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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Daniel 11:5-20

Here are foretold, I. The rise and power of two great kingdoms out of the remains of Alexander's conquests, Dan. 11:5. 1. The kingdom of Egypt, which was made considerable by Ptolemaeus Lagus, one of Alexander's captains, whose successors were, from him, called the Lagidae. He is called the king of the south, that is, Egypt, named here, Dan. 11:8, 42, 43. The countries that at first belonged to Ptolemy are reckoned to be Egypt, Phoenicia, Arabia, Libya, Ethiopia, etc. Theocr. Idyl. 17. 2. The... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 11:18

After this he shall turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many ,.... Finding himself disappointed in his design on the kingdom of Egypt, he turned his face, and steered his course another way, and with a large fleet sailed into the Aegean sea; and, as Jerom relates, took Rhodes, Samos, Colophon, and Phocea, and many other islands; and also several cities of Greece and Asia, which lay on the sea coasts; it being usual with the Jews to call such maritime places islands: but a prince... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Daniel 11:18

Shall he turn his face unto the isles - Antiochus had fitted out a great fleet of one hundred large ships and two hundred smaller, and with this fleet subdued most of the maritime places on the coast of the Mediterranean, and took many of the isles, Rhodes, Samos, Euboea, Colophon, and others. But a prince for his own behalf - Or, a captain. The consul Acilius Glabrio caused the reproach to cease; beat and routed his army at the straits of Thermopylae, and expelled him from Greece. So he... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Daniel 11:18

Verse 18 There is some obscurity in these words, but the history will afterwards determine the angel’s meaning. First, as to the word “islands,” he doubtless means Asia Minor and the maritime coasts; also Greece, Cyprus, and all the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a Jewish custom to call all places beyond the sea “islands,” as they were not very well skilled in navigation. Therefore he says, He will turn his face to the islands; that is, he shall turn to the opposite regions of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 11:1-45

EXPOSITION THE KINGS OF THE NORTH AND THE KINGS OF THE SOUTH . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 11:5-20

The chequered fortunes of earthly empire. There is but one condition of permanence in any kingdom, viz. righteousness. Success, founded on military power, collapses as quickly as it rose. As night succeeds to day, so misfortune succeeds to fortune. If God be not recognized, the one element of durability is a-wanting. I. GOD GOVERNS OUR WORLD BY IMPERFECT HUMAN AGENCIES . If men express their astonishment at this, our reply is that it is the best on the whole, and if he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 11:18

After this he shall turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. The rendering of the LXX . is nearly unintelligible, "And he shall set ( δώσει ) his face against the sea, and shall take many ( πολλοῦς ), and shall turn the wrath of their reproach in an oath against his reproach." The translator had read לים instead of לאיים .... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 11:18

After this shall he turn his face unto the isles - The islands of the Mediterranean, particularly those in the neighborhood of and constituting a part of Greece. This he did in his wars with the Romans, for the Roman power then comprehended that part of the world, and it was the design of Antiochus, as already remarked, to extend the limits of his empire as far as it was at the time of Seleucus Nicator. This occurred after the defeat of Scopas, for, having given his daughter in marriage to... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 11:18

Daniel 11:18. After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many After entering into this alliance, Antiochus fitted out a formidable fleet of one hundred large ships of war, and two hundred other lesser vessels, with a view to reduce under his power the maritime places of Asia, Thrace, and Greece; and he took Samos, Eubœa, and many other islands, which was a great indignity and reproach offered to the Romans, when their confederates were thus oppressed; and the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Daniel 11:2-20

Kings from the north and the south (11:2-20)The messenger went on to describe to Daniel the conflicts involving Persia and Greece as they would affect the Jews. This account runs on unbroken through Chapters 11 and 12. The comments on these chapters below are designed to outline the history of the period and to show how events followed the pattern of the predictions given to Daniel.After the death of Cyrus, the states in the region of Greece steadily grew in power. (Although there was no... read more

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