_THE OVERTHROW OF PERSIA BY THE KING OF GRECIA. LEAGUES AND CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE KINGS OF THE SOUTH AND OF THE NORTH. THE INVASION AND TYRANNY OF THE ROMANS._ _Before Christ 534._ THIS and the following chapter contain the substance of Daniel's last vision, or a series of prophetical history fro... [ Continue Reading ]
ALSO I, IN THE FIRST YEAR— It is the usual method of the Holy Spirit, to make the later prophesies explanatory of the former; and revelation is _as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day._ The four great empires shewn to Nebuchadnezzar under the symbol of a great image, w... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE SHALL STAND UP YET THREE KINGS— They were to stand up _yet;_ that is to say, after Cyrus, the founder of the empire, who was then reigning. These _three kings,_ were Cambyses, the son of Cyrus; Smerdis the Magian, who pretended to be another son of Cyrus, but was really an impostor; and Darius... [ Continue Reading ]
A MIGHTY KING SHALL STAND UP, &C.— _Afterwards,_ &c. Houbigant. This is the character of Alexander. That he was a _mighty king_ and conqueror, that he not only _ruled with great dominion_ over Greece and the whole Persian empire, but likewise added India to his conquests; and that he _did according... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE SHALL STAND UP, HIS KINGDOM SHALL BE BROKEN— _When he shall have stood up._ These particulars have been illustrated before, chap. Daniel 8:8. Alexander died at Babylon, at the age of thirty-two years and eight months only, of which he reigned twelve years and eight months. In so short a time... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING OF THE SOUTH, &C.— The LXX render the words, _And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes shall be strong above him;_ or perhaps it may be better rendered thus, _And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and the king of the north shall be stron... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN THE END OF YEARS— After these wars had long lasted between Ptolemy and Antiochus Theus, they _agreed_ to make peace; upon condition, that the latter should put away his former wife Laodice and her sons, and marry Berenice, Ptolemy's daughter; accordingly, _he brought her to Antiochus,_ with a... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT OUT OF A BRANCH, &C.— Rather, as in the Vulgate, _Out of the branch of her root, shall stand up a plant; and he shall come,_ &c. This branch which sprung _out of the same root_ with Berenice was Ptolemy Euergetes, her brother, who no sooner succeeded his father, than he _came with a great army,... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HIS SONS SHALL BE STIRRED UP, &C.— The sons of Seleucus Callinicus were Seleucus and Antiochus; the elder of whom, Seleucus, succeeded him; and, to distinguish him from others of the same name, was denominated _Ceraunus,_ or the _thunderer._ Seleucus Ceraunus was indeed _stirred up,_ and _assemb... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE KING OF THE SOUTH SHALL BE MOVED, &C.— The _king of the south,_ at that time, was Ptolemy Philopater, who succeeded his father Euergetes: he was, no doubt, _moved with choler_ for the losses that he had sustained, and for the revolt of Theodotus and others. And he _came forth;_ he marched ou... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE HATH TAKEN AWAY, &C.— Had Ptolemy pursued his blow, he might probably have deprived Antiochus of his kingdom: but his _heart was lifted up with success:_ being delivered from his fears, he more freely indulged his licentious desires; and, after a few menaces and complaints, granted peace to... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING OF THE NORTH SHALL RETURN, &C.— The following events were not to take place till _after certain years;_ and the peace continued between the two crowns about fourteen years. In that interval Ptolemy Philopater died, and was succeeded by his son Ptolemy Epiphanes, a child of four or five year... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE SHALL MANY STAND UP— Agathocles was in possession of the young king's person; but so dissolute and proud in the exercise of his power, that the provinces which before were subject to Egypt rebelled; Egypt itself was disturbed by seditions; and the people of Alexandria rose against Agathocles,... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THE KING OF THE NORTH SHALL COME, &C. _AND TAKE THE MOST FENCED CITIES_— Antiochus, being desirous to recover Judaea, and the cities which Scopas had taken, came again into those parts. Scopas was sent to oppose him; but was defeated near the sources of Jordan, lost a great part of his army, and... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL ALSO SET HIS FACE, &C.— Rather, _He shall also set his face to enter by force the whole kingdom:_ for Antiochus, not contented with having rent the principal provinces from Egypt, was forming schemes for that purpose. If the next words be rightly translated, the _upright ones_ are the Jews,... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THIS SHALL HE TURN HIS FACE UNTO THE ISLES— Antiochus fitted out one hundred large ships, and two hundred lesser vessels, with which _he turned his face unto the isles_ of the Mediterranean, subdued most of the maritime places on the coast of Asia, Thrace, and Greece, and _took_ Samos, Euboea,... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN HE SHALL TURN HIS FACE TOWARDS THE FORT— Antiochus, after the battle, fled away at night to Sardis, thence to Apamea; and the next day came into Syria, to Antioch, _the fort of his own land._ Thence he sent ambassadors to sue for peace; and within a few days after it was granted, sent part of t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALL STAND UP—A RAISER OF TAXES— Or, according to the original, _One who causeth an exactor to pass over the glory,_ &c. Seleucus Philopater succeeded his father Antiochus the Great in Syria. He had an inclination to throw off the Roman yoke, but had not courage to effect it. He raised an army... [ Continue Reading ]
IN HIS ESTATE SHALL STAND, &C.— Antiochus, in his return from Rome, was at Athens in Syria, when his brother died by the treachery of Heliodorus; and _the honour of the kingdom was not given to him;_ for Heliodorus attempted to get possession of it for himself. Another party declared in favour of Pt... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WITH THE ARMS OF A FLOOD, &C.— Or rather, more agreeably to the Hebrew, _And the arms of the overflower shall be,_ &c. The _arms_ which were _overflown before him,_ were those of his competitors for the crown. They were vanquished by the forces of Eumenes and Attalus, and were dissipated by the... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL STIR UP, &C.— Antiochus marched against Ptolemy, his sister's son, _with a great army. The king of the south too,_ that is to say, the generals of Ptolemy, were _stirred_ up to war, with very many and exceeding strong forces; and yet could not resist the fraudulent counsels of Antiochus. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
BOTH THESE KINGS' HEARTS, &C.— After Antiochus was come to Memphis, he and Philometor frequently ate and conversed together _at one table;_ but, notwithstanding, _their hearts_ were really bent _to do mischief,_ and _they spoke lies_ the one to the other. Antiochus pretended to take care of his neph... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALL HE RETURN, &C.— Antiochus did indeed thus return; for the spoils which he took in Egypt were of immense value. See Genesis 1:19. On his return too from Egypt, he _set his heart against the holy covenant._ For while he was absent there, a false report was spread of his death; and Jason, th... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE TIME APPOINTED HE SHALL RETURN, &C.— Antiochus perceiving that his policy was detected, and that the two brothers had provided for their mutual safety, was so offended, that he prepared war much more eagerly and maliciously against both, than he had before against one of them. Early in the sp... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ARMS SHALL STAND ON HIS PART, &C.— After Antiochus, _arms,_ that is, the Romans, _shall stand up._ As ממלךֶ _mimelech,_ signifies _after the kings_ in Daniel 11:8 so ממנו _mimennu,_ may here signify _after him._ See also Nehemiah 13:21 and Daniel 11:23 of this chapter, in the original. _Arms,_ s... [ Continue Reading ]
SUCH AS DO WICKEDLY, &C.— All these things are applicable to the Christian Jews; for now the daily sacrifice was taken away, the temple was given to desolation, and the Christian church had succeeded in the place of the Jewish; the new covenant in the room of the old. The Roman magistrates and offic... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY SHALL FALL, &C.— The church had laboured under long and severe persecutions from the civil power. The tenth and last was begun by Dioclesian; it raged ten years, and was suppressed entirely by Constantine, the first Roman emperor who embraced Christianity; and then the church was protected... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING SHALL DO, &C.— The prophet was speaking of the persecutions which should be permitted for the trial of the church after the empire was become Christian; and now he proceeds to describe the principal author of them. A _king_ or _kingdom,_ as we have before observed, signifies any government,... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER SHALL HE REGARD THE GOD, &C.— The prophet's intention is, to blame the power here mentioned for apostatizing in some measure from the religion of his Christian fathers, as he actually did both in the Greek and Latin church by worshipping _Mahuzzim,_ instead of the true God. Another property... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IN HIS ESTATE SHALL HE HONOUR THE GOD OF FORCES— The original word rendered _forces,_ is מעזים _mauzzim,_ which is taken personally, and retained in the versions of the LXX and Vulgate. It is derived from the radical verb עוז _oz_, signifying _he was strong;_ and its proper meaning is _munitions... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SHALL HE DO—WITH A STRANGE GOD, &C.— The _worship of Mahuzzim_ was indeed the worship of a _strange God,_ both to those who imposed it, and to those who received it in the church. But, for the better understanding this part of the prophesy, it may be proper to propose a more literal translation... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE—END SHALL THE KING OF THE SOUTH PUSH, &C.— The kings of the _south,_ and of the _north,_ are to be explained according to the times of which the prophet is speaking. As long as the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria were subsisting, so long the Egyptian and Syrian kings were _kings of the south,_ an... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL ENTER ALSO INTO THE GLORIOUS LAND— The same expression was used in Daniel 11:16 and in both places is rendered by the Syriac, _the land of Israel._ Now it is well known, that the Turks took possession of the Holy Land, and remain masters of it to this day; Selim _entered into Jerusalem_ in... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL STRETCH FORTH HIS HAND ALSO— The proper application of this passage is to the Ottoman emperor. This _stretching forth his hand_ implies, that his dominion should be of large extent; and he has _stretched forth his hand upon many,_ not only Asian and European, but likewise African _countries... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT TIDINGS—SHALL TROUBLE HIM— These two verses, probably, remain yet to be fulfilled. Instead of _palace,_ Daniel 11:45 we may read _camp;_ and for _glorious holy mountain—the mountain of delight of holiness._ The Hebrew word אפדנו _apadno,_ translated, _his palace,_ or _camp,_ occurs in Jonathan's... [ Continue Reading ]