Daniel 11:22

22. The arms of a flood It is not clear whether this phrase has reference to the suddenness and farsighted diplomacy with which Antiochus disposed of all his opponents, who were “swept away” from before him as with a deluge, or to the vast armies of Egypt which had been accustomed formerly to overflow Syria, but were now swept back by him. According to the first view this passage refers to his successful opposition to all enemies in Syria during the opening years of his reign (175-171 B.C.); according to the second, it refers to his later campaigns against Egypt. The former view seems preferable.

The prince of the covenant Or, his covenant. The reference may be to some allied prince, perhaps Ptolemy Philometer, with whom Antiochus may have had some sort of a compact, or, more likely, to the death of Onias III, the Jewish high priest a hero of unblamable life who was assassinated by him (171 or 170 B.C.); he having rebuked Menelaus, a creature of Antiochus, for stealing some of the sacred vessels of the temple (2 Macc. iv).