Daniel 11:29

“At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south, etc.] At the time appointed of God, he should return from Syria again to Egypt; which was his third expedition thither, and was occasioned by the Alexandrians setting up the brother of Ptolemy Philometor for king; wherefore he hastened to Egypt with a large army, under a pretence of restoring the deposed king; but in reality to seize the kingdom for himselff552: but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter; this expedition should not succeed so well as the two former, as it did not; he could not carry his point, neither subdue Egypt, nor get any of the two brothers into his hands, as he had done before; the reason of…”

“At the time appointed--"the time" spoken of in Dan 11:27. return--his second open invasion of Egypt. Ptolemy Philometer, suspecting Antiochus' designs with Physcon, hired mercenaries from Greece. Whereupon Antiochus advanced with a fleet and an army, demanding the cession to him of Cyprus, Pelusium, and the country adjoining the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile. it shall not be as the former--not successful as the former expedition. Popilius Loenas, the Roman ambassador, met him at Eleusis, four miles from Alexandria, and presented him the decree of the senate; on Antiochus replying that he would consider what he was to do, Popilius drew a line round him with a rod and said, "I must have a reply…”

“At the time appointed - In the purposes of God. See the notes at Daniel 11:27. That is, at the time when God shall design to accomplish his own purposes in regard to him. The idea is, that there was a definite period in the Divine Mind in which all this was to be done, and that when this should occur Antiochus would return again to invade Egypt. He shall return, and come toward the south - With an intention of invading Egypt. The occasion of this invasion was, that after the departure of Antiochus, leaving Ptolemy in possession of Egypt, or having professedly given up the kingdom to him, Ptolemy suspected the designs of Antiochus, and came to an agreement with his brother Physcon, that they…”

“Toward the south - Egypt, to fight against Ptolemy. But - This shall not be so prosperous as the two former expeditions, but shall fail both of his victory and booty. Daniel 11:30”

“11:29-35 Antiochus IV invaded the south [Egypt] . . . once again (see Polybius, Histories 29.1). • The warships from western coastlands refers to the Romans. The Roman general Popilius Laenas drew a circle in the sand, forced Antiochus to stand inside it, and made him decide whether to return home or prepare for war with Rome before exiting the circle. Fearing the Roman fleet, Antiochus chose to withdraw and return home. He then vented his anger and humiliation against the Jews, the people of the holy covenant. He took Jerusalem in 167 BC and rewarded those who would come over to him. He polluted the altar (see Dan 8:9-14, 23-26), stopped the sacrifices, set up a statue of the Greek god Zeus…”

“time: Dan 8:19, Dan 10:1; Isa 14:31; Act 17:26; Gal 4:2 as the former: Dan 11:23, Dan 11:25 Daniel 11:30”

“In order that he might bring Egypt wholly under his power, he undertook a new expedition thither (וּבא ישׁוּב, he comes again). But this expedition, like the first, was not successful (כ־כ, as-so, cf. Jos 14:11; Eze 18:4). For the ships of Chittim come against him. כּתּים ציּים, ships the Chittaei, for כּתּים מיד צים, Num 24:24, whence the expression is derived כּתּים is Cyprus with its chief city Κίττιον (now Chieti or Chitti); see under Gen 10:4. Ships coming from Cyprus are ships which come from the west, from the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. In 1 Macc. 1:1 and 8:5 כּתּים is interpreted of Macedonia, according to which Bertholdt and Dereser think of the Macedonian fleet with…”