11:21. And there shall stand up in his place one despised, and the kingly honour shall not be given him: and he shall come privately, and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud.
One despised. . .Viz., Antiochus Epiphanes, who at first was despised and not received for king. What is here said of this prince, is accommodated by St. Jerome and others to Antichrist; of whom this Antiochus was a figure.
11:22. And the arms of the fighter shall be overcome before his face, and shall be broken: yea, also the prince of the covenant.
Of the fighter. . .That is, of them that shall oppose him, and shall fight against him.—Ibid. The prince of the covenant. . .or, of the league. The chief of them that conspired against him: or the king of Egypt his most powerful adversary.
11:23. And after friendships, he will deal deceitfully with him: and he shall go up, and shall overcome with a small people.
11:24. And he shall enter into rich and plentiful cities: and he shall do that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers' fathers: he shall scatter their spoils, and their prey, and their riches, and shall forecast devices against the best fenced places: and this until a time.
11:25. And his strength, and his heart, shall be stirred up against the king of the south, with a great army: and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with many and very strong succours: and they shall not stand, for they shall form designs against him.
The king. . .Ptolemeus Philometor.
11:26. And they that eat bread with him, shall destroy him, and his army shall be overthrown: and many shall fall down slain.
11:27. And the heart of the two kings shall be to do evil, and they shall speak lies at one table, and they shall not prosper: because as yet the end is unto another time.