ofAntiochus’ army were slain, and four thousand made captives.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the king of the south shall be moved with choler,…. This is Ptolemy Philopator, who succeeded Ptolemy Euergetes in the kingdom of Egypt; so called ironically, because of his murder of his father and mother, as Justin k relates; the same, though naturally sluggish and slothful, was provoked and exasperated at the proceedings of Antiochus, retaking Coelesyria, invading Palestine, and coming up to the borders of his kingdom:
and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: he assembled an army, and marched with them, from the interior part of his kingdom, to the border of it, to Raphia, a city between Rhinocorura and Gaza; where he met with Antiochus, and a battle was fought, as before observed:
and he shall set forth a great multitude; this is true of both kings, their armies were very large; that of Ptolemy king of Egypt consisted, according to Polybius l, of seventy thousand foot, five thousand horse, and seventy three elephants and that of Antiochus king of Syria consisted of sixty two (some say seventy two) thousand foot, six thousand horse, and a hundred and two elephants: the former army, that of the king of Egypt, seems rather designed, if the preceding clause is consulted; though the latter, that of Antiochus, best agrees with what follows:
but the multitude shall be given into his hand: that is, the multitude of the army of Antiochus should be delivered into the hands of Ptolemy Philopator, and so it was; for Antiochus lost ten thousand footmen, and three hundred horsemen; four thousand footmen were taken, three elephants slain, and two wounded, which afterwards died, and most of the rest were taken m: this victory is ascribed to Arsinoe, the sister and wife of Ptolemy, who ran about the army with her hair dishevelled, and by entreaties and promises greatly encouraged the soldiers to fight; of which see third Maccabees chapter one and with which Polybius n agrees.
k E Trogo, l. 29. c. 1. l L. 5. p. 266. m Polybius, l. 5. p. 269. n Ibid. p. 268.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 11, 12 foretell that the king of the south will be moved (motivated) with choler, grim anger over his loss of Syria that had been wrested from him and with his own kingdom of Egypt imperiled. The king of the south, of Egypt shall come forth and fight with the king of the north of Syria. And he, Antiochus (king of Syria) was to set forth a great multitude to do battle, 70,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. But this Syrian multitude was conquered by Ptolmey. 10,000 of the army of Antiochus was slain and 4,000 taken captive by the Egyptian army of Ptolmey, as indicated by this prophecy, Jas 4:1; Rom 7:23; Gal 5:17; 1Pe 2:11.
Verse 12 adds that when he (king Ptolmey of Egypt) had taken away or subdued the multitude of Antiochus “his heart was lifted up” with pride, a sure forerunner of a fall, Deu 8:14; 2Ch 25:19; Pro 16:18; Eze 28:2; Dan 8:25; 1Pe 5:5. Instead of following his victory over Antiochus by making himself master or ruler over all Syria, Ptolmey made peace with Antiochus and turned his passions to licentiousness, and profaned the temple of God in Jerusalem, by entering the holy place, as related by historian Grotus. It was finally prophesied that the king of the south, Ptolmey of Egypt, would lose his power, gained in battle, by his luxurious and immoral manner of life, Gal 6:6-7.
Verse 13 prophesies that the “king of the north” would return after certain years and bring an armed array of greater strength than the former one, with greater power and much wealth, to support the huge army marshaled against Egypt. The return was 14 years later.
Verse 14 explains that in those times of warfare many should stand up against Egypt of the south. Philip of Macedonia, some insurrections against Ptolmey in Egypt, and Jewish renegades called “robbers of the people,” helped the army of Antiochus of Syria by providing provisions when he came to the garrison against Egypt, as related in the antiquities of Josephus 12:3, 4. These Jews joined Egypt’s enemies to “establish the vision,” helping (unknowingly) to fulfill the purpose of God in sending judgment upon Judea. These Jews failed to curry the favor of Antiochus to give them independence and brought instead his fury and defilement on their temple, later, Luk 13:1-5.
Verse 15 foretells that the king of the north, Antiochus the Great, B.C. 198 should come and cast up (erect) a mount, a fortification, and take or seize the most fenced cities. Antiochus from Syria met Scopas the Egyptian General at Paneas, near upper Jordan and defeated him. He retreated to Sidon, a strongly “fenced city,” and was there forced to surrender to Antiochus. And neither the arms of the south of Egypt, nor the Jews his chosen people, nor was there any other armed might able to withstand this king of the north.
Verse 16 asserts however, that Antiochus the one who comes against Ptolmey Epiphanes shall invade Judea and make a stand as he wills, there in the glorious land, v. 41, 45; Dan 8:9; Eze 20:6; Eze 20:15. And by the hand of this northern king, Antiochus, the glorious land will become consumed, in the sense of desolated, or ravaged as a battleground area. And none should stand before him, Jos 1:5.
Verse 17 explains that this king out of the north, from Syria will set his face like a flint to enter Judea with the strength or backing of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him, 2Ch 20:3. Antiochus is bent to win Egypt to his kingdom control to the extent that he proposes to give the “daughter of women,” Cleopatra, to. Philometor an Egyptian king to secure his alignment politically, corrupting or defiling her, hoping to use Egypt’s help to resist Rome. But she favored her husband in Egypt and he did not join with Syria and Antiochus in war against Rome. She thus refused “to stand on his side or be for him,” Dan 9:26.
Verse 18 foretells that after this he, Antiochus, should turn his face to the isles, toward Greece, to take many of the islands in the Aegean, in the war with the Romans, and he caused the Hellespoint. But a Roman prince, for his own behalf, caused the reproach he had been imposing on others to cease, without tarnishing his own reputation.
Verse 19 states that he shall at this point turn back his face toward the fort of his own land, retreating and relinquishing all territory west of the Tarsus range of mountains to Rome, to meet the expenses of the long war in which he had engaged. It is added that he should “stumble and fall and not be found,” or be found no more alive, leading battles. While attempting to plunder the temple of Jupiter at Elyamis by night, for gain, he, Antiochus, was slain with his soldiers in an insurrection of the inhabitants, as told by Justinius 32;2.
Verse 20 foretold that there should then stand up or arise in his estate, or to take his place, a “raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom province,” a tribute imposed by the Roman Empire that spread eastward upon the death of Antiochus. But in a few days he, Sellucus Philopater, (the son of Antiochus) the “raiser of taxes” was to be destroyed, after a reign of twelve years. This was a “few” in comparison with the 37 years of his father, predecessor, Antiochus. His reign of 12 years ended without a popular outbreak or an open battle, with the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(11) And the king.The ambiguity of this verse is very great. He may refer to either king; so that while some commentators see in the words an account of the successes of Ptolemy against Antiochus in the battle of Raphia (B.C. 217)the multitude being the army of Antiochus, which was severely defeated at that placeothers infer that the northern king is represented as defeating his rival. Evidently the words with the king of the north are added, as in Exo. 2:6, for the sake of clearness. This makes it most probable that the first of the two interpretations just given is correct, and that he refers to the northern king, his hand to the hand of the southern king. This is supported by Dan. 11:12, where we read of the conduct of the southern king after his victory.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. This means that the king of the south (Ptolemy IV) the son of the Ptolemy mentioned in Dan 11:8 stirred at last to angry activity by the aggressiveness of Antiochus III, raised an immense army, met the even greater army of the Syrian king at Raphia, and defeated it; slaughtering over ten thousand of his enemies on the battlefield, and taking four thousand prisoners.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the king of the south will be filled with fury, and will come out and fight with him, even with the king of the north, and he will set forth (‘raise’) a great multitude, and the multitude will be given into his hand.’
Angry at what had happened and in an attempt to recapture his lost territory to the north, Ptolemy IV Philopator raised a large army of infantry, cavalry and elephants, and attacked Antiochus III on the southern borders of Israel, specifically at Raphia in 217 BC on the coast road to Egypt. Initially he was successful. Antiochus was soundly defeated, and ‘the multitude was given into his hand’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Dan 11:11. And the king of the south shall be moved, &c. The king of the south, at that time, was Ptolemy Philopater, who succeeded his father Euergetes: he was, no doubt, moved with choler for the losses that he had sustained, and for the revolt of Theodotus and others. And he came forth; he marched out of Egypt with a numerous army, and encamped not far from Raphia, the nearest town of Egypt after Rhinocorura. And there he fought withthe king of the north; for thither likewise came Antiochus with his army, and a memorable battle was fought there by the two kings. And he, the king of the north, set forth a great multitude; amounting to sixty-two thousand foot, six thousand horse, and one hundred and two elephants. But yet the multitude was given into his hand; that is to say, into the hand of the king of the south; for Ptolemy obtained a complete victory. Upon this defeat, Raphia and the neighbouring towns contended which should be the most forward to submit to the conqueror; and Antiochus was forced to retreat with his scattered army to Antioch, and thence sent ambassadors to solicit a peace. See Newton.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Dan 11:11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, [even] with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
Ver. 11. And the king of the south. ] Ptolemaeus Philopator, so called, say some, per antiphrasin, because he killed his father. He slew also his both sister and wife Eurydice, and was otherwise very vicious, and yet victorious.
Even with the king of the north,
And he shall set forth a great multitude.
And the multitude.
a Pausan., lib. v.
b Spoliavisset regno Antiochum, si fortunam virtute iuvisset. – Justin.
the king of the south. The second, Ptolemy III.
choler. See note on Dan 8:7.
he: i.e. the king of the north, Antiochus III.
given = delivered.
his hand: i.e. Ptolemy’s hand.
Dan 11:11
Dan 11:11 And the kingH4428 of the southH5045 shall be moved with choler,H4843 and shall come forthH3318 and fightH3898 withH5973 him, even withH5973 the kingH4428 of the north:H6828 and he shall set forthH5975 a greatH7227 multitude;H1995 but the multitudeH1995 shall be givenH5414 into his hand.H3027
Dan 11:11
And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
Ptolemy IV was “moved with choler”. This means he was motivated because of his great loss, in this case towards Antiochus III. Ptolemy IV was historically known as an indolent man who was really more interested in the pursuits of the flesh than he was in the defense of Egypt. But with Antiochus III coming like he was, Ptolemy IV finally got his head in the game and dealt with the seriousness of the issue before him.
The force that Ptolemy IV sent to meet Antiochus III at the Battle of Raphia consisted of 3,000 Hypaspists under Eurylochus the Magnesian, 2,000 peltasts under Socrates the Boeotian, 25,000 Phalangites under Andromachus the Aspendian and Ptolemy, the son of Thraseas, and 8,000 Greek mercenaries under Phoxidas the Achaean and 2,000 Cretan and 1,000 Neocretan archers under Philon the Cnossian. He had another 3,000 Libyans under Ammonius the Barcian and 20,000 Egyptians under his chief minister Sosibius. Apart from these he also employed 4,000 Thracians and Gauls from Egypt and another 2,000 from Europe under Dionysius the Thracian.
Ptolemy IV was concerned enough that he even sent his household cavalry to fight in this conflict which numbered 700 horsemen with an additional 2,300 foot soldiers. Ptolemy’s force was also supplemented by the presence of 73 African war elephants.
“but the multitude shall be given into his hand.”
At the Battle of Raphia, 10,000 of Antiochus III’ army were slain and 4000 were taken captive.
the king of the south: Dan 11:5, Dan 11:9
moved: Dan 11:44, Dan 8:7, Psa 76:10
the multitude: Dan 11:10, Dan 2:38, 1Ki 20:13, 1Ki 20:28, Psa 33:16, Psa 33:17, Ecc 9:11, Ecc 9:12, Jer 27:6
Dan 11:11. It may be a surprise and yet a help to the reader to know that, beginning with the second verse of this chapter and Including the rest of the chapter, a space of over 300 years is covered. It is natural to think that since the rulers and other outstanding characters in the chapter, about 20 in all, belonged to the two governments, there would be both long and short reigns among them. In some instances the ruler in one of the kingdoms would reign as long as two or more kings in the other. Hence we may pass from one verse to another without a change of kings in one or the other. Before making further comments on this verse 1 shall quote from history:
“Ptolemy Philopator, was an indolent, effeminate prince. It was necessary to excite and drag him, in a manner, out of his lethargy, in order to prevail with him to take up arms, and repulse the enemy, who were preparing to march into his country. At last he put himself at the head of Ills troops; by the valor and good conduct of his generals, obtained a signal victory over Antiochus (the Great) at Raphia,’*- Rollins Ancient History, Volume 4, Page 143.
It might have been expected that, under the circumstances, he (Antiochus the Great) would have been successful. But the Egyptian forces, relaxed though their discipline had been by Sosibius, were still superior to the Syrians; the battle of Raphia (B.C. 217) was a repetition of the lessons taught at Pelusium and Gaza. The Invader was once more deEeated upon the borders, and by the peace which followed, the losses of the two preceding years were, with one exception, recovered (by Phiiopator). … In the third year of the war. B.C. 217, Phiiopator marched out from Alexandria in person, with 70,000 foot, 5,000 horse and 73 elephants. Antiochus advanced to give him battle, and the two armies met at Raphia, on the eastern edge of the desert. After a vain attempt on the part of Theodotus to assassinate Phiiopator in his camp, an engagement took place, and AntiochUB was completely defeated. He then made peace, relinquishing all hla conquests but Seleu ceia.-Rawlinson, Ancient History, Page 275.
The king of the south Is Ptolemy Philopator who was a weakling in character, but others insisted and agitated him until he finally bestirred himself. He gathered a large army and came with choler (bitterness) against him, king of the north who is the Antiochus the Great of verse 10. Multitude shall be given into his (Philopators) hand.
Dan 11:11. And the king of the south shall be moved with choler The LXX. render it , shall be made wild, or frantic; namely, at the successes of Antiochus, and the revolt of his friends. This is spoken of Ptolemy Philopater, who was king of Egypt at that time, being advanced to the crown upon the death of his father Euergetes, not long after Antiochus the Great succeeded his brother on the throne of Syria. This Ptolemy was a most luxurious and vicious prince, but was nevertheless thus roused at length by the near approach of danger. And shall come forth and fight with him He marched out of Egypt with a numerous army to oppose the enemy, and encamped not far from Raphia, which is the nearest town to Egypt from Rhinocorura. Thither likewise came Antiochus with his army, and a memorable battle was fought there between the two kings. And he Namely, Antiochus; set forth a great multitude Polybius hath recited the various nations of which his army was composed, and altogether it amounted to sixty-two thousand foot, six thousand horse, and a hundred and two elephants. But yet this multitude was given into his hand That is, into the hand of Ptolemy, who obtained a complete victory. His forces, however, were still greater than those of Antiochus, namely, seventy thousand foot, five thousand horse, and seventy-three elephants. Of Antiochuss army there were slain not much fewer than ten thousand foot, more than three hundred horse, and above four thousand men were taken prisoners; whereas of Ptolemys there were killed only one thousand five hundred foot and seven hundred horse. The author of the third book of the Maccabees ascribes this victory to the passionate importunity of Arsinoe, Ptolemys sister, who ran about the army with her hair about her shoulders, and, by promises and entreaties, engaged the soldiers to fight with more than ordinary resolution. Upon this defeat, Raphia and the neighbouring towns contended who should be the most forward to submit to the conqueror; and Antiochus was forced to retreat with his shattered army to Antioch, and from thence sent ambassadors to solicit a peace.
11:11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, [even] with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great {a} multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
(a) For Antioch had 6,000 horsemen, and 60,000 footmen.
In an attempt to recapture his lost territory to the north, Ptolemy IV Philopator (222-203 B.C.) attacked Antiochus III on the southern borders of Israel, specifically at Raphia in 217 B.C. Initially he was successful.
"Antiochus lost his entire army and was almost captured as he fled to the desert." [Note: Jerome, p. 124.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)