Daniel Chapter 11 verse 22 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 22. - And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. The rendering of the LXX. is very wide of this, "And the broken arms he shall break from before him." Although this is much shorter than the Massoretic text, yet the contradictory assertion that arms already broken are broken before him is conclusive against accepting the evidence of the Septuagint absolutely. Theodotion agrees with the Massoretic, not with the English versinns, "And the arms of the overflowing shall be overflowed from before him, and be broken, even the leader of the covenant." The Peshitta is widely different, alike from the Massoretic text and that of the Septuagint, ";And their mighty ones of the city he shall carry away, and they shall be broken from before him, even the leader of the covenant." The Vulgate stands in a closer relation with the above than with the Massoretic text or the Greek versions, "The arms (brachia) of one fighting shall be driven out (expugnabuntur) from his face, and shall be broken besides, and (insuper et) the leader of the covenant." The reference here seems to be to the campaign' - if there was a campaign - by which Epiphanes secured possession of the throne of Syria. The prince of the covenant. Who this can be it is impossible to say. The idea supported by Hitzig, Bevan, Behrmann, that Onias III. is referred to, is founded on the utterly unhistorical narrative in 2 Macc. 4. The view of Moses Stuart is that it is some sovereign who had a league of amity with Epiphanes. The reference thus might be to Eumenes or Attalus, who supported the claims of Anthochs. Negeed bereeth may be explanatory of the prenominal suffix in milpanayo, "before him." As Stuart acutely remarks, had the reference in bereeth been to the Divine covenant with the Jews, we should have had habbeereth.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(22) With the arms.--More correctly, and the arms in a flood; that is, the overwhelming forces of invading armies are swept away by the troops of this terrible king. But besides the enemy, the "prince of the covenant" is to be destroyed also. This expression is most readily explained by observing that it stands in contrast with the hostile armies mentioned in the first clause. It is an expression similar to "men of covenant," "lords of covenant," and means "those who were at peace with him," "prince" being used as a collective noun (see Daniel 11:18). This has been supposed to refer to the murder of Onias III. (2 Maccabees 4:1, &c., 2 Maccabees 4:33, &c.); but there is no reason for supposing that the high priest was ever called by such a title as "prince of the covenant."