CHAPTER XI _This chapter gives a more particular explanation of those_ _events which were predicted in the_ eighth _chapter. The prophet_ _had foretold the partition of Alexander's kingdom into four_ _parts. Two of these, in which were included Egypt and Syria,_ _the one to the_ north, _the oth... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:2. _THERE SHALL STAND UP YET THREE KINGS_] Gabriel had already spoken of _Cyrus_, who was now reigning; and after him _three_ others should arise. These were, 1. _Cambyses_, the son of Cyrus. 2. _Smerdis_, the Magian, who was an impostor, who pretended to be another son of Cyrus. A... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:3. _A MIGHTY KING SHALL STAND UP_] This was _Alexander the_ _Great_. It is not said that this mighty king shall stand up against _Xerxes_, for he was not born till _one hundred_ years after that monarch; but simply that he should _stand up_, i.e., that he should reign in Greece.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:4. _HIS KINGDOM SHALL BE BROKEN_] Shall, after his death, be _divided_ among his _four_ chief generals, as we have seen before. See Daniel 8:22. _AND NOT TO HIS POSTERITY_] The _family of Alexander_ had a most tragical end: 1. His wife _Statira_ was murdered soon after his death by... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:5. _THE KING OF THE SOUTH_] This was _Ptolemy Lagus_, one of his generals, who had the government of Egypt, Libra, c., which are on the south of Judea. He was strong, for he had added Cyprus, Phoenicia, Caria, c., to his kingdom of Egypt. _AND_ ONE _OF HIS PRINCES - SHALL BE STRONG... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:6. _IN THE END OF YEARS_] Several historical circumstances are here passed by. _THE KING'S DAUGHTER OF THE SOUTH_] _Berenice_, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, was married to _Antiochus Theos_, king of Syria. These two sovereigns had a bloody war for some years; and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:7. _BUT OUT OF A BRANCH OF HER ROOTS_] A branch from the same root from which she sprang. This was _Ptolemy Euergetes_, her brother, who, to avenge his sister's death, marched with a great army against _Seleucus Callinicus_, took some of his best places, indeed all Asia, from Mount T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:8. _HE SHALL CONTINUE_ MORE _YEARS_] _Seleucus Callinicus_ died (an exile) by a fall from his horse; and _Ptolemy Euergetes_ survived him four or five years.-Bp. _Newton_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:9. _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 dest... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:10. _BUT HIS SONS SHALL BE STIRRED UP_] That is, the sons of Callinicus, who were _Seleucus Ceraunus_ and _Antiochus_, afterwards called _the Great_. _SHALL ASSEMBLE A MULTITUDE_] Seleucus Ceraunus did assemble a multitude of forces in order to recover his father's dominions; but, n... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:11. _THE KING OF THE SOUTH_] Ptolemy Philopater, who succeeded his father _Euergetes_. _SHALL COME FORTH AND FIGHT WITH HIM_] He did come forth to Raphia, where he was met by Antiochus, when a terrible battle was fought between these two kings. _AND HE_ (Antiochus, the king of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:12. _HIS HEART SHALL BE LIFTED UP_] Had Ptolemy improved his victory, he might have dispossessed Antiochus of his whole empire; but giving way to _pride_, and a criminally _sensual life_, he made peace on dishonourable terms; and though he had gained a great victory, yet his kingdom... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 13. _THE KING OF THE NORTH SHALL RETURN - AFTER CERTAIN_ _YEARS_] In about _fourteen_ years Antiochus did return, Philopater being dead, and his son Ptolemy Epiphanes being then a minor. He brought a much larger army and more riches; these he had collected in a late eastern expedition.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _MANY STAND UP AGAINST THE KING OF THE SOUTH_] Antiochus, and Philip king of Macedon, united together to overrun Egypt. _ALSO THE ROBBERS OF THY PEOPLE_] The _Jews_, who revolted from their religion, and joined Ptolemy, under _Scopas_,- _SHALL EXALT THEMSELVES TO ESTABLISH THE VISION_] T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _SO THE KING OF THE NORTH_] Antiochus came to recover Judea. Scopas was sent by Ptolemy to oppose him; but he was defeated near the fountains of Jordan, and was obliged to take refuge in _Sidon_ with _ten thousand_ men. Antiochus pursued and besieged him; and he was obliged by famine to su... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _HE SHALL STAND IN THE GLORIOUS LAND_] Judea. For he reduced _Palestine_; and the Jews supplied him with provisions, and assisted him to reduce the garrison that Scopas had left in the citadel of Jerusalem. _WHICH BY HIS HAND SHALL BE CONSUMED_] Or, _which shall be_ _perfected in his hand... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _HE SHALL ALSO SET HIS FACE TO ENTER_] Antiochus purposed to have marched his army into Egypt; but he thought it best to proceed by _fraudulence_, and therefore proposed a treaty of marriage between him and his daughter Cleopatra, called here _the_ _daughter of women_, because of her great... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _SHALL HE TURN HIS FACE UNTO THE ISLES_] Antiochus had fitted out a great fleet of _one hundred_ large ships and _two_ _hundred_ smaller, and with this fleet subdued most of the _maritime_ _places_ on the _coast_ of the Mediterranean, and took many of the isles, _Rhodes, Samos, Euboea, Col... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _HE SHALL TURN HIS FACE TOWARD THE FORT OF HIS OWN_ _LAND_] After this shameful defeat, Antiochus fled to Sardis, thence to Apamea, and the next day got into Syria, and to _Antioch_, his _own fort_, whence he sent ambassadors to treat for peace; and was obliged to engage to pay the immense... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 20. _THEN SHALL STAND UP IN HIS ESTATE A RAISER OF TAXES_] _Seleucus Philopater_ succeeded his father _Antiochus_. He sent his treasurer _Heliodorus_ to seize the money deposited in the temple of Jerusalem, which is here called _the glory of the kingdom_, see _2Macc 9:23_. He was so cramped to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 21. _IN HIS ESTATE SHALL STAND UP A VILE PERSON_] This was Antiochus, surnamed _Epiphanes_ - the _Illustrious_. They _did not give_ _him the honour of the kingdom_: he was at Athens, on his way from Rome, when his father died; and Heliodorus had declared himself king, as had several others. B... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _AND WITH THE ARMS OF A FLOOD_] The arms which were _overflown_ before him were his competitors for the crown. They were vanquished by the forces of Eumenes and Attalus; and were dissipated by the arrival of Antiochus from Athens, whose presence disconcerted all their measures. _THE PRINC... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _HE SHALL COME UP_] From Rome, where he had been a hostage for the payment of the tax laid on his father. _SHALL BECOME STRONG WITH A SMALL PEOPLE._] At first he had but _few_ to espouse his cause when he arrived at _Antioch_, the people having been greatly divided by the many claimants o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _HE SHALL ENTER PEACEABLY EVEN UPON THE FATTEST PLACES_] The very richest provinces - Coelesyria and Palestine. _HE SHALL DO_ THAT _WHICH HIS FATHERS HAVE NOT DONE, NOR HIS_ _FATHERS' FATHERS_] He became profuse in his liberalities, and _scattered among them the prey_ of his enemies, _the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 25. _HE SHALL STIR UP HIS POWER_] Antiochus marched against Ptolemy, _the king of the south_, (Egypt,) with a great army; and the Egyptian generals had raised a _mighty force_. _STIRRED UP TO BATTLE_] The two armies met between Pelusium and Mount Casius; _but he_ (the king of the south) _cou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _YEA, THEY THAT FEED OF THE PORTION OF HIS MEAT_] This is the proof of what has been last noted, that the intrigues of Antiochus, _corrupting_ the _ministers_ and _officers_ of Ptolemy, were the cause of all the disasters that felt on the Egyptian king. They _that fed of the portion of his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _AND BOTH THESE KINGS' HEARTS_ SHALL BE _TO DO MISCHIEF_] That is, _Antiochus_, and _Ptolemy Philometer_, who was nephew to the former, and whose interest he now pretended to have much at heart, since the Alexandrians had renounced their allegiance to him, and set his younger brother _Eue... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _THEN SHALL HE RETURN ONTO HIS LAND WITH GREAT RICHES_] Antiochus did return, laden with riches, from the spoils that he took in Egypt; see _1Macc 1:19, 20_. And hearing that there had been a report of his death, at which the citizens of Jerusalem had made great rejoicings,- _HIS HEART_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _AT THE TIME APPOINTED HE SHALL RETURN_] Finding that his treachery was detected, and that the two brothers had united their counsel and strength for their mutual support, he threw off the mask; and having collected a great army early in the spring, he passed through _Coelesyria_; entered... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _FOR THE SHIPS OF CHITTIM SHALL COME AGAINST HIM_] _Chittim_ is well known to mean the _Roman empire_. Antiochus, being now in full march to besiege Alexandria, and within _seven miles_ of that city, heard that ships were arrived there from Rome, with _legates_ from the senate. He went to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _AND ARMS SHALL STAND ON HIS PART_] After Antiochus, _arms_, that is, the Romans, _shall stand up_: for _arms_ in this prophecy every where denote _military power_; and _standing up_, the power in _activity_ and _conquering_. Both Sir _Isaac Newton_ and Bp. _Newton_ agree, that what follo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _SUCH AS DO WICKEDLY AGAINST THE COVENANT_] This if understood of the _Christian Jews_; for the NEW had now succeeded to the OLD, the whole of the Jewish ritual having been abolished, and Jerusalem filled with heathen _temples_. _And he_-the Roman power, did all he could by _flatteries_, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _AND THEY THAT UNDERSTAND_] The _apostles_ and _primitive_ _Christians_ in general, who _understood_ from the _prophets_, and his own _actions_, that JESUS was the true MESSIAH. _INSTRUCT MANY_] Preach the Gospel every where, and convert multitudes to the faith. _YET THEY SHALL FALL BY T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. _NOW WHEN THEY SHALL FALL_] When the storm of the _tenth_ persecution under _Diocletian_, which lasted _ten_ years, _fell upon_ _them_, they were sorely oppressed. _THEY SHALL BE HOLPEN WITH A LITTLE HELP_] By Constantine; who, while he removed all persecution, and promoted the temporal p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _AND SOME OF THEM OF UNDERSTANDING_] Disputes on certain points of religion soon agitated the Christian Church; and now, having no outward persecution, they began to persecute each other. And many excellent men, men of understanding, fell victims because they would not embrace erroneous do... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _AND THE KING SHALL DO ACCORDING TO HIS WILL_] This may apply to _Antiochus_, who exalted himself above every god, called himself a god, sported with all religion, profaned the temple, c., c. But others think an _antichristian power_ in the Church is intended for in the language of this pr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _NEITHER SHALL HE REGARD THE GOD OF HIS FATHERS_] That God who sent the _evangelists_ and _apostles_ to preach the _pure_ _doctrine_. These _true fathers of the Christian Church_, and their God, this Church has not regarded, but put _councils_, and _traditions_, and _apocryphal writings_ i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 38. _SHALL HE HONOUR THE GOD OF FORCES_] מעזים _mauzzim_, or _gods protectors_, as in the _margin_; worshipping _saints_ and _angels_ as _guardians_, and _protectors_, and _mediators_; leaving out, in general, the _true God_, and the _only Mediator_, JESUS CHRIST. _AND A GOD WHOM HIS FATHERS... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 39. _IN THE MOST STRONG HOLDS WITH A STRANGE GOD_] Bishop _Newton_ proposed the following translation, after justly finding fault with our common Version: "Thus shall he do to the defenders of Mauzzim, together with the strange god whom he shall acknowledge: he shall multiply honour, and he s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:40. _AT THE TIME OF THE END SHALL THE KING OF THE SOUTH_ _PUSH AT HIM_] These kings are to be understood in reference to the times of which the prophet speaks. While the kingdoms of _Egypt_ and _Syria_ were subsisting, the _king of the south and the north_ applied to them exclusively... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:41. _HE SHALL ENTER ALSO INTO THE GLORIOUS LAND_] Entirely subdue Judea. _AND MANY_ COUNTRIES _SHALL BE OVERTHROWN_] Aleppo, Damascus, Gaza, and many other cities were forced to submit to them; and they hold them still. _BUT THESE SHALT ESCAPE - EDOM AND MOAB, AND THE CHIEF OF THE_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:42. _HE SHALL STRETCH FORTH HIS HAND_] _He_ - the _Ottoman_ _emperors_, have _stretched forth the hand_, not only on _European_, but also upon _Asiatic_ and _African_ countries. _Egypt_ - has not escaped; it is a province of the Turkish government, as are also Fez, Morocco, Algiers,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:44. _BUT TIDINGS OUT OF THE EAST AND OUT OF THE NORTH SHALL_ _TROUBLE HIM_] This part of the prophecy is allowed to be yet _unfulfilled_; and what is portented, the course of prophetic events will show. Were we to understand it as applying to _Antiochus_, then the _news_ might be of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 11:45. _HE SHALT PLANT THE TABERNACLES_] He shall make a last stand in _Judea_, and there shall his power be smitten. _HE SHALL COME TO HIS END, AND NONE SHALL HELP HIM_] All his confederate and tributary kingdoms, states, and provinces shall desert him, and leave that government to co... [ Continue Reading ]