11:14 “In those times many will oppose 1 the king of the south. 2 Those who are violent 3 among your own people will rise up in confirmation of 4 the vision, but they will falter. 11:15 Then the king of the north will advance and will build siege mounds and capture a well-fortified city. 5 The forces of the south will not prevail, not even his finest contingents. 6 They will have no strength to prevail. 11:16 The one advancing against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to stand before him. He will prevail in the beautiful land, and its annihilation will be within his power. 7 11:17 His intention 8 will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and he will form alliances. 9 He will give the king of the south 10 a daughter 11 in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but it will not turn out to his advantage. 11:18 Then he will turn his attention 12 to the coastal regions and will capture many of them. But a commander 13 will bring his shameful conduct to a halt; in addition, 14 he will make him pay for his shameful conduct. 15 11:19 He will then turn his attention to the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, not to be found again. 11:20 There will arise after him 16 one 17 who will send out an exactor 18 of tribute to enhance the splendor of the kingdom, but after a few days he will be destroyed, 19 though not in anger or battle.
11:21 “Then there will arise in his place a despicable person 20 to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred. He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit.
1 tn Heb “stand against.”
2 sn This was Ptolemy V Epiphanes (ca. 203-181
3 tn Heb “sons of violence.” “Son(s) is sometimes used idiomatically in Hebrew to indicate that someone is characterized by a certain quality. So the expression “sons of violence” means that these individuals will be characterized by violent deeds.
4 tn Heb “to cause to stand.”
1 sn This well-fortified city is apparently Sidon. Its capture from the Ptolemies by Antiochus the Great was a strategic victory for the Seleucid kingdom.
2 tn Or “choice troops” (BDB 104 s.v. מִבְחָר), or “elite troops” (HALOT 542 s.v. מִבְחָר).
1 tn Heb “hand.”
1 tn Heb “and he will set his face.” Cf. vv. 18, 19.
2 tc The present translation reads מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim, “alliances”) for the MT וִישָׁרִים (viysharim, “uprightness”).
3 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of the south) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “the daughter of the women.”
1 tn Heb “his face.” See v. 19 as well.
2 sn The commander is probably the Roman commander, Lucius Cornelius Scipio.
3 tn The Hebrew here is difficult in that the negative בִּלְתִּי (biltiy, “not”) is used in an unusual way. The sense is not entirely clear.
4 tn Heb “his shameful conduct he will return to him.”
1 tn Heb “on his place.”
2 sn The one who will send out an exactor of tribute was Seleucus IV Philopator (ca. 187-176
3 sn Perhaps this exactor of tribute was Heliodorus (cf. 2 Maccabees 3).
4 tn Heb “broken” or “shattered.”
1 sn This despicable person to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred is Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ca. 175-164