#1223 Daniel 11 Part 1 North and South

 

“And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.

2 “And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. 3 Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. 4 And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.

5 “Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority. 6 After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times.

7 “And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail. 8 He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north. 9 Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land.

10 “His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall keep coming and overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress. 11 Then the king of the south, moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north. And he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand. 12 And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. 13 For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, greater than the first. And after some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.

14 “In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail. 15 Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. 16 But he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, with destruction in his hand. 17 He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom, but it shall not stand or be to his advantage. 18 Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed, he shall turn his insolence back upon him. 19 Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.

20 “Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of tribute for the glory of the kingdom. But within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle. 21 In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22 Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant. 23 And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people. 24 Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers' fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time. 25 And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him. 26 Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. 27 And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for the end is yet to be at the time appointed. 28 And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land.

29 “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before. 30 For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. 32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. 33 And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. 34 When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, 35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.

36 “And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. 37 He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. 38 He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. 39 He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.

40 “At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through. 41 He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train. 44 But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. 45 And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him. Daniel 11 ESV

Daniel 11: 1-19 Persia, Greece, North and South

…2I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” 4So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.… Genesis 12: 2-4

Comment: Donald Barnhouse chronicles the "legacy" of "cursing" Abram and his descendant, Israel...

When the Greeks overran Palestine and desecrated the altar in the Jewish temple, they were soon conquered by Rome. When Rome killed Paul and many others, and destroyed Jerusalem under Titus, Rome soon fell. Spain was reduced to a fifth-rate nation after the Inquisition against the Jews; Poland fell after the pogroms; Hitler’s Germany went down after its orgies of anti-Semitism; Britain lost her empire when she broke her faith with Israel. - Precept Austin

I stood up to confirm and strengthen him - This is the messenger from 10 still speaking to Daniel, the one who has revealed to him the knowledge of a spiritual dimension behind all that is taking place and will take place in the future. Now Cyrus had made a decree permitting the Jews to return home and build their temple. The angel is providing heavens assistance in this, protecting Cyrus, and moving the decree along against much spiritual opposition. The devil's children are gossiping against and slandering the Israelites, but also many Jews are no longer interested in the things of God, unwilling to return home. The book of Daniel becomes the model for the time of the gentiles, and Israel becomes the center of much conflict, it's people the focus of much ire from many nations. If ever there were a case for reparations, this land and this people would be able to present quite the argument, yet God will use it to His glory and the refining of His elect.

1First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority— so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. 3This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,… 1 Timothy 2: 1-3

8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:

Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.

11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. 12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.

I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence. Ezra 6: 8-12

Opposition during Ezra's days

Confirmation

Fourth shall be richer than all of them - What comes now is of little use to Daniel in his time, because he is close to the end of his days. It is a comfort to him too though, that God has history laid out, yet so much of what is about to be said will not make so much sense to him, and it will encompass a long span of time. It will be a help to those whom God has called to seek the truth in every age, for those who look back they will see in history the literal fulfillment of many of the prophecies here, and that will indicate to believers in our time that there will be a literal fulfillment of those things which are still to come, the latter things. First he covers Persia, the present reigning kingdom of Daniel's time. The prophecy focuses on 4 Persian kings, all of which the princes of Persia (spiritual) will try to influence and provoke against God's people. Ahasuerus is another name for Xerxes 1 and he was know for his wealth, but also an immense army and navy for the time. His is also the time when the kingdom seems to have plateaued and does okay against Greece by shear numbers, yet that is about to end.

Gaebelein comments on three more kings...then a fourth noting that "The three kings were: Ahasuerus, Artaxerxes and Darius, Known in history as Cambyses, Pseudo Smerdis and Darius Hystaspes (not Darius the Mede). The fourth one was Xerxes, who, as history tells us was immensely rich. The invasion of Greece took place in 480BC. (The Prophet Daniel: A Key to the Visions and Prophecies of the Book of Daniel) - Precept Austin

1This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush. 2In those days King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa. 3In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces.… Esther 1: 1-3

Wikipedia adds this note:

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxes' first attempt to bridge the Hellespont ended in failure when a storm destroyed the flax and papyrus bridge; Xerxes ordered the Hellespont (the strait itself) whipped three hundred times and had fetters thrown into the water. Xerxes' second attempt to bridge the Hellespont was successful. Xerxes concluded an alliance with Carthage, and thus deprived Greece of the support of the powerful monarchs of Syracuse and Agrigentum. Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially Thessaly, Thebes and Argos. Xerxes set out in the spring of 480BC from Sardis with a fleet and army which Herodotus claimed was more than two million strong with at least 10,000 elite warriors named Persian Immortals. Xerxes was victorious during the initial battles.

At the Battle of Thermopylae, a small force of Greek warriors led by King Leonidas of Sparta resisted the much larger Persian forces, but were ultimately defeated. According to Herodotus, the Persians broke the Spartan phalanx after a Greek man called Ephialtes betrayed his country by telling the Persians of another pass around the mountains. After Thermopylae, Athens was captured and the Athenians and Spartans were driven back to their last line of defense at the Isthmus of Corinth and in the Saronic Gulf. The delay caused by the Spartans allowed Athens to be evacuated. - Precept Austin

Then a mighty king shall arise - This is Alexander the Great, and his men are hungry for Persian blood. 

…4I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great. 5As I was contemplating all this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west, crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. 6He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with furious power.… Daniel 8: 4-6

Toward the four winds of heaven - Alexander's rule was short lived; he died at the age of 33, but ruled more like an absolute monarch. He was a conqueror to the core, and mourned the day when he thought their were no more worlds to subdue. His kingdom was divided by four generals, so the prophecies state, not to his posterity nor according to his rule, it is now divided. History tells us that Alexander's mentally retarded half brother, his illegitimate son, and son born after his death were all murdered. The focus will be on the Northern and Southern kingdom now and their rivalry.

Northern Kingdom (Syria) Seleucus I Nicator

Southern Kingdom (Egypt) Ptolemy I Soter

Western Kingdom of Cassander

Eastern Kingdom of Lysimachus

The king of the south shall be strong - These are the Ptolemy's and they are south of Israel, but for some 200 years they are in and out of war with the Seleucid empire, headquartered in Syria which is north of Israel. So for all of this time Israel becomes a battle ground in between two warring kings, that is the setting.  

King of the South - Ptolemy I Soter (323-285BC), founder and first king of the Ptolemaic dynasty centered in Egypt. - Precept Austin

But one of his princes shall be stronger - Some say this refers to the princes of Alexander, his generals, referring here to Seleucus, but others reference it by his aid from the south, Ptolemy's, which helped him achieve more power and dominion.

Along with one of his (King of the South's) princes who will gain ascendancy over him (Ptolemy I Soter) - Although somewhat "cryptic", this passage describes Seleucus I Nicator (312-281BC), the first King of the North, the Seleucid dynasty, centered in Syria. Seleucus had been appointed satrap over Babylon (321BC) but when he became fearful of Antigonus, Seleucus fled to Egypt to serve under Ptolemy. Wikipedia records the background...

In the summer of 315BC Antigonus arrived in Babylon and was warmly welcomed by Seleucus. The relationship between the two soon turned cold, however. Seleucus punished one of Antigonus' officers without asking permission from Antigonus. Antigonus became angry and demanded that Seleucus give him the income from the province, which Seleucus refused to do. He was, however, afraid of Antigonus and fled to Egypt with 50 horsemen.

With Ptolemy's aide (Ptolemy gave Seleucus 800 infantry and 200 cavalry) Seleucus marched on (he gathered more soldiers as he marched) and conquered Babylon. - Precept Austin

Daughter of the king of the south - So this was a common alliance involving marriage. This would be the daughter of Ptolemy II of Philadelphus, his daughter Berenice marrying Antiochus II Theos.

Antiochus Theos who was the third king of Syria needed to make a treaty with Egypt. The king of Egypt was a man named Ptolemy Philadelphus. And so he decided that what he wanted to do was marry the daughter of the king of Egypt, or the king of the south. Unfortunately, he was already married. But that was no problem, he divorced his wife. He divorced his wife, and he married this daughter of the southern king. Well, his wife wasn’t real thrilled about it, so she murdered his new wife. She not only murdered his new wife, but she murdered all her attendants too, then she poisoned him to death.

It says in the middle of verse 6, “She shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm.” In other words, the power of both of them, the whole thing fell apart. “But she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begot her, and he that strengthened her in these times.” In other words, everybody involved is going to go. And that is exactly what happened.

Now this brought to the throne in the north, because now the Seleucid king Antiochus Theos is dead. So this brought to the throne a man named Callinicus. Look at verse 7: “But out of a branch of her roots” – that is, out of the roots of the murdered wife Berenice. There was a man named Ptolemy Euergetes, and it says – I think it’s in verse 8. No, it’s in verse 7 – that “one shall stand in his estate.” I don’t know if you’re following me too good, but stay with me. Out of the branch of the roots of the murdered wife comes a brother from the south, and he comes with an army; and he comes against Callinicus and he defeats him. And verse 8 says – this is what I want you to note: “He carried away captives into Egypt, took their gods, their princes, their precious vessels, silver, gold, and so forth and so on.”

Now history tells us all about this. It tells us he took 40,000 talents of silver, 2,500 idol statues, and it goes on and on. And even Callinicus died, because he fell off his horse. And there’s an interesting note there. I’m just trying to think where it is. Yeah, at the end of verse 8, it says: “The king of the south shall continue more years than the king of the north.” And that is exactly what happened. Callinicus fell off his horse, died, and the one in the south continued four more years. Now the reason I just point this out is because you need to know how accurate the Word of God is. But the point behind it all is that in the middle of this sits Israel, and all these wars are going on raging across their land. - J Mac Sermon on Daniel 11

Then the latter shall come -

Then the latter - This is a reference to the King of the North, Seleucus II Callinicus, who invaded Egypt and came against the King of the South in 240BC but was forced to retreat and return to his own land, soundly beaten. As predicted in the following passages (Da 11:10ff) however, the sons of Seleucus II Callinicus proved more successful in the great conflict against Egypt. - Precept Austin

Verse 11 Moved with rage - We are going through so many kings and battles between the north and the south.

Will be enraged and go forth and fight against the king of the north - In an attempt to recapture his lost territory to the north, Ptolemy IV Philopator attacked Antiochus III the Great on the southern borders of Israel, at Battle of Raphia which was "also known as the Battle of Gaza, was a battle fought on 22 June 217 BC near modern Rafah (see map) between the forces of Ptolemy IV Philopator, king of Egypt and Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom during the Syrian Wars. It consists one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Diadochi and was waged to determine the sovereignty of Coele Syria." (Reference)

The historian Polybius, records an interesting "anecdotal" fact regarding this battle "Ptolemy's elephants were of the African Forest Elephants; those of Antiochus were mainly of the large Syrian Elephants, brought from India. According to Polybius, the African elephants could not bear the smell, sound and view of their Indian counterparts and would easily give way and rout. (Reference) - Precept Austin

The king of the north will again arise - The king of the south does well at first and grows proud, but then the north eventually grows stronger, assembles a greater force, and dominate the Ptolemaic dynasty back to Egypt, so that the beautiful land, Israel, now fell under control of the northern kingdom. 

Verse 14 says, The violent among your own people - Daniel's people, the Jews living back in the beautiful land, many of these will join forces with the Northern kingdom.

Who were Daniel’s people? The Jews. Who were the robbers? Well, the Hebrew term here means “sons of breaking,” “children of breaking.” And what that means is people who don’t keep their promise, covenant breakers. They are the rebels. It could be translated “men of violence who break the law.” Frankly, what they are is strong-willed, apostate Jews who are revolutionaries. They are like mercenary soldiers, and they join the cause of the king of the north, and they aid him in his attack.

Really, most historians feel they wanted Judean independence, these mercenaries, these apostate Jewish revolutionaries. They thought that by war, if they could get in with Antiochus the Great, knock off Egypt, maybe Antiochus would give them freedom for their assistance. That’s really what they wanted. But at the end of verse 14, it says they shall fail. They didn’t get their goal. He didn’t give them what they had hoped to get. - J Mac

Stay for a time in the beautiful land - 

Miller writes that "With the defeat of the Egyptians at Sidon, Antiochus (“the invader”) acquired complete control over Phoenicia and Palestine. Although Palestine had come under Antiochus’s control for a brief time previously (ca. 219–217BC), now the “Beautiful Land” (Palestine; cf. Da 8:9; Ezek 20:6) would become a permanent possession of the Syrian Empire. This fact is extremely important because it sets the stage for the reign of terror to follow under the Syrian Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes. (Miller, S. R. - Daniel - New American Commentary, 18)

With destruction in his hand (NIV "will have the power to destroy it") - This phrase indicates that while he clearly had the capability to destroy any who opposed him, when Antiochus III entered Jerusalem in 198BC, the Jews welcomed him as a "deliverer and benefactor" (Gleason Archer) and as a result he was well disposed towards the Jews. He did however punish Jews who were pro-Egyptian.

Verse 17 He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom - Corrupting Israel worked well with marriages to Tyre's Jezebel, but Cleopatra turns out to be more in love with her Egyptian husband, and not under the northern spell. It says, "it shall not stand, or be to his advantage"; his daughter failed him in clinging to her husband.

Daughter of women - This refers to Antiochus' daughter, Cleopatra, because at that time she was still a child and therefore under the care of her mother and a nurse. Ryrie adds that she was a "daughter of women" "since she was still so young as to be under the control of her mother"

To ruin it - This is a difficult phrase to interpret. Walvoord writes that "The expression corrupting her (Da 11:17KJV) may mean “to ruin the land,” that is, Antiochus the Great purposed by this betrothal of his young daughter to the seven-year old Ptolemy to ruin his former opponent and present ally. As Young states, “In this stratagem, however, Antiochus fails, because Cleopatra constantly sides with her husband over against her father.” (Daniel 11 - World History From Darius To The Time Of The End) - Precept Austin

But he shall stumble and fall - He did well at first on the coastlands until he encountered the Romans, then he went back to his own country, tried to rob the temple of Jupiter in Elymais, but was killed by those who guard the sanctuary. 

But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him - The Roman commander, Lucius Cornelius Scipio (Asiaticus), was sent against Antiochus III forcing him to withdraw and take refuge in Antioch in Asia Minor, which resulted in his disgrace.

Miller explains these events...

In 191BC the Romans, fighting with their Greek allies, routed the Syrians at Thermopylae and forced them to withdraw from Greece and flee to Asia Minor. Then 30,000 Roman troops pursued Antiochus into Asia and defeated his much larger army of 70,000 at the Battle of Magnesia near Smyrna (Turkey) in 190BC. In 188BC the Romans forced Antiochus to sign the Treaty of Apamea. Polybius reported that the Syrian king was ordered to surrender territory, much of his military force, twenty hostages (one of whom was Antiochus IV), and pay a heavy indemnity to Rome. (Miller, S. R. - Daniel - New American Commentary, 18)

Walvoord comments that...

Antiochus the Great begins to suffer reverses, however, as indicated in verse 18, where “prince for his own behalf refers to the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, who, as Young expresses it, “brought about the defeat of Antiochus.” The reference to “the reproach offered by him,” refers to Antiochus’ scornful treatment of the Roman ambassadors at a meeting in Lysimachia (Thrace), when he said contemptuously, “Asia did not concern them, the Romans, and he was not subject to their orders.” (A commentary on the Holy Scriptures) (Daniel 11 - World History From Darius To The Time Of The End)