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英文原文
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)
繁體中文
波斯王朝的傾覆（公元前534年）
¹ 瑪代人大流士元年，我我曾起來扶助他，使他堅強。
² 現在我將真事指示你。波斯還有三王興起，第四王必富足勝過他們一切；他既富足，就必使大眾攻擊希臘國。
³ 必有一個勇敢的王興起，執掌大權，隨意而行。
⁴ 他正興起的時候，他的國必破裂，向天的四方分開，卻不歸他的後裔，治國的權勢也不及他；因為他的國必被拔出，歸與他後裔之外的人。
這裡：1. 加百列天使讓但以理知道他為猶太民族所作的善工（Da 11:1）："在瑪代人大流士元年——他毀了巴比倫並釋放猶太人脫離那為奴之家——我起來作他的力量和保障，即我作器皿保護他，使他爭戰亨通，並在他征服巴比倫之後堅定他釋放猶太人的決心。"此舉可能遭遇不少反對。如此借著天使，又應守望者之求，金頭便被打破，斧頭也放在樹根上。注意：我們當承認神在堅固那些對教會友好之人、為要成就他們對教會當作之服事、並堅定他們善意的決定上之手；他在此使用天使的服事，遠超我們所知。我們已知的神從前對他教會許多眷顧的例子，鼓勵我們在更深患難中倚靠他。2. 他預言波斯四王的統治（Da 11:2）：現在我將真事告訴你，即大像和四獸異象的真意，以明白的話語解明先前以隱晦表號所代表的。(1) 除大流士外（本預言的年代以他為準，Da 9:1），波斯還要興起三王。布勞頓先生（Mr. Broughton）認為這三位是居魯士、亞達薛西（希臘人稱為岡比西斯），以及娶以斯帖的亞哈隨魯（稱為希斯塔斯比之子大流士）。波斯人給這三人這樣的稱號——居魯士是父，岡比西斯是主，大流士是積聚者。希羅多德如此記。(2) 還有第四位，比他們都富足——即薛西斯（Xerxes），希臘作者提到他的財富。他借著力量（其龐大的軍隊，至少八十萬人）和財富（用以維持和支付那軍隊），煽動大軍攻擊希臘國。薛西斯對希臘的遠征……是聖殿建造的阻礙者；但不久之後，從被擄歸回約三十年後，年輕的王大流士恢復了聖殿的建造，承認神對他前代阻礙此事的攻擊（拉 6:7）。3. 他預言亞歷山大的征服和他國的分封（Da 11:3）。他就是那位要興起抵擋波斯諸王的勇敢的王，他要執掌大權——治理許多國，並以專制之權，因為他要隨意而行，也可隨意撤銷——而按瑪代波斯人的律法，他們的王不能如此。亞歷山大征服亞洲之後，要被當作神敬拜，那時這話便應驗：他要隨意而行。那是神的特權，卻是他的冒充。但（Da 11:4）他的國不久必破裂，分為四部分，卻不歸他的後裔，他的繼承者也不及他的權勢；無人有他那樣大的版圖和那樣絕對的權柄。他的國被拔出，歸與他本家之外的人。他的兄弟阿里底烏斯被立為馬其頓王；亞歷山大的母親奧林匹亞斯殺了他，又毒死亞歷山大的兩個兒子赫拉克勒斯和亞歷山大。於是他的家族被自己手所根除。請看世間浮華和產業，以及取得它們的權勢，是何等衰殘必朽之物。世界的虛空和其中最大的事，從未比在亞歷山大的故事中顯得更為明顯。全是虛空，都是捕風。
英文原文
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)
繁體中文
埃及與敘利亞的事；安提阿哥大帝的統治；安提阿哥大帝的傾覆（主前534年）
⁵ 南方王必強盛，他將帥中必有一個比他更強盛，必執掌權柄，他的權柄甚大。
⁶ 這些年數之後，他們必互相聯合；南方王的女兒必就了北方王來立約；但這女子不能保全權勢，他的勢力也不能站立；這女子和引導她來的，並生她的，以及當時扶助她的，都必交與死地。
⁷ 但這女子的本家必另生一子繼續王位，他必率領大軍進入北方王的保障，攻擊他們，而且得勝；
⁸ 並將他們的神像和鑄成的偶像，與金銀的寶器，擄到埃及去；數年之內，他不去攻擊北方王。
⁹ 北方王必入南方王的國，卻要仍回本地。
¹⁰ 他的二子必動干戈，招聚許多軍兵；這軍兵前去，如洪水氾濫，又必再去爭戰，直到南方王的保障。
¹¹ 南方王必發烈怒，出來與北方王爭戰，擺列大軍；北方王的軍兵必交付他手。
¹² 他的眾軍高傲，他的心也必自高；他雖使數萬人仆倒，卻不能常勝。
¹³ 北方王必回來擺列大軍，比先前的更多；滿了年數，他必率領大軍，帶極多的軍裝來。
¹⁴ 那時必有許多人起來攻擊南方王；並且你本國的強暴人必興起，這應驗異象，他們卻要敗亡。
¹⁵ 北方王必來築壘攻取堅固城；南方王的軍兵必站立不住，就是揀選的精兵也無力站立。
¹⁶ 他來攻擊他，必隨自己的心意而行，無人能在北方王面前站立得住；他必站在那榮美之地，用手施行毀滅。
¹⁷ 他必定意用全國之力而來，立公正的約，照約而行，將自己的女兒給南方王為妻，想要敗壞他；這計卻不得成就，與自己毫無益處。
¹⁸ 其後他必轉回奪取了許多海島；但有一大帥，除掉他令人受的羞辱，並且使這羞辱歸他本身。
¹⁹ 他就必轉向本地的保障；卻要絆跌仆倒，歸於無有。
²⁰ 那時，必有一人興起接續他為王，使橫徵暴斂的人通行國中的榮美地；這王不多日就必毀滅，卻不因忿怒，也不因爭戰。
這裡豫言：
I. 從亞歷山大征服所遺之中興起的兩大國及其權勢，Da 11:5。1. 埃及國，由亞歷山大一名將領 Ptolemæus Lagus 使之強盛，他的繼承人因他被稱為 Lagidæ。他被稱為 南方 王，即埃及，此處亦有提及，Da 11:8,42,43。起初屬多利買的版圖計有埃及、腓尼基、阿拉伯、呂彼亞、古實等。Theocr. Idyl. 17. 2. 敘利亞國，由 Seleucus Nicanor——即 征服者——所建；他是亞歷山大的將領之一，比別的更強，得了最大的統治權，是亞歷山大諸繼承人中最有勢力的。據說他轄下的國不少於七十二個。這兩國對猶大都是強敵（這豫言特別注目猶大之事）；多利買取得埃及不久，便入侵猶太，在一個安息日 假作親善訪問攻取了耶路撒冷。Seleucus 也曾擾害猶太。
II. 想把這兩國如尼布甲尼撒像的鐵與泥般聯合，卻是徒然（Da 11:6）：到了年份之末，約亞歷山大死後七十年，Lagidæ 與 Seleucidæ 要彼此聯合，卻毫無誠意。「埃及王 Ptolemy Philadelphus 要把女兒 Berenice 嫁給敘利亞王 Antiochus Theos」，而安提阿哥已有妻子名叫 Laodice。「Berenice 要到 北方王 那裡立約，卻不能成立：她不能保全手臂的權勢；無論她、她的後裔，都不能在北方國中站穩；她的父親多利買、她的丈夫安提阿哥（他們本要結成大聯盟）也都不能 站住，他們的手臂也是不能；她與帶她來的人都必被交出」，就是一切籌劃她與安提阿哥這不幸婚姻的人；這婚姻不但沒有如願造成南北兩冠的聯合，反而惹來無窮的禍患。安提阿哥休了 Berenice，再娶前妻 Laodice，Laodice 不久便毒死他，又謀害了 Berenice 和她的兒子，並立她自己所生的兒子為王，就是 Seleucus Callinicus。
III. 兩國之間的戰爭，Da 11:7,8。從 Berenice 同根而出的枝子要 在他的位上興起。Ptolemæus Euergetes——Ptolemæus Philadelphus 之子與繼承人——要率軍攻擊敘利亞王 Seleucus Callinicus，為他姊妹報仇，並要得勝；他要把大量人口與財貨擄到埃及，並要 比北方王多活幾年。這位多利買在位四十六年；Justin 說，若非自己國事召他回去，他這一戰本可佔據敘利亞全國。但（Da 11:9）他被迫 進入自己的國、回到本地 去維持那裡的安寧，因此不能再在境外作戰。注意，背信的和平常以血戰收場。
IV. 敘利亞王 安提阿哥大帝 長而多事的在位。Seleucus Callinicus——那被勝過（Da 11:7）並悲慘而死的北方王——留下兩子 Seleucus 與 Antiochus；這就是他的兒子們，北方王 的兒子，必 被激動、招聚大軍，要收復父親所失的，Da 11:10。但長子 Seleucus 軟弱、不能統率軍隊，被友人毒死，僅在位二年；他兄弟安提阿哥繼位，在位三十七年，號稱 大帝。所以天使雖然起先說 眾子，卻只繼續講到 其中一個，他登基時才十五歲；他必 必定來、氾濫、橫行，至終必 收復 父親所失的。1. 南方王 在這場戰爭中起初必大得勝。Ptolemæus Philopater 因 安提阿哥大帝 所行的侮辱發怒，雖素性怠惰，卻 出來與他爭戰，率領七萬步兵、五千騎兵、七十三頭大象的大軍上陣。那對方的軍兵（安提阿哥的軍隊，六萬二千步兵、六千騎兵、一百零二頭大象）必 交在他手中。Polybius（曾與 Scipio 同住）對這場 Raphia 之戰有詳盡記載。Ptolemæus Philopater 得勝之後，極其驕橫；心高氣傲；於是他進入耶路撒冷神的殿，無視律法，闖入至聖所，因此神與他爭論；故此他雖 仆倒數萬人，卻 不能因此堅立，不能穩固自己的勢力。因為 2. 北方王安提阿哥大帝 必率比 從前更多 的大軍 回來；在 滿了時候（就是數年）之後，他必帶 強盛的大軍與極多的財貨 來攻擊 南方王，即 Ptolemæus Epiphanes——他接續父親 Ptolemæus Philopater 作王時還是個孩子，給了安提阿哥大帝可乘之機。這次遠征他有強大的盟友（Da 11:14）：必有許多人起來攻擊南方王。馬其頓的 Philip 與安提阿哥結盟對抗埃及王，並派他將軍 Scopas 進入敘利亞；安提阿哥擊潰他，殲滅他大部分軍隊；猶太人便樂意歸順安提阿哥，與他聯合，幫他圍攻多利買的駐軍。你本國的強暴人必興起，為要應驗異象，協助這豫言應驗；卻要敗亡，歸於無有，Da 11:14。此後（Da 11:15）北方王（即安提阿哥大帝）要用別法推行他對南方王的計謀。(1.) 他要突襲南方王的堅固城；他在敘利亞和撒瑪利亞所得的一切，以及南方的手——埃及王的一切勢力——都無力抵擋他。可見戰爭的勝負何等變幻無定；如同買賣，有贏有輸；有時這方得勢，有時那方得勢；卻都不憑運氣；這不是人所謂 戰爭的運氣，而是憑神的旨意與籌謀，他使這人降卑、那人升高。(2.) 他要佔據猶大地（Da 11:16）：那來攻擊他的（即北方王）必所向披靡、任意而行，並且 他必站在那榮美之地；以色列地就是如此，被他的手 毀壞耗盡，因他用那美地的擄物供給他浩大的軍隊。猶大地處埃及與敘利亞兩大強國之間，因此兩國相爭時它必受苦，因兩國都對它懷 惡意。然而有人如此讀：被他的手得以修補；意指猶大地既蒙安提阿哥庇護，就要復興，比先前境況更好。(3.) 他仍要繼續對埃及王的戰事，定意要以全國之力進入，趁 Ptolemy Epiphanes 年幼，又有許多虔誠以色列人（正直人）附从他，Da 11:17。為推行計謀，他要把女兒 Cleopatra 給他為妻，存心正如掃羅把女兒給大衛，要她作他的 網羅、害他；但她 不站在她父親一邊，也 不為他，反而向著丈夫，於是那計謀歸於失敗。(4.) 他與羅馬人的戰爭在此豫言（Da 11:18）：他要 轉臉顧及海島（Da 11:18），就是 海島的列國（Ge 10:5），希臘與意大利。他取了赫勒斯滂附近許多海島——羅底、撒摩、提洛等，或以戰爭、或以條約據為己有；但有一位 首領（或 國家），即羅馬元老院，或一位 領袖，即羅馬將軍，要 把他辱罵羅馬人的羞辱歸到他本人頭上，或說 使他的恥辱歸到他身上，並且 自己毫不蒙羞 地 報應他。這事在兩位 Scipio 奉命率軍攻打安提阿哥時應驗。漢尼拔那時與他同在，勸他如自己所作過的那樣入侵並踐踏意大利；但他不聽；Scipio 與他交戰，徹底擊潰他，雖然安提阿哥有七萬人，而羅馬人只有三萬。如此他 使他所受的辱罵止息。(5.) 他的傾覆。他既被羅馬人徹底擊潰，被迫放棄在歐洲一切所有，又被勒索極重的貢賦，便 轉回本地；因不知如何籌款繳貢，就去劫掠一座朱庇特廟，激怒了自己的臣民，被他們攻擊殺死；如此他被傾覆、仆倒、不再被尋見，Da 11:19。(6.) 他的繼任者，Da 11:20。必有一人在其位上興起，是 橫徵暴斂之人，是 勒索者。這特徵在安提阿哥大帝的長子 Seleucus Philopater 身上特別顯著，他是自己臣民的大壓迫者，向他們勒索極多錢財；有人告訴他如此必失去朋友，他說除 錢 外不知還有更好的朋友。他也曾企圖劫掠耶路撒冷的聖殿，這話似乎特指此事。但 不多日他必被毀滅，不因忿怒，也不因爭戰，而是在位僅十二年、毫無建樹之時，被自己一名臣僕 Heliodorus 毒死。
V. 從這一切我們可以學到：1. 神在他的護理中隨己意立此廢彼，使卑微者升高、使高貴者降卑。有人稱偉人為 命運的足球；或更恰當地說，他們是 護理的工具。2. 這世界充滿 爭戰鬥毆，都是 從私慾而來，使世界成為罪惡與苦難的舞臺。3. 列國的變遷、革命，並每一件最微小、最偶然的事件，都明明地、完完全全被天上的神所豫見，在他沒有一件事是 新 的。4. 神的言語一句也不落空；他所定規、他所宣告的，必毫不失誤地應驗；甚至人的罪也要被用來成就他的旨意，在時候滿足時助成他的籌謀；然而 神不是罪的創始者。5. 為要正確明白聖經某些部分，有時必須參考異教作者，他們能為聖經提供亮光，顯明聖經豫言的應驗；因此我們當為許多學者以人文學問大大服事神的真理而感謝神。
英文原文
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.
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The Reign of Antiochus Epiphanes; Cruelty and Impiety of Antiochus; The Death of Antiochus (534 BC)
繁體中文
安提阿哥‧伊皮法尼的統治；安提阿哥的殘忍與不敬；安提阿哥之死（主前534年）
²¹ 必有一個卑鄙的人興起接續為王，人未曾將國的尊榮給他，他卻趁人平穩時，用諂媚的話得國。
²² 必有如洪水氾濫的手勢，在他面前沖沒；又必沖沒同盟的君。
²³ 與那君結盟之後，他必行詭詐；因為他必上來以微小的民成為強盛。
²⁴ 他必趁人無備的時候，進入國中極美之地，行他列祖和列祖之祖所未曾行的，將擄物、掠物和財寶散給眾人；又要設計攻打保障，然而這都是暫時的。
²⁵ 他必奮勇向前，率領大軍攻擊南方王；南方王必以極大極強的軍兵與他爭戰，卻站立不住，因為有人設計謀害他。
²⁶ 吃王膳的，必毀滅他；他的軍隊必被淹沒，被殺的甚多。
²⁷ 至於這二王，他們心懷惡計，同席說謊，卻不成功；因為到了定期，事就了結。
²⁸ 他必帶許多財寶回本國；他的心反對聖約，任意而行，回到本地。
²⁹ 到了定期，他必返回，來到南方；卻不像前次，也不像後次。
³⁰ 因為基提戰船必來攻擊他，他就喪膽而回；又要惱恨聖約，任意而行；他必回來聯絡背棄聖約的人。
³¹ 他必興兵；這兵必褻瀆聖所，就是保障，除掉常獻的燔祭，設立那行毀壞可憎的。
³² 他必用巧言誘惑違背聖約的人；惟獨認識神的子民必剛強行事。
³³ 民間的智慧人必訓誨多人；然而他們多日必倒在刀下，或被火燒，或被擄掠搶奪。
³⁴ 他們仆倒的時候，稍得扶助；卻有許多人用諂媚的話親近他們。
³⁵ 智慧人中有些仆倒的，為要熬煉其餘的人，使他們清淨潔白，直到末了；因為到了定期，事就了結。
³⁶ 王必任意而行，自高自大，超過所有的神，又用奇異的話攻擊萬神之神；他必行事亨通，直到主的忿怒完畢，因為所定的事必然成就。
³⁷ 他必不顧他列祖的神，也不顧婦女所羨慕的；無論何神他都不顧，因為他必自大，高過一切。
³⁸ 他倒要敬拜保障的神，用金、銀、寶石和可愛之物，敬奉他列祖所不認識的神。
³⁹ 他必靠一個外邦神行事；他要承認那神，加上榮耀，使他管轄多人，又為賄賂分地給他們。
⁴⁰ 到末了，南方王要與他交戰；北方王必用戰車、馬兵和許多戰船，勢如暴風來攻擊他，也必進入列國，如洪水氾濫。
⁴¹ 又必進入那榮美之地，有許多國就被傾覆；但以東人、摩押人和一大半亞捫人必脫離他的手。
⁴² 他必伸手攻擊列國；埃及地也不得脫離。
⁴³ 他必把持埃及的金銀財寶和各樣寶物；呂彼亞人和古實人都必跟從他。
⁴⁴ 但從東方和北方必有消息擾亂他；他就大發烈怒出去，要將多人殺滅淨盡。
⁴⁵ 他必在海和榮美的聖山中間，設立他如宮殿的帳幕；然而到了他的結局，必無人能幫助他。
這一切都是關於安提阿哥‧伊皮法尼統治的豫言——就是前文（Da 8:9）所說的 小角，是猶太宗教的死敵，是凡持守信仰之人的殘酷逼迫者。猶太人在波斯諸王手下所受的患難，並不如這些那樣詳盡地豫告但以理，因為那時他們有活著的先知——哈該和撒迦利亞——激勵他們；但安提阿哥時代的這些患難卻被豫告了，因為在那時之前豫言將要止息，他們將發現必須求助於寫下的話語。這豫言中關於安提阿哥的某些事，在新約關乎敵基督的豫言中（特別是 Da 11:36,37）被借用。先知豫言教會興盛時常用適用於 基督之國 的措辭，並不知不覺滑入對那國的豫言；照樣，他們豫言教會患難時，也用進一步指向敵基督之國——其興起與傾覆——的措辭。如今關於安提阿哥，天使在此豫言：
I. 他的性情：他必是 卑鄙的人。他自稱 Epiphanes—顯赫者，但他的品性恰與他的別號相反。異教作者形容他是個 怪僻 的人——粗魯橫暴、卑鄙齷齪。他有時會潛出朝廷進入城中，化裝 與任何聲名狼藉之輩廝混——他作平民用之人的同伴，又作來城中最卑賤客旅的同伴。他有最不可解的怪癖，有人當他愚蠢，有人當他瘋狂。因此他被稱為 Epimanes—狂人。他被稱為 卑鄙的人，因他長期在羅馬作人質，為他父親在羅馬人制服他之後的忠誠作保；並且協議：當其餘人質被交換時，他仍要繼續作一個廣義的囚犯。
II. 他的登基。他用詭計使他的長兄之子 Demetrius 被送往羅馬作人質，換回自己——這是違反約定的；他的長兄被 Heliodorus（Da 11:20）所害，他便取了國。敘利亞各邦 沒有把國給他（Da 11:21），因為他們知道這國屬於他長兄之子；他也不是憑刀劍得國，而是 趁人平穩時 進來，假意為他那時在羅馬作人質的姪兒 Demetrius 攝政。但在鄰國君王 Eumenes 與 Attalus 的幫助下，他在民中得了勢力，用諂媚的話得國，在國中站穩，並壓制了起來反對他的 Heliodorus——如洪水氾濫的手勢；反對他的人在他面前被 沖沒、被 沖破，連 同盟的君——他的姪兒、那正當的繼承人——也不例外；他假意與他立約，說只要他一回來便把國讓給他，Da 11:22。但（Da 11:23）與那君結盟之後，他必行詭詐——他的明言準則是：君王只要合乎己利，便不必受自己言語約束。他以微小的民——起初附從他的少數人——成為強盛；並且（Da 11:24）他必趁人無備的時候，進入 敘利亞國中 極美之地；他又與列祖迥異，將 擄物、掠物和財寶散給眾人，以討好人心；但同時他要 設計攻打保障，要把這些掌握在手；所以他的慷慨不過暫時——一旦駐軍在手，他便不再散財，而是憑武力統治，正如以詭詐進來的人常作的那樣。如狐狸般進來的，便如獅子般掌權。有人把 Da 11:21-35 理解為他第一次遠征埃及：那時他不是作仇敵，而是作幼王 Ptolemæus Philometer 的朋友與監護人前來，所以隨從不多，卻都是忠於他利益的壯士；他把這些人安置在埃及各要塞裡，因而把它們據為己有。
III. 他與埃及的戰爭——這是他第二次遠征埃及。這事在 Da 11:25,27 描述。安提阿哥必 奮勇向前 攻擊埃及王 Ptolemæus Philometer。多利買因此被 激動 與他 爭戰，必帶著 極大極強的軍兵 來迎；但多利買雖有如此浩大的軍隊，卻不能在他面前站立；因為安提阿哥的軍隊必 推翻 他的，壓倒它，埃及軍兵必有大批 仆倒被殺。這也不足為奇，因為埃及王必被自己的謀士出賣；那些 吃王膳的——吃他的飯、靠他養活的人——既被安提阿哥收買，便要 設計謀害他；甚至 他們必毀滅他；這樣的叛變有何可防？戰後將展開和談，二王要 同席 商訂條款；但他們都不誠心，因為他們在友善友誼的假意與應許中彼此 說謊，因為他們的心同時想要盡力彼此加害。那麼 卻不成功 也不足為奇。和平不會長久；它的 結局 必 在所定的時候（在神的護理中）來到，那時戰爭必再起，如僅僅結了痂的瘡。
IV. 對埃及的又一次遠征。他從前一次 帶著許多財寶回本國（Da 11:28），因此一有機會便 到了定期（神的護理所定），兩年後，就是他在位第八年，再侵埃及，Da 11:29。他要 來到南方。但這次嘗試不像前兩次那樣成功，他也不能如一前一後那樣如願以償；因為（Da 11:30）基提的戰船必來攻擊他——就是羅馬的海軍，或只是乘船而來的羅馬元老院使節。埃及王 Ptolemæus Philometer 此時與羅馬人結盟緊密，便求他們援助抵擋安提阿哥——他當時正圍困他和他的母親 Cleopatra 於亞歷山大城。羅馬元老院於是差使團去見安提阿哥，命他解圍；當他要求給些時間考慮、與友人商議時，使節中一位 Popilius 用他的杖繞他畫了一個圈，以權威的口吻告訴他：他要在走出這個圈之前給出明確答覆；於是他懼怕羅馬的勢力，被迫立即下令解圍、率軍撤出埃及。Livy 等人如此記述這豫言所指的事。他就喪膽而回；因為被迫如此屈服，對他是極大的苦惱。
V. 他對猶太人的狂怒與殘暴之舉。這是他治理（不如說是亂治）的一部分，在本豫言中被著重擴充。他從遠征埃及回來時（Da 11:28 所豫言的），在他作王第六年 對猶太人行了大事；那時他劫掠了城與殿。但最可怕的風暴是在兩年後他從埃及回來時——Da 11:30 所豫言的。那時他在歸途上取了猶太地；因他在埃及因羅馬人干涉而未能如願，便把怒氣發洩在可憐的猶太人身上——他們並未惹他，倒是大大惹了神容許他如此行，Da 8:23。
1. 他對猶太人的宗教根深蒂固地厭惡：他的心 反對聖約，Da 11:28。並且（Da 11:30）他要惱恨聖約——那使猶太人成為與萬國有別、且高於萬國的特殊之約。他恨惡摩西的律法和對真神的敬拜，又因猶太民族的特權和所蒙的應許而煩惱。注意，神百姓的盼望與喜樂，正是鄰舍的嫉妒對象，那就是 聖約。以掃因雅各得了祝福便恨他。與約無分的外人，往往是約的仇敵。
2. 他藉著一些背信棄義的叛教猶太人之助，推行他對猶太人的惡計。他 聯絡那些背棄聖約的人（Da 11:30）——一些背棄自己宗教、引進異教風俗的猶太人，他們與異教立約。這事的應驗見 1 Mac. i. 11-15，那裡明明說到那些叛教猶太人 自割陽皮，背棄聖約。我們又讀到（2 Mac. iv. 9）大祭司 Onias 的兄弟 Jason，照安提阿哥的派定，在耶路撒冷設立一所學校，為要按異教的風尚訓練少年；並（2 Mac. iv. 23 等）Menelaus 投安提阿哥之好，就是這次他末次從埃及回來時幫他進耶路撒冷的人。馬加比書屢屢記到 Jason、Menelaus 及其黨徒這些本國叛徒對猶太人所作的損害。安提阿哥凡事都利用這些人。「那些違背聖約的人——那些丟棄信仰、迎合異教的人——他必 用諂媚的話誘惑，使他們在叛教上更剛硬，並利用他們作引誘別人的圈套」，Da 11:32。注意，那些不照信仰生活、反而在行事上 違背聖約 的人，容易被 諂媚的話 引誘而放棄信仰，這並不奇怪。凡把好良心破了產的，很快就要把信仰也破了產。
3. 他褻瀆聖殿。他必興兵（Da 11:31）——不僅是他從埃及帶來的軍隊，還有一大批從猶太教叛逃的人與他們聯合；他們 褻瀆那力量之聖所——不僅是聖城，更是聖殿。這事記在 1 Mac. i. 21 等：他 驕傲地進入聖所，奪去金壇和燈臺 等。因此（1 Mac. 等處）以色列中有大哀號；首領和長老都哀哭。又（2 Mac. v. 15 等）安提阿哥進入至聖所，那背叛律法和本國的 Menelaus 作他的嚮導。安提阿哥既決意要使周圍一切都歸他的宗教，便 除掉常獻的燔祭，Da 11:31。有人注意到，Tammidh 這字本只意為 常，惟獨在此及平行經文用來指 常獻的燔祭，似乎故意留下自由，可以 燔祭 補充（被安提阿哥所廢），也可以 福音敬拜 補充（被敵基督所廢）。那時他把 那行毀壞可憎之物 設在壇上（1 Mac. i. 54），就是一座 偶像壇，並稱聖殿為 Jupiter Olympius 的殿，2 Mac. vi. 2。
4. 他逼迫那些持守正直的人。雖有許多人 背棄聖約、違背聖約 行事，卻有一民 認識 他們的神，持守對他的認識；他們必 剛強行事，Da 11:32。當別人向暴君的要求屈服、把良心交在他的規條之下時，他們卻勇敢守住陣腳，抵擋試探，使暴君自己在他們身上的嘗試也羞慚而退。年老的 Eleazar，是 首要文士 之一，當人把豬肉強塞進他口中時，勇敢地把它吐出來——雖知必因此被折磨至死，他果真因此而死，2 Mac. vi. 19。那位母親和她的七個兒子也因持守信仰而被處死，2 Mac. vii。這誠然可稱為 行事剛強；因為寧願受苦而不犯罪，是極大的壯舉。他們是 因著信、因 信心剛強 而行了這些壯舉——他們 忍受嚴刑，不肯得釋放，正如使徒所言，大概是著眼於這段故事，Heb 11:35。這也可指猶大‧馬加比等人對抗安提阿哥的軍事勇氣與戰績。注意，對神的真認識是、也將是靈魂的力量；靠著那力量，蒙恩的靈魂行了壯舉。認識你名的人要倚靠你，並藉著那倚靠行大事。如今關於這認識神的民，此處告訴我們：(1.) 他們 必訓誨多人，Da 11:33。他們必把自己在真偽、善惡之間所學的指示別人。注意，自己認識神的人，當把認識傳給周圍的人；這屬靈的慈善當廣行：他們要 訓誨多人。有人把這理解為一個剛成立的、為傳揚神聖認識的團體——稱為 Assideans（敬虔人、虔信派——這名字含義如此），他們既通曉律法又熱心；這些人訓誨多人。注意，在逼迫與叛教的試煉時，那有認識的人當用認識來堅固、建立別人。自己真明白的人當盡力使別人也明白；因為認識是必須經商運用的才能。或：他們要藉著在責任上堅忍、並為之忍耐受苦而 訓誨多人。好榜樣訓誨多人，對許多人是最有力的教訓。(2.) 他們必因安提阿哥的殘酷而 仆倒，必被他折磨、被他處死。雖然他們自己如此卓越聰明，對別人如此有用有益，安提阿哥卻不向他們施憐憫；他們必 仆倒數日（也可如此讀）；Re 2:10：你們必受患難十日。馬加比書多處記載安提阿哥對敬虔猶太人的野蠻對待——他在戰中殺了多少、又冷血謀殺了多少。婦女因給孩子 行割禮 而 被處死，她們的 嬰孩掛在頸項上，1 Mac. i. 60,61。但神為何容許這事？這怎能與神的公義和良善調和？我回答：若我們思想神在此所求之目的（Da 11:35），便十分調和：智慧人中有些仆倒的，卻是為教會的好處、並為他們自己屬靈的益處。這 為要熬煉他們，使他們清淨潔白。他們 自己 需要這些患難。最好的人也有斑點，必須洗去；有渣滓，必須煉淨；他們的患難——特別是他們在 公眾患難中所的分 ——有助於此；既被神的恩成聖歸他們，便是治死他們的敗壞、使他們與世界斷奶、喚醒他們在信仰上更鄭重更殷勤的途徑。患難試煉他們，如爐中的銀被煉淨渣滓；潔淨他們，如倉中的麥被揚去糠粃；使他們潔白，如布被漂清斑點。見 1Pe 1:7。他們 為義 受的苦，要試煉並潔淨猶太全國，使他們信服這些 智慧 人為之捨命持守的那聖潔宗教的真實、卓越與能力。殉道者的血是教會的種子；這血極寶貴，一滴也不該流，除非為著這樣有價值的考量。(3.) 雖宗教事業如此遭受打擊，卻不被消滅。他們仆倒的時候，卻不全然傾覆，反而 稍得扶助，Da 11:34。猶大‧馬加比和他的兄弟們，並少數與他們同心的人，要 挺身 抵抗暴君，維護受屈的信仰事業；他們 拆了 拜偶像的 壇，給他們找到未受割禮的孩子行割禮，從列國手中奪回律法，工作在他們手中亨通，1 Mac. ii. 45 等。注意，凡在信仰受威脅受打擊時站住的人，雖未必立即得救、得勝，卻必得著 現今的幫助。稍得的扶助 也不可輕看；時局極壞時，我們當為 些微的復興 感恩。又豫言說 有許多人用諂媚的話親近他們；當人見馬加比亨通，便有並非信仰真友的猶太人來附從——或為 出賣他們，或為 隨之高升；但 火煉的試驗（Da 11:35）要把 寶貴的和下賤的分別出來，藉此 完全人要顯明出來，不完全是也要顯明。(4.) 這些患難雖或持久，卻必 有了局。它們是 為所定的時候——有限的時間，定於神的籌謀中。這爭戰必告完成。仇敵的勢力 到此 而止，不再 前進；它的 狂浪 要在此 被勒住。
5. 他變得極其驕傲、狂妄、褻瀆，因征服而氣焰囂張，公然向天挑戰，踐踏一切神聖之事，Da 11:36 等。有人認為此處開始是關乎敵基督——教皇國——的豫言。顯然聖保羅在關乎 不法之人 興起掌權的豫言中（2Th 2:4）是借用此處，這表明安提阿哥是那仇敵的預表，正如巴比倫也是；但這段與前文關乎安提阿哥的豫言相連而為一貫論述，所以我看它主要還是指他，並在他身上初步應驗，對另一者的指涉只是附帶應用。(1.) 他必不敬地羞辱以色列的神——惟一又真又活的神，此處稱為 萬神之神。他必無視他的權柄，任意而行 對付他的百姓和聖潔信仰；他必 自高 超過他，如西拿基立所作的；又要 用奇異的話攻擊 他的律法和制度。這事應驗於安提阿哥禁止在神的殿裡 獻祭，下令 褻瀆安息日、污穢聖所 和 聖民 等，為要使他們忘記律法，改變一切典章，違者處死，1 Mac. i. 45。(2.) 他必驕傲地藐視 一切別的神，超過所有的神——連列國的神也不放過。安提阿哥通告全國，人人都當放棄素來所拜的神，改拜他所指定的，這與一切前人的作法相反，1 Mac. i. 41,42。列國都照王的命令而行；他們雖愛自己的神，卻不認為值得為之神受苦，但他們的神原是偶像，拜甚麼神都一樣。安提阿哥 不顧任何神，卻 自大高過一切，Da 11:37。他驕傲到以為自己超越必死之人的境況，能 吩咐海浪，達到天上的星，正如他的狂妄驕橫所表達的，2 Mac. ix. 8,10。如此他凡事順遂，直到主的忿怒完畢（Da 11:36）——直到他走盡自己的路、罪惡滿盈；因為 所定的事必然成就——不多不少。(3.) 他必與異教相反，不顧他列祖的神，Da 11:37。雖然異教徒對祖先宗教的親情幾乎如 婦女所羨慕的 一樣自然（因為你遍查 基提的眾海島，也找不到一個 更換神明 的國家，Jer 2:10,11），安提阿哥卻 不顧他列祖的神；他立法廢除本國宗教，引進希臘的偶像。雖然他的前人尊榮以色列的神，並曾厚賜耶路撒冷的聖殿（2 Mac. iii. 2,3），他卻對神和他的殿大加侮辱。他不顧 婦女所羨慕的，可指他的野蠻殘忍（他不分年齡性別，連柔弱之人也不放過），或指他反常的情慾，或概括指他對一切體面人所看重之事的輕蔑，也可能應驗於史所未載的某事。這話緊連著他不顧 列祖的神，暗示他本國的偶像比別國的更滿足肉體（Lucian 曾論敘利亞的女神們），但即便如此也不能使他持守那些。(4.) 他要設立一個不認識的神、一個新的神，Da 11:38。在他位上——在他列祖的神（Apollo 和 Diana，享樂之神）的位置上——他要 敬拜保障的神，一位假想的權能之神，一位 他列祖不認識 也不敬拜的神；因為他要被看為在智慧能力上勝過列祖，便用 金、銀、寶石 敬奉這神，以為他所選中的神配得最好。這似乎是 Jupiter Olympius，在腓尼基人中被稱為 Baal-Semen—天主，但在安提阿哥引進之前從未進入敘利亞。他要如此在 至聖的保障 中行——在耶路撒冷的聖殿，那稱為 力量之聖所（Da 11:31）的，此處稱 保障之城；在那裡 他要設立這 外邦神 的像。有人如此讀：他把至高者（即耶路撒冷城）的保障交給一個外邦神；他把它置於 Jupiter Olympius 的保護與治理之下。這神他不僅承認，更以榮耀加增——把它的像設在神的壇上。他要使那些事奉這偶像的人 管轄多人，使他們掌權得位，他們要 為賄賂分地給人，靠國家的收益豐厚度日。有人把安提阿哥所拜的 Mahuzzim——保障之神——理解為 錢財，錢財被說 能答應萬事，是世俗之人的大偶像。
此處有許多可應用於 不法之人 之處：他 高抬自己超過一切稱為神或受人敬拜的；超過一切自高自大；他的諂媚者稱他為 我們的主神教皇。他禁止嫁娶、高舉獨身，便假裝不顧 婦女所羨慕的；又敬拜 保障的神、Mahuzzim 之神——聖徒和天使，他的跟從者以之為保護者，正如古時異教徒對待他們的鬼魔一樣；他們立這些為各地的守護者等。他們用獻給這些的大筆財寶來敬奉；博學的 Mede 先生認為這豫言在此應驗，並指 1Ti 4:1,2。
VI. 此處似乎是又一次遠征埃及，或至少是與埃及的爭鬥。羅馬人已禁止他入侵多利買，但如今那 南方王要與他交戰（Da 11:40），襲擊他的部分領土；於是安提阿哥——北方王——勢如暴風 而來，以難以置信的迅疾與狂怒，帶著戰車、馬兵和許多戰船，浩大之勢。他必 進入列國，如洪水氾濫。這飛快的行軍中，許多國就被傾覆；他又要進入 那榮美之地——以色列地；這字與 Da 8:9 譯為 美地 的是同一個字。他要在周圍列國中行可怕之事；卻有人逃脫他的怒氣，特別是以東、摩押、和 一大半亞捫人，Da 11:41。他沒有向這些國征貢，因為它們與他聯合攻擊猶太人。但尤其是埃及地 不得脫離；他要把它徹底搜刮淨盡。有人把這算作他第四次、也是最後一次遠征埃及——在他作位第十或十一年，藉口幫助 Ptolemæus Philometer 的幼弟對抗他。我們未讀到這次遠征中有大屠殺，卻有大掠奪；因為看來那是他來的目的：他必把持埃及的金銀財寶和各樣寶物，Da 11:43。Polybius（在 Athenæus 中）記載：安提阿哥既藉劫掠小 Philometer、與他毀約、並藉朋友的捐輸聚積了大量財富，便仿效 Paulus Æmilius 舉行了一次凱旋式，極其奢華；此處告訴我們他揮霍的那些錢從何而來。此處也記到他怎樣利用與埃及接壤的呂彼亞人和古實人：他們 跟從他；他使他們在自己腳下，隨他指揮，他們便侵入埃及為他效勞。
VII. 此處是安提阿哥傾覆滅亡的豫言，如前（Da 8:25）所述：當他在尊榮的高峰、勝利的狂喜、擄物的滿載之中，從 東方 和 北方（東北）必有消息擾亂他，Da 11:44。或：他必從東方北方得情報，知道帕提亞王正入侵他的國。這迫使他放下手頭的事，去攻擊反叛他的波斯人和帕提亞人；這使他 苦惱，因為他原想徹底毀滅猶太民族，如今這次遠征卻把他調走，他也在其中滅亡。Tacitus 的一段話（雖是褻瀆的）解釋了這事：他稱讚安提阿哥試圖 除掉猶太人的迷信、把希臘人的禮俗引進 他們中間（ut teterrimam gentem in melius mutaret—改良一個可憎的國家），並惋惜他因帕提亞之戰而未能成就。此處有：1. 他對猶太人怒氣的最後發作。他見自己處境困窘，便 大發烈怒出去，要將多人殺滅淨盡，Da 11:44。這事記在 1 Mac. iii. 27 等：安提阿哥聽見猶大‧馬加比的勝利時何等震怒，他又給 Lysias 下令要毀滅耶路撒冷。那時他 設立他如宮殿的帳幕——或 宮廷的帳幕——在海和海之間，就是大海和死海之間。他在耶路撒冷附近的以馬忤斯設立王營，表明：雖不能親自臨陣，卻給部屬全權以最嚴厲之勢進行對猶太人的戰事。他在那裡立帳，彷彿已 佔據那榮美聖山，稱之為 己有。注意，當不敬變得極其放肆，我們便可看見它的滅亡不遠了。2. 他的結局：他必到了結局，必無人能幫助他；神要在其中年把他剪除，無人能攔阻他的傾覆。這與 Da 8:25 所豫言的相同（他卻終必非因人手而破），我們在該處看過他悲慘的結局。注意，當神的時候到了、要使驕傲的壓迫者到了局，無人能助，也無人肯助；因為那些在得意時要人皆懼的人，到困境時便發現無人愛他們；無人肯伸手或代禱幫助他們；主若不幫助，誰能呢？
安提阿哥之後的諸王在此沒有豫言，因他是教會最惡毒、最為害的仇敵，是那滅亡之子的預表；主必用他口中的氣滅絕他，用他降臨的榮光廢掉他，無人能幫助他。
英文原文
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對但以理所應許的——在前章他曾說要"把他本國之民日後必遇的事指示他"，是照"真確書上所記的"：他在這裡極其詳細地預言波斯和希臘列王的更替與他們國家的事，尤其是安提阿古·伊皮法尼在他那個時代對教會所造成的禍患——這禍患從前已經預言過（Da 8:11-12）。這裡有：I. 簡要預言希臘王朝將在波斯王朝（剛剛興起）的廢墟上建立（Da 11:1-4）。II. 預言埃及與敘利亞兩國彼此相關的事（Da 11:5-20）。III. 安提阿古·伊皮法尼的興起，以及他的作為與成就（Da 11:21-29）。IV. 他將對猶太民族和信仰造成的大禍患，以及他對一切信仰的輕蔑（Da 11:30-39）。V. 他末了在追擊正熱之時的傾覆滅亡（Da 11:40-45）。