Daniel 11:5

Ptolemy I. (Lagi), 305 285, and Seleucus I. (Nicator), 312 280.

the king of the south The -south" (Heb. Negeb), when applied to a particular region, means commonly in the O.T., the southern part of Judah (Genesis 12:9, R.V. marg.); but in this chapter (as in Daniel 8:9) it denotes regularly Egypt, as opposed to Antioch (or Syria), which is signified by the -north." Ptolemy, son of Lagus, a Macedonian, one of Alexander's most trusted and capable generals, who distinguished himself especially in his Indian campaigns, succeeded, in the partition of Alexander's empire which was arranged immediately after his death, in securing for himself Egypt, which he ruled as satrap from b.c. 322 to 305, when he assumed the title of king. He died b.c. 285.

andone of his princes or captains (2 Kings 9:5, &c.). Seleucus, an officer of Alexander's -companions" (ἑταῖροι), or distinguished corps of heavy cavalry, received at the convention of Triparadisus, in 321, the wealthy satrapy of Babylonia. Being in 316 taken to account for his administration by Antigonus (who had received in 323 Phrygia, Lycia, and Pamphylia, but increasing in power had presumed to control the provinces as he thought fit), he took refuge with Ptolemy in Egypt. Ptolemy appointed him his general; and he helped him to gain the battle of Gaza in 312. After this he induced Ptolemy to send him with a small force to recover Babylon. He was successful, and regained his satrapy; and the era of the Seleucidae (b.c. 312), by which in later times the Jews reckoned (1MMalachi 1:10), was fixed by the event.

and he(the latter, Seleucus) shall be strong above him[358] (the former, Ptolemy), and have dominion: his dominionshall be a great dominion After the final defeat of Antigonus at Ipsus in 301 (which indeed was principally due to the large forces contributed by Seleucus), the empire ruled by Seleucus, reaching from Phrygia, Cappadocia, and Syria, on the W., almost to the Indus on the E., was much more extensive than that of Ptolemy, and commanded much larger resources. Seleucus is called by Arrian (Exped. Alex.vii. 22) the "greatest," as well as the most "princely-minded," of Alexander's successors; and he deserves, more than any of his brother generals, to be regarded as the heir of Alexander. Antioch was founded by him as his capital, b.c. 300.

[358] The reading -but one of his captains shall be strong above him" (LXX., Theod., Meinh., Kamph., Prince) would improve this verse, without altering the sense.

In the distribution of provinces, an ambiguous position was taken by Cœle-Syria, with Phœnicia, and Palestine; and this intermediate region remained a bone of contention between the kings of Syria and Egypt, and in the century and a half which followed the death of Alexander, repeatedly changed hands. At Triparadisus, in 321, Syria was assigned to Laomedon; but Ptolemy got possession of it in 320, only to lose it again in 315 to Antigonus, to recover at least the S. part of it after the battle of Gaza in 312, and to relinquish it a second time to Antigonus in 311. After the battle of Ipsus in 301, Ptolemy, as a matter of fact, obtained Cœle-Syria and Phœnicia; but his right to these provinces became a subject of protracted dispute between the later Ptolemies and Seleucidae. On the one hand, it was alleged that after the victory it had been distinctly agreed that Seleucus should have -the whole of Syria"; on the other, it was claimed that Ptolemy Lagi had only joined the coalition against Antigonus on the understanding that he should receive Cœle-Syria and Phœnicia (Polyb. v. 67; cf. also the quotation from Diodorus in Mahaffy, Empire of the Ptolemies, p. 66). Upon the whole, during the period here in question, Palestine remained, with short interruptions, in the hands of the Ptolemies till the battle of Paneion in 198, after which it was retained permanently by the kings of Syria.