Daniel 11:15

11:15 Then the king of the north will advance and will build siege mounds and capture a well-fortified city. ¹  The forces of the south will not prevail, not even his finest contingents. ²  They will have no strength to prevail.

Daniel 11:32

11:32 Then with smooth words he will defile ³  those who have rejected ⁴  the covenant. But the people who are loyal to ⁵  their God will act valiantly. ⁶ 

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).

³ tn Or “corrupt.”

⁴ tn Heb “acted wickedly toward.”

⁵ tn Heb “know.” The term “know” sometimes means “to recognize.” In relational contexts it can have the connotation “recognize the authority of, be loyal to,” as it does here.

⁶ sn This is an allusion to the Maccabean revolt, which struggled to bring about Jewish independence in the second century B.C.