Commentari biblici

Daniel 11:1. Also I, in the first year of Darius, &c. — This verse should have been joined to the last chapter. The meaning of what the angel here says is, that from the time that Daniel addressed those ardent prayers to God about the affairs of his people, mentioned chap. 9., which was in the first year of Darius, from that very time HE (namely, the angel Gabriel) had strenuously co-operated with Michael, in working the deliverance of the Jewish nation. See here again the vast efficacy and power of prayer; it engages God and angels to our assistance.

Daniel 11:2. And now I will show thee the truth — Now I will show thee future things plainly, not enigmatically, or under symbolical representations. Here this chapter should begin: what goes before should be added to the former chapter. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia — “According to the Canon, there were nine kings of the Persian empire from Cyrus to Codomanus, besides others, who, falling within a year, are not therein mentioned. Interpreters have differed, therefore, in pointing out the kings that are here meant, or in fixing the commencement of the Scripture, or writing, of truth, mentioned Daniel 10:21. But as the vision was revealed to Daniel in the third year of Cyrus, it is most natural to trace its beginning from that time; and then the three kings yet to stand up, or after the then reigning monarch, will be Cambyses, or the Ahasuerus, and Smerdis, or the Artaxerxes, of Ezra 4:6-7, and Darius Hystaspes; the second of whom, being a magian usurper, that reigned scarce eight months, according to Herodotus, is not in the Canon.” — Wintle. And the fourth shall be far richer than they all — That is, Xerxes, the son and successor of Hystaspes, who had inherited great riches from his father, according to Æschylus, and had amassed much more. Of him Justin truly remarks, “If you consider this king, you may praise his riches, not the general; of which there was so great abundance in his kingdom, that when rivers were dried up by his army, yet his wealth remained unexhausted.” Pythius, the Lydian, (according to Herodotus, book 7. sec. 27,) was at that time the richest subject in the world. He generously entertained Xerxes and all his army, and proffered him two thousand talents of silver, and three millions nine hundred and ninety-three thousand pieces of gold, with the stamp of Darius, toward defraying the charges of the war. But Xerxes was so far from wanting supplies, that he rewarded Pythius for his liberality, and presented him with seven thousand darics, to make up his number a complete round sum of four millions. Each of these darics was worth better than a guinea of our money. Many great and rich provinces, as India, Thrace, Macedonia, and the islands of the Ionian sea, were added by Darius to the Persian empire. And by his strength he shall stir up all — Both subjects and allies; against the realm of Grecia — “Xerxes’s expedition into Greece is one of the most memorable adventures in ancient history. Herodotus (book 7. sec. 20, 21) affirms, that Xerxes, in raising his army, searched every place of the continent, and it was the greatest army that ever was brought into the field; for what nation was there, says he, that Xerxes led not out of Asia into Greece? Herodotus lived in that age; and he, in the fore-mentioned place, recounts with great exactness the various nations of which Xerxes’s army was composed, and computes that the whole number of horse and foot, by land and sea, out of Asia and Europe, soldiers and followers of the camp, amounted to five millions two hundred and eighty-three thousand two hundred and twenty men. Nor was Xerxes content with stirring up the East, but was for stirring up the West likewise, (see Diod. Sic., book 11.,) and engaged the Carthaginians in his alliance, that, while he and his army overwhelmed Greece, they might fall upon the Greek colonies in Sicily and Italy: and the Carthaginians, for this purpose, not only raised all the forces they could in Africa, but also hired a great number of mercenaries in Spain, and Gaul, and Italy; so that their army consisted of three hundred thousand men, and their fleet of two hundred ships. Thus did Xerxes stir up all against the realm of Grecia: and after him no mention is here made of any other king of Persia. ‘It is to be noted,’ says Jerome, ‘that the prophet, having enumerated four kings of the Persians after Cyrus, slips over nine, and passes to Alexander; for the prophetic spirit did not care to follow the order of history, but only to touch upon the most famous events.’ Xerxes was the principal author of the long wars and inveterate hatred between the Grecians and Persians; and as he was the last king of Persia who invaded Greece, he is mentioned last. The Grecians then, in their turn, invaded Asia; and Xerxes’s expedition being the most memorable on one side, as Alexander’s was on the other, the reigns of these two are not improperly connected together.” — Bishop Newton.

Daniel 11:3-4. And a mighty king shall stand up, &c. — Namely, from among the Grecians; that shall rule with great dominion — This is evidently descriptive of Alexander the Great; of the rapidity and success of whose conquests: See on Daniel 7:6; Daniel 8:5-6. His success was indeed universal, none being able to put a stop to the progress of his victories. So great was his dominion, that he ruled not only over Greece and the whole Persian empire, but likewise added India to his conquests. And that he did according to his will, is a fact too well known to require any particular proof; for none, not even his friends, dared to contradict or oppose him, or if they did, like Clytus and Calisthenes, they paid for it with their lives. And when he shall stand up — When he shall be in the height of his prosperity. Wintle renders it, when he shall be established; his kingdom shall be broken — Alexander died in Babylon, having lived only thirty-two years and eight months, of which he reigned twelve years and eight months. In so short a time did this sun of glory rise and set! And shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven — This is very significantly expressive of the vast empire which Alexander had brought under subjection to himself, being divided at his death among his four chief captains: see note on Daniel 7:6; Daniel 8:8. And not to his posterity — For these, with all his family, were cut off in a few years after his death. “His wife Statira, the daughter of Darius, was murdered out of jealousy by his other wife Roxana; and her body was thrown into a well, and earth cast upon it. His natural brother Aridæus, who succeeded him in the throne by the name of Philip, was, together with his wife Eurydice, killed by the command of Olympias, the mother of Alexander, after he had borne the title of king six years and some months: and not long after Olympias herself was slain in revenge by the soldiers of Cassander. Alexander Ægus, his son by Roxana, in the fourteenth year of his age was privately murdered, together with his mother, in the castle of Amphipolis, by order of Cassander. In the second year after this, Hercules, the other son of Alexander, by Barcine, the widow of Memnon, was also, with his mother, privately murdered by Polysperchon. Such was the miserable end of Alexander’s family! After which the governors assumed, each in his province, the title of king, from which they had abstained as long as any just heir of Alexander was surviving. Thus was Alexander’s kingdom broken and divided, not to his posterity, but it was plucked up even for others.” — Bishop Newton.

Daniel 11:5. And the king of the south, &c. — “Though the kingdom of Alexander was divided into four principal parts, yet only two of them have a place in this prophecy, Egypt and Syria. These two were by far the greatest and most considerable, and at one time were, in a manner, the only remaining kingdoms of the four; the kingdom of Macedon having been conquered by Lysimachus, and annexed to Thrace, and Lysimachus again having been conquered by Seleucus, and the kingdoms of Macedon and Thrace annexed to Syria. These two, likewise, continued distinct kingdoms after the others were swallowed up by the power of the Romans. But there is a more proper and peculiar reason for enlarging on these two particularly; because Judea, lying between them, was sometimes in the possession of the kings of Egypt, and sometimes of the kings of Syria; and it is the purpose of Holy Scripture to interweave only so much of foreign affairs as hath some relation to the Jews; and it is in respect of their situation to Judea, that the kings of Egypt and Syria are called the kings of the south and the north.” — Bishop Newton.

The king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes — That is, of Alexander’s princes. “There is manifestly either some redundance,” says Bishop Newton, “or some defect in the Hebrew copy, which should be rendered, as it is by the LXX., And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes shall be strong above him.” The king of the south, Ptolemy, son of Lagus, called Soter, that is, saviour, the first king of Egypt, and the first founder of the famous library at Alexandria, was indeed very strong: for his dominion extended over Libya, Cyrene, Palestine, Cyprus, some Grecian islands, and Asiatic provinces. His wealth and strength are celebrated by Theocritus in one of his idyls, and by Appian the historian. But still the king of the north, or Seleucus Nicator, that is, the conqueror, was strong above him: for having annexed, as we have seen, the kingdoms of Macedon and Thrace to the crown of Syria, he had become master of three parts out of four of Alexander’s dominions. All historians agree in representing him, not only as the longest liver, but likewise as the most powerful of all Alexander’s successors. Appian in particular, enumerating the nations which he subdued, affirms that, after Alexander, he possessed the largest part of Asia; for that all was subject to him from Phrygia to the river Indus, and beyond it. He built Seleucia on the Tigris, and many other very considerable cities in India, Scythia, Armenia, and various parts of his wide empire; so that his dominion was indeed a great dominion. He was also, according to Appian, a person of such great strength, that, laying hold on a bull by the horn, he could stop him in his full career: the statuaries, for this reason, made his statue with two bulls’ horns on his head. This prince, “having reigned seven months after the death of Lysimachus, over the kingdoms of Macedon, Thrace, and Syria, was basely murdered; and to him succeeded, in the throne of Syria, Antiochus Soter; and to him his son, Antiochus Theus. At the same time, Ptolemy Philadelphus reigned in Egypt after his father, the first Ptolemy. There were frequent wars between the kings of Egypt and Syria, and particularly between Ptolemy Philadelphus, the second king of Egypt, and Antiochus Theus, the third king of Syria.” See Bishop Newton and Wintle.

Daniel 11:6. And in the end of years — That is, after several years, for these wars lasted long. They shall join themselves together — Shall enter into a league or confederacy with each other. For the king’s daughter of the south, &c. — They agreed to make peace, upon condition that Antiochus Theus should put away his former wife, Laodice, and her two sons, and marry Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Thus she came to the king of the north to make an agreement — For Ptolemy her father brought her to Antiochus Theus, and with her an immense treasure, so that he received the appellation of the dowry-giver. But she shall not retain the power of the arm — That is, her interest and power with Antiochus; for after some time, in a fit of love, he brought back his former wife, Laodice, with her children, to court again. Neither shall he stand, nor his arm — Or seed, for Laodice, fearing the fickle temper of her husband, lest he should recall Berenice, caused him to be poisoned; and neither did his seed by Berenice succeed him in the kingdom; but Laodice contrived to fix her eldest son, Seleucus Callinicus, on the throne of his ancestors. But she shall be given up — For Laodice, not content with poisoning her husband, caused also Berenice to be murdered. And they that brought her — Or, her Egyptian women and attendants, endeavouring to defend her, were many of them slain with her. And he that begat her — Or rather, as it is in the margin, he whom she brought forth; for the son was murdered as well as the mother, by order of Laodice. And he that strengthened her, &c. — Her husband Antiochus, as Jerome conceives; or rather, her father, who died a little before, and was so very fond of her that he took care continually to send her fresh supplies of the water of the Nile, thinking it better for her to drink of that than any other river, as Polybius relates. See Bishop Newton.

Daniel 11:7-8. But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up — One of the same stock, or original, with Berenice, namely, her brother, Ptolemy Euergetes, shall succeed his father in the government of Egypt, and shall revenge his sister’s quarrel, by invading the territories of Seleucus Callinicus, then reigning in Syria with his mother Laodice; and shall deal, or act, against them, and shall prevail — According to Justin and other authors, he prevailed so far, that he made himself master of Syria and Cilicia, and the upper parts beyond Euphrates, and almost all Asia. And shall carry captive, &c. — Jerome relates, out of authors extant in his time, that Ptolemy carried back with him into Egypt vast plunder from all the conquered provinces, upon the whole not less than forty thousand talents of silver, with “precious vessels,” and two thousand five hundred

“images of the gods:” among which were also those which Cambyses, after he had taken Egypt, had carried into Persia. And for thus restoring their gods, after many years, the Egyptians complimented him with the title of Euergetes, or benefactor. “Polybius, lib. v, observes, that he took the city Seleucia, which was kept for some years after by the garrisons of the kings of Egypt; and Justin gives us to understand, that all the fortified cities that had revolted surrendered to him. Archbishop Usher observes, from Josephus against Appian, that after Ptolemy had gained all Syria he came to Jerusalem, and there offered many eucharistic sacrifices to God, and dedicated some presents suitable to his victory. And from hence we may collect a sufficient reason why he obtains a part in the angel’s narrative, as it may in general be observed, that the history of the Jews is interwoven throughout the whole of it.” — Wintle. And he shall continue more years than the king of the north — He outlived Seleucus four or five years, the latter dying in exile of a fall from his horse.

Daniel 11:10. But his sons shall be stirred up — “The sons of Seleucus Callinicus were Seleucus and Antiochus, the elder of whom, Seleucus, succeeded him in the throne, and, to distinguish him from others of the same name, was denominated Ceraunus, or the thunderer. He was indeed stirred up, and assembled a multitude of great forces, in order to recover his father’s dominions: but, being destitute of money, and unable to keep his army in obedience, he was poisoned by two of his generals, after an inglorious reign of two or three years. Upon his decease, his brother, Antiochus the Great, was proclaimed king. The angel’s expression is very remarkable, that his sons should be stirred up, &c.; but then the number is changed, and only ONE (he says) shall certainly come and overflow, &c. — Accordingly Antiochus came with a great army, retook Seleucia, and, by the means of Theodotus the Ætolian, recovered Syria. Then, after a truce, wherein both sides treated of peace, but prepared for war, Antiochus returned, and overcame in battle Nicolaus the Egyptian general, and had thought of invading Egypt itself.” He was stirred up even to his fortress — He made an attack on Raphia, a strong fortified town near the borders of Egypt.

Daniel 11:11. And the king of the south shall be moved with choler — The LXX. render it αγριανθησεται, shall be made wild, or frantic; namely, at the successes of Antiochus, and the revolt of his friends. This is spoken of Ptolemy Philopater, who was king of Egypt at that time, being advanced to the crown upon the death of his father Euergetes, not long after Antiochus the Great succeeded his brother on the throne of Syria. This Ptolemy was a most luxurious and vicious prince, but was nevertheless thus roused at length by the near approach of danger. And shall come forth and fight with him — He marched out of Egypt with a numerous army to oppose the enemy, and encamped not far from Raphia, which is the nearest town to Egypt from Rhinocorura. Thither likewise came Antiochus with his army, and a memorable battle was fought there between the two kings. And he — Namely, Antiochus; set forth a great multitude — Polybius hath recited the various nations of which his army was composed, and altogether it amounted to sixty-two thousand foot, six thousand horse, and a hundred and two elephants. But yet this multitude was given into his hand — That is, into the hand of Ptolemy, who obtained a complete victory. His forces, however, were still greater than those of Antiochus, namely, seventy thousand foot, five thousand horse, and seventy-three elephants. Of Antiochus’s army there were slain not much fewer than ten thousand foot, more than three hundred horse, and above four thousand men were taken prisoners; whereas of Ptolemy’s there were killed only one thousand five hundred foot and seven hundred horse. The author of the third book of the Maccabees ascribes this victory to the passionate importunity of Arsinoe, 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. Upon this defeat, Raphia and the neighbouring towns contended who should be the most forward to submit to the conqueror; and Antiochus was forced to retreat with his shattered army to Antioch, and from thence sent ambassadors to solicit a peace.