John Calvin Commentary Daniel 11:17

"And he shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and with him equitable conditions; and he shall perform them: and he shall give him the daughter of women, to corrupt her; but she shall not stand, neither be for him." — Daniel 11:17 (ASV)

Here he describes the second war of Antiochus against Epiphanes, who was then growing old; and so he gave him his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, hoping in this way, through subtle schemes, to subdue the kingdom of Egypt. For he thought his daughter would remain loyal to his interests; but she instead preserved her marital faithfulness to her husband, and did not hesitate to support her husband’s cause against her father.

She faithfully adhered to her husband’s interests according to her duty, and never listened to the cunning plans of Antiochus. Thus he was disappointed in his expectation, and his daughter never became the means by which he acquired authority over Egypt. Before this marriage of his daughter with Ptolemy, he had tried the effect of war, but in this he failed; and when he perceived the intervention of the Romans, he ceased from future hostilities and consoled himself with the thought we have already expressed: that he would receive immediate assistance against Egypt through his daughter. He turns, therefore, to come with the power of his whole kingdom; meaning, he collects all his forces to overwhelm Ptolemy Epiphanes, who was then only a young man, and had neither obtained any great authority nor reached sound wisdom and discretion. When he perceived his lack of success in the fortunes of war, he gave him the daughter of women, referring to her beauty. This is the explanation of interpreters, who suppose the phrase implies her remarkable beauty.

As to the next clause, those who translate it, and the upright with him, think the Jews are intended, because Antiochus had received them in surrender, and there were many who openly supported his cause. They think the Jews are so called as a mark of honor, and as upright with respect to the worship of God.

But this appears too forced to me. I do not hesitate to suppose the angel signifies the superior character of the agreement between Antiochus and Ptolemy, when the former found it impossible to obtain his adversary’s kingdom by open warfare. Although the Romans had not yet sent out any military force, yet Antiochus began to fear them, and he preferred to use cunning to provide for his own interests.

Besides this, as we recently mentioned, he was longing for other plunder, for he immediately transferred the war to Greece, as the angel will inform us. But he first announces, his giving away his daughter to destroy her.

Here he reproves the cunning scheme of Antiochus the Great, in thus basely selling his daughter, as if she were a prostitute. As far as he possibly could, he induced her to kill her husband either by poison or by other means. Hence, he gave up his daughter to destroy her, but she did not stand by him, and was not for him; meaning, she did not consent to her father’s wicked desires, and was unwilling to support such monstrous wickedness.

We read in secular writers about the fulfillment of these predictions of the angel, and thus it appears more clearly how God placed a mirror before the eyes of the devout, in which they might see His providence in ruling and preserving His Church.