Daniel 11:15

So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities,.... That is, Antiochus the great, king of Syria, should come into Coelesyria and Phoenicia, which was the

So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.

Antiochus Epiphanes shall march on irresistibly and victoriously, besieging and taking fenced cities and strong holds, as Sidon, Samaria, &c., nor shall all the power of Egypt withstand him.

Daniel 11:15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither [shall there be any] strength to withstand.Ver. 15. So the king of the north shall come,] i.e., Not the Romans, as some would have it, but Antiochus Great still. He had been foiled at Raphia, now he greatly prevaileth against the Egyptians. If we princes, said our Henry VII, shall take every occasion that is offered, the world shall never be quiet, but wearied with continual wars. And the armies of the south shall not withstand.] Scopas, the Egyptian general, though very skilful and valiant, shall be beaten by Antiochus into Sidon, besieged there, and forced to yield, all the power of Egypt being not able to raise the siege and relieve Scopas. The battle is not always to the strong.

(15) The king of the north.—This prince attacks the fortress of his rival, who is unable to resist him. Here it is supposed that the allusion is to the capture of Sidon by Antiochus the Great. The troops of Ptolemy under Scopas had acquired possession of Jerusalem and of various portions of Syria during the absence of Antiochus. Scopas and the Egyptian troops under him fled to Sidon, where they were forced by famine to surrender to the Syrians (B.C. 198). The arms of the south.—Comp. Daniel 11:31. The phrase means the armed force of the south.

Verse 15. So the king of the north] Antiochus came to recover Judea. Scopas was sent by Ptolemy to oppose him; but he was defeated near the fountains of Jordan, and was obliged to take refuge in Sidon with ten thousand men. Antiochus pursued and besieged him; and he was obliged by famine to surrender at discretion, and their lives only were spared. Antiochus afterwards besieged several of the fenced cities, and took them; in short, carried all before him; so that the king of the south, Ptolemy, and his chosen people, his ablest generals, were not able to oppose him.

10–19. Seleucus III. (Ceraunos), 226–223, and Antiochus III. (the Great), 223–187: Ptolemy IV. (Philopator), 222–205, and Ptolemy V. (Epiphanes), 205–181. Seleucus Callinicus left two sons, Seleucus Ceraunos and Antiochus. The former succeeded him, but was murdered, after two years, in the course of an expedition in Asia Minor (Polyb. v. 40). Antiochus, who then came to the throne, determined to resume the war with Egypt, hoping, in view of Ptolemy Philopator’s effeminacy and supineness, that an easy task lay before him (Polyb. v. 42)[360]. First, acting on the advice of his friend, the physician Apollophanes, he recovered the important fortress of Seleukeia (Polyb. v. 58–60, see above, on Daniel 11:7); then Theodotus, Ptolemy’s præfect in Cœle-Syria (v. 40), invited him treacherously to take possession of that province, and enabled him further to secure Tyre, Ptolemais, and other neighbouring towns (v. 61). Meanwhile Ptolemy, roused from his lethargy by the loss of Cœle-Syria, had advanced his troops as far as Pelusium; and his ministers, wishing to gain time for further warlike preparations, succeeded in obtaining from Antiochus an armistice for four months. Antiochus accordingly retired for the winter to Seleukeia, leaving garrisons in Phœnicia and Cœle-Syria, which (being ignorant of Ptolemy’s real intentions) he hoped he had now finally secured (v. 62–66). However, in the following spring (218), a large Egyptian army, which had meantime been organized, marched under Nicolaus through Palestine as far as a spot between Lebanon and the sea, where it was met by Antiochus and completely defeated (v. 68–69). After this Antiochus advanced into Palestine, takes Philoteria, Scythopolis (Beth-shean) and Atabyrium, as also Abila, Gadara, and Rabbath-Ammon, on the E. of Jordan, leaves a governor, with 8000 soldiers, in Samaria, and retires into winter-quarters at Ptolemais (v. 70–71). [360] The events summarized in Daniel 11:10-12 are narrated at length in Polyb. v. 58–71, 79–87 (v. 62–68, 79–87, are translated in Mahaffy, l.c., pp. 250–263).In the next spring (217) Antiochus and Ptolemy both take the field, with armies of 60,000 or 70,000 men each (v. 79). Ptolemy, starting from Alexandria, advances to within 50 stadia of Raphia (the border-fortress of Palestine, in the direction of Egypt); Antiochus first marches to Gaza, then by slow stages, passing Raphia, to within five stadia of the spot on which the army of Ptolemy was encamped (v. 80). In the battle which ensued (v. 82–85), Antiochus was defeated (with the loss of 10,000 infantry, 300 cavalry, besides 4,000 prisoners), and fell buck upon Gaza, retiring afterwards to Antioch (v. :86). He then sent to Ptolemy to ask terms of peace, which Ptolemy, satisfied with his victory, and with its natural consequence, the recovery of Cœle-Syria, granted for one year (v. 87). The second part of Dan 11:12 refers plainly to Ptolemy’s victory at Raphia; but it is impossible to feel certain which of the events just described are referred to in Daniel 11:10 b–12 a. The sequence of events as described in these verses seems, in fact, not to agree with that of the narrative of Polybius.

So the king of the north - Antiochus the Great. Shall come - Shall come again into these provinces. This occurred after he had vanquished the army of the Egyptians at Paneas.

15, 16. Antiochus the Great shall come against Egypt, raise earthworks against “a well-fortified city,” and take it.