Daniel 11:1-91Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him. 2And 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. 3And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. 4And 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. 5And 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. 6And 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. 7But out of a branch of her roots 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: 8And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. 9So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. (Daniel 11:1‑9)
The first verse is properly connected with the last verse of the 10th chapter; it throws interesting light on the behavior of Darius the Mede in chapter 6, explaining that king’s regard for Daniel, and his deep concern over the prophet’s being committed to the den of lions. Darius was now dead, and Cyrus reigned alone over the Mede-Persian empire.
The four kings of verse 2 are named in Scripture; Ezra 4:5-75And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue. (Ezra 4:5‑7) gives Ahasuerus (Camhyses), Artaxerxes (Pseudo-Smeis) and Darius (Davius Hystaspes); the book of Esther deals with another called Ahasuerus (Xerxes), the fourth king after Cyrus. “Ahasuerus” is believed to have been a title, like “Pharaoh” in. Egypt. There were nine kings of Persia after Xerxes, but the object in the Scriptures is never the mere recording of history; the four named had each a part in connection with God’s earthly people, and that is why they are mentioned. Nor was it the course of the later kings, but that of Xerxes in conquering Greece, that prompted the revengeful invasion of Persia’s dominions by Alexander the Great 143 years after Xerxes’ death.
Alexander, the “mighty king” of verse 3, the “he goat” of chapter 8:5-8, and the “great horn” of verse 21 in that chapter, was 20 years of age when he began his career of rapid conquest. By the time he was 26 he had overthrown the rule of Persia and established the Grecian empire. He and his soldiers penetrated as far as the eastern tributary of the river Indus. The city of Alexandria, in Egypt, where the Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Old Testament into Greek was made after Alexander’s death, was founded by him.
As the prophecies in chapter 8 and verse 5 of chapter 11 foretold, Alexander’s death at the age of 32 left the empire without a head; out of the rival schemes for power on the part of his principal men a breaking-up occurred, four presently dividing the bulk of the empire among themselves. With but two of these is Scripture concerned, because the others did not interfere with the Jews or their land in any way general Selencus became the first king of the north (Syria), and Ptolemy, another of his generals, was the first king of the south (Egypt). Seleucus was more powerful than Ptolemy (verse 5 has been rendered “ ... .but another shall be stronger than he and have dominion.”)
Verse 6: In fulfilment of this passage, Ptolemy II gave his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus II, the third “king of the north”. The two countries had been at war and this was a condition of peace, but the former wife, of Antiochus killed him and brought about the, death of Berenice and her son. The second Ptolemy was now dead, the third, Berenice’s brother (verse 7: “out of a branch of her roots”), avenged his sister’s death by attacking Syria and carrying off into Egypt their gods, their princes and their precious vessels. The third Ptolemy outlived the third and fourth kings of the north (verse 8); but war continued between the two countries for the northern king invaded the realm of the king of the south, and returned to his own land (verse 9, N.T.).
Why is any account of these kings given in the Word of God? Because Israel, and Israel’s land—God’s land—were concerned. In these contests between the kings of the north and the south; that land was ravaged and the Jews suffered severely. What we have been reading in verses 2 to 9 covers a period of three hundred years, from. B.C. 529 to B.C. 222.
Men without faith have ever scoffed at the Word of God; they deny its inspiration, and because of its accurate foretelling of events which have since become history, they assert that the chapter before us and other passages were written after the events transpired, “Daniel the prophet” is quite sufficiently accredited by the Lord, as in Matthew 24:1515When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) (Matthew 24:15).
ML 08/09/1936