Daniel 11:21 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

In his estate shall stand, &c.— Antiochus, in his return from Rome, was at Athens in Syria, when his brother died by the treachery of Heliodorus; and the honour of the kingdom was not given to him; for Heliodorus attempted to get possession of it for himself. Another party declared in favour of Ptolemy Philometor, king of Egypt, whose mother Cleopatra was the daughter of Antiochus the Great; and neither was Antiochus the right heir, but his nephew Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, who was then a hostage at Rome. However, he obtained the kingdom by flatteries. He flattered Eumenes, king of Pergamus, and Attalus his brother, and engaged their assistance. He flattered the Syrians, and gained their concurrence. He flattered the Romans, and sent ambassadors to court their favour, to pay them the arrears of their tribute, to present them besides with golden vessels of five hundred pounds weight, and to desire their friendship and alliance. Thus he came in peaceably; and as he flattered the Syrians, the Syrians flattered him again, and bestowed upon him the title of Epiphanes, or the Illustrious; but the epithet of vile, or rather despicable, here given by the prophet, agrees better with his true profligate character; and indeed a contemporary writer, and others after him, instead of Epiphanes, more rightly called him Epimanes, or the mad-man. See Newton.