Daniel 11
PATSee the Argument of the foregoing chapter. succession of the Syrian kings after Antiochus, to describe antichrist, of whom tho former was the type and forerunner. [So viii. 9. the prophet passes over all the successors of Alexander to Antiochus Epiphanes, whoso reign had a particular influence upon tho Jewish affairs.] that they gave him the title of Euergetes, or, the Benefactor. And he shall continue more years than the king of the north.’] Ptolemy outlived Seleucus the space of four years. And he shall stand iti the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed.] He shall make himself master of Judea, (seo tho note upon viii. 9.) which shall bo consumed by tho foraging and plundering of his soldiers; Jerusalem itself receiving great damages during tho siego of the garrison which Scopas left there: as appears by Antiochus’s decree for repairing the ruins of the city, in Josephus, ubi supra. In the contests between the kings of Syria and Egypt, Judea lying in the middlo between them, whoever were conquerors, that cotmtry was sure to suffer: Josephus compares its condition to that of a ship in a storm, which is beaten by the waves on both sides. (Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 3. iniL) The Greek interpreter renders the former part of the sentence, And he shall stand in the land of Sabi: which Dr. More in his notes upon the place, supposes to be a name of the God of Israel: and I have offered some arguments to support that conjecture, in the notes upon Jer. iii. 19. 10. Antiochus, by the assistance of Enmenes and Attalus, shall vanquish all the forces that opposed his pretensions, both those raised by the usurper Heliodorus, and those which Cleopatra, mother to Ptolemy Philometor, had got together to assist her son’s right, as being nephew, to the deceased kingSelcucus. Yea, also the prince of the covenant.’] Onias the.highpriest, as several interpret it, whom they suppose to be meant by the prince of the host, viii. 11. where the prophet speaks of the persecution of the Jews, of which.the same Antiochus was the author. This Onias was deposed and banished by him, and afterward murdered by one of his lieutenants, (2 Mncc. iv. 10. 34.) But the following verse inclines me to think, that Ptolemy Philometor is meant here, for he it is with whom the league there mentioned is made; and he was the principal person that opposed Antiochus chiefly in his pretension to Coelo-Syria and Palestine: in 1 whose.name awar was carried on against Antiochus, the success of which is foretold in,the following verses. made himself master of Jerusalem, in order to regain the office of high-priest, from which he had been turned out by the fraud’of his brother Menelaus. Upon this, Antiochus, supposing the whole nation had revolted from him, marched with all haste out of Egypt into Judeato quell this rebellion: and taking Jerusalem by force of arms, ho slew forty thousand of the inhabitants in three days’ time, profaned the temple, and took away all its ornaments and trea- % surcs. (See 1 Mace. i. 20. 28. 2 Mace. iv. 23, 24. v. • And he shall do exploits, and return into his own land.] Or, Having finished his designs, he shall return, &c. (See the last note but one, and compare ver. 30. 32. viii. 12.) After having satisfied his revenge upon the Jews, he shall return to Antioch, the chief seat o’f his empire, with the spoils of the temple at Jerusalem (besides those of Egypt), amounting to eighteen hundred talents, (2 Mace. v. 21.)
Daniel 11:1
JjlLSO I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and strengthen him. This verse should have been joined to the last chapter: the angel adds, that as he now joins with Michael.in defending the cause of the Jewish nation; so, at the time of the overthrow of the Babylonish empire, he assisted.Michael in advancing Darius, to the succession, which was the occasion of restoring the Jewish captivity. The wotjI Am may relate -either to Michael or Darius, and the sense, taking it.either way, is much the same.
Daniel 11:2
And now I will shew thee the truth. What is contained in the Scripture, or writing, of truth, x. 21. Or, I will shew thee the. succession of the Persian and Grecian empire in plain and naked truth, not in symbolical or figurative representations, as it was shewed before, chap. viii..There shall stand up yet three kings in Persia.] After Cyrus shall succeed Cambyses, Smerdis,,and Darius Hystaspes. So Ezra mentions two kings, whom. he calls Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes (names.which were common to most of the Persian kings in the Jewish history), who reigned between Cyrus and Darius Hystaspes,; (Ezra iv; And the fourth shall be far richer than they all, &c] This plainly means Xerxes, who brought together an army of above four millions, according to Herodotus’s account: of eight millions, as others say, to overrun the whole country of Greece.. These wars, carried on by Xerxes’s successors, ended at last in the conquest of the Persian monarchy by Alexander the Great. Upon this, account the angel passes over the rest of the Persian kings; and proceeds immediately to relate the successes of Alexander: it being the chief design of the. former part of this vision to foretell the translation of the empire from the Persians to the Greeks. (See’x. 20.) St. Jerome rightly observes upon the fifth verse of this chapter, “That it was. not the design of the Scripture to give us an historical narrative of the actions of heathen princes any farther than the affairs of the Jewish nation were concerned in them.” In like manner, at the thirtyrsixth verse, the angel breaks otf the
Daniel 11:3
And a mighty king shall stand tip, and do according to his will. Compare ver. 16. This denotes Alexander the Great, whose success was so uninterrupted, that no body was able to put a stop to the progress of his victories. (See viii. 5.)
Daniel 11:4
And when he sluill stand up.". When he shall be in the height of his prosperity. * His kingdom shall be broke?i, and shall be divided towards the four ivinds of heaven.’] See the notes upon viii. 8. And not to his posterity.] Alexander had a brother, Aridseus, and two sons, Alexander and Hercules: these were all cut off in a few years after his death, to make way for his generals, who divided his empire among themselves. Nor according to his dominion which he ruled.] They did not immediately take upon them the title of kings: (see Dr. Prideaux, ad an. A. C. 301.) and his dominion being divided, lost much of that strength and power which the empire had when it was united in the person of Alexander. (See viii. 22.) * For his kingdom shall be plucked up, for others beside those.] Alexander’s four great successors were Ptolemy, Cassander, Lysimachus, and Seleucus: (see the note upon viii. 8.) but others beside them came in for a share of his dominions, such as Eumenes, Philotas, and others. The word translated plucked up, is the same as rooted up, or destroyed, and is opposed to planting, or making to thrive; Jer. i. 10. xxiv. 6. xxxi. 28. or the phrase may allude to the feathers of a bird being plucked and scattered abroad. (Compare vii. 4.) < »
Daniel 11:5
And the king of the south shall be strong. By the king of the south, in this and the. following verses, is meant the king of Egypt: and by the king of the north, the king of Syria. These two kings came at length to have the principal share of Alexander’s dominions, and make the greatest figure among his successors. But the reason why they are only mentioned here, is> because they only were concerned in the affairs of the Jews: Judea bordering upon each of their dominions, and sometimes belonging to one, and sometimes to the other/of those princes. The king of the south mentioned in this verse, denotes Ptolemy the First, the son of Lagus, called, by way of distinction, Ptolemy Soter. The texth saith of him, that he should be strong: for he had all Egypt and the adjacent partsof Lyhia under his dominion, besides Palestine, Ccelo-Syria, and most of the maritime provinces of the lesser Asia. And one of his princes, and [or even] he shall be strong above him, andhave dominion.] Another of the successors of Alexander, who took upon them the style of kings, or princes.* (See the note on ver. 4.) This was Seleucus Nicator, the first king of the north, or of Syria: who, by the conquest of Lysimachus king of Thrace, and Demetrius king of Macedon, obtained the name of Nicator, i.e. conqueror. II is dominion shall be a great dominion.] He had under his dominion all the countries of the east, from Mount Taurus to the River Indus; and from thence westward to the jEgean Sea: whereupon Appianus the historian reckons him the most potent of all Alexander’s successors. •
Daniel 11:6
Andin the end of yean, they shall join themselves together. In process of time the successors of these two kings, viz. Ptolemy Philadelphus, the son of the former. Ptolemy, and Antiochus Theus, the grandson of Seleucus Nicator, shall enter into a league or confederacy with each other. For the king’s daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement.] This league shall be concluded by the marriage of Berenice, daughter to Ptolemy Philadelphus, with Antiochus Theus king of Syria, although ho had another wife Laodice, and two children by her, Seleucus Callinicus and Antiochus.’; But she shall not retain the power of the arm.] She shall not be able to keep her power or interest with Antiochus: for as soon as her father Ptolemy was dead, Antiochus divorced her, and recalled his former wife Laodice and her children. Neither shall he stand, nor his arm.] Nor shall Antiochus himself long survive, for Laodice, being jealous of his fickle temper, procured him to be poisoned, and concealed his death till her son Seleucus had secured the succession. But she shall be given up, and they that brought her.] Berenice, after she had shut herself up in the asylum, or place of sanctuary, at Daphne, was betrayed into her enemies* hands, and basely murdered with all those that attended her out of Egypt. And he that begat her.] If we follow this translation, see the explication of it in the next note: but the marginal reading gives the better sense, He whom she brought forth; her son who was slain with her: the Hebrew, yoled, is in the form of the participle active; but the same form is sometimes used in a passive sense: of which we may produce an instance from ix. 27. of this prophecy, where the word shomem is rendered, in a passive sense, desolate, by most interpreters. And he that strengthened her in these times.] Her father, who should have supported her with his interest under these difficulties, but died himself a little before. All these particulars, and what are mentioned in the following notes, are fully related in the historical accounts of those times, as may be seen by those who will consult the authors referred to by St. Jerome, in his commentaries upon Daniel, and Dr. Prideaux, in the second part of his Script. Connexion.
Daniel 11:7
But out of a branch of her root shall stand up one in his estate, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north. One of the same stock or original with Berenice; viz. her brother, Ptolemy Euergetes, shall succeed his father in the government of Egypt, and shall revenge his sister’s quarrel, by invading the frontiers or territories (see ver. 10.) of Seleucus, and prevail against him.
Daniel 11:8
And he shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, &c. St. Jerome tells us out of writers extant in his time, that Ptolemy made himself master of all Syria and Cilicia, and passing the Euphrates, conquered as far as Babylon: and carried back into Egypt vast plunder from all the conquered provinces, together with two thousand five hundred Egyptian idols, which Cartibyses upon his conquering Egypt had carried into Persia. This action of his so highly obliged tho Egyptians,
Daniel 11:9
So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, &c.J Ptolemy shall return home without molestation, and quietly enjoy what he had gptten by his victories.
Daniel 11:10
But his sons shall be stirred up, and assemble a multitude of great forces. The sons of Seleucus, Seleucus Ceraunus, and Antiochus, called afterward the Great, shall assemble a mighty army, in order to recover all that their father had lost And one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass over.] Antiochus shall certainly overrun Judea and Coelo-Syria, with other provinces belonging to the king of Egypt; taking the advantage of Ptolemy Euergetes’s death, and the succession of his son Ptolemy Philopator, a weak and profligate prince; under whose reign he attempted the recovery of Syria. We may observe the text here speaks only of a single person, viz. Antiochus, for his brother Seleucus died in the beginning of. this enterprise, having scarce reigned three, years. The devastations of an army are fitly com T pared to inundations. (See ver. 22. 40. and ix. 26.) Then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.] Or, He shall again be stirred up, &c. (See the note upon ix. 25.) At the spring of the next year he shall take the field again, and encamp at Raphia, a frontier town upon Jhe borders of Egypt. (See the history of this engagement in Polybius, lib. v. p. 573. edit. 8vo.)
Daniel 11:11
And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north. Ptolemy Philopator, the young king of Egypt, being enraged at the attempts of Antiochus,* shall come with a great army to encounter him. And he shall set forth a great multitude.] If we understand the words of Ptolemy’s army, that consisted of seventy thousand foot, five thousand horse, and seventy-three elephants; Antiochus’s was little inferior to his, for he had sixty-two thousand foot, six thousand horse, and sixty-two elephants. Bat the multitude shall be delivered into his hand.] The army of Antiochus was discomfited by Ptolemy, ten thousand being slain, and four thousand taken prisoners. The author of the third book of Maccabees ascribes this victory to the passionate importunity of Arsinoc, Ptolemy’s sister, who ran about the army with her hair about her shoulders, and by promises and entreaties engaged the soldiers to fight with more than ordinary resolution.
Daniel 11:12
His heart shall be lifted up. So far as to offer to force his passage into the holiest part of the Jewish temple, when he cainc to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices there, after his victory: the story is related at large in the forementioned third book of the Maccabees, chap. i. And he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it.] Or, Tliough he shall cast down — he shall not be strengthened by it. He shall content himself with recovering the provinces of Coelo-Syria and Palestine, and make no farther advantages of his victory; being wiling to agree to a peace, that he might securely follow his pleasures. (See Dr. Prideaux, par. ii. ad. ann. A. C. 217.)
Daniel 11:13
For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall cervol. iv. tainly come (after certain years) with a great army, &c. Fourteen years after the ending of the former war, upon the death of Philopator, and the succeeding of his infant son Ptolemy Epiphanes, Antiochus the king of the north shall return into Coelo-Syria and Palestine, fertile recovery of those provinces, and shall bring with him a greater army than he had in the former war, \ the same which he brought out of the east, at his late return from thence. After certain years.] The Hebrew reads, At the end of times, even, years: which expression confirms the interpretation given before of the word times in this prophecy. (See the note upon iv. 16.) And with much riches.] With abundant supply of all necessary provisions for an army: and especially with beasts of burden for removing their baggage: for that is the proper sense of the word recush.
Daniel 11:14
*And in those times many shall stand up against the king of the south. Antiochus, king of Syria, and Philip, king of Macedon, entered into a league, to divide the dominions of Ptolemy’Epiphanes, king of Egypt, being then an infant of six years of age. Agathoclea his father’s concubine, and her brother Agathocles, who managed every thing under Ptolemy Philopator, were framing projects to keep the regency in their own hands during the minority of this prince.. And Scopas, one of his generals, some time afterward formed a design of usurping the sovereignty over Egypt. Also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.] The apostates from the Jewish law shall exalt themselves under the favour of the king of Egypt and his ministers, to accomplish what is said in the writings of the prophets concerning the persecutions that should befal God’s people, and the punishments that should at length overtake those that forsake the truth., These apostates accordingly did fall, and were cut off by Antiochus; for in the ninth year of Epiphanes’s reign, Antiochus made himself master of Jerusalem, and cut off or drove from thence all those Jews that were of Ptolemy’s party, and bestowed particular favours upon those that persevered in the observance of the law. Josephus, Antiq, lib, xii. chap. 3. gives us a copy of Antiochus’s decree in favour of their temple, and the service therein performed, and to secure it from being profaned.
Daniel 11:15
So the king of the north shall come, and take the most fenced cities. Antiochus having vanquished the king of, Egypt’s army under Scopas at Paneas, near the fountain-head of the river Jordan, he. besieged and took first Zidon and Gaza, then all the other cities of that district, viz. Abila, Samaria, and Gadara: and afterward became master of the whole country. The word sollelah, translated a mount, does likewise signify battering engines for throwing stones, and such-like offensive artillery. (See 2 Kings xix. 32. Jer. xxxii.24. xxxiii. 4.) And the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people.] Neither the king of Egypt’s best generals, such as Scopas and others that came to relieve him, nor his choicest troops, shall prevail or be able to withstand Antiochus.
Daniel 11:16
But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, &c. Nobody being able to oppose him in Coelo-Syria or Palestine. (Compare viii. 4. 7. and ver, 36. of this chapter.) S’ *
Daniel 11:17
He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom. Antiochus will likewise design to invade Egypt with all his forces, and make an entire conquest of it.‘And upright ones withhim.] Or rather, And he shall make agreements vrith him: yesharim here probably signifying the same as mesharim does ver. G. i. e. he shall make proposals of concluding a marriage between his own daughter Cleopatra and king Ptolemy, to be consummated when they come of age: which offer made by Eucles of Rliodes was accepted, and a contract fully agreed between them. Thus shall he do.] Or, lie shall succeed, as the word is taken, ver. 28. 32. He shall succeed in this his proposal. • Giving him the daughter of women, corrupting her.] In making this proposal of marriage, his intent was thdt slid Should betray her husband to him, and by that means become master of Egypt* She is called the daughter of women, kot iZoxrjv, by way of excellence, either upon the account of her quality, or else because of her great beauty. But she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him.] When she was married to Ptolemy, she forsook the interest of her father, and embraced that of her husband: and we find her joining with him in an embassy to the Romans, to congratulate the victory they had obtained over her own father, as Dr. Prideaux observes out of Livy, lib* xxxvii. (See Script. Connex. par. ii. ad ann. C. 187.) -
Daniel 11:18
After this he shall turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many. Antiochus shall set out a great fleet for reducing the lesser Asia, which sailing along the coasts of Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycia,and Caria, took a great many of the maritime cities of those provinces, and the islands adjoining. All countries lying upon the sea-coasts are called islands, in the Hebrew dialect, as hath been observed in the notes upon Isa. xi. 11. But a prince for his oivn behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease: ivithout his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him.] Or, But a prince shall cause to cease his [i. e. Antiochus’s] reproach against him: moreover, he shall cau$e his reproach to return upon him. (Compare Hos. xii. 14.) The particle bilti, translated without, signifies likewise Ynoreover. (See Noldius, p. 202.) Lucius Scipio, the Roman consul, made the reproach which Antiochus had offered to the Romans by that invasion, to return upon his own head, by overthrowing him in battle at Mount Sipylns, and forcing him to quit all the conquests he had made in the lesser Asia. From this great victory, whereby Asia was delivered out or the hands of Antiochus, this Scipio had the surname of Asiaticusr this action is at large related by Livy, in the thirty-seventh book of his history. Ver. If). TJien he shall turn his face towards the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble, and fall.] After this great [ defeat, Antiochus returned back to Antioch, the chief seat and fortress of his kingdom. From whence going into the eastern provinces, to raise the money ho wns by agreement to pay to the Romans, and attempting to rob the temple at j Elymais, for that purpose, he was slain there, and never returned again into Syria. And not be found.] An expression, denoting utter destruction. (See Job xx.8. Psal. xxxvii. 3G. Ezek. xxvi. 21.)
Daniel 11:20
Then shall stand up hi his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom. Seleucus Philopator, the son of Antiochus, shall succeed in the kingdom of Syria. (Compare ver. 7.) His father by the treaty of peace was obliged to pay a thousand talents for twelve years together to the Romans: and it was the main business of his son’s reign to raise this money upon his subjects. His necessities put him upon offering to seize the treasures which were laid up in the temple at Jerusalem; for which attempt his treasurer Heliodorus was miraculously punished, as the story is told at large, 2 Mace. iii. 4, &c. But within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle.] Dr. Prideaux, par. ii. Script. Connex; at the end of the second book, translates this sentence, Within few years he shall be destroyed: the word yamim, days, often signifying years: which sense suits better with the event here foretold. For Seleucus reigned but eleven years, which may properly be called a few, in comparison of the thirty-seven years of his father’s reign: and he came to his end neither by war abroad, nor by a sedition at home, but was poisoned by Heliodorus his treasurer, who designed to usurp the kingdom to himself, as Appian relates it.
Daniel 11:21
And in his estate [or place. shall stand up a vile person.] This is a description of Antiochus Epiphanes, the great persecutor of the Jewish nation and religion. He is called here a vile person, not for any want of wit or parts, but for the extravagance of his life and actions, which made many doubt whether he had more of the fool or the madman in him: so, instead of Epiphanes, the Illustrious, they called him Epimanes, the Madman. (Seo the Fragments of the twenty-sixth book of Polybius,p.l492. of the Leyden edition.) To whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.] Tho right of succession did belong to Demetrius, the son of Seleucus Philopator, and nephew to Antiochus: but he being sent a hostage to Rome by his father, Antiochus took advantage of his absence, and by courting Eumenes king of Pergamus,*and Attalus his brother, with flattering speeches and great promises of friendship and assistance against the Romans, prevailed with them to stand by him against the usurper Heliodorus, and so catne peaceably into the possession of the kingdom.’
Daniel 11:22
And with the arms of <i flood shall they be overflown from before hint) and shall be brokeyi. Compare ver.
Daniel 11:23
And after the league made icith him he shall work deceitfully, &c,. This league was made between Ptolemy Philometor and Antiochus, in the lifetime of Cleopatra his sister, and another of Ptolemy. But when the king of Egypt’s ministers demanded the restitution of Coelor Syria and Palestine, as.belonging to the king of Egypt, by virtue of the marriage-articles between Pjtolemy Epiphanes and Cleopatra, Antiochus, without any regard to the league he had made with Philometor his nephew, marched. his army towards the frontiers of Egypt, and having obtained a victory over the Egyptian army in a battle fought between Mount Casius and Pelusiurn i; he the next year made himself master of the greatest part of Egypt, Philometor himself falling into his hands: whom he pretended to take care of as his nephew, and to manage his affair as, his tutor and guardian. But this belongs to hissecond expedition, mentioned ver. 25. And. shall become strong with a small people.] His forces then were hut small, as St. Jerome observes out of Sutorius, an historian extant in his time: at least in comparison of those he brought with him in his second expedition. (See the note upon ver. 25.)
Daniel 11:24
He shall enter peaceably into the. fattest places of the jirovince; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers 9 fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches.] By his cl^rnency towards the Egyptians, and civil treatment of Philometor, he shall succeed in his attempts upon Egypt, beyond all his predecessors, the former kings of Syria: viz. Antiochus Theus, Seleucus Callinicus, and, Antiochus, surnamed the Great, whose “actions are specified in the foregoing part of the chapter: all these had a design of getting Egypt into their hands, but none of them ever succeeded so far in the attempts upon it as Epiphanes: who miserably plundered the whole country, and divided the riches of it among his followers. (See 1 Mace. i. 19. St. Jerome in his notes upon the place, and Athenaeus, Deipnosophist. lib. v. and x.) Epiphanes was in himself of a profuse and prodigal temper, as the author of the first book of Maccabees, iii. 30. and several other” historians agree in giving his character, from whence he gained the name of Munificent and Liberal, as Josephus informs us, Antiq. lib.xii. cap. U. And he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds.] He rshall not only seize upon the richest parts of Egypt, but shall likewise make himself master of the chief places of strength in that country, keeping Pelusium in his hands, which was the key of Egypt, and laying siege unto Alexandria. Even for a. time.] See ver. 27.
Daniel 11:25
And he shall.stir up his power and his courage against the king ofthe.south tuith a great army, &c. The preparations here described belong to Antiochus’s second expedition into Egypt, as the author of the second book of JVlaqcabees rightly calls it, v. 1. when he invaded that country with great forces both by sea and land, as that expedition is described, lMacc i.17,18. where the historian adds, that Ptolemy fled from him, and many of his army were wounded to death: thus they got the strong cities in the land of Egypt, and he took the spoils.thereof. After which victory Ptolemy Philometor surrendered himself into Antiochus’s hands^ as was observed before: whereupon the Alexandrians set up his brother upon the throne, whom they surnamed Euergetes. Ibid, and
Daniel 11:26
“But he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against, him. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him. The.ill success of Philometor’s expedition was chiefly owing to the maladministration of Lenaeus,.JSuloeus, and other ministers and officers employed under Jiim, and to the treachery of Ptolemy Macron, who forsook Philometor’s interest, and went over to Antiochus. And his army shall overflow.] The arms of Antiochus shall overrun the whole kingdom of Egypt, like a sudden inundation. (See ver. 10. 22.) 4
Daniel 11:27
And both these kings’ hearts shall’be.to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper. These two kings shall meet at Memphis, and frequently eat at the same table as friends; Antiochus pretending to take care of the interests of his nephewPhilometor, especially after the Alexandrians had proclaimed his brother Euergctes king: and Philometor seemingly confiding in his uncle’s protection. But herein they both designed to impose upon each other; Antiochus’s design being to seize the kingdom of Egypt to himself, and Philometor’s to disappoint those designs of his, by coming to an agreement with Euergetes and the Alexandrians. So this pretended friendship.brokc out into open war, wherein Antiochus subdued all the country as far as Memphis, and marched.to Alexandria to besiege that city. For yet the end shall be at the time appointed.] These wars and calamities are not yet come to an end, but shall be determined at.the time of God’s appointment. (See ver. 29. 35, 3G. viii. 19.)
Daniel 11:28
TJieu shall he return into his land with great riches. Having taken the sjwils of Egypt, 1 Mace. i. 19. (See the note upon ver. 24.) This return of Antiochus into his own dominions, is the same which is again mentioned at the. end of the verse: so the sense might be more clearly expressed thus: TJieu shall he return into his land with great riches, having, had his heart stirred up’ against the holy covenant, and having finished his designs, he shall even return into his own land. And his heart shall be against the holy covenant.] While Antiochus.was in Egypt, a false report was spread over Judea that he was dead, whereupon Jason with his party
Daniel 11:29
At the time appointed he shall return, and come towards the south: but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. Antiochus shall make a third expedition into Egypt, in order to reduce Alexandria: but this attempt shall not bo attended with the same success as the two’former, for the reason mentioned in the next verse.
Daniel 11:30
For ships of Chittim shall come against him, therefore he shall be grieved, and return. The ambassadors Popilius Lamas and his companions, coming in ships from the coasts of Macedonia and Greece, shall come to him, bringing peremptory demands from the Romans, that he should desist from making war against Egypt, otherwise they would denounce war against him. This message will v make him, to his great grief, return out of Egypt, and quit his designs upon that country. The isles of Cldttim, Jer. ii. 10. Ezek. xxvii. G. signify the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, so as to comprehend both Italy and Greece.. And have indignation against the holy covenant.] Being enraged at this disappointment, he shall vent his fury and indignation against the Jewish church and nation; and send Apollonius with an army of seventy-two thousand men to lay Jerusalem waste, and cause the temple-worship to cease there: this happened two years after the first taking of Jerusalem by Antiochus. (Compare IMacc. i. 29. 40. with 2 Mace. v. 24— 26.) So shall he do, [or, he shall prosper in his’undertakings: see ver. 28.] and shall return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.] At his return from Egypt, he shall practise with the deserters of the Jewish religion, such as Menelaus and the like apostates, and make use of them as instruments in making converts to heathenism’. (See 1 Mace. i. 43. 52. 2 Mace. v. 15.)
Daniel 11:31
And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall prof ane the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice. His arms shall so prevail, as to make an entire conquest over the Jews, to profane the temple, and causo the service daily performed there to cease. (Compare viii. 11. IMacc. i. 39, &c. 2 Mace. v. 2. 5.) The temple is called the sanctuary of strength, because it was a token of the Divine protection, being’tho place* of God’s especial residence. (See Psal. lxxxviii. 61. xcvi. G. Ezek. xxiv. 21. 25.) And they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.] Idols are commonly called abominations in Scri - ture, as hath been observed upon ix. 27. In agreement with that usage of the word, the abomination of desolation must signify the idol which was placed upon the altar of burnt-offerings. (Seel Mace. i. 54. 59.) As the temple itself was dedicated by the heathen to Jupiter Olympius, 2 Mace. vi. 2. so the idol was probably the image of Jupiter. This idol is said to make desolate, because it banished the true worship of God and his worshippers from the place. (See 1 Mace. iv. 38.)
Daniel 11:32
And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be corrupt by flatteries. Such as Jason and Menelaus, who had bought tho high-priesthood of him, and became his instruments in spoiling and profaning the temple, (see 2 Mace. iv. 13, 14. v. 15.) and such other apostates whom the king by fair words and promises brought over to comply with his designs. (See 1 Mace. i. 52. 2 Macc/vi. 21.) But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.] Or, shall prosper. (See ver. 28. 30.) They that have a sense of their duty shall courageously resist these attempts, and behave themselves valiantly. (See 1 Mace. i. 62. ii. 41—43. iii. 43, &c. 2 Mace. v. 27.)
Daniel 11:33
They that understand among the people shall instruct many. They that know their duty, and are zealous in doing it, will arm others against the temptations whereby the wicked would persuade them to forsake the true religion. Such were Mattathias and his family, 1 Mace. ii. 1, &c. Eleazar, 2 Mace. vi. 18, 19. and the mother and her seven children, 2 Mace. vii. Yet they shall fall by the sword.] It was death for any person to observe the law, and disobey tho king’s command: and accordingly many suffered for their constancy in adhering to their religion. (Seel Mace. i. 50. G3. 2 Mace. vi.9— 11. 19. 30. vii. 1, &c.) And by flame.’] This was remarkably verified in the torments inflicted upon the seven brethren recorded 2 Mace, vii. 3. 5. Burning alive was a punishment usual in those countries. (See iii. 6.) By captivity and by spoil.] By banishment and loss of goods. Many days.] For three years and a half, as the time is computed by Josephus, reckoning from the first beginning of the persecution till the sanctuary was cleansed. (See the note upon vii. 25.) The persecution may be enlarged to a longer time, if we date it from the beginning of this apostacy. (See the note upon viii. 14.)
Daniel 11:34
Now, when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help. That of Judas Maccabeus and his followers. (See 1 Mace. iii. 10, &c. iv. 14. 2 Mace. viii. 1.) But many shall cleave to them with flatteries.] Not sincerely: such were Joseph and Azarias, who engaged in the common cause out of ambition, and a desire of fame: (1 31acc. v. 56. 62.) such were they who after their death were found with idols consecrated under their clothes, 2 Mace. xii. 40. Such was Tlhodocus, who disclosed their secrets to the enemy, ibid. xiii. 21.
Daniel 11:35
And some of them of understanding shall fall, to trtj them, and to purge them, and to make them white. Some of the principal men for piety and knowledge shall fall under this persecution, (see ver. 33.) for the trial of their faith and patience, and to purge them from lesser corruptions, which are the usual effects of prosperity. (Compare 1 Pet. Digitized by Micmsoit ® CHAP. XI.] UPON DANIEL.. i. 7.) The persecutions which shall befal the church under antichrist, are designed for the same purpose, as appears by comparing xii. 10. with the words here: Antiochus’s persecution being a type and figure of that under antichrist. (Sec the note upon viii. 14, 23, 24. and the thirty-first verse here, with xii. 11.) Even to the time of the end: for it is yet for a time appointed.’] Till the time appointed by God for an end of those calamities shall come. (Compare Ter. 27. viii. 19.) Mr. Mede refers the latter part of the sentence to the following verse, and so connects the following prophecy with what went before, to this sense: " This persecution shall last to the time of the e&d: for as yet for a time appointed a king shall do according to his will.” (See his Works, p. 903.) [To the same sense the Vulgar Latin translates it, Quia adhuc aliud tempus erit.]
Daniel 11:36
And the king shall do according to his will. Antiochus was a type and forerunner of antichrist, as hath been observed: so the angel makes a sudden transition from the type to the antitype, or the description of antichrist himself: the words in the four following verses being not at all applicable to Antiochus. And several passages in the twelfth chapter shew that some parts of this prophecy belong to the latter times, or ages, of the world. (See Dr. Pridcaux, par. ii. book iii. towards the end.) We may observe such a sudden transition in our Saviour’s discourse, Matt. xxiv. from a prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem, to a description of the general judgment. The [or, a] king shall do according to his will; [see ver. 16.] and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things agdinst the’God of gods.] Compare vii. 25. viii. 11. 25. St. Paul describes antichrist almost in the same words, 2 Thess. ii. 4. Who exalteth himself above all that is called God. (Compare Rev. xiii. 5, 6,) And shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished, &c] He shall succeed in his attempts of aggrandizing himself, and asserting his own supremacy, till the time of God’s indignation be accomplished; (compare ver. 27. 35.) t. e.for a time, times, and a lutlf as it is expressed, vii. 25. xii. 7.
Daniel 11:37
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers. Antichrist is described as the seventh head of the Roman empire, Rev. xvii. 11. and as the sixth head revived, Rev. xiii. 3. 1:4. But before he arrived at his dominion, the worship of the heathen gods, which had prevailed under the sixth head, was destroyed by the Christian emper.orsl Nor the desire of women.] Mr. Mede hath observed’ in his Works, p. 60S. that the expression properly signifies a desire of wives, L e. of a married state, which shonld be discountenanced by the king here described. In like manner, forbidding to marry is a character of some antichristian teachers, 1 Tim. iv. 3. The word desire signifies that affection which married persons have for each other. (Sec Gen. iii. 16. Cant. vii. 10. Ezek. xxiv. 16.) Nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.] He will dispense with the laws of God, and make •religion subservient to his own greatness and interest.
Daniel 11:38
But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces. I prefer Mr. Medc’s translation of this and the following verse, as giving a clearer sense and more agreeable to the original: this verse he thus interprets: But (or for) together with God in his seat shall he honour Mauzzims. This last word, both the Greek, the Vulgar Latin, and several other translations, retain without interpreting it. The word imports protection, or a protector, the abstract being often used for the concrete, (seePsal. xxvii: 1. xxviii. 8. xxxi. 3. 5.) and is often rendered vTrepa<nn<m)s, by the LXX. The same learned person supposes the word here to denote saints and angels, in whom the votaries of the church of Rome place a great trust and confidence, and fly to their protection in their distress, and assign to some of them the patronage of whole countries, as is more fully expressed in the following verse. To these, saith this interpretation of the text, shall the king here described give honour and worship in the places dedicated to the service of that God whom his fathers knew not, as it follows. And a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, &c] Mr. Mede translates the sentence thus: Even together with the god whom his fathers knew not (see ver. 37.) shall he honour [them]with gold and silver; &c. i. e. with the most costly ornaments. And pleasant things.] The Hebrew word hamudoth, is used by the prophet Isaiah, (xliv. 9.) to signify the costly ornaments wherewith the heathens decked their images. Grotius and some others explain this verse of Antiochus’s setting up the statue of Jupiter Olympius within the precincts of the temple, (1 Mace. i. 54. 2 Mace. vi. 1.) But I do not apprehend how he can be called a god whom Antiochus’s father knew not, since he was worshipped under the name of Baal by the Phoenicians many ages before.
Daniel 11:39
Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god. According to Mr. Mede, the word^ should be thus translated: And he shall make the strong holds [or fortresses] of the Mauzzims jointly with [or to] the strange [or foreign] god: i. e. He shall consecrate his temples and religious places jointly to the honour of God and of his saints. Temples may fitly be called strong holds, or places of defence, as being, in the opinion of those that pay their devotions there, the earnests of that protection which they expect in answer to their prayers. So the Jewish temple is called the sanctuary of strength, ver. 31. of this chapter, the word Mauz being used in both places. (Compare Psal. xxvii. 5.) A strange god in the Old Testament, usually signifies a false god: but the phrase being here used in opposition to the gods who were worshipped by the gentile ancestors of the Romans, it may properly denote the true God, whom the Athenians called by the name of a strange God, Acts xvii. 23. For the entire inscription of that altar St. Paul takes notice of there, is supposed to be, To the unknown and strange God: whom St. Paul tells them, they ignorantly worshipped, as not knowing him to be the one supreme God. And he shall cause them to rule over many, andsliall divide the land for gain,] Or, Distribute the earth for a reward: t. e. he shall assign whole provinces and kingdoms to the protection of several saints and angels, to whom they may have recourse as their patrons: and shall give them suitable titles and honour, as a reward of their care and protection.
Daniel 11:40
And at the time of the end. At God’s appointed time; (sec ver. 35.) or, in the latter days. (See xii. 8.) *