Thoughts on the Book of Daniel.
VERSES 1, 2. Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him. And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all; and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. We enter now upon a prophecy of future events, clothed not in figures and symbols, as in the visions of chapters 2, 7, and 8, but given mostly in plain language. Many of the signal events of the world's history from the days of Daniel to the end of the world, are here brought to view. This prophecy, says Bishop Newton, may not improperly be said to be a comment and explanation of the vision of chapter 8. The angel after stating that he stood, in the first year of Darius to confirm and strengthen him, turns his attention to the future. Three kings shall yet stand up in Persia. To stand up, means to reign; three kings were to reign in Persia; referring doubtless to the immediate successors of Cyrus. These were, 1. Cambyses, son of Cyrus. 2. Smerdis, an impostor. 3. Darius Hystaspes. The fourth shall be far richer than they all. The fourth king from Cyrus, was Xerxes, more famous for his riches than his generalship, and conspicuous in history for the magnificent campaign he organized against Grecia, and his utter failure in that enterprise. He was to stir up all against the realm of Grecia. Never before had there been such a levy of men for warlike purposes; never has there been since. His army, according to Herodotus who lived in that age, consisted of five millions, two hundred and eighty-three thousand, two hundred and twenty men (5,283,220). And not content with stirring up the East alone, he enlisted the Carthaginians of the West in his service, who took the field with an additional army of three hundred thousand men. VERSES 3, 4. And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. The facts stated in these verses plainly point to Alexander, and the division of his empire. See on chapter 8: 8. Xerxes was the last Persian king who invaded Grecia; the prophecy therefore passes over the nine successors of Xerxes in the Persian empire, and next introduces Alexander the Great. Having overthrown the Persian empire, Alexander “became absolute monarch of that empire, to the fullest extent it was ever possessed by any of the Persian kings.” Prideaux i, 378. His dominion was great, including “the greater portion of the then known habitable world;” and he did according to his will. His will fortunately led him, B. C. 323, into a drunken debauch, in which he fortunately died; and his vain-glorious and ambitious projects went into sudden, total, and everlasting eclipse. The kingdom was divided, but not for his posterity; it was plucked up for others beside those. Within fifteen years after his death, all his posterity had fallen victims to jealousy and ambition. Not one of the race of Alexander was left to breathe upon the earth. So short is the transit from the highest pinnacle of earthly glory to oblivion and death. The kingdom was rent into four divisions and taken possession of by Alexander's four ablest, or perhaps most ambitious and unprincipled, generals, Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. VERSE 5. And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion. The king of the north and the king of the south are many times referred to in the remaining portion of this chapter. It becomes therefore essential to an understanding of the prophecy to clearly identify these powers. When Alexander's empire was divided, it was divided toward the four winds of heaven, east, west, north, and south; these divisions of course to be reckoned from the stand-point of Palestine. That division of the empire lying west of Palestine, would thus constitute the kingdom of the west; that lying east, the kingdom of the east, that lying north, the kingdom of the north, and that lying south, the kingdom of the south. The divisions of Alexander's kingdom,21with respect to Palestine, were situated as follows: Cassander had Greece and the adjacent countries, which lay to the west; Lysimachus had Thrace, which then included Asia Minor, and the countries lying on the Hellespont and Bosphorus, which lay to the north of Palestine; Ptolemy had Egypt and neighboring countries, which lay to the south; and Seleucus had Syria and Babylon, which lay principally to the east. During the wars and revolutions which for long ages succeeded, these geographical boundaries were frequently changed or obliterated; old ones were wiped out, and new ones instituted. But whatever changes might occur, these first divisions of the empire must determine the names, or we have no standard by which to test the application of the prophecy. That is, whatever power at any time should occupy the territory which at first constituted the kingdom of the north, that power, so long as it occupied that territory, would be the king of the north; and whatever power should occupy that which at first constituted the kingdom of the south, that power would so long be the king of the south. We speak of only those two, because they are the only ones afterward spoken of in the prophecy, and because, in fact, almost the whole of Alexander's empire finally resolved itself into these two divisions. Cassander was very soon conquered by Lysimachus, and his kingdom, Greece and Macedon, annexed to Thrace. And Lysimachus was in turn conquered by Seleucus, and Macedon and Thrace annexed to Syria. These facts prepare the way for an application of the text before us. The king of the south, Egypt, shall be strong. Ptolemy annexed Cyprus, Phoenicia, Caria, Cyrene, and many islands and cities, to Egypt. Thus was his kingdom made strong. But another of Alexander's princes is introduced in the expression, “one of his princes.” The Septuagint translates the verse thus: “And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his [Alexander's] princes shall be strong above him.” This must refer to Seleucus, who, as already stated, having connected Macedon and Thrace to Syria, thus became possessor of three parts out of four of Alexander's dominion, and established a more powerful kingdom than that of Egypt. VERSE 6. And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm; but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times. There were frequent wars between the kings of Egypt and Syria. Especially was this the case with Ptolemy Philadelphus, the second king of Egypt, and Antiochus Theus, third king of Syria. They at length agreed to make peace upon condition that Antiochus Theus should put away his former wife, Laodice, and her two sons, and should marry Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Ptolemy accordingly brought his daughter to Antiochus, bestowing with her an immense treasure as a dowry. “But she shall not retain the power of the arm;” that is, her interest and power with Antiochus. And so it proved; for some time after, in a fit of love, Antiochus brought back his former wife, Laodice, and her children, to court again. Then says the prophecy, “Neither shall he [Antiochus] stand, nor his arm,” or seed. Laodice, being restored to favor and power, feared lest, in the fickleness of his temper, Antiochus should again disgrace her, and recall Berenice; and conceiving that nothing short of his death would be an effectual safeguard against such a contingency, she caused him to be poisoned shortly after. Neither did his seed by Berenice succeed him in the kingdom; for Laodice so managed affairs as to secure the throne for her eldest son, Seleucus Callinicus. “But she [Berenice] shall be given up.” Laodice, not content with poisoning her husband, Antiochus, caused Berenice to be murdered. “And they that brought her.” Her Egyptian women and attendants, in endeavoring to defend her, were many of them slain with her. “And he that begat her,” margin, “whom she brought forth;” that is, her son, who was murdered at the same time by order of Laodice. “And he that strengthened her in these times;” her husband, Antiochus, as Jerome supposes, or those who took her part and defended her. But such wickedness could not long remain unpunished, as the prophecy further predicts, and history further proves.