The Book of Daniel: Chapter 11 Chapter 11:1 "In the first year of Darius the Mede." This is a retrogression chronologically. Chapter ten began with "in the third year of Cyrus." This again indicates that the book is not completely chronological. It was written around a logical rather than chronological plan. "Even I." This is a reference to the angel who is speaking to Daniel. "Stood to confirm and strengthen him." This seems to indicate that the angel strengthened or made sure the reign and authority of Darius. Since the angel is speaking of helping the Jews, and resisting the interests of the Persians, it seems only logical that he was helping to establish and strengthen Darius because this would help the Jews. Chapter 11:2 "And now I will show thee the truth." This does not infer that what the angel has spoken heretofore was not true. It only means that, what he will reveal now, will also be the truth. "Yet three kings in Persia." This refers to three Persian monarchs yet to come after Darius who has already been mentioned. The three who followed Darius were Cambyses, Smerdis, and Darius Hystaspis. This is based on the assumption that this vision was given during the reign of Cyrus. The first verse of chapter eleven would be explained simply as a reference to the past. "The fourth shall be far richer than they all." This refers to the fourth king or the one following Darius Hystaspis. This would make the fourth king to be Xerxes. The description, given in this context, fits Xerxes. He inherited the wealth of the three previous monarchs. "Shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia." We know the reality of this statement from history. Xerxes gathered and equipped, probably, the largest army that was ever assembled. Some authorities listed the army as large as two million six hundred and forty-one thousand six hundred and ten men. There were besides the army however many servants and other people who followed the army. This brought the total that followed Xerxes to not less than five million. Chapter 11:3-4 "And a mighty king shall stand up." There is no indication from the context that would have helped those reading this prophecy in advance, to know whether this referred to another ruler from among the Persian empire or from another kingdom. Now that this has become history, we can see that this refers to Alexander the great. It is interesting to note that the latter rulers of Persia, following Xerxes, were not even considered. This shows how prophecy can eliminate many details especially when they are not important details. Many times prophecy seems only to hit the high spots of history. It is stated that these prophecies were shown to Alexander by the high priest of the Jews, and that this helped greatly to conciliate Alexander toward the Jewish people. "And when he shall stand." This refers to the might and power of his kingdom. What is spoken here in the latter part of verse four comes when the kingdom of Alexander is at its peak. "His kingdom shall be broken." When Alexander died due to his illness and being physically run down, the kingdom fell apart. After the death of Alexander, because he had no sons to be heirs to the throne, the kingdom was divided up among his generals. Alexander had tried to unite the East and the West in his empire. He had even commanded mass intermarriages between those who followed him and those whom he conquered. Many of the Greek army resented his lenient attitude toward the lands he conquered. Alexander did not destroy the existing governments, but placed some of the Greeks in the government with the local officials. His kingdom did not remain in the hands of his four successors, but others beside these gained the rule. Chapter 11:5-20 "And the king of the south." This expression when used in the scripture finds its location in relationship to the land of Palestine. Directions are set in relation to this land which is looked upon as the center of the earth. So this expression could refer to any king and kingdom which is to the south of Palestine. This refers to Egypt. The king of the south was Ptolemy Lagus. One of his princes was Seleucus Nicator. "The King’s daughter of the south." This refers to the Egyptian Princess Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy II. The king of the north refers to Antiochus Theos. According to Gaebelein, the agreement was that Antiochus Theos was to divorce his wife and make any child of Berenice his heir in the kingdom. This agreement ended with calamity. When Ptolemy died, Antiochus Theos called back his former wife. Berenice and her young son were poisoned and the first wife’s son Callinicus was put on the throne as Seleucus II. "But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate." Berenice;s brother, Ptolemy Euergetes, avenged the death of his sister. He conquered Syria. He slew the wife of Antiochus Theos. He seized the fortress, the port of Antioch. Verse eight lists some of the plunder that Ptolemy Euergetes, would take back to Egypt from Syria. History states that he returned with 4,000 talents of gold, 40,000 talents of silver, 2500 idols and idolatrous vessels. In 240 B.C. Seleucus Calinicus, the king of the north, invaded Egypt, but he was defeated. His fleet perished in a storm. "But his sons shall be stirred up." His sons were Seleucus III and Antiochus the Great. Antiochus invaded Egypt even to the fortress of Gaza. In 217 Ptolemy aroused himself and fought with Antiochus the great. Antiochus was defeated. He did not press his victory as verse twelve states "but he shall not be strengthened by it." After 14 years in 203 B.C. Antiochus assembled a great army. He had for his allies: Phillip of Macedon and certain wicked Jews in Egypt "robbers of thy people". who helped Antiochus. Verses fourteen through sixteen describe the conditions which prevailed during the capture of Egypt by Antiochus. Antiochus wanted to control all of Egypt so he made a treaty with Ptolemy Epiphanes whereby he took the daughter, Cleopatro, for his wife. Cleopatro is called the "daughter of women" because she was so young that she was under the care of her mother and grandmother. This treaty failed. Antiocus then turned his attention toward the isles on the coast of Asia Minor. The captain that is mentioned is Scipio Asiaticus. Antiochus was defeated by the Romans at Magnesia. Antiochus returned to his own land and was slain while trying to plunder the temple of Belus in Elymais as noted in verse nineteen. The Seleucus Philopater came to the throne. He was known as a raiser of taxes. His tax collector Heliodorus poisoned him and so he died, "neither in anger, nor in battle." Chapter 11:21-35 "A vile person." This vile person is undoubtably none other than Antiochus Epiphanes. He was not the rightful heir to the throne, but he seized control through trickery. He is the little horn that is referred to in Daniel 8:9. Even though this portion of scripture speaks of Antiochus, there are certain phrases and expressions which do not seem to fit him. It is therefore a distinct possibility that this has a further fulfillment in the beast of Revelation 13. In the first part of verse twenty-two we see the success of his military exploits. The latter part of his verse refers to his victory over "the prince of the covenant." This has been applied to his nephew Ptolemy Philometor: however, there is a distinct difficulty in that he would normally have been called the king of the south. Another suggestion has been that this refers to Onias III. This was the Jewish priest that Antiochus deposed. In verse twenty-three we see the trickery of Antiochus. He marched down into Egypt with a small force. This was done to dissolve the suspicions of the Egyptians toward his reasons for coming, but when he arrived he conquered Egypt as far as Memphis. In verse twenty four we see the description of the success that he had in Egypt. In verse twenty-five, "The king of the south" refers to Ptolemy Physcon who was made king after Antiochus had captured Philometor. Physcon had a very large army, but he did not win because treason of those who claimed to support him. Those who supported Ptolemy and ate of his provisions were some of the ones who later deserted him. "Destroy him." This does not mean that they murdered Ptolemy but rather they destroyed his victory and many of his soldiers were slain. In verse twenty-seven, the two kings mentioned are Antiochus and Philometor. They made an alliance, but spoke lies to each other. Their plans failed. In verse twenty eight, Antiochus returns home after his effort to conquer all of Egypt. He has captured great riches. When he passed through Judea, he committed some of his terrible deeds. A report had come to Antiochus that the Jews had reported that he was dead. The Jews had celebrated the news. Antiochus was angry. The record of this is found in the first and second book of Maccabees. Then Antiochus retired to Antioch, until he made another attempt to conquer Egypt. This time however, he did not have the success that he had the first time. In verse thirty we find a reference to the Roman fleet, "ships of Chittim." When Antiochus was within a few miles of Alexandria, he heard that ships had arrived. He went to salute them. He was given letters from the Roman senate. These commanded Antiochus to end his wars against his nephews or else face the displeasure of the Roman people. Antiochus said he would go consult with his friends on the matter, but Popiluis, one of the Roman legates, took his staff and immediately drew a circle around Antiochus in the sand. He commanded Antiochus not to pass from the circle till he had given a definite answer. Antiochus was disheartened. The rage which he was unable to vent against the Egyptians he turned upon the Jews. "He shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant." There was apostate Jews who joined with Antiochus in his wicked plans. The ultimate in Antiochus wicked acts against the Jews took place when he sent Apollonius with over 20,000 men to destroy Jerusalem. Multitudes of people were slain. Many of the women and children were taken captive. Apollonius issued a command that the Jews must conform to the Greek idolatry. A wicked Greek was sent to enforce the command of Antiochus. He caused the sacrifices of the Jews to cease. He desecrated the temple by offering sacrifices of swines’ flesh upon the altar. The temple was dedicated to Jupiter Olympius. "But the people who know their God shall be strong and do exploits." There were many apostate Jews who sided with Antiochus: however; there were some who remained faithful to God. This is a reference to the Maccabees. Though their number was not large, they were still able to accomplish marvelous exploits. However, those who are faithful to Jehovah, will go through great trials and suffering. "But many shall cleave to them with flatteries." There were many who joined with the faithful because of the success which they had. Also they undoubtedly did not want to receive the harsh treatment which was given to the apostate Jews. "And some of them of understanding shall fall." This was a testing time for those who were considered to be the faithful or wise. Some would fall or depart because of the testing. This would be a means of separating the grain from the chaff. Chapter 11:36-39 "The king shall ... exalt himself." In verses thirty-six through thirty-nine we find a description of this king and his elevating of himself. The context seems to apply this to Antiochus along with the previous verses; however, there seem to be certain ideas which were not fulfilled completely in Antiochus Epiphanes, and therefore require a future fulfillment in the man of sin or beast of Revelation 13. The qualifications given to this king especially in the verses after and including verse thirty-six illustrate this, "the king shall ... exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god ... till the indignation be accomplished." The view that this refers to the "man of sin" of II Thess. 2 who is commonly called "the antichrist" is considered to be the traditional view of the Christian church. "The desire of women." The desire of women is human love. This is something that even the basest of men feel some attraction toward, but this person will be so savage and selfish as to manifest himself as both ungodly and inhumane. Chapter 11:40-45 "At the time of the end." This refers to the last part of the 70 weeks. This is during the period of the tribulation when the Anti-Christ shall rule and be opposed by a king from the south and a king from the north. This prophecy is still future. It is impossible to state who will be the king of the south or the king of the north without becoming a prophet. |