Mastery of the Scriptures forces any man of God to become a student of many other disciplines, especially of ancient history. There is no special merit in being able to recite the succession of Jewish, Persian Greek, or Syrian Kings. Nevertheless, God never condemns the acquisition of true knowledge.
It's discomforting to know we, as children of God, are ignorant of the facts of history and have a narrow range of interests both secular and sacred. The Book of Daniel is a taxing exercise in ancient history, particularly the later chapters.
In my opinion...it's God's Word, and His story; therefore, it is worthy of our examination!
Part 1 (Daniel 11: 1-20)
The angel Gabriel first outlined the immediate successors to Cyrus. The book of Ezra identifies them as Ahasuerus, Artaxerxes, and Darius. Secular historians call them cambyses, Pseudo-Smerdis, and Darius Hystaspes respectively. They were followed by Xerxes, a king of vast resources who raided Greece in 480 B.C.
A lapse of time occurs in Daniel 11 between verses 3 and 4. The Spirit of God is silent about the successors to Xerxes because they have no bearing on the condition of the Jews. The mighty king of verse 3 was Alexander the Great, whose sprawling empire was divided at his death among his four generals because he had no heir (vs. 4).
The kingdom of Greece gradually wasted away and was finally "plucked up" by the Romans in 31 B.C.
Verses 5-20 focus the spotlight upon the northern and the southern divisions of Alexander's territories. The king of the South represents the several Ptolemies of Egypt. The king of the North refers to the many rulers of Syria.
The passage presents an amazing and detailed summary of the campaigns which Syria and Egypt waged against each other. In the military invasions northward and southward, Palestine usually became the battlefield of the warring factions and suffered the brunt of their revenge.
The prince of verse 5 was Alexander's Syrian general Seleucus 1 Nicator, who found it necessary to accept asylum in Egypt when Antigonas--an early Phrygian contender for Alexander's empire--routed him from the NOrth.
The king of the South was Ptolemy Lagus. With Ptolemy's helps, Seleucus regained his authority and subsequently increaded his domnions until his territories exceeded Ptolemy's.
Several years later an attempt was made to cement alliances between Egypt and Syria. Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt prevailed upon Antiochus II of Syria to marry his daughter Berenice. Antiochus put away his own wife Daodice and prounced her children illegitmate.
When Philadelphus died, Antiochus II took Laodice back, and she promptly murdered Berenice and her children. Later she poisoned her husband and put her son Callinicus on the throne of Syria. The marriage alliance proved an utter failure (vs. 6).
Berenice's brother, Ptolemy III Euergetes, then invaded Syria in order to avenge his sister's death. He captured Antioch without opposition. Civil disorder erupted through Egypt, and Euergetes hastened home with a tremendous plunder (vs. 7-9).
The sons of Callinicus wanted revenge against the attack of Euergetes. The first son, Ceraunus, reigned only two years. He was succeeded by his brother Antiochus III the Great. Antiochus III and his armies poured out of the North like a flood and deluged Palestine (vs. 10).
By this time Ptolemy Philopator had come to the Egyptian throne, and he repelled the northern invader at the battle of Raphia in 217 B.C. (vs. 11). His military successes went to his head. He failed to follow through with his victory; consequently, Syria and Egypt settled down to a kind of cold ward for 13 years (vs. 12).
Antiochus III the Great launched another campaign as soon as Philopator died. He managed to build an even larger army than he had before (vs. 13). Antiochus secured the assistance of King Philip of Macedon and of the apostate Jews in Palestine who were glad to be free of Egyptian control (vs. 14).
Antiochus was frustrated in his plan to conquer Egypt by the interference of Rome. He thereupon decided to take diplomatic measures by giving his duaghter Cleopatra to Ptolemy Epiphanes, heir apparent to the Egyptian throne.
Antiochus dpended upon Cleopatra's allegiance. The tables were turned when Cleopatra repudiated her father and supoorted her husband (vs. 17). Antiochus the Great then contented himself with plundering the coastlines and islands of the Mediterranean until Rome drove him out of Greece and later defeated him at Magnesia in 190 B.C. (vs 18, 19).
After his defeat...Antiochus was ordered to pay the highest indemnity known to antiquity--15,000 talents. Upon his death, Antiochus' son, Seleucus Philopator, had to increase the tribute money which Rome exacted of his father. He was poisoned shortly after he sent Heliodorus his treasurer to pilfer the temple treasures at Jerusalem (vs. 20).
Part 2 (Daniel 11: 21-35)
Obtaining the help of King Eumenes II of Pergamum, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the younger son of Antiochus III the Great, put down the legitmate heir to the Syrian throne and took the status of king. The kingdom really belonged to Demetrius, Antiochus IV's nephew. Antiochus IV pretended to be Demetrius' friend and took the regency while his nephew was hostage in Rome.
"Vile" is an appropriate epithet for Antiochus IV. Some of his subjects called him "Epimanes" meaning "Madman". He, very early, won the affections of the people by his democratic ways, by the liberality which he displayed in the cities of Syria, by "his capricious fits of generosity," and by his able administration (Daniel 11:21-24).
When Antiochus heard the Egyptian forces were preparing to invade Coele Syria, he forestalled them by crossing the frontier in 169 B.C. and drove them to Pelusium. He continued to Memphis where he concluded a treaty with Ptolemy Philometor. He had every intention of establishing an overlordship at Alexandria, but the people of Alexandria would not tolerate it. (Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 322 B.C. and it became a great center of culture and one of the three largest cities in the Roman empire).
They repudiated Philometor and proclaimed his younger brother, Ptolemy Euergetes (usually called Physcon--"Pot Belly") as king (vs.26).
Antiochus was obliged by the lateness of the sesason to withdraw his troops. His operations had cost him enormously. He had to raise revenue, and so en route to Syria he sacked the tmeple at Jerusalem.
In 168 B.C. Antiochus pushed his forces against Egypt again, but Ptolemy Philometor and Physcon had solved their differences by this time and reigned jointly with Cleopatra (vs. 27).
Antiochus ravaged the Egyptian temples and sent his troops to beseige Alexandria, hoping Rome would be too busy in Macedonia to take much notice. About a week before; however, Rome had concluded the Macedonian war with tremendous victory.
The Roman senate sent Lucius Popillius Laenas with an ultimatum to Antiochus to leave Egypt alone. Antiochus reluctantly bowed to Rome and was frustrated in his endeavor to conquer Egypt the second time (vs. 30a).
The Jews in Palestine had to suffer the brunt of his wrath. He outlawed the Jewish ritual, the Sabbath observances, the dietary laws, and the rite of circumcision (vs. 30b). He erected a new altar in honor of Zeus and burned offerings of swine flesh upon it.
What followed was a thorough-going comapaign of persecution, because the pious Jews refused to submit to Antiochus---regardless of the penalties he imposed upon them for resitance (vs. 31).
Chief among the resistance were a priest called Mattathias and his sons. They were strong and did exploits (vs. 32). Insurgents gathered around Mattathias who demolished pagan altars, killed apostate Jews, and circumcised boys whose parents had feared to carry out the Mosaic legislation.
Verse 33 summarizes in general the results of Jewish defiance during Antiochus' time and in the centuries which followed.
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