Daniel 11:9

Dan 11:9 So the king of the south shall come into [his] kingdom, and shall return into his own land.

Ver. 9. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom.] Called out of Syria by a commotion at home, the Parthians invading Egypt; but he soon quelled them, and quieted his own country. Josephus {a} writeth that this Ptolemy Euergetes, in his return out of Syria, went to Jerusalem, and in thankfulness to the God of the Jews, offered his oblations at the temple there. Of his father Philadelphus also he reporteth, that he redeemed one hundred and twenty thousand Jews that were slaves in Egypt, and sent them home, and bestowed many rich gifts upon the temple at Jerusalem. {b}

{a} Lib. ii. cont. Appian.

{b} Antiq., lib. ii. cap. 2.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:9 Seleucus II, still the king of the north, tried to invade Egypt in 242 BC but was defeated by Ptolemy III.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

come into his kingdom--Egypt: not only with impunity, but with great spoil.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. So the king of the south] Ptolemy Euergetes -

Shall come into his kingdom] That of Seleucus Callinicus.

And shall return] Having heard that a sedition had taken place in Egypt, Ptolemy Euergetes was obliged to return speedily in order to repress it; else he had wholly destroyed the kingdom of Callinicus.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This clause belongs to the former verse; as if he had said, Ptolemy shall return by a peaceful march after this hostile invasion of Syria. For he might have some fears lest his enemy should not be completely prostrated. But as he departed as conqueror, the angel announces his safe arrival in his own land. The words “come” and “return” are used emphatically, implying the absence of all harass, fear, and danger. He returned to his kingdom and his own land, since he could not trust to the quietness of the enemies whom he had laid prostrate. It follows: —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(9) The king of the south.—According to the Hebrew text, these words are in the genitive case (so Theod. Jer.), though the English Version is supported by the LXX. In this case the meaning is, “The king of the north shall come into the kingdom of the southern king,” and then shall return to his own land—i.e., the north—apparently without gaining any advantage.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. And he shall come into the kingdom of the king of the south, but he shall, &c.] After two years Seleucus Callinicus succeeded in re-establishing his power in Asia (b.c. 242); but proceeding to march against Ptolemy he was defeated, and obliged to retreat, accompanied by only a few attendants, to Antioch (Justin xxvii. 2), b.c. 240.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom,.... Into his own kingdom, the kingdom of Egypt; or into the kingdom of Syria, the kingdom of Seleucus, and conquer great part of it, and ravage and spoil it:

and shall return into his own land; the land of Egypt; he shall go and come with ease, and as he pleases, none to hinder him; and come back with a great spoil, as before related: Cocceius renders it, and something "shall come in the kingdom of the king of the south, and he shall return to his own land"; and thinks this refers to the sedition raised there, before mentioned, which obliged him to return sooner than he intended. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "and he shall enter into the kingdom of the king of the south, and he shall return to his own land": that is, Seleucus should attempt to enter into the kingdom of Ptolemy king of Egypt, in revenge of his having entered into his country and spoiled it; but shall be obliged to return to his own land without any success: and so Justin (e) says, that he fitted out a great fleet, which was destroyed by a violent storm; and after this he raised a great army to recover his dominion, but was defeated by Ptolemy, and fled in great terror and trembling to Antioch; and this suits well with what follows.

(e) Ut supra, (Justin, l. 27.) c. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom - That is, into the kingdom of the north, or the kingdom of Syria. This verse seems to be a summary of what had been said about his invading Syria. He would come, on account of the wrongs done to his sister, into the kingdom of the north, and would then return again to his own land.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

So he did, with a booty of forty thousand talents of silver, without fear or danger.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. According to the A.V. this verse merely describes the triumphant return of Ptolemy to his own country. The next verse, however, shows the R.V. to be correct: “And he shall come into the realm of the king of the south, but he shall return into his own land.” The natural style of an apocalypse, which intentionally veils its meaning to the careless reader, accounts for the sudden change of reference here without warning. According to this best text it is not Ptolemy Euergetes spoken of here, but most probably Seleucus II, who attacked Egypt in order to punish its king for his invasion of Syria, but was forced to retreat with large loss.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. The Septuagint Version differs less than usual from the Massoretic, "The King of Egypt shall enter into (his) kingdom certain days and return to his land." Theodotion renders, "And he shall enter into the kingdom of the king of the south, and return into his land." The Peshitta differs more, "The king of the south shall enter in strength, and turn to his own land." The Vulgate does not differ from the others. This verse, assuming the king of the south, Ptolemy Euergetes, to be the subject of the verb, merely completes the statements of the previous verse, and seems to describe the triumphant return of Euergetes into Egypt. If we take which, however, is not so natural the king of the north as the subject, then the reference may be to the unsuccessful attempts made by Seleucus Callinicus to invade Egypt.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Return - So he did with a booty of forty thousand talents of silver. 10. But his sons - He means the sons of the king of the north, shall be incensed with the deeds of Ptolemaeus Euergetes, and his son Ptolemaeus Philopator. One shall come - Antiochus the great, shall pass through Syria and recover what the king of Egypt took from his father. Even to his fortress - To Raphia, which was a strong fortress at the entrance of Egypt.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And he will come into the kingdom of the king of the south Through the kingdom of the king of the south, who was her father’s father, he will return to his land, which is Egypt, as is stated above: “will bring in captivity to Egypt.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.