Daniel 11:17

He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom,.... Antiochus, having conquered Coelesyria, Phoenicia, and Judea, should set his face towards the land of Egypt, having a

He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not

He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom; he shall use all the force and fraud he can to master Egypt, and engross it to himself, because Ptolemy was then young, and not able to match him. And upright ones with him, i.e. many of the religions Jews joined with him, , called righteous in opposition to the rest of his army, which was composed of idolaters, and a profane rabble of rude heathens. He shall give him the daughter of women, i.e. Antiochus shall give Cleopatra his daughter, who was young, to young Ptolemy, called the daughter of women for her beauty, and rare parts, which she afterwards discovered; and gave in dowry with her Coelosyria, Phoenice, and Judea, dividing the tribute and revenues between them. But she shall not stand on his side: as Saul gave Michal to David to be a snare to her husband, to betray him and destroy him, but she stuck to her husband’ s interest, and not her father’ s.

Daniel 11:17 He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand [on his side], neither be for him.Ver. 17. He shall also set his face.] Antiochus longed sore to be lord of Egypt, and therefore undertook a third expedition against Epiphanes; but that not succeeding to his mind, he seweth the fox’ s skin to the lion’ s hide, and seeketh to get that by treachery which by open hostility he could not. And upright ones with him.] Or, Equal conditions with him. He shall palliate his treachery with very fair pretences; he shall seem to do righteous things, drawing a fair glove over a foul hand; thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of women.] The fair Cleopatra, his beautiful daughter, filiam e mulieribus selectam; like as Saul gave Michal to David, to be a snare to him. “ Munera pulchra quidem mittis, sed mittis in hamo. ” - Martial. Corrupting her.] Suborning her to make away her husband, Ptolemaeus Epiphanes. This was devilish policy, simulata necessitudo duplex simultas, but it took not. But she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him.] As became a good wife, she clave to her husband; so did the before mentioned Michal, in whom, though we find no great store of religion - for both she had an image in the house, and afterwards mocked David for his devotion - yet nature had taught her to prefer a husband to a father.

(17) He shall also.—He has further plans for subduing the dominions of the southern king. He brings together all the forces he can amass, and then attempts by means of a political marriage to establish peace; but this also proves a failure. Upright ones.—Literally, all that is right; hence the words have been explained, “straightforward pleas”. If “persons” are intended, it is not impossible that there may be a hint at the Jews taking the part of the northern king in the contest. Daughter of women—i.e., a woman. (Comp. the phrase “son of man,” Ezekiel 2:1.) The rest of the verse is obscure. It seems to mean that the consequence of this marriage was the destruction of the woman mentioned. Or it is possible that “her” refers to the southern kingdom. St. Jerome explains it, “ut evertat Ptolemœum sive regnum ejus.” This has been supposed to point to the marriage of Ptolemy Epiphanes with Cleopatra, the daughter of Antiochus the Great. However, the language is very general. (Comp. Daniel 11:6.) But she shall not stand.—These words form an explanatory clause, meaning that the plan will not answer.

Verse 17. He shall also set his face to enter] Antiochus purposed to have marched his army into Egypt; but he thought it best to proceed by fraudulence, and therefore proposed a treaty of marriage between him and his daughter Cleopatra, called here the daughter of women, because of her great beauty and accomplishments. And this he appeared to do, having "upright ones with him." Or, as the Septuagint have it καιευθειαπανταμετ' αυτουποιησει, "and he will make all things straight with him;" that is, he acted as if he were influenced by nothing but the most upright views. But he intended his daughter to be a snare to Ptolemy, and therefore purposed to corrupt her that she might betray her husband. But she shall not stand on his side] On the contrary, her husband's interests became more dear to her than her father's; and by her means Ptolemy was put upon his guard against the intentions of Antiochus.

17. And he shall set his face—i.e. purpose, plan (2 Kings 12:17; Jeremiah 42:15; Jeremiah 42:17; Jeremiah 44:12)—to come with the strength, &c.] to advance with all his force against Egypt. Livy (xxxiii. 19) describes how, in the spring of 197, omnibus regni viribus connixus, quum ingentes copias terrestres maritimasque comparasset, Antiochus himself set out with a fleet for the purpose of attacking all the cities on the coast of Cilicia, Lycia, and Caria, which were subject to Ptolemy. He did not actually invade Egypt, nor does the present verse say that he would do so. and upright ones with him; thus shall he do] the words yield no sense: read, with very slight changes, but shall make an agreement (see Daniel 11:6) with him: so LXX. Theod. Vulg. (cf. R.V. marg.). He did not carry out his intention, but found it convenient to come to terms with Ptolemy (φιλίανκαὶσπονδὰςπρὸςτὸνΠτολεμαῖονἐποιήσατο, Jos. Ant. xii. iv. 1). Antiochus had his eye on Asia Minor, and even on Europe: but being opposed by the Romans, he was glad to be on good terms with Egypt; he accordingly betrothed his daughter Cleopatra to Ptolemy Epiphanes, promising that she should receive as her dowry what was afterwards understood by the Egyptians to be the provinces of C�le-Syria, Ph�nicia, and Palestine, though this was denied before the Roman legates by Antiochus Epiphanes (Polyb. xxviii. 17, who appears to think that Antiochus Epiphanes was right)[366]. The marriage actually took place in the winter of 194–3, Antiochus taking his daughter to Raphia for the purpose (Livy xxxv. 13). [366] The dowry seems in fact to have been not the provinces themselves, but their revenues (Wilcken [see p. 178 n.]; Mahaffy, p. 306). Cleopatra’s betrothal is alluded to in Polyb. xviii. 51 end (whence Livy xxxiii. 40): in reply to the Roman legates who were sent to him in 196 at Lysimacheia (in Thrace) to demand (among other things) that he should restore the cities taken from Ptolemy, Antiochus replied that he was on friendly terms with Ptolemy, ‘et id agere se, ut brevi etiam affinitas jungatur.’and he shall give him the daughter of women] his daughter Cleopatra. corrupting her] a very improbable rendering: Cleopatra was not (as was the case with many of the queens of the Ptolemies) her husband’s sister; and (Mahaffy, p. 330) she “bears an excellent character in Egyptian history.” Keil renders to destroy her; but Cleopatra, so far as we know, lived happily in Egypt, and died a natural death. The only reasonable rendering is to destroy it,—the pronoun being referred ad sensum to Egypt. Antiochus was not really actuated by friendliness to Egypt; his true motives, no doubt, being (Hitz.) ‘to protect himself against Roman interference, to gain a footing in Egypt, and, if the opportunity should offer, to secure the country for himself.’ In 196, upon a false report of the death of Ptolemy reaching Lysimacheia (below, note), he actually started for the purpose of seizing Egypt (Livy xxxiii. 41).

He shall also set his face - Antiochus. That is, he shall resolve or determine. To set one’s face in any direction is to determine to go there.

17. Translate, with Bevan, “And he shall set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom; but he shall make an agreement with him.” After the conquests just mentioned Antiochus determined to