Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 11:15

"So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city: and the forces of the south shall not stand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to stand." — Daniel 11:15 (ASV)

So the king of the north — Antiochus the Great.

Shall come — He shall come again into these provinces. This occurred after he had vanquished the army of the Egyptians at Paneas. He then took Sidon and Patara and gained control of the whole country. — Prideaux, iii. 198. This happened in 198 BC.

Scopas, a general of Ptolemy, had been sent by him into Coelo-Syria and Palestine with the aim of subjecting those countries again to Egyptian rule. He was met by Antiochus at Paneas, near the sources of the Jordan, and defeated. He then fled with ten thousand men to Sidon, where he fortified himself, but from where he was expelled by Antiochus.

And cast up a mount — This refers to a fortification. That is, he shall so entrench himself that he cannot be dislodged. The reference does not seem to be to any particular fortification, but to the general fact that he would so entrench or fortify himself that he would make his conquests secure.

And take the most fenced cities — Margin, “city of munitions;” Hebrew, “city of fortifications.” The singular is used here in a collective sense, or perhaps there is a particular allusion to Sidon, where Scopas entrenched himself, making it as strong as possible.

And the arms of the south shall not withstand — They shall not be able to resist him or to dislodge him. The power of the Egyptian forces shall not be sufficient to remove him from his entrenchments. The Hebrew is, “shall not stand;” that is, they shall not stand against him or maintain their position in his advances. The word “arms” (זרעות z^ero‛ôth) is used here in the sense of “heroes, warriors, commanders,” as in Ezekiel 30:22 and Ezekiel 30:24-25.

Neither his chosen people — Margin, “the people of his choices.” These are those whom he had selected or chosen to carry on the war, referring, perhaps, to the fact that he would deem it necessary to employ picked men or to send the choicest of his forces in order to withstand Antiochus.

Such an occurrence is in every way probable. To illustrate this, it is only necessary to say that the Egyptians sent three of their most distinguished generals with a select army to deliver Sidon: Eropus, Menocles, and Damoxenus. — Lengerke, in loc.

Neither shall there be any strength to withstand — This means no forces that the Egyptians can employ will be able to resist. In other words, Antiochus would carry all before him. This is in strict accordance with the history.

When Scopas was defeated by Antiochus at Paneas, near the sources of the Jordan, he fled and entrenched himself in Sidon. There he was followed and besieged by Antiochus.

The king of Egypt sent the three generals named above, with a choice army, to attempt to deliver Scopas, but they were unable. Scopas was obliged to surrender because of famine, and the chosen forces returned to Egypt.