CHAPTER XI. [Hebrew.]
1. Also I
Gabriel
in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
This does not indicate a change of date, it simply declares that the same solicitude was now bestowed on Cyrus, as had been manifested toward his royal representative Darius the Mede, when first placed on the throne of Babylon by Cyrus.
2. And now
“in the third year” since Cyrus captured the city. Daniel X. 1.
will I show thee the truth. Behold there shall stand up yet
after the setting up of the sanctuary and the host, B.C. 445, three kings in Persia, viz.: Darius Nothus, Artaxerxes Mnemon, and Ochus,
and the fourth
Darius Codomannus
shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength and through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
3. And a mighty king
Alexander the Great
shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
from Greece to India.
4. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven;
among his four generals;
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.
5. And the king of the south
Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt
shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him
Antiochus II
and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
6. And in the end of the years
in the course of time
they shall join themselves together; for the king’s daughter
Bernice
of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement:
Antiochus banished his own wife Laodice and her children in favor of Bernice
but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up
Antiochus after the death of Ptolemy expelled Bernice and recalled the rejected Laodice.
and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.
7. But out of a branch of her roots
Ptolemy II, called Evergetes
shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north and shall deal against them and shall prevail:
Laodice placed her son Seleucus II on the throne. Ptolemy III made an expedition against Syria, slew Laodice and conquered the realm from Cilicia to the Tigris.
8. And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold
the booty was immense, 2500 idols, 4000 talents of gold, etc.
and he shall continue more years than the king of the north.
9. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land.
10. But his sons
Seleucus III and Antiochus III, the Great
shall be stirred up and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through; then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
11. And the king of the south
Ptolemy IV, was luxurious and indolent
shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude: but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
Ptolemy defeated Antiochus near Gaza but did not follow up the victory.
12. And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it.
13. For the king of the north
Antiochus the Great
shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches.
14. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south; also the robbers of thy people
secret enemies of the Jews
shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fail.
15. So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities; and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.
16. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will,
the wars of Antiochus the Great
and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land
Palestine
which by his hand shall be consumed.
17. He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her:
Using marriage for political gain: Antiochus gave his daughter Cleopatra in marriage to Ptolemy Epiphanes, hoping for benefit, but it turned out otherwise
but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him.
18. After this he shall turn his face unto the Isles, and shall take many: but a prince
a Roman General
for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach
Antiochus said: – “Asia did not concern the Romans and he was not subject to their orders”
he shall cause it to turn upon him.
He was defeated by the Romans, at Magnesia.
19. Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land;
pillage the temples
but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
Antiochus the Great was slain.
20. Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom:
his son Seleucus Philopater, who sent out Heliodorus and taxed the temples as well as the people
but within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
Seleucus shortly after, died in a mysterious manner.
21. And in his estate shall stand up a vile person,
Antiochus Epiphanes
to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
22. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
Onias III, the high priest was put to death by his order.
23. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24. He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his father’s fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds even for a time.
25. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south
Ptolemy Philometer
shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him.
26. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain.
27. And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table
a pretended friendship
but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.
28. Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant;
the worship of Jehovah
and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.
29. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
30. For the ships of Chittim
the fleet of the Romans under Laenas
shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them
the Samaritans
that forsake the holy covenant.
31. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength,
the Temple
and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
Antiochus Epiphanes established idol-altars in every town and village of Palestine, and ordered a daily sacrifice of swine on the altars.
32. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.
Mattathias and his 5 sons, the “Maccabees.”
33. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
34. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
see life of Judas Maccabeus.
35. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
36. And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that, that is determined shall be done.
37. Neither shall he regard the god of his fathers, nor the desire of women,
in other words, the idol Astarte, “the queen of heaven”
nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces:
a god of castles or fortresses
and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39. Thus shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
40. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41. He shall enter also into the glorious land,
Palestine
and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon
Antiochus passed them by. When, however, they tried to take advantage of Judas Maccabeus, he defeated them.
42. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him:
rumors of rebellion and lack of funds made him resolve to go at once to Persia, restore order and collect taxes.
therefore he shall go forth with great fury
Threatened on his return to exterminate the Jews
to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
45. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain;
he left a garrison in the Citadel adjoining the Temple
yet he shall come to his end
B.C. 163
and none shall help him.
CHAPTER XII. [Hebrew.]
1. And at that time shall Michael
the archangel, see Jude verse 9
stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time,
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Matt. XXIV. 21. Josephus says 1,100,000 perished in the Siege.
and at that time thy people shall be delivered,
“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matt. XXIV. 13
every one that shall be found written in the book.
At the time of the siege all of the Christians escaped to the little town of Pella.
2. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
As to the righteous: – “the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” Matt. XXVII. 52. As to the wicked: – Scripture is silent.
3. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Witness for instance the life of the Apostle Paul and the lives of a vast host of Christian saints.
4. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
These words find special emphasis in the present century, noted for its railways, steam engines, automobiles, bicycles, telephones, wireless telegraphy, public libraries, books, photographs, microscopes, antitoxins, x-rays, etc.
5. Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
In verses 4 and 5 of chapter X, Daniel beheld only one heavenly visitor, he now looks and discovers other two.
6. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
7. And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
Since the power of the holy people was scattered in A.D. 70, all these things were finished at that time and right there Daniel’s prophetic work ended. The formula, “time, times, and an half” has already been considered under the head of Dan. VII. 25. See Note B.
8. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
9. And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10. Many shall be purified, and made white,
“And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” – Acts II. 41. – “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about five thousand.” – Acts IV. 4
and tried;
“At that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem.” – Acts VIII. 1
but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
11. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up
the sacrifice of swine and pollution of the holy place B.C. 168 to 141
there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
In B.C. 168, these sacrifices were ordered to be made DAILY, in every village and town throughout Palestine. The desecration of the temple area lasted until May 4th B.C. 141. Every moment of this time was part of one great abomination. Counting each prophetic day as made up of 49 ordinary days, the 1290 days bring us to May 24th A.D. 33 – THE DAY OF PENTECOST – “THAT GREAT AND NOTABLE DAY OF THE LORD” – when the Holy Spirit was revealed to the Jews, and about 3000 souls were converted.
12. Blessed is he that waiteth
the Gentiles
and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
the Gentiles did wait for six years, while the disciples were busy, “PREACHING THE WORD TO NONE, BUT UNTO THE JEWS ONLY.” Acts XI. 19. – If now we make the calculation for 1335 days, we shall find, that the prophecy brings us direct to June 7th A.D. 39 – on which day, the Holy Spirit was revealed to the GENTILES.
13. But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
Thus the heavenly visitor announced the fact of a resurrection day, but gave no intimation whatever as to when that day would come. In this respect also the teachings of Daniel are in perfect accord with those of the New Testament. “Of that day and hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels of Heaven.” Matt. XXIV. 36.