And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant [land].
Ver. 9. And out of one of them.] Out of the posterity of Seleucus, king of Syria.
Came forth a little horn.] This was Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, illustrious; Polybius called him Epimanes, the madman. He is here called a "little horn," because he was vile and base from the very first to the last of him; indeed, he was born a prince, but without a kingdom, a mere nullatenensis, till he became a usurper. He was sent for a hostage to Rome by his father, Antiochus the Great, whom the Romans had cudgelled into a treaty, taking away from him the best part of his kingdom. After his father's death, he stole away from Rome and seized upon the kingdom of Syria, casting out of it his nephew Demetrius, who was the rightful heir. Afterwards he got into his hands also the kingdom of Egypt, under colour of protector to his young nephew, Ptolemy Philometor; and being therehence discharged by the Romans, and made to answer Parebo, I will be gone, he went thence in a rage, and like a madman wreaked his teem, as we say, upon the poor Jews, playing the devil among them.
Toward the south,] i.e., Egypt,
And toward the east.] Persia, which he also conquered.
And toward the pleasant land,] i.e., Judea, called here Decus Capreolus, the delectable and desirable country, by reason of its great prerogatives. So Eze 20:6 Psalms 48:2 .