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영문 원문
The angel Gabriel, in this chapter, performs his promise made to Daniel in the foregoing chapter, that he would "show him what should befal his people in the latter days," according to that which was "written in the scriptures of truth:" very particularly does he here foretel the succession of the kings of Persia and Grecia, and the affairs of their kingdoms, especially the mischief which Antiochus Epiphanes did in his time to the church, which was foretold before (Da 8:11-12). Here is, I. A brief prediction of the setting up of the Grecian monarchy upon the ruins of the Persian monarchy, which was now newly begun, Da 11:1-4. II. A prediction of the affairs of the two kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, with reference to each other, Da 11:5-20. III. Of the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes, and his actions and successes, Da 11:21-29. IV. Of the great mischief that he should do to the Jewish nation and religion, and his contempt of all religion, Da 11:30-39. V. Of his fall and ruin at last, when he is in the heat of his pursuit, Da 11:40-45.
1-4
Ruin of the Persian Monarchy (534 BC)
简体中文
波斯帝国的覆亡（公元前534年）
¹ 当玛代人大流士元年，我曾起来扶助他，使他坚强。
² 现在我将真事指示你。波斯还有三王兴起，第四王必富足远胜诸王。他因富足成为强盛，就必激动全国攻击希腊国。
³ 必有一个勇敢的王兴起，执掌大权，随意而行。
⁴ 他一兴起，他的国就破裂，向天的四方分开，却不归他的后裔，治国的权势也都不及他；因为他的国必被拔出，归与他以外的人。
此处，1. 天使加百列让但以理知道他曾为犹太国民所作的善工（但 11:1）：当玛代人大流士元年——他灭了巴比伦，把犹太人从那为奴之家释放出来——我曾起来作他的力量和保障，意即我作器皿保护他，使他在争战中得胜，并在他攻下巴比伦之后，坚固他释放犹太人的决心；这决心大概遭遇了许多反对。如此，借着天使，并应守望者之求，那金头被击碎，斧子砍在树根上。注意，我们当承认神扶持那些对教会友善之人的手，使能为教会效力，并坚固他们善良的决心；在这事上他所使用的天使的服事，远超我们所知。我们既已知道神从前对他教会多次的眷顾，这就激励我们在更深的艰难困苦中倚靠他。2. 他预言四位波斯王的在位（但 11:2）：如今我将真事告诉你，即是说，那大像和四兽异象的真意，以浅明的话解说从前用隐晦比喻所表明的事。（1）波斯必有三王兴起，加上本预言所标明年份在位的大流士之外的三位（但 9:1）。布鲁顿先生（Mr. Broughton）认为这三位是：居鲁士、亚达薛西（希腊人称之为冈比西斯），以及娶以斯帖的亚哈随鲁（称为希斯塔斯普之子大流士）。波斯人给这三位如此评价——居鲁士是父，冈比西斯是主，大流士是聚敛者。希罗多德（Herodotus）如此记载。（2）必有第四位，远胜诸王之富，即薛西斯（Xerxes），希腊作者们对他的财富有所记载。他凭他的实力（其庞大军队至少八十万人）和他的财富（用以维持和支付这支大军），激动全国攻击希腊国。薛西斯远征希腊之事在历史上十分著名，他所遭受的可耻败绩也是如此。他出征之时为希腊所畏惧，归来之时却为希腊所讥笑。但以理无需被告知他将遭遇何等挫败，因为他是阻碍圣殿建造之人；但不久之后，约在被掳归回首次之后三十年，年幼的王大流士重新启动圣殿的建造，承认神向他列祖阻碍建殿之手（拉 6:7）。3. 他预言亚历山大的征服及其国的瓜分（但 11:3）。他就是那位要兴起抵挡波斯诸王的勇敢的王，他必执掌大权，统治多国，且以专制之权行事，因为他要随意而行，也要随意而废——玛代波斯诸王按其律法是不能如此行的。当亚历山大征服亚细亚之后，竟愿被奉为神明，那时这话便应验了：他要随意而行。这本是神的特权，却是他的僭妄。然而（但 11:4），他的国不久必破裂，分为四份，却不归他的后裔，他的继承者中无一人能照他的权势掌权；他们无一能有如此辽阔的疆域，也无一能有如此绝对的权柄。他的国必被拔出，归与他本家以外的人。他的兄弟阿里戴乌斯（Arideus）被立为马其顿王；亚历山大的母亲奥林匹亚斯（Olympias）杀了他，又毒死了亚历山大的两个儿子赫拉克勒斯（Hercules）和亚历山大。如此，他的家族竟被自家之手连根拔除。请看属世的荣耀和财富，以及获取它们的权势，是何等衰残朽坏之物。世上没有任何故事比亚历山大的故事更明显地显明世事之虚空。凡事都是虚空，都是捕风。
영문 원문
Ruin of the Persian Monarchy (534 BC)
¹ Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
² And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
³ And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
⁴ And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.
Here, 1. The angel Gabriel lets Daniel know the good service he has done to the Jewish nation (Da 11:1): "In the first year of Darius the Mede, who destroyed Babylon and released the Jews out of that house of bondage, I stood a strength and fortress to him, that is, I was instrumental to protect him, and give him success in his ward, and, after he had conquered Babylon, to confirm him in his resolution to release the Jews," which, it is likely, met with much opposition. Thus by the angel, and at the request of the watcher, the golden head was broken, and the axe laid to the root of the tree. Note, We must acknowledge the hand of God in the strengthening of those that are friends to the church for the service they are to do it, and confirming them in their good resolutions; herein he uses the ministry of angels more than we are aware of. And the many instances we have known of God's care of his church formerly encourage us to depend upon him in further straits and difficulties. 2. He foretels the reign of four Persian kings (Da 11:2): Now I will tell thee the truth, that is, the true meaning of the visions of the great image, and of the four beasts, and expound in plain terms what was before represented by dark types. (1.) There shall stand up three kings in Persia, besides Darius, in whose reign this prophecy is dated, Da 9:1. Mr. Broughton makes these three to be Cyrus, Artaxasta or Artaxerxes, called by the Greeks Cambyses, and Ahasuerus that married Esther, called Darius son of Hystaspes. To these three the Persians gave these attributes—Cyrus was a father, Cambyses a master, and Darius a hoarder up. So Herodotus. (2.) There shall be a fourth, far richer than they all, that is, Xerxes, of whose wealth the Greek authors take notice. By his strength (his vast army, consisting of 800,000 men at least) and his riches, with which he maintained and paid that vast army, he stirred up all against the realm of Greece. Xerxes's expedition against Greece is famous in history, and the shameful defeat that he met with. He who when he went out was the terror of Greece, in his return was the scorn of Greece. Daniel needed not to be told what disappointment he would meet with, for he was a hinderer of the building of the temple; but soon after, about thirty years after the first return from captivity, Darius, a young king, revived the building of the temple, owning the hand of God against his predecessors for hindering it, Ezr 6:7. 3. He foretels Alexander's conquests and the partition of his kingdom, Da 11:3. He is that mighty king that shall stand up against the kings of Persia, and he shall rule with great dominion, over many kingdoms, and with a despotic power, for he shall do according to his will, and undo likewise, which, by the law of the Medes and Persians, their kings could not. When Alexander, after he had conquered Asia, would be worshipped as a god, then this was fulfilled, that he shall do according to his will. That is God's prerogative, but was his pretension. But (Da 11:4) his kingdom shall soon be broken, and divided into four parts, but not to his posterity, nor shall any of his successors reign according to his dominion; none of them shall have such large territories nor such an absolute power. His kingdom was plucked up for others besides those of his own family. Arideus, his brother, was made king in Macedonia; Olympias, Alexander's mother, killed him, and poisoned Alexander's two sons, Hercules and Alexander. Thus was his family rooted out by its own hands. See what decaying perishing things worldly pomp and possessions are, and the powers by which they are got. Never was the vanity of the world and its greatest things shown more evidently than in the story of Alexander. All is vanity and vexation of spirit.
5-20
The Affairs of Egypt and Syria; The Reign of Antiochus Magnus; The Fall of Antiochus Magnus (534 BC)
简体中文
埃及与叙利亚的事；安提阿古大帝的统治；安提阿古大帝的倾覆（主前534年）
⁵ 南方的王必强盛，他将帅中必有一个比他更强盛，必执掌权柄，他的权柄甚大。 ⁶ 过了几年，他们必互相连合；南方王的女儿必就了北方王来立约；但这女子的力量存立不住；王和他的力量也不能存立；这女子和引导她来的，并生她的，以及当时扶助她的，都必交与死地。 ⁷ 但这女子的本根必另生一子继其王位，他必率领大军，进入北方王的保障，攻击他们，而且得胜； ⁸ 并将他们的神像和铸成的偶像，与金银的宝器，都掳到埃及去；他比北方王多存活几年。 ⁹ 北方王必进入南方王的国，却仍要回本地。 ¹⁰ 他的众子必动怒招聚大军；大军前来，势如洪水泛滥，又必争战直到他的保障。 ¹¹ 南方王必发烈怒，出来与北方王争战，摆列大军；北方王的军兵必交付他手。 ¹² 他的众军既被除灭，他的心就必高傲；他虽使数万人仆倒，却不能常胜。 ¹³ 因为北方王必回来，招聚比先前更多的大军；过了几年，他必率领大军和极多的辎重前来。 ¹⁴ 那时必有许多人起来攻击南方王；你本国的强暴人必兴起应验异象，他们却要败亡。 ¹⁵ 北方王必来筑垒攻取坚固城；南方的军兵必站立不住，就是他所拣选的精兵也无力抵挡。 ¹⁶ 那来攻击他的必任意而行；在他面前无人能站立得住；他必站在那荣美之地，用手施行毁灭。 ¹⁷ 他必定意用全国之力而来；他必立公平之约，照着而行，将女儿给南方王为妻，败坏他；但这女子不能存立，也不归于他。 ¹⁸ 此后他必转回，夺取了许多海岛；但有一大帅，除掉他令众人受的羞辱，并且使这羞辱归他本身。 ¹⁹ 他就必转向本地的保障；却要跌倒仆倒，归于无有。 ²⁰ 那时必有一人兴起接续他的王位，使横征暴敛的人通行国中的荣美地；这几日之内他必被毁灭，却不在忿怒中，也不在争战中。
此处预言：
I. 从亚历山大所征服版图中兴起的两个大国的兴起与强盛（但11:5）。1. 埃及国，因亚历山大部将之一的托勒密·拉古而显赫，其继位者因他被称为拉吉狄。他被称为南方王，即埃及王（此处于但11:8,42,43 提及）。托勒密最初所属之版图据算包括埃及、腓尼基、阿拉伯、利比亚、古实等。2. 叙利亚国，由 Seleucus Nicanor——即得胜者——所立；他是亚历山大的将帅之一，比其他将帅更强盛，得了最大的国，是亚历山大一切继位者中最强大的。据说他辖下的国度不下七十二个。这两个强国都敌对犹大（犹大之事在本预言中特别被留意）；托勒密夺得埃及不久，就入侵犹大，并在安息日攻取了耶路撒冷，假装友善来访。Seleucus 也曾搅扰犹大。
II. 联合这两个国度——如尼布甲尼撒之像中铁与泥相混——的徒劳尝试（但11:6）："过了几年，" 约亚历山大死后七十年，"拉吉狄家族与塞琉古家族要结盟，却并非出于诚心。埃及王托勒密·费拉德尔弗，要把他的女儿贝勒尼基嫁给叙利亚王安提阿古·提奥斯，" 而后者已经有了一个妻子，名叫老底基。"贝勒尼基要来到北方王那里，要立约，但这约不能成立：这女子的力量存立不住；她和她的后裔都不能在北方国中站稳，她的父亲托勒密与她的丈夫安提阿古（他们之间本当结成大联盟）也不能存立，他们的力量也不存立，这女子和引导她来的都要被交出，"——就是一切筹划她与安提阿古之间这不幸婚姻的人；这婚姻不但没有像所盼望的那样促成南北两冠冕的合一，反而引发了无数祸患。安提阿古休了贝勒尼基，又把前妻老底基接回来；老底基不久便毒死安提阿古，设法谋杀了贝勒尼基和她的儿子，并立她自己与安提阿古所生的儿子为王，就是被称为Seleucus Callinicus的那一位。
III. 两国之间的战争（但11:7,8）。与贝勒尼基同根的一枝要接续他的王位。托勒密·尤尔盖特斯——托勒密·费拉德尔弗之子与继位者——要率领大军来攻击叙利亚王 Seleucus Callinicus，为他姐姐复仇，并且要得胜；他要把大批人口和财物作为丰厚的战利品掳到埃及去，并且比北方王多存活几年。这位托勒密在位四十六年；查士丁说，若不是本国的事召他回去，他在这次战争中必能夺取整个叙利亚国。然而（但11:9）他被迫进入他的国、回本地去，以维持那里的太平，因此他不能再继续对外的战争。请注意，背信弃义的和平常常以血腥的战争告终，这是常见的事。
IV. 叙利亚王安提阿古大帝漫长而忙碌的统治。Seleucus Callinicus——就是被击败（但11:7）并悲惨而死的北方王——留下两个儿子：Seleucus 与 Antiochus；这两个儿子就是北方王之子，必动怒招聚大军（但11:10），要夺回父亲所失的。但长子 Seleucus 软弱无能，无法统率军队，被他的亲信毒死，在位仅两年；他的兄弟安提阿古接续他，在位三十七年，被称为大帝。所以天使虽先提到众子，却只继续论到其中一位——他登基时不过十五岁——他必前来，势如洪水泛滥，势如泛滥漫过，并终必恢复父亲所失的一切。1. 南方王在这场战争中起初大获全胜。托勒密·费罗帕特对安提阿古大帝所加的侮辱大为愤慨，便（虽然本是个懒散的君王）出来与他争战，并率领步兵七万、骑兵五千、战象七十三头的大军进入战场。另一大军（安提阿古的军队，包括步兵六万二千、骑兵六千、战象一百零二头）必交在他手中。曾与西庇阿同住的 Polybius 对这次拉非亚战役有详细的记载。托勒密·费罗帕特得胜之后极其骄纵；他的心高傲；他竟进到耶路撒冷 神的殿中，不顾律法，擅入至圣所；为此 神与他争论，因此他虽使数万人仆倒，却不能常胜，不能巩固自己的利益。因为 2. 北方王安提阿古大帝必率领比先前更多的大军**回来；过了几年（即数年之后），他必率领大军和极多的辎重来攻击南方王，即托勒密·伊皮法尼——他接续父亲托勒密·费罗帕特为王时尚是孩童，这给了安提阿古大帝可乘之机。这次出征他有强大的盟友（但11:14）：必有许多人起来攻击南方王。马其顿的腓力与安提阿古结盟对抗埃及王，并差派他手下的将军 Scopas 进入叙利亚；安提阿古将他击溃，歼灭了他军队的大部分；于是犹太人甘心归顺安提阿古，与他联合，协助他围攻托勒密的驻军。你本国的强暴人必兴起应验异象，就是要推进这预言的成就；但他们必败亡，必归于无有（但11:14）。于是（但11:15）北方王——就是这位安提阿古大帝——要用别的方法推进他对南方王的计划。(1.) 他要奇袭南方王的堡垒；他在叙利亚和撒玛利亚所得的一切，南方的军兵，埃及王的一切力量，都不能抵挡他。看哪战争天平的转动何等变幻无常；如同买卖，有得有失；有时这一边占上风，有时那一边占上风；然而都不是出于偶然；并不是他们所谓战争的运气，乃是照着 神的旨意与谋略，他使一些人降卑，使另一些人升高。(2.) 他要取得犹大地（但11:16）：那来攻击他的（即北方王）必横扫一切，任意而行，并站在那荣美之地得着据点；以色列地原是如此，却被他用手毁坏消耗，因为他以那美地的掳物供应他那庞大的军队。犹大地位于埃及和叙利亚这两个强国之间，因此他们每次争斗，犹大必遭殃，因为两国对它都怀恶意。然而也有人译作：被他手得以成全；仿佛暗示犹大地既归这位安提阿古保护，就要繁盛，境况比先前更好。(3.) 他要继续推进对埃及王的战争，定意用全国之力而来，乘托勒密·伊皮法尼年幼之机；又有正直人——许多敬虔的以色列人——与他联合（但11:17）。为推进他的计谋，他要把自己的女儿 Cleopatra 给南方王为妻，正如扫罗把女儿给大卫，原是要她作他的网罗，加害于他；但她不站在她父亲一边，也不为他效力，倒是站在丈夫一边，于是那阴谋落了空。(4.) 此处预言他与罗马人的战争（但11:18）：他必转向海岛（但11:18）——就是外邦人的海岛（创10:5），即希腊和意大利。他夺取了赫勒斯滂一带的许多海岛——罗底、撒摩、提罗等，或以战争、或以条约取得；但有一大帅，或一邦国（有人如此解），即罗马元老院，或一将领，即罗马将军，要把他羞辱罗马人的辱骂归到他身上，或使他的羞辱归到他本身，且自己毫不受辱，毫不蒙羞地报复他。这话在两位西庇阿奉差率军来攻安提阿古时得应验。汉尼拔当时与他同在，劝他入侵意大利，像自己从前那样蹂躏其地；但他未采纳其计；西庇阿与他交战，全然击败他——虽然安提阿古有七万兵，罗马人只有三万。这样他便使他令众人受的羞辱止息。(5.) 他的倾覆。当他被罗马人彻底击败，被迫放弃在欧洲的一切属地，并被索取极重的贡银时，他便转向本地；为筹集贡银无计可施，竟去劫掠一座朱庇特庙；这激怒了他自己的臣民，他们起来攻击他，把他杀了；于是他被推翻，跌倒仆倒，归于无有（但11:19）。(6.) 他的下一位继位者（但11:20）。必有一人兴起接续他的王位，就是横征暴敛的人，差遣勒索者出去的人。这一特征在安提阿古大帝的长子 Seleucus Philopater 身上格外应验：他是本国臣民的残酷压迫者，向他们勒索大批钱财；当人告诉他说这样会失去朋友时，他说除钱财之外，他没有更好的朋友。他也曾企图劫掠耶路撒冷的圣殿，此处的话似乎特别指着这事。但他不多几日必被毁灭，不在忿怒中，也不在争战中，乃被他自己的臣仆之一 Heliodorus 毒死——在位不过十二年，毫无值得记念的事。
V. 从这一切我们要学：1. 神凭他的护理随己意立一人、废一人，使一些人从卑微中被高举，又使另一些极高的被贬抑。人称伟人为命运的玩物；不如说，他们是护理的工具。2. 这世界充满了争战斗殴，都是从私欲来的，使这世界成为罪恶与苦难的舞台。3. 列国列邦的一切变迁与革命，甚至最微小、最偶然的事件，都被天上的 神清楚而完全地预见；在他没有一件事是新事。4. 神的话绝不落空；他所定旨的、他所宣告的，必不折不扣地应验；甚至人的罪也要被用来成就他的目的，在当定的日期助成他旨意的成全；然而* 神不是罪的创始者*。5. 为正确理解圣经某些部分，必须参考外邦作者的著作，它们能光照圣经，显明其中预言的应验；因此我们有理由为许多学者以人文知识对神圣真理所作的重大贡献而感谢 神。
영문 원문
The Affairs of Egypt and Syria; The Reign of Antiochus Magnus; The Fall of Antiochus Magnus (534 BC)
⁵ And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
⁶ And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.
⁷ But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail:
⁸ And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north.
⁹ So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land.
¹⁰ But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
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: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
¹² And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it.
¹³ For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches.
¹⁴ And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.
¹⁵ So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.
¹⁶ But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed.
¹⁷ He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him.
¹⁸ After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him.
¹⁹ Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
²⁰ Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
Here are foretold,
I. The rise and power of two great kingdoms out of the remains of Alexander's conquests, Da 11:5. 1. The kingdom of Egypt, which was made considerable by Ptolemæus Lagus, one of Alexander's captains, whose successors were, from him, called the Lagidæ. He is called the king of the south, that is, Egypt, named here, Da 11:8,42,43. The countries that at first belonged to Ptolemy are reckoned to be Egypt, Phœnicia, Arabia, Libya, Ethiopia, etc. Theocr. Idyl. 17. 2. The kingdom of Syria, which was set up by Seleucus Nicanor, or the conqueror; he was one of Alexander's princes, and became stronger than the other, and had the greatest dominion of all, was the most powerful of all Alexander's successors. It was said that he had no fewer than seven-two kingdoms under him. Both these were strong against Judah (the affairs of which are particularly eyed in this prediction); Ptolemy, soon after he gained Egypt, invaded Judea, and took Jerusalem on a sabbath, pretending a friendly visit. Seleucus also gave disturbance to Judea.
II. The fruitless attempt to unite these two kingdoms as iron and clay in Nebuchadnezzar's image (Da 11:6): "At the end of certain years, about seventy after Alexander's death, the Lagidæ and the Seleucidæ shall associate, but not in sincerity. Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, shall marry his daughter Berenice to Antiochus Theos, king of Syria," who had already a wife called Laodice. "Berenice shall come to the king of the north, to make an agreement, but it shall not hold: She shall not retain the power of the arm; neither she nor her posterity shall establish themselves in the kingdom of the north, neither shall Ptolemy her father, nor Antiochus her husband (between whom there was to be a great alliance), stand, nor their arm, but she shall be given up and those that brought her," all that projected that unhappy marriage between her and Antiochus, which occasioned so much mischief, instead of producing a coalition between the northern and southern crowns, as was hoped. Antiochus divorced Berenice, took his former wife Laodice again, who soon after poisoned him, procured Berenice and her son to be murdered, and set up her own son by Antiochus to be king, who was called Seleucus Callinicus.
III. A war between the two kingdoms, Da 11:7,8. A branch from the same root with Berenice shall stand up in his estate. Ptolemæus Euergetes, the son and successor of Ptolemæus Philadelphus, shall come with an army against Seleucus Callinicus, king of Syria, to avenge his sister's quarrel, and shall prevail; and he shall carry away a rich booty both of persons and goods into Egypt, and shall continue more years than the king of the north. This Ptolemy reigned forty-six years; and Justin says that if his own affairs had not called him home he would, in this war, have made himself master of the whole kingdom of Syria. But (Da 11:9) he shall be forced to come into his kingdom and return into his own land, to keep peace there, so that he can no longer carry on the war abroad. Note, It is very common for a treacherous peace to end in a bloody war.
IV. The long and busy reign of Antiochus the Great, king of Syria. Seleucus Callinicus, that king of the north that was overcome (Da 11:7) and died miserably, left two sons, Seleucus and Antiochus; these are his sons, the sons of the king of the north, that shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, to recover what their father had lost, Da 11:10. But Seleucus the elder, being weak, and unable to rule his army, was poisoned by his friends, and reigned only two years; and his brother Antiochus succeeded him, who reigned thirty-seven years, and was called the Great. And therefore the angel, though he speaks of sons at first, goes on with the account of one only, who was but fifteen years old when he began to reign, and he shall certainly come, and overflow, and over-run, and shall be restored at length to what his father lost. 1. The king of the south, in this war, shall at first have very great success. Ptolemæus Philopater, moved with indignation at the indignities done by Antiochus the Great, shall (though otherwise a slothful prince) come forth, and fight with him, and shall bring a vast army into the field of 70,000 foot, and 5000 horse, and seventy-three elephants. And the other multitude (the army of Antiochus, consisting of 62,000 foot, and 6000 horse, and 102 elephants) shall be given into his hand. Polybius, who lived with Scipio, has given a particular account of this battle of Raphia. Ptolemæus Philopater, having gained this victory, grew very insolent; his heart was lifted up; then he went into the temple of God at Jerusalem, and, in defiance of the law, entered the most holy place, for which God has a controversy with him, so that, though he shall cast down many myriads, yet he shall not be strengthened by it, so as to secure his interest. For, 2. The king of the north, Antiochus the Great, shall return with a greater army than the former; and, at the end of times (that is, years) he shall come with a mighty army, and great riches, against the king of the south, that is, Ptolemæus Epiphanes, who succeeded Ptolemæus Philopater his father, when he was a child, which gave advantage to Antiochus the Great. In this expedition he had some powerful allies (Da 11:14): Many shall stand up against the king of the south. Philip of Macedon was confederate with Antiochus against the king of Egypt, and Scopas his general, whom he sent into Syria; Antiochus routed him, destroyed a great part of his army; whereupon the Jews willingly yielded to Antiochus, joined with him, helped him to besiege Ptolemæus's garrisons. They the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision, to help forward the accomplishment of this prophecy; but they shall fall, and shall come to nothing, Da 11:14. Hereupon (Da 11:15) the king of the north, this same Antiochus Magnus, shall carry on his design against the king of the south another way. (1.) He shall surprise his strong-holds; all that he has got in Syria and Samaria, and the arms of the south, all the power of the king of Egypt, shall not be able to withstand him. See how dubious and variable the turns of the scale of war are; like buying and selling, it is winning and losing; sometimes one side gets the better and sometimes the other; yet neither by chance; it is not, as they call it, the fortune of war, but according to the will and counsel of God, who brings some low and raises others up. (2.) He shall make himself master of the land of Judea (Da 11:16): He that comes against him (that is, the king of the north) shall carry all before him and do what he pleases, and he shall stand and get footing in the glorious land; so the land of Israel was, and by his hand it was wasted and consumed, for with the spoil of that good land he victualled his vast army. The land of Judea lay between these two potent kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, so that in all the struggles between them that was sure to suffer, for to it they both bore ill will. Yet some read this, By his hand it shall be perfected; as if it intimated that the land of Judea, being taken under the protection of this Antiochus, shall flourish, and be in better condition than it had been. (3.) He shall still push on his war against the king of Egypt, and set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, taking advantage of the infancy of Ptolemy Epiphanes, and the upright ones, many of the pious Israelites, siding with him, Da 11:17. In prosecution of his design, he shall give him his daughter Cleopatra to wife, designing, as Saul in giving his daughter Cleopatra to David, that she should be a snare to him, and do him a mischief; but she shall not stand on her father's side, nor be for him, but for her husband, and so that plot failed him. (4.) His war with the Romans is here foretold (Da 11:18): He shall turn his face to the isles (Da 11:18), the isles of the Gentiles (Ge 10:5), Greece and Italy. He took many of the isles about the Hellespont-Rhodes, Samos, Delos, etc., which by war or treaty he made himself master of; but a prince, or state (so some), even the Roman senate, or a leader, even the Roman general, shall return his reproach with which he abused the Romans upon himself, or shall make his shame rest on himself, and without his own shame, or any disgrace to himself, shall pay him again. This was fulfilled when the two Scipios were sent with an army against Antiochus. Hannibal was then with him, and advised him to invade Italy and waste it as he had done; but he did not take his advice; and Scipio joined battle with him, and gave him a total defeat, though Antiochus had 70,000 men and the Romans but 30,000. Thus he caused the reproach offered by him to cease. (5.) His fall. When he was totally routed by the Romans, and was forced to abandon to them all he had in Europe, and had a very heavy tribute exacted from him, he turned to his own land, and, not knowing which way to raise money to pay his tribute, he plundered a temple of Jupiter, which so incensed his own subjects against him that they set upon him, and killed him; so he was overthrown, and fell, and was no more found, Da 11:19. (6.) His next successor, Da 11:20. There rose up one in his place, a raiser of taxes, a sender forth of the extortioner, or extorter. This character was remarkably answered in Seleucus Philopater, the elder son of Antiochus the Great, who was a great oppressor of his own subjects, and exacted abundance of money from them; and, when he was told he would thereby lose his friends, he said he knew no better friend he had than money. He likewise attempted to rob the temple at Jerusalem, which this seems especially to refer to. But within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle, but poisoned by Heliodorus, one of his own servants, when he had reigned but twelve years, and done nothing remarkable.
V. From all this let us learn, 1. That God in his providence sets up one, and pulls down another, as he pleases, advances some from low beginnings and depresses others that were very high. Some have called great men the foot-balls of fortune; or, rather, they are the tools of Providence. 2. This world is full of wars and fightings, which come from men's lusts, and make it a theatre of sin and misery. 3. All the changes and revolutions of states and kingdoms, and every event, even the most minute and contingent, were plainly and perfectly foreseen by the God of heaven, and to him nothing is new. 4. No word of God shall fall to the ground; but what he has designed, what he has declared, shall infallibly come to pass; and even the sins of men shall be made to serve his purpose, and contribute to the b ringing of his counsels to birth in their season; and yet God is not the author of sin. 5. That, for the right understanding of some parts of scripture, it is necessary that heathen authors be consulted, which give light to the scripture, and show the accomplishment of what is there foretold; we have therefore reason to bless God for the human learning with which many have done great service to divine truths.
21-45
The Reign of Antiochus Epiphanes; Cruelty and Impiety of Antiochus; The Death of Antiochus (534 BC)
简体中文
安提阿古·伊皮法尼的统治；安提阿古的残忍与不敬；安提阿古之死（公元前534年）
²¹ 必有一个卑鄙的人兴起接续为王，人也不将国的尊荣给他；他却乘人坦然无备的时候来到，用谄媚的话得国。
²² 必有如洪水泛溢的势力被他冲没，必被破裂；盟约的君也是如此。
²³ 与他结盟之后，他必行诡诈；因为他必上来，以微小的民成为强盛。
²⁴ 他必趁人坦然无备的时候，进入国中极肥美之地，行他列祖和列祖之祖所未曾行的，将掳物、掠物和财宝分给众人；又要设计攻击坚固城，直到所定的时期。
²⁵ 他必奋勇向前，率领大军攻击南方王；南方王也必以极大极强的军兵奋勇迎战；却站立不住，因为有人设计谋害他。
²⁶ 同席吃饭的必毁灭他，他的军队必如洪水泛滥；多人必被杀仆倒。
²⁷ 至于这两个王，他们的心定意行恶，必同席说谎言；计谋却不成就，因为到了定期，事就了结。
²⁸ 他必带许多财宝回本国，他的心必反对圣约；他必任意而行，然后回到本地。
²⁹ 到了定期，他必返回，前来攻击南方；却与前一次一样不如后一次。
³⁰ 因为基提战船必来攻击他，他就丧胆而回；他又恼恨圣约，任意而行；他必回来，与背弃圣约的人联络。
³¹ 他必兴兵，这兵必亵渎保障圣所，废除常献的燔祭，设立那行毁坏可憎之物。
³² 作恶违背圣约的人，他必用谄媚的话使他们败坏；惟独认识神的子民必刚强行事。
³³ 民间的智慧人必使多人明白；然而他们多日必倒在刀下，或被火烧，或被掳掠抢夺。
³⁴ 他们仆倒的时候，稍得扶助；却有许多人用谄媚的话亲近他们。
³⁵ 智慧人中有些仆倒的，为要熬炼其余的人，使他们清净洁白，直到末了，因为到了定期，事就了结。
³⁶ 王必任意而行，自高自大，超过所有的神，又用奇异的话攻击万神之神；他必行事通达，直到主的忿怒完毕，因为所定的事必然成就。
³⁷ 他不顾他列祖的神，也不顾妇女所羡慕的神；无论何神他都不顾，因为他必自大超过一切。
³⁸ 他倒要敬拜保障的神，用金、银、宝石和珍宝敬奉他列祖所不认识的一个神。
³⁹ 他必靠一个外邦神的力量，在最坚固的保障中行事；他既敬拜这神，就使他得荣耀，使他管辖多人，又为得贿赂分地给他们。
⁴⁰ 到了末了，南方王要与他交战；北方王必如旋风而来，用战车、马兵和许多战船攻击他；他必进入列国，如洪水泛溢，扫除冲没。
⁴¹ 他又必进入那荣美之地，有许多国就被倾覆；但以东人、摩押人和亚扪人的首领必脱离他的手。
⁴² 他必伸手攻击列国，连埃及地也不得逃脱。
⁴³ 他必掌管埃及的金银财宝和一切珍宝；吕彼亚人和古实人都必跟从他的脚步。
⁴⁴ 但从东方和北方必有消息扰乱他，他就大发烈怒出去，要将多人杀灭净尽。
⁴⁵ 他必在海和荣美的圣山中间，设立他宫殿的帐幕；然而到了他的结局，必无人能帮助他。
以上都是关于安提阿古·伊皮法尼（Antiochus Epiphanes）在位之事的预言，也就是前文（Da 8:9）所提的小角，他是犹太宗教的死敌，是坚守犹太教之人的残酷逼迫者。犹太人在波斯列王治下所遭遇的患难，并没有这样详细地预先告知但以理，因为那时他们还有活着的先知——哈该和撒迦利亚——可以鼓励他们；但安提阿古时代的这些患难却预先宣告了，因为在那之前预言将要止息，他们必须倚靠所写下来的话语。关于安提阿古的这段预言中，有些事在新约对敌基督的预言里也有影射，特别是 Da 11:36,37。先知在预言犹太教会的兴盛时，惯常用适用于基督国度的措辞，并自然地滑入对那国度的预言；照样，他们在预言教会的患难时，也使用对敌基督国度的兴起与倾覆有更深远意义的措辞。现在关于安提阿古，天使在这里预言：
I. 他的品性：他必是一个卑鄙的人。他自称伊皮法尼（Epiphanes）——显赫者，但他的品性却与他的姓氏相反。外邦的作者形容他是一个性情古怪、粗暴蛮横、卑鄙下流的人。他有时会偷偷溜出宫廷进入城中，与任何声名狼藉的团伙混在一起隐姓埋名——他使自己成为平民之辈的伴侣，并与来到城里最卑贱的外人为伍。他那些最为莫名其妙的怪癖，使有的人以为他愚蠢，有的人以为他癫狂。因此他被称为伊皮曼尼斯（Epimanes）——疯子。他被称为卑鄙的人，因为他曾长期在罗马作人质，以保证他父亲在罗马人征服他之后的忠诚；并且议定，当其他人质被交换回国时，他仍要继续作一个活动受限的囚犯。
II. 他登基的过程。他用诡计使他哥哥的儿子底米丢（Demetrius）被送往罗马作人质，与他交换，这违背了协议；他哥哥既被海略多路（Heliodorus）所害（Da 11:20），他便夺取了国位。叙利亚的诸邦没有把国位给他（Da 11:21），因为他们知道这国位属于他哥哥的儿子；他也不是凭刀剑得国，而是和平地前来，假装代他哥哥的儿子底米丢（当时在罗马作人质）摄政。但在邻近的君王欧门尼斯（Eumenes）和阿塔鲁斯（Attalus）的帮助下，他在百姓中得了人心，用谄媚的话得了国，巩固了自己的地位，并如洪水的双臂般击溃了与他作对的海略多路；反对他的人在他面前被冲没被折断，连盟约的君——他的侄儿、合法的继承人——也是如此，他假装与这侄儿立约，承诺只要他一回来就将国位还给他（Da 11:22）。但（Da 11:23）与这君结盟之后，他必行诡诈，正如他那公开宣告的信条：君王不必受自己诺言的约束超过对自己有利的期限。他必靠着少数的民——那些起初依附他的人——成为强盛；（Da 11:24）他必和平地进入叙利亚国中最肥美之地，与他列祖迥然不同，他必将掳物、掠物和财宝分散给百姓，以博取他们的好感；但同时，他必设计攻击坚固城，要将这些城掌握在自己手中；所以他的慷慨只能维持一时，等他把驻军握在手中之后，便不再分散掠物，而是凭武力治理——凡以欺诈上台的人通常都是如此。像狐狸一样进来的人，便像狮子一样治理。有人将 Da 11:21-35 理解为论他第一次远征埃及，那时他不是作为仇敌，而是作为幼王的友人和监护者而来……
III. 他与埃及的战争，那是他第二次远征那里。这在 Da 11:25,27 中有所描述。安提阿古必奋勇鼓起力量攻击埃及王多利买·非罗米托（Ptolemæus Philometer）。多利买因此必被激动出战，必以极大极强的军兵前来攻击他；但多利买虽有如此浩大的军队，却不能在他面前站立；因为安提阿古的军队必倾覆他的军队，胜过他，埃及军队的大批人马必仆倒被杀。这也不足为奇，因为埃及王要被他自己的谋士出卖；那些吃他王膳的份、吃他的饭、仰赖他供给的人，受了安提阿古的贿赂，必设计谋害他，甚至他们要毁灭他；面对这样的背叛，还有什么保障可言？战后必开始和谈，这两个王要在同一张议席上会面，调整彼此间的和约条款；但他们二人都不会出于真心，因为他们在友好的表示和承诺中，要彼此说谎，他们的心同时要尽一切力量彼此谋害。于是计谋不得成就也就不足为奇了。和平不能持久；其结局必到了神所定的时期才临到，那时战争要再次爆发，如同仅仅结了一层痂的疮。
IV. 另一次远征埃及。从前一次他带着许多财宝回来（Da 11:28），所以一有机会就再次入侵埃及，到了神所定的时期，即他作王第八年，事隔两年之后（Da 11:29）。他必向南而来。但这次企图不会像前两次那样成功，他也不会像以前那样一而再地如愿以偿；因为（Da 11:30）基提的战船必来攻击他，即罗马人的舰队，或者只是罗马元老院派来的乘船而至的使节。埃及王多利买·非罗米托当时与罗马人结有紧密同盟，便向罗马人求助以抵御安提阿古，因安提阿古已把他和他的母亲克利奥帕特拉围困在亚历山大城。罗马元老院于是派使团前往安提阿古，命令他解除围困；当他要求给些时间考虑并与朋友商议时，使节中的一位波皮流（Popilius）用手中的杖在他周围画了一个圆圈，并以有权柄之人的口吻告诉他：他必须在走出这个圆圈之前给出明确的答复；于是他惧怕罗马的势力，不得不立即下令解围，使他的军队撤出埃及。李维（Livy）等人所述的这个故事，正是本预言所指。他就丧胆而回；因为被迫这样让步，使他甚为烦恼。
V. 他对犹太人的暴怒和残忍之举。这正是他在这一预言中最被详细论述的治道——或者说恶政。他从远征埃及回来时（Da 11:28 所预言的），就向犹太人行了大事，那是在他作王第六年；那时他劫掠了城邑和圣殿。但最可怕的风暴是在两年后他从埃及回来时，即 Da 11:30 所预言的。那时他在归途中攻取了犹太地；因为他因罗马人干预而无法在埃及如愿，便将怒气发泄在可怜的犹太人身上，他们并没有给他任何挑衅的理由，倒是犹太人大大惹动神允许他这样做（Da 8:23）。
1. 他对犹太人的信仰怀有根深蒂固的反感：他的心反对圣约（Da 11:28）。而且（Da 11:30）他恼恨圣约，就是那特别的约——藉此约犹太人被确立为一个有别于万国、且高于万国的子民。他恨恶摩西律法和真神的敬拜，又因犹太民族的特权和所赐的应许而愤愤不平。注意：神的子民所盼望和喜乐的事，正是邻舍所嫉妒的，这就是圣约。以扫因雅各得了祝福就恨恶他。与圣约无分的外人，往往是圣约的仇敌。
2. 他借着一些背信弃义的叛教犹太人的协助，推行他对犹太人的恶谋。他与那些背弃圣约的人保持联络（Da 11:30），其中有些犹太人背弃自己的信仰，引进外邦的风俗，并与外邦人立约。这事应验的记载见《马加比一书》第一章 11–15 节，那里明确说到那些叛教的犹太人行了割礼的恢复，又背弃了圣约。我们读到（马加比二书 iv. 9）大祭司押尼亚（Onias）的兄弟耶孙（Jason）奉安提阿古之命在耶路撒冷设立了一所学校，为要训练青年人随从外邦的时尚；又（马加比二书 iv. 23 等）提到米尼老（Menelaus）投靠安提阿古的利益，正是此人助他这次从埃及归途中进入耶路撒冷。在《马加比书》中我们读到许多关于这些叛国者耶孙和米尼老及其同党对犹太人造成的祸患。安提阿古随时随地利用这些人。"那违背圣约作恶的人，就是那些抛弃信仰、附从外邦的人，他必用谄媚的话败坏他们，使他们在叛道上更刚硬，并利用他们作诱饵吸引别人入彀"（Da 11:32）。注意：那些不按自己的信仰生活、在言行中违背圣约作恶的人，很容易被谄媚的话所败坏而离弃信仰，这并不奇怪。凡在良心上失船的，不久必在真道上失船。
3. 他亵渎圣殿。他必兴兵（Da 11:31），不仅指他从埃及带来的军队，还包括一大批从犹太教叛逃出来与他们勾结的人；他们亵渎了保障圣所，不仅是圣城，也是圣殿。这事的历史记载见《马加比一书》第一章 21 节等。他骄傲地进入圣所，夺去金坛和灯台等等。因此（Da 11:25 等平行经文）以色列中大有哀号，官长和长老都哀哭等等。又（马加比二书 v. 15 等）安提阿古进入至圣所，背叛律法和本国同胞的米尼老作他的向导。安提阿古既已决意要使周围的人都归入他的宗教，便废除常献的燔祭（Da 11:31）。有人注意到，希伯来文Tammidh一词只表示常献，在这里和平行经文中才被用来指常献的燔祭，仿佛有意留下自由，可以将其补足为燔祭（被安提阿古所废），或福音的敬拜（被敌基督所废）。然后他在坛上设立了那行毁坏可憎之物（马加比一书 i. 54），即一座偶像坛，并把圣殿称为朱庇特奥林帕斯（Jupiter Olympius）的庙（马加比二书 vi. 2）。
4. 他逼迫那些坚守信仰的人。虽然有很多人背弃圣约并违逆圣约，但仍有一子民认识他们的神，并持守对他的认识，他们必刚强行事（Da 11:32）。当其他人向暴君的要求屈服，将良知交给他所强加的命令时，他们却勇敢地坚守立场，抵挡诱惑，使暴君自己也为尝试攻击他们而感到羞愧。年迈的以利亚撒（Eleazar），是主要的文士之一，当有猪肉被强塞进他口中时，他勇敢地把它吐了出来，虽然他明知为此必被折磨至死——他确实因此而死（马加比二书 vi. 19）。一位母亲和她的七个儿子也因坚持信仰而被处死（马加比二书 vii）。这可以被称为行了大事；因为宁可选择受苦也不愿犯罪，本身就是伟大的壮举。他们正是因信，因在信上坚固，才成就了这些事，正如使徒所言——大概是论到这个故事——他们被折磨，不肯接受释放（Heb 11:35）。或者这也可能指犹大·马加比（Judas Maccabæus）等人反对安提阿古时所显的军事胆识和战绩。注意：对神的正确认识是、也必是灵魂的力量；靠着这力量，蒙恩之灵行事刚强。那认识他名的人要倚靠他，并藉这倚靠成就大事。关于这认识神的子民，这里告诉我们：（1）他们必使多人明白（Da 11:33）。他们要把自己所学的真伪、善恶的分别指示别人。注意：自己有神的知识的人，应当把这知识传授给周围的人；这种属灵的慈善应当是广博的——他们要使多人明白。有人将此理解为当时新近成立的一个为传播属神知识而设立的团体，称为亚西代派（Assideans），即敬虔人……
5. 他变得极其骄傲、狂妄和亵渎，因征服而自高自大，公然向天挑战，践踏一切圣洁之物（Da 11:36 等）。有人认为这里开始了对敌基督——即教皇国度——的预言。显然圣保罗在论及不法之人兴起和掌权的预言中（2Th 2:4）正是影射此处，这表明安提阿古是那仇敌的预表和形像，正如巴比伦也是；但这段话既然与前面论安提阿古的预言在连贯的论述中相连，依我看它很可能主要是指他，并在他身上得到了初步应验，而对其余的事只是附带地有关。（1）他必不敬地羞辱以色列的神——就是那独一又真又活的神，在此称为万神之神。他必不顾神和他的权柄，任意而行地攻击他的百姓和他圣洁的信仰；他必如西拿基立那样自高自大超过神，又用奇异的话攻击他和他的律例典章。这在安提阿古禁止在神的殿中献祭，下令亵渎安息日，污秽圣所和圣民等等，便应验了——为要使他们忘记律法，更改一切规条，违者处死（马加比一书 i. 45）。（2）他必骄傲地藐视一切别神，自高超过一切神，连外邦诸神也包括在内。安提阿古致信本国，命令各人都当撇下自己所敬拜的神，转去敬拜他所指定的神，这与他以前一切征服者的做法相反（马加比一书 i. 41,42）。于是外邦人都遵王的命令而行；他们虽爱慕自己的神，却以为这些神不值得为之受苦；他们的神既是偶像，敬拜什么神对他们而言全都一样。安提阿古不顾任何神……
这里有许多可应用于不法之人的话：他高举自己，超过一切称为神的、和一切受人敬拜的；自高超过一切；他的谄媚者称他为我主神教皇。他禁止嫁娶，并高举独身生活，便假装不顾妇女所羡慕的神；他敬拜保障的神，即玛户辛（Mahuzzim）或坚固台之神，也就是圣徒和天使——他的追随者以他们为保护者，正如古时外邦人以他们的鬼魔为保护者一样；他们立这些为各国的守护者等等。他们以献给他们的巨额财宝来敬奉，博学的米德先生（Mr. Mede）认为本预言正应验于此，且 1Ti 4:1,2 即指此事。
VI. 这里似乎是另一次远征埃及，或至少是与埃及的一次较量。罗马人已禁止他入侵多利买，但如今南方王要与他交战（Da 11:40），试图攻击他的一些领土；于是安提阿古这北方王必如旋风而来，速度和烈势都不可思议，带着战车、马兵和许多战船，大军压境。他必经过列国，如洪水泛溢扫除冲没。在这种急行军中，许多列国必被他倾覆；他也要进入荣美之地，即以色列地——这词与 Da 8:9 所译佳美之地是同一个词。他必在那一带列国中行可怖之事；然而有些国能逃脱他的烈怒，特别是以东、摩押和亚扪人的首领（Da 11:41）。他没有向这些国征收贡品，因为他们曾与他联合攻击犹太人。但埃及地尤其不得逃脱，他要把那地搜刮殆尽，使其沦为赤贫。有人认为这是他第四次也是最后一次远征埃及，发生在他作王第十或十一年，借口是帮助多利买·非罗米托的幼弟对抗他。这次远征我们没读到有什么大屠杀，但大有掠夺；因为似乎那才是他来的目的：他必掌管金银的财宝和埃及的一切珍宝（Da 11:43）。波利比乌（Polybius，见于雅典奈乌 Athenæus 的著作中）记载，安提阿古从年轻的非罗米托那里抢来大批财富，又背弃与他的盟约，加上朋友们的捐助，便以模仿保卢斯·埃米利乌（Paulus Æmilius）的样式举行了一场盛大的凯旋式，并描述了其中的奢华；这里告诉我们他是如何得到那些挥金如土的钱财的。这里也提到他对与埃及接壤的吕彼亚人和古实人的利用：他们都跟从他的脚步；他……
VII. 这里预言安提阿古的倾覆与灭亡，正如前文（Da 8:25）那样，当他荣誉正盛、因胜利而欢欣、因掠物而满载之时，从东方和北方（即东北方）来的消息必扰乱他（Da 11:44）。或者说，他必从东方和北方得到情报：帕提亚王正在入侵他的国土。这迫使他放下手头的事，前去讨伐叛离他的波斯人和帕提亚人；这使他甚为恼恨，因为正当他打算彻底毁灭灭绝犹太民族之时，那次远征却把他调离了，他也在这次远征中身亡。这在塔西佗（Tacitus）的一段记载中有所解释（虽然其中含有不敬之意），他称赞安提阿古试图除去犹太人的迷信，并引进希腊人的风俗（ut teterrimam gentem in melius mutaret——改良一个可憎的民族），并惋惜他因帕提亚战争而未能完成此事。现在这里讲到：1. 他对犹太人最后的暴怒。当他在自己的事务上感到困惑和受阻时，他必大发烈怒出去，将多人杀灭净尽（Da 11:44）。这事的历史记载见《马加比一书》第三章 27 节等：当安提阿古听到犹大·马加比的胜利时如何大怒，以及他吩咐吕西亚（Lysias）毁灭耶路撒冷。那时他在大海和死海之间立了他宫殿的帐幕，即在耶路撒冷附近的以马忤斯设立了他的御营，表示虽然他本人不能亲临，却授权他的将领们以最严厉的手段对犹太人进行战争。他在那里支搭帐幕，仿佛已取得荣美圣山的占有权，并称之为己有。注意：当不敬虔变得极为猖獗时，我们便能看见它的灭亡临近了。2. 他的结局：他到了他的结局，必无人能帮助他……
对于安提阿古之后的诸王，这里没有预言，因为他才是教会最恶毒的仇敌，是那沉沦之子的预表；主必用他口中的气灭绝他，用他降临的荣光废掉他，无人能帮助他。
영문 원문
The Reign of Antiochus Epiphanes; Cruelty and Impiety of Antiochus; The Death of Antiochus (534 BC)
²¹ And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
²² And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
²³ And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
²⁴ He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
²⁵ And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him.
²⁶ Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain.
²⁷ And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.
²⁸ Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.
²⁹ At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
³⁰ For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
³¹ And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
³² And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
³³ And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
³⁴ Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
³⁵ And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
³⁶ And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
³⁷ Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
³⁸ But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
³⁹ Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
⁴⁰ And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
⁴¹ He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
⁴² He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
⁴³ But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
⁴⁴ But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
⁴⁵ And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
All this is a prophecy of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, the little horn spoken of before (Da 8:9) a sworn enemy to the Jewish religion, and a bitter persecutor of those that adhered to it. What troubles the Jews met with in the reigns of the Persian kings were not so particularly foretold to Daniel as these, because then they had living prophets with them, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage them; but these troubles in the days of Antiochus were foretold, because, before that time, prophecy would cease, and they would find it necessary to have recourse to the written word. Some things in this prediction concerning Antiochus are alluded to in the New-Testament predictions of the antichrist, especially Da 11:36,37. And as it is usual with the prophets, when they foretel the prosperity of the Jewish church, to make use of such expressions as were applicable to the kingdom of Christ, and insensibly to slide into a prophecy of that, so, when they foretel the troubles of the church, they make use of such expressions as have a further reference to the kingdom of the antichrist, the rise and ruin of that. Now concerning Antiochus, the angel foretels here,
I. His character: He shall be a vile person. He called himself Epiphanes—the illustrious, but his character was the reverse of his surname. The heathen writers describe him to be an odd-humoured man, rude and boisterous, base and sordid. He would sometimes steal out of the court into the city, and herd with any infamous company incognito—in disguise he made himself a companion of the common sort, and of the basest strangers that came to town. He had the most unaccountable whims, so that some took him to be silly, others to be mad. Hence he was called Epimanes—the madman. He is called a vile person, for he had been a long time a hostage at Rome for the fidelity of his father when the Romans had subdued him; and it was agreed that, when the other hostages were exchanged, he should continue a prisoner at large.
II. His accession to the crown. By a trick he got his elder brother's son, Demetrius, to be sent a hostage to Rome, in exchange for him, contrary to the cartel; and, his elder brother being made away with by Heliodorus (Da 11:20), he took the kingdom. The states of Syria did not give it to him (Da 11:21), because they knew it belonged to his elder brother's son, nor did he get it by the sword, but came in peaceably, pretending to reign for his brother's son, Demetrius, then a hostage at Rome. But with the help of Eumenes and Attalus, neighbouring princes, he gained an interest in the people, and by flatteries obtained the kingdom, established himself in it, and crushed Heliodorus, who made head against him with the arms of a flood; those that opposed him were overflown and broken before him, even the prince of the covenant, his nephew, the rightful heir, whom he pretended to covenant with that he would resign to him whenever he should return, Da 11:22. But (Da 11:23) after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully, as one whose avowed maxim it is that princes ought not to be bound by their word any longer than it is for their interest. And with a small people, that at first cleave to him, he shall become strong, and (Da 11:24) he shall enter peaceably upon the fattest places of the kingdom of Syria, and, very unlike his predecessors, shall scatter among the people the prey, and the spoil, and riches, to insinuate himself into their affections; but, at the same time, he shall forecast his devices against the strong-holds, to make himself master of them, so that his generosity shall last but for a time; when he has got the garrisons into his hands he will scatter his spoil no more, but rule by force, as those commonly do that come in by fraud. He that comes in like a fox reigns like a lion. Some understand Da 11:21-35 of his first expedition into Egypt, when he came not as an enemy, but as a friend and guardian to the young king Ptolemæus Philometer, and therefore brought with him but few followers, yet those stout men, and faithful to his interest, whom he placed in divers of the strong-holds in Egypt, thereby making himself master of them.
III. His war with Egypt, which was his second expedition thither. This is described, Da 11:25,27. Antiochus shall stir up his power and courage against Ptolemæus Philometer king of Egypt. Ptolemy, thereupon, shall be stirred up to battle against him, shall come against him with a very great and mighty army; but Ptolemy, though he has such a vast army, shall not be able to stand before him; for Antiochus's army shall overthrow his, and overpower it, and great multitudes of the Egyptian army shall fall down slain. And no marvel, for the king of Egypt shall be betrayed by his own counsellors; those that feed of the portion of his meat, that eat of his bread and live upon him, being bribed by Antiochus, shall forecast devices against him, and even they shall destroy him; and what fence is there against such treachery? After the battle, a treaty of peace shall be set on foot, and these two kings shall meet at one council-board, to adjust the articles of peace between them; but they shall neither of them be sincere in it, for they shall, in their pretences and promises of amity and friendship, lie to one another, for their hearts shall be at the same time to do one another all the mischief they can. And then no marvel that it shall not prosper. The peace shall not last; but the end of it shall be at the time appointed in the divine Providence, and then the war shall break out again, as a sore that is only skinned over.
IV. Another expedition against Egypt. From the former he returned with great riches (Da 11:28), and therefore took the first occasion to invade Egypt again, at the time appointed by the divine Providence, two years after, in the eighth year of his reign, Da 11:29. He shall come towards the south. But this attempt shall not succeed, as the two former did, nor shall he gain his point, as he had done before once and again; for (Da 11:30) the ships of Chittim shall come against him, that is, the navy of the Romans, or only ambassadors from the Roman senate, who came in ships. Ptolemæus Philometer, king of Egypt, being now in a strict alliance with the Romans, craved their aid against Antiochus, who had besieged him and his mother Cleopatra in the city of Alexandria. The Roman senate thereupon sent an embassy to Antiochus, to command him to raise the siege, and, when he desired some time to consider of it and consult with his friends about it, Popilius, one of the ambassadors, with his staff drew a circle about him, and told him, as one having authority, he should give a positive answer before he came out of that circle; whereupon, fearing the Roman power, he was forced immediately to give orders for the raising of the siege and the retreat of his army out of Egypt. So Livy and others relate the story which this prophecy refers to. He shall be grieved, and return; for it was a great vexation to him to be forced to yield thus.
V. His rage and cruel practices against the Jews. This is that part of his government, or mis-government rather, which is most enlarged upon in this prediction. In his return from his expedition into Egypt (which is prophesied of, Da 11:28) he did exploits against the Jews, in the sixth year of his reign; then he spoiled the city and temple. But the most terrible storm was in his return from Egypt, two years after, prophesied of Da 11:30. Then he took Judea in his way home; and, because he could not gain his point in Egypt by reason of the Romans interposing, he wreaked his revenge upon the poor Jews, who gave him no provocation, but had greatly provoked God to permit him to do it, Da 8:23.
1. He had a rooted antipathy to the Jews' religion: His heart was against the holy covenant, Da 11:28. And (Da 11:30) he had indignation against the holy covenant, that covenant of peculiarity by which the Jews were incorporated a people distinct from all other nations, and dignified above them. He hated the law of Moses and the worship of the true God, and was vexed at the privileges of the Jewish nation and the promises made to them. Note, That which is the hope and joy of the people of God is the envy of their neighbours, and that is the holy covenant. Esau hated Jacob because he had got the blessing. Those that are strangers to the covenant are often enemies to it.
2. He carried on his malicious designs against the Jews by the assistance of some perfidious apostate Jews. He kept up intelligence with those that forsook the holy covenant (Da 11:30), some of the Jews that were false to their religion, and introduced the customs of the heathen, with whom they made a covenant. See the fulfilling of this, 1 Mac. i. 11-15, where it is expressly said, concerning those renegado Jews, that they made themselves uncircumcised and forsook the holy covenant. We read (2 Mac. iv. 9) of Jason, the brother of Onias the high priest, who by the appointment of Antiochus set up a school at Jerusalem, for the training up of youth in the fashions of the heathen; and (2 Mac. iv. 23, etc.) of Menelaus, who fell in with the interests of Antiochus, and was the man that helped him into Jerusalem, now in his last return from Egypt. We read much in the book of the Maccabees of the mischief done to the Jews by these treacherous men of their own nation, Jason and Menelaus, and their party. These upon all occasions he made use of. "Such as do wickedly against the covenant, such as throw up their religion, and comply with the heathen, he shall corrupt with flatteries, to harden them in their apostasy, and to make use of them as decoys to draw in others," Da 11:32. Note, It is not strange if those who do not live up to their religion, but in their conversations do wickedly against the covenant, are easily corrupted by flatteries to quit their religion. Those that make shipwreck of a good conscience will soon make shipwreck of the faith.
3. He profaned the temple. Arms stand on his part (Da 11:31), not only his own army which he now brought from Egypt, but a great party of deserters from the Jewish religion that joined with them; and they polluted the sanctuary of strength, not only the holy city, but the temple. The story of this we have, 1 Mac. i. 21, etc. He entered proudly into the sanctuary, took away the golden altar, and the candlestick, etc. And therefore (Da 11:25) there was a great mourning in Israel; the princes and elders mourned, etc. And (2 Mac. v. 15, etc.) Antiochus went into the most holy temple, Menelaus, that traitor to the laws and to his own country, being his guide. Antiochus, having resolved to bring all about him to be of his religion, took away the daily sacrifice, Da 11:31. Some observe that the word Tammidh, which signifies no more than daily, is only here, and in the parallel place, used for the daily sacrifice, as if there were a designed liberty left to supply it either with sacrifice, which was suppressed by Antiochus, or with gospel-worship, which was suppressed by the Antichrist. Then he set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar (1 Mac. i. 54), even an idol altar (), and called the temple the temple of Jupiter Olympius, 2 Mac. vi. 2.
4. He persecuted those who retained their integrity. Though there are many who forsake the covenant and do wickedly against it, yet there is a people who do know their God and retain the knowledge of him, and they shall be strong and do exploits, Da 11:32. When others yield to the tyrant's demands, and surrender their consciences to his impositions, they bravely keep their ground, resist the temptation, and make the tyrant himself ashamed of his attempt upon them. Good old Eleazar, one of the principal scribes, when he had swine's flesh thrust into his mouth, did bravely spit it out again, though he knew he must be tormented to death for so doing, and was so, 2 Mac. vi. 19. The mother and her seven sons were put to death for adhering to their religion, 2 Mac. vii. This might well be called doing exploits; for to choose suffering rather than sin is a great exploit. And it was by faith, by being strong in faith, that they did those exploits, that they were tortured, not accepting deliverance, as the apostle speaks, probably with reference to that story, Heb 11:35. Or it may refer to the military courage and achievements of Judas Maccabæus and others in opposition to Antiochus. Note, The right knowledge of God is, and will be, the strength of the soul, and, in the strength of that, gracious souls do exploits. Those that know his name will put their trust in him, and by that trust will do great things. Now, concerning this people that knew their God, we are here told, (1.) That they shall instruct many, Da 11:33. They shall make it their business to show others what they have learned themselves of the difference between truth and falsehood, good and evil. Note, Those that have the knowledge of God themselves should communicate their knowledge to those about them, and this spiritual charity must be extensive: they must instruct many. Some understand this of a society newly erected for the propagating of divine knowledge, called Assideans, godly men, pietists (so the name signifies), that were both knowing and zealous in the law; these instructed many. Note, In times of persecution and apostasy, which are trying times, those that have knowledge ought to make use of it for the strengthening and establishing of others. Those that understand aright themselves ought to do what they can to bring others to understand; for knowledge is a talent that must be traded with. Or, They shall instruct many by their perseverance in their duty and their patient suffering for it. Good examples instruct many, and with many are the most powerful instructions. (2.) They shall fall by the cruelty of Antiochus, shall be put to the torture, and put to death, by his rage. Though they are so excellent and intelligent themselves, and so useful and serviceable to others, yet Antiochus shall show them no mercy, but they shall fall for some days; so it may be read, Re 2:10, Thou shalt have tribulation ten days. We read much, in the books of the Maccabees, of Antiochus's barbarous usage of the pious Jews, how many he slew in wars and how many he murdered in cold blood. Women were put to death for having their children circumcised, and their infants were hanged about their necks, 1 Mac. i. 60, 61. But why did God suffer this? How can this be reconciled with the justice and goodness of God? I answer, Very well, if we consider what it was that God aimed at in this (Da 11:35): Some of those of understanding shall fall, but it shall be for the good of the church and for their own spiritual benefit. It shall be to try them, and to purge, and to make them white. They needed these afflictions themselves. The best have their spots, which must be washed off, their dross, which must be purged out; and their troubles, particularly their share in the public troubles, help to do this; being sanctified to them by the grace of God, they are means of mortifying their corruptions, weaning them from the world, and awakening them to greater seriousness and diligence in religion. They try them, as silver in the furnace is refined from its dross; they purge them, as wheat in the barn is winnowed from the chaff; and they make them white, as cloth by the fuller is cleared from its spots. See 1Pe 1:7. Their sufferings for righteousness' sake would try and purge the nation of the Jews, would convince them of the truth, excellency, and power of that holy religion which these understanding men died for their adherence to. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church; it is precious blood, and not a drop of it should be shed but upon such a valuable consideration. (3.) The cause of religion, though it be thus run upon, shall not be run down. When they shall fall they shall not be utterly cast down, but they shall be holpen with a little help, Da 11:34. Judas Maccabæus, and his brethren, and a few with them, shall make head against the tyrant, and assert the injured cause of their religion; they pulled down the idolatrous altars, circumcised the children that they found uncircumcised, recovered the law out of the hand of the Gentiles, and the work prospered in their hands, 1 Mac. ii. 45, etc. Note, Those that stand by the cause of religion when it is threatened and struck at, though they may not immediately be delivered and made victorious, shall yet have present help. And a little help must not be despised; but, when times are very bad, we must be thankful for some reviving. It is likewise foretold that many shall cleave to them with flatteries; when they see the Maccabees prosper some Jews shall join with them that are no true friends to religion, but will only pretend friendship either with design to betray them or in hope to rise with them; but the fiery trial (Da 11:35) will separate between the precious and the vile, and by it those that are perfect will be made manifest and those that are not. (4.) Though these troubles may continue long, yet they will have an end. They are for a time appointed, a limited time, fixed in the divine counsels. This warfare shall be accomplished. Hitherto the power of the enemy shall come, and no further; here shall its proud waves be stayed.
5. He grew very proud, insolent, and profane, and, being puffed up with his conquests, bade defiance to Heaven, and trampled upon every thing that was sacred, Da 11:36, etc. And here some think begins a prophecy of the antichrist, the papal kingdom. It is plain that St. Paul, in his prophecy of the rise and reign of the man of sin, alludes to this (2Th 2:4), which shows that Antiochus was a type and figure of that enemy, as Babylon also was; but, this being joined in a continued discourse with the foregoing prophecies concerning Antiochus, to me it seems probably that it principally refers to him, and in him had its primary accomplishment, and has reference to the other only by way of accommodation. (1.) He shall impiously dishonour the God of Israel, the only living and true God, called here the God of gods. He shall, in defiance of him and his authority, do according to his will against his people and his holy religion; he shall exalt himself above him, as Sennacherib did, and shall speak marvellous things against him and against his laws and institutions. This was fulfilled when Antiochus forbade sacrifices to be offered in God's temple, and ordered the sabbaths to be profaned, the sanctuary and the holy people to be polluted, etc., to the end that they might forget the law and change all the ordinances, and this upon pain of death, 1 Mac. i. 45. (2.) He shall proudly put contempt upon all other gods, shall magnify himself above every god, even the gods of the nations. Antiochus wrote to his own kingdom that every one should leave the gods he had worshipped, and worship such as he ordered, contrary to the practice of all the conquerors that went before him, 1 Mac. i. 41, 42. And all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king; fond as they were of their gods, they did not think them worth suffering for, but, their gods being idols, it was all alike to them what gods they worshipped. Antiochus did not regard any god, but magnified himself above all, Da 11:37. He was so proud that he thought himself above the condition of a mortal man, that he could command the waves of the sea, and reach to the stars of heaven, as his insolence and haughtiness are expressed, 2 Mac. ix. 8, 10. Thus he carried all before him, till the indignation was accomplished (Da 11:36), till he had run his length, and filled up the measure of his iniquity; for that which is determined shall be done, and nothing more, nothing short. (3.) He shall, contrary to the way of the heathen, disregard the god of his fathers, Da 11:37. Though an affection to the religion of their ancestors was, among the heathen, almost as natural to them as the desire of women (for, if you search through the isles of Chittim, you will not find an instance of a nation that has changed its gods, Jer 2:10,11), yet Antiochus shall not regard the god of his fathers; he made laws to abolish the religion of his country, and to bring in the idols of the Greeks. And though his predecessors had honoured the God of Israel, and given great gifts to the temple at Jerusalem (2 Mac. iii. 2, 3), he offered the greatest indignities to God and his temple. His not regarding the desire of women may denote his barbarous cruelty (he shall spare no age or sex, no, not the tender ones) or his unnatural lusts, or, in general, his contempt of every thing which men of honour have a concern for, or it might be accomplished in something we meet not with in history. Its being joined to his not regarding the god of his fathers intimates that the idolatries of his country had in them more of the gratifications of the flesh than those of other countries (Lucian has written of the Syrian goddesses), and yet that would not prevail to keep him to them. (4.) He shall set up an unknown god, a new god, Da 11:38. In his estate, in the room of the god of his fathers (Apollo and Diana, deities of pleasure), he shall honour the god of forces, a supposed deity of power, a god whom his fathers knew not, nor worshipped; because he will be thought in wisdom and strength to excel his fathers, he shall honour this god with gold, and silver, and precious stones, thinking nothing too good for the god he has taken a fancy to. This seems to be Jupiter Olympius, known among the Phœnicians by the name of Baal-Semen, the lord of heaven, but never introduced among the Syrians till Antiochus introduced it. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds, in the temple of Jerusalem, which is called the sanctuary of strength (Da 11:31), and here the fortresses of munitions; there he shall set up the image of this strange god. Some read it, He shall commit the munitions of strength, or of the most strong God (that is, the city Jerusalem), to a strange god; he put it under the protection and government of Jupiter Olympius. This god he shall not only acknowledge, but shall increase with glory, by setting his image even upon God's altar. And he shall cause those that minister to this idol to rule over many, shall put them into places of power and trust, and they shall divide the land for gain, shall be maintained richly out of the profits of the country. Some by the Mahuzzim, or god of forces, that Antiochus shall worship, understand money, which is said to answer all things, and which is the great idol of worldly people.
Now here is very much that is applicable to the man of sin; he exalts himself above all that is called god or that is worshipped; magnifies himself above all; his flatterers call him our lord god the pope. By forbidding marriage, and magnifying the single life, he pretends not to regard the desire of women; and honours the god of forces, the god Mahuzzim, or strong holds, saints and angels, whom his followers take for their protectors, as the heathen did of old their demons; these they make presidents of several countries, etc. These they honour with vast treasures dedicated to them, and therein the learned Mr. Mede thinks that this prophecy was fulfilled, and that it is referred to 1Ti 4:1,2.
VI. Here seems to be another expedition into Egypt, or, at least, a struggle with Egypt. The Romans had tied him up from invading Ptolemy, but now that king of the south pushes at him (Da 11:40), makes an attempt upon some of his territories, where upon Antiochus, the king of the north, comes against him like a whirlwind, with incredible swiftness and fury, with chariots, and horses, and many ships, a great force. He shall come through countries, and shall overflow and pass over. In this flying march many countries shall be overthrown by him; and he shall enter into the glorious land, the land of Israel; it is the same word that is translated the pleasant land, Da 8:9. He shall make dreadful work among the nations thereabout; yet some shall escape his fury, particularly Edom and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon, Da 11:41. He did not put these countries under contribution, because they had joined with him against the Jews. But especially the land of Egypt shall not escape, but he will quite beggar that, so bare will he strip it. This some reckon his fourth and last expedition against Egypt, in the tenth or eleventh year of his reign, under pretence of assisting the younger brother of Ptolemæus Philometer against him. We read not of any great slaughter made in this expedition, but great plunder; for, it should seem, that was what he came for: He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, Da 11:43. Polybius, in Athenæus, relates that Antiochus, having got together abundance of wealth, by spoiling young Philometer, and breaking league with him, and by the contributions of his friends, bestowed a vast deal upon a triumph, in imitation of Paulus Æmilius, and describes the extravagance of it; here we are told how he got that money which he spent so profusely. Notice is here taken likewise of the use he made of the Lybians and Ethiopians, who bordered upon Egypt; they were at his steps; he had them at his foot, had them at his beck, and they made inroads upon Egypt to serve him.
VII. Here is a prediction of the fall and ruin of Antiochus, as before (Da 8:25), when he is in the height of his honour, flushed with victory, and laden with spoils, tidings out of the east and out of the north (out of the north-east) shall trouble him, Da 11:44. Or, He shall have intelligence, both from the eastern and northern parts, that the king of Parthia is invading his kingdom. This obliged him to drop the enterprises he had in hand, and to go against the Persians and Parthians that were revolting from him; and this vexed him, for now he thought utterly to ruin and extirpate the Jewish nation, when that expedition called him off, in which he perished. This is explained by a passage in Tacitus (though an impious one) where he commends Antiochus for his attempt to take away the superstition of the Jews, and bring in the manners of the Greeks, among them (ut teterrimam gentem in melius mutaret—to meliorate an odious nation), and laments that he was hindered from accomplishing it by the Parthian war. Now here is, 1. The last effort of his rage against the Jews. When he finds himself perplexed and embarrassed in his affairs he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many, Da 11:44. The story of this we have 1 Mac. iii. 27, etc., what a rage Antiochus was in when he heard of the successes of Judas Maccabæus, and the orders he gave to Lysias to destroy Jerusalem. Then he planted the tabernacles of his palace, or tents of his court, between the seas, between the Great Sea and the Dead Sea. He set up his royal pavilion at Emmaus near Jerusalem, in token that, though he could not be present himself, yet he gave full power to his captains to prosecute the war against the Jews with the utmost rigour. He placed his tent there, as if he had taken possession of the glorious holy mountain and called it his own. Note, When impiety grows very impudent we may see its ruin near. 2. His exit: He shall come to his end and none shall help him; God shall cut him off in the midst of his days and none shall be able to prevent his fall. This is the same with that which was foretold Da 8:35 (He shall be broken without hand), where we took a view of his miserable end. Note, When God's time shall come to bring proud oppressors to their end none shall be able to help them, nor perhaps inclined to help them; for those that covet to be feared by all when they are in their grandeur, when they come to be in distress will find themselves loved by none; none will lend them so much as a hand or a prayer to help them; and, if the Lord do not help, who shall?
Of the kings that came after Antiochus nothing is here prophesied, for that was the most malicious mischievous enemy to the church, that was a type of the son of perdition, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming, and none shall help him.
加百列天使在本章履行了他对但以理在上一章所作的应许,即要"把日后必临到他本国子民的事"指示他,正如"真理之书"上所记载的:他在此格外详尽地预言了波斯和希腊列王的更迭,以及他们国度的事务,尤其是安提阿古·伊皮法尼在他所处的时代对教会所造成的祸患,这在先前早已预言过(但8:11-12)。本章内容为:I. 简略预言希腊帝国在波斯帝国废墟上的建立,而波斯帝国当时刚刚兴起(但11:1-4)。II. 预言埃及与叙利亚两国的政务及其彼此之间的相互关系(但11:5-20)。III. 论安提阿古·伊皮法尼的兴起,以及他的作为与得胜(但11:21-29)。IV. 论他当对犹太民族与宗教所行的极大祸患,以及他对一切宗教的藐视(但11:30-39)。V. 论他在追击最为炽烈之时最终的覆灭与倾败(但11:40-45)。