Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 11:25

"And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand; for they shall devise devices against him." — Daniel 11:25 (ASV)

And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army - This must refer to a subsequent invasion of Egypt by Antiochus. In the course of his reign, he invaded that country four times with varying degrees of success. In the first, he took Pelusium, and having placed a garrison there, retired into winter quarters at Tyre. In the second, mentioned above, he took Memphis and laid siege to Alexandria.

The third invasion, referred to here, occurred after he had taken Jerusalem. It was caused by the fact that, since Ptolemy Philometor was in the hands of Antiochus, the Egyptians had raised Ptolemy Physcon (the Gross) to the throne. This prince assumed the name Euergetes II. Antiochus's pretended object in this invasion (168 B.C.) was to support the claims of Ptolemy Philometor against his brother's usurpation, but his real purpose was to subject the whole country to his own power.

He defeated the Alexandrians by sea near Pelusium, and then drew up his land forces before the city of Alexandria. Ptolemy Physcon sent an embassy to Rome to solicit the protection of the Senate, and at the same time entered into negotiations of peace with Antiochus. The proposals were rejected; but when Antiochus perceived that the conquest of Alexandria would be difficult, he retired to Memphis, pretended to deliver up the kingdom to Ptolemy Philometor, and having left a strong garrison at Pelusium, he returned to Antioch. This invasion is thus described by the author of the book of Maccabees : “Wherefore he entered Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy.” - Porphyry, as quoted by Scaliger; Polybius, Legationes, Sections 81, 82, and 84; Livy 44.19 and 45.11; Justin 34.2; Prideaux, Connection, Vol. 3, pp. 232-235.

And the king of the south - Ptolemy Physcon, king of Egypt.

Shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army - To oppose Antiochus.

But he shall not stand - He shall not be able to resist him. His navy was defeated; Antiochus still held possession of Memphis, and laid siege to Alexandria.

For they shall forecast devices against him - Hebrew, “shall think thoughts” (see the notes at Daniel 11:24); that is, they shall form plans against him to defeat him. The reference here is to the invading forces, that they would form sagacious plans for the overthrow of the king of Egypt.