Daniel 11:24

“He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province, etc.] Or, “into tranquillity, and the fattest places of the province”f547; that is, into such places as were in great tranquillity, and men thought themselves safe and secure, and had no suspicion of his designs upon them, and which abounded in wealth and riches: these were either the principal cities in the kingdom of Syria, which he visited in order to establish himself in their good opinion of him; or the chief places of the province of Phoenicia, where he endeavoured to make himself acceptable by his munificence; or it may be the best parts of the kingdom of Egypt are meant, the richest of them, such as Memphis, and…”

“peaceably--literally, "unexpectedly"; under the guise of friendship he seized Ptolemy Philometer. he shall do that which his fathers have not done--His predecessors, kings of Syria, had always coveted Egypt, but in vain: he alone made himself master of it. scatter among them . . . prey--among his followers (1 Maccabees 1:19). forecast his devices against . . . strongholds--He shall form a studied scheme for making himself master of the Egyptian fortresses. He gained them all except Alexandria, which successfully resisted him. Retaining to himself Pelusium, he retired to Judea, where, in revenge for the joy shown by the Jews at the report of his death, which led them to a revolt, he subdued…”

“He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province - The margin is, “or, into the peaceable and fat.” The version in the text, however, is the more correct, and the sense is, that he would do this “unexpectedly” (Lengerke, uvermuthet); he would make gradual and artful approaches until he had seized upon the best portions of the land. Compare Genesis 27:28, Genesis 27:39. The history is, that he went there with different professions than those of conquest, and one after another he took possession of the principal towns of Egypt. In his first invasion of that country, Diodorus Siculus and Josephus both say that Antiochus “availed himself of a mean artifice,” without…”

“He shall enter peaceably - He shall come in upon the Egyptians under pretence of peace, in a plentiful and delicious country, and among a mass of treasures which the kings successively had heaped up; the greatest part of which Antiochus distributed among his confidants, whereby he obliged them the faster to him. He did herein what his fathers had not done; the kings of Syria before him, could never attain to this success over Egypt. Against the strong - holds - Having succeeded thus far, he shall proceed to the places of greatest strength in that kingdom. For a time - That is 'till God put a stop to his career, for the Egyptians found means to deliver themselves from his yoke. Daniel 11:25”

“11:24 richest areas of the land: Antiochus IV seized the riches of the Temple, took large tributes from Jerusalem, and stationed troops there (1 Maccabees 1:29-40).”

“peaceably even upon the fattest: or, into the peaceable and fat, etc he shall scatter: Jdg 9:4; Pro 17:8, Pro 19:6 forecast his devices: Heb. think his thoughts, Dan 7:25; Pro 23:7; Eze 38:10; Mat 9:4 Daniel 11:25”