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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
D A N I E L.
CHAP. XI.
The angel Gabriel, in this chapter, performs his promise made to Daniel
in the foregoing chapter, that he would “show him what should befal his
people in the latter days,” according to that which was “written in the
scriptures of truth:” very particularly does he here foretel the
succession of the kings of Persia and Grecia, and the affairs of their
kingdoms, especially the mischief which Antiochus Epiphanes did in his
time to the church, which was foretold before
Here is,
I. A brief prediction of the setting up of the Grecian monarchy upon
the ruins of the Persian monarchy, which was now newly begun,
II. A prediction of the affairs of the two kingdoms of Egypt and Syria,
with reference to each other,
III. Of the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes, and his actions and successes,
IV. Of the great mischief that he should do to the Jewish nation and
religion, and his contempt of all religion,
V. Of his fall and ruin at last, when he is in the heat of his pursuit,
| Ruin of the Persian Monarchy. | B. C. 534. |
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1 Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood
to confirm and to strengthen him.
2 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.
3 And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great
dominion, and do according to his will.
4 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.
Here,
1. The angel Gabriel lets Daniel know the good service he has done to
the Jewish nation
(v. 1):
“In the first year of Darius the Mede, who destroyed Babylon and
released the Jews out of that house of bondage, I stood a strength
and fortress to him, that is, I was instrumental to protect him,
and give him success in his ward, and, after he had conquered Babylon,
to confirm him in his resolution to release the Jews,” which, it is
likely, met with much opposition. Thus by the angel, and at the request
of the watcher, the golden head was broken, and the axe laid to
the root of the tree. Note, We must acknowledge the hand of God in the
strengthening of those that are friends to the church for the service
they are to do it, and confirming them in their good resolutions;
herein he uses the ministry of angels more than we are aware of. And
the many instances we have known of God’s care of his church formerly
encourage us to depend upon him in further straits and difficulties.
2. He foretels the reign of four Persian kings
(v. 2):
Now I will tell thee the truth, that is, the true meaning of the
visions of the great image, and of the four beasts, and expound in
plain terms what was before represented by dark types.
(1.) There shall stand up three kings in Persia, besides Darius,
in whose reign this prophecy is dated,
Mr. Broughton makes these three to be Cyrus, Artaxasta or Artaxerxes,
called by the Greeks Cambyses, and Ahasuerus that married
Esther, called Darius son of Hystaspes. To these three the
Persians gave these attributes–Cyrus was a father, Cambyses a master,
and Darius a hoarder up. So Herodotus.
(2.) There shall be a fourth, far richer than they all, that is,
Xerxes, of whose wealth the Greek authors take notice. By his
strength (his vast army, consisting of 800,000 men at least) and
his riches, with which he maintained and paid that vast army, he
stirred up all against the realm of Greece. Xerxes’s
expedition against Greece is famous in history, and the shameful defeat
that he met with. He who when he went out was the terror of Greece in
his return was the scorn of Greece. Daniel needed not to be told what
disappointment he would meet with, for he was a hinderer of the
building of the temple; but soon after, about thirty years after the
first return from captivity, Darius, a young king, revived the building
of the temple, owning the hand of God against his predecessors for
hindering it,
3. He foretels Alexander’s conquests and the partition of his kingdom,
v. 3.
He is that mighty king that shall stand up against the
kings of Persia, and he shall rule with great dominion, over
many kingdoms, and with a despotic power, for he shall do according
to his will, and undo likewise, which, by the law of the Medes and
Persians, their kings could not. When Alexander, after he had conquered
Asia, would be worshipped as a god, then this was fulfilled, that he
shall do according to his will. That is God’s prerogative, but
was his pretension. But
(v. 4)
his kingdom shall soon be broken, and divided into
four parts, but not to his posterity, nor shall any of his
successors reign according to his dominion; none of them shall
have such large territories nor such an absolute power. His kingdom
was plucked up for others besides those of his own family. Arideus,
his brother, was made king in Macedonia; Olympias, Alexander’s mother,
killed him, and poisoned Alexander’s two sons, Hercules and Alexander.
Thus was his family rooted out by its own hands. See what decaying
perishing things worldly pomp and possessions are, and the powers by
which they are got. Never was the vanity of the world and its greatest
things shown more evidently than in the story of Alexander. All is
vanity and vexation of spirit.
| The Affairs of Egypt and Syria; The Reign of Antiochus Magnus; The Fall of Antiochus Magnus. | B. C. 534. |
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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.
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.
7 But 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:
8 And 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.
9 So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and
shall return into his own land.
10 But his sons 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 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.
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 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 shall exalt
themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.
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, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the
glorious land, 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: but she
shall not stand on his side, neither be for him.
18 After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall
take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the
reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he
shall cause it to turn upon him.
19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land:
but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
20 Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the
glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed,
neither in anger, nor in battle.
Here are foretold,
I. The rise and power of two great kingdoms out of the remains of
Alexander’s conquests,
v. 5.
1. The kingdom of Egypt, which was made considerable by Ptolemæus
Lagus, one of Alexander’s captains, whose successors were, from him,
called the Lagidæ. He is called the king of the
south, that is, Egypt, named here,
The countries that at first belonged to Ptolemy are reckoned to be
Egypt, Phœnicia, Arabia, Libya, Ethiopia, &c. Theocr. Idyl. 17.
2. The kingdom of Syria, which was set up by Seleucus Nicanor, or the
conqueror; he was one of Alexander’s princes, and became
stronger than the other, and had the greatest dominion of all,
was the most powerful of all Alexander’s successors. It was said that
he had no fewer than seven-two kingdoms under him. Both these were
strong against Judah (the affairs of which are particularly eyed in
this prediction); Ptolemy, soon after he gained Egypt, invaded Judea,
and took Jerusalem on a sabbath, pretending a friendly visit.
Seleucus also gave disturbance to Judea.
II. The fruitless attempt to unite these two kingdoms as iron and clay
in Nebuchadnezzar’s image
(v. 6):
“At the end of certain years, about seventy after Alexander’s
death, the Lagidæ and the Seleucidæ shall associate, but
not in sincerity. Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, shall marry his
daughter Berenice to Antiochus Theos, king of Syria,” who had already a
wife called Laodice. “Berenice shall come to the king of the
north, to make an agreement, but it shall not hold: She shall
not retain the power of the arm; neither she nor her posterity
shall establish themselves in the kingdom of the north, neither shall
Ptolemy her father, nor Antiochus her husband (between whom there was
to be a great alliance), stand, nor their arm, but she shall
be given up and those that brought her,” all that projected that
unhappy marriage between her and Antiochus, which occasioned so much
mischief, instead of producing a coalition between the northern and
southern crowns, as was hoped. Antiochus divorced Berenice, took his
former wife Laodice again, who soon after poisoned him, procured
Berenice and her son to be murdered, and set up her own son by
Antiochus to be king, who was called Seleucus Callinicus.
III. A war between the two kingdoms,
A branch from the same root with Berenice shall stand up in his
estate. Ptolemæus Euergetes, the son and successor of
Ptolemæus Philadelphus, shall come with an army against Seleucus
Callinicus, king of Syria, to avenge his sister’s quarrel, and shall
prevail; and he shall carry away a rich booty both of persons and goods
into Egypt, and shall continue more years than the king of the
north. This Ptolemy reigned forty-six years; and Justin says that
if his own affairs had not called him home he would, in this war, have
made himself master of the whole kingdom of Syria. But
(v. 9)
he shall be forced to come into his kingdom and return into
his own land, to keep peace there, so that he can no longer carry
on the war abroad. Note, It is very common for a treacherous peace to
end in a bloody war.
IV. The long and busy reign of Antiochus the Great, king of
Syria. Seleucus Callinicus, that king of the north that was overcome
(v. 7)
and died miserably, left two sons, Seleucus and Antiochus; these are
his sons, the sons of the king of the north, that shall be
stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, to
recover what their father had lost,
But Seleucus the elder, being weak, and unable to rule his army, was
poisoned by his friends, and reigned only two years; and his brother
Antiochus succeeded him, who reigned thirty-seven years, and was called
the Great. And therefore the angel, though he speaks of
sons at first, goes on with the account of one only, who
was but fifteen years old when he began to reign, and he shall
certainly come, and overflow, and over-run, and shall
be restored at length to what his father lost.
1. The king of the south, in this war, shall at first have very
great success. Ptolemæus Philopater, moved with indignation at
the indignities done by Antiochus the Great, shall (though
otherwise a slothful prince) come forth, and fight with him, and
shall bring a vast army into the field of 70,000 foot, and 5000 horse,
and seventy-three elephants. And the other multitude (the army
of Antiochus, consisting of 62,000 foot, and 6000 horse, and 102
elephants) shall be given into his hand. Polybius, who lived
with Scipio, has given a particular account of this battle of Raphia.
Ptolemæus Philopater, having gained this victory, grew very
insolent; his heart was lifted up; then he went into the temple
of God at Jerusalem, and, in defiance of the law, entered the most holy
place, for which God has a controversy with him, so that, though he
shall cast down many myriads, yet he shall not be
strengthened by it, so as to secure his interest. For,
2. The king of the north, Antiochus the Great, shall
return with a greater army than the former; and,
at the end of times (that is, years) he shall come with a
mighty army, and great riches, against the king of the
south, that is, Ptolemæus Epiphanes, who succeeded
Ptolemæus Philopater his father, when he was a child, which gave
advantage to Antiochus the Great. In this expedition he had some
powerful allies
(v. 14):
Many shall stand up against the king of the south. Philip of
Macedon was confederate with Antiochus against the king of Egypt, and
Scopas his general, whom he sent into Syria; Antiochus routed him,
destroyed a great part of his army; whereupon the Jews willingly
yielded to Antiochus, joined with him, helped him to besiege
Ptolemæus’s garrisons. They the robbers of thy people shall
exalt themselves to establish the vision, to help forward the
accomplishment of this prophecy; but they shall fall, and shall come
to nothing,
v. 14.
Hereupon
(v. 15)
the king of the north, this same Antiochus Magnus, shall carry
on his design against the king of the south another way.
(1.) He shall surprise his strong-holds; all that he has got in Syria
and Samaria, and the arms of the south, all the power of the king of
Egypt, shall not be able to withstand him. See how dubious and variable
the turns of the scale of war are; like buying and selling, it is
winning and losing; sometimes one side gets the better and sometimes
the other; yet neither by chance; it is not, as they call it, the
fortune of war, but according to the will and counsel of God,
who brings some low and raises others up.
(2.) He shall make himself master of the land of Judea
(v. 16):
He that comes against him (that is, the king of the north) shall
carry all before him and do what he pleases, and he shall stand
and get footing in the glorious land; so the land of Israel was,
and by his hand it was wasted and consumed, for with the spoil
of that good land he victualled his vast army. The land of Judea lay
between these two potent kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, so that in all
the struggles between them that was sure to suffer, for to it they both
bore ill will. Yet some read this, By his hand it shall be
perfected; as if it intimated that the land of Judea, being taken
under the protection of this Antiochus, shall flourish, and be in
better condition than it had been.
(3.) He shall still push on his war against the king of Egypt, and
set his face to enter with the strength of his whole
kingdom, taking advantage of the infancy of Ptolemy Epiphanes, and
the upright ones, many of the pious Israelites, siding with him,
In prosecution of his design, he shall give him his daughter Cleopatra
to wife, designing, as Saul in giving his daughter Cleopatra to David,
that she should be a snare to him, and do him a mischief; but
she shall not stand on her father’s side, nor be for him,
but for her husband, and so that plot failed him.
(4.) His war with the Romans is here foretold
(v. 18):
He shall turn his face to the isles
(v. 18),
the isles of the Gentiles
(Gen. x. 5),
Greece and Italy. He took many of the isles about the
Hellespont-Rhodes, Samos, Delos, &c., which by war or treaty he made
himself master of; but a prince, or state (so some), even
the Roman senate, or a leader, even the Roman general, shall
return his reproach with which he abused the Romans upon
himself, or shall make his shame rest on himself, and
without his own shame, or any disgrace to himself, shall pay
him again. This was fulfilled when the two Scipios were sent with
an army against Antiochus. Hannibal was then with him, and advised him
to invade Italy and waste it as he had done; but he did not take hid
advice; and Scipio joined battle with him, and gave him a total defeat,
though Antiochus had 70,000 men and the Romans but 30,000. Thus he
caused the reproach offered by him to cease.
(5.) His fall. When he was totally routed by the Romans, and was
forced to abandon to them all he had in Europe, and had a very heavy
tribute exacted from him, he turned to his own land, and, not
knowing which way to raise money to pay his tribute, he plundered a
temple of Jupiter, which so incensed his own subjects against him that
they set upon him, and killed him; so he was overthrown, and
fell, and was no more found,
v. 19.
(6.) His next successor,
There rose up one in his place, a raiser of taxes, a sender
forth of the extortioner, or extorter. This character was
remarkably answered in Seleucus Philopater, the elder son of Antiochus
the Great, who was a great oppressor of his own subjects, and exacted
abundance of money from them; and, when he was told he would thereby
lose his friends, he said he knew no better friend he had then
money. He likewise attempted to rob the temple at Jerusalem,
which this seems especially to refer to. But within a few days he
shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle, but poisoned by
Heliodorus, one of his own servants, when he had reigned but twelve
years, and done nothing remarkable.
V. From all this let us learn,
1. That God in his providence sets up one, and pulls down another, as
he pleases, advances some from low beginnings and depresses others that
were very high. Some have called great men the foot-balls of
fortune; or, rather, they are the tools of Providence.
2. This world is full of wars and fightings, which come from
men’s lusts, and make it a theatre of sin and misery.
3. All the changes and revolutions of states and kingdoms, and every
event, even the most minute and contingent, were plainly and perfectly
foreseen by the God of heaven, and to him nothing is new.
4. No word of God shall fall to the ground; but what he has designed,
what he has declared, shall infallibly come to pass; and even the sins
of men shall be made to serve his purpose, and contribute to the b
ringing of his counsels to birth in their season; and yet God is not
the author of sin.
5. That, for the right understanding of some parts of scripture, it is
necessary that heathen authors be consulted, which give light to the
scripture, and show the accomplishment of what is there foretold; we
have therefore reason to bless God for the human learning with which
many have done great service to divine truths.
| The Reign of Antiochus Epiphanes; Cruelty and Impiety of Antiochus; The Death of Antiochus. | B. C. 534. |
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21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they
shall not give the honour 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.
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 fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey,
and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices
against the strong holds, 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
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; 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; 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 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 that forsake the holy covenant.
31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the
sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice,
and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
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.
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.
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, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself
above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a
god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and
silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds 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, 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.
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: therefore he shall go forth with great fury 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; yet he shall come to his end,
and none shall help him.
All this is a prophecy of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, the
little horn spoken of before
a sworn enemy to the Jewish religion, and a bitter persecutor of those
that adhered to it. What troubles the Jews met with in the reigns of
the Persian kings were not so particularly foretold to Daniel as these,
because then they had living prophets with them, Haggai and Zechariah,
to encourage them; but these troubles in the days of Antiochus were
foretold, because, before that time, prophecy would cease, and they
would find it necessary to have recourse to the written word. Some
things in this prediction concerning Antiochus are alluded to in the
New-Testament predictions of the antichrist, especially
And as it is usual with the prophets, when they foretel the prosperity
of the Jewish church, to make use of such expressions as were
applicable to the kingdom of Christ, and insensibly to slide
into a prophecy of that, so, when they foretel the troubles of the
church, they make use of such expressions as have a further reference
to the kingdom of the antichrist, the rise and ruin of that. Now
concerning Antiochus, the angel foretels here,
I. His character: He shall be a vile person. He called himself
Epiphanes–the illustrious, but his character was the reverse of
his surname. The heathen writers describe him to be an
odd-humoured man, rude and boisterous, base and sordid. He would
sometimes steal out of the court into the city, and herd with any
infamous company incognito–in disguise he made himself a
companion of the common sort, and of the basest strangers that came to
town. He had the most unaccountable whims, so that some took him to be
silly, others to be mad. Hence he was called Epimanes–the
madman. He is called a vile person, for he had been a long
time a hostage at Rome for the fidelity of his father when the Romans
had subdued him; and it was agreed that, when the other hostages were
exchanged, he should continue a prisoner at large.
II. His accession to the crown. By a trick he got his elder brother’s
son, Demetrius, to be sent a hostage to Rome, in exchange for him,
contrary to the cartel; and, his elder brother being made away with by
Heliodorus
(v. 20),
he took the kingdom. The states of Syria did not give it to
him
(v. 21),
because they knew it belonged to his elder brother’s son, nor did he
get it by the sword, but came in peaceably, pretending to reign
for his brother’s son, Demetrius, then a hostage at Rome. But with the
help of Eumenes and Attalus, neighbouring princes, he gained an
interest in the people, and by flatteries obtained the kingdom,
established himself in it, and crushed Heliodorus, who made head
against him with the arms of a flood; those that opposed him
were overflown and broken before him, even the prince
of the covenant, his nephew, the rightful heir, whom he pretended
to covenant with that he would resign to him whenever he should return,
But
(v. 23)
after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully, as one
whose avowed maxim it is that princes ought not to be bound by their
word any longer than it is for their interest. And with a small
people, that at first cleave to him, he shall become strong,
and
(v. 24)
he shall enter peaceably upon the fattest places of the kingdom
of Syria, and, very unlike his predecessors, shall scatter among
the people the prey, and the spoil, and riches, to insinuate
himself into their affections; but, at the same time, he shall
forecast his devices against the strong-holds, to make himself
master of them, so that his generosity shall last but for a time; when
he has got the garrisons into his hands he will scatter his spoil no
more, but rule by force, as those commonly do that come in by fraud. He
that comes in like a fox reigns like a lion. Some understand
these verses
of his first expedition into Egypt, when he came not as an enemy, but
as a friend and guardian to the young king Ptolemæus Philometer,
and therefore brought with him but few followers, yet those stout men,
and faithful to his interest, whom he placed in divers of the
strong-holds in Egypt, thereby making himself master of them.
III. His war with Egypt, which was his second expedition thither. This
is described,
Antiochus shall stir up his power and courage against
Ptolemæus Philometer king of Egypt. Ptolemy, thereupon, shall
be stirred up to battle against him, shall come against him
with a very great and mighty army; but Ptolemy, though he has
such a vast army, shall not be able to stand before him; for
Antiochus’s army shall overthrow his, and overpower it, and
great multitudes of the Egyptian army shall fall down slain. And
no marvel, for the king of Egypt shall be betrayed by his own
counsellors; those that feed of the portion of his meat, that
eat of his bread and live upon him, being bribed by Antiochus, shall
forecast devices against him, and even they shall destroy
him; and what fence is there against such treachery? After the
battle, a treaty of peace shall be set on foot, and these two kings
shall meet at one council-board, to adjust the articles of peace
between them; but they shall neither of them be sincere in it, for they
shall, in their pretences and promises of amity and friendship, lie
to one another, for their hearts shall be at the same time to do
one another all the mischief they can. And then no marvel that it
shall not prosper. The peace shall not last; but the end of
it shall be at the time appointed in the divine Providence, and
then the war shall break out again, as a sore that is only skinned
over.
IV. Another expedition against Egypt. From the former he returned
with great riches
(v. 28),
and therefore took the first occasion to invade Egypt again, at the
time appointed by the divine Providence, two years after, in the
eighth year of his reign,
He shall come towards the south. But this attempt shall not
succeed, as the two former did, nor shall he gain his point, as he had
done before once and again; for
(v. 30)
the ships of Chittim shall come against him, that is, the navy
of the Romans, or only ambassadors from the Roman senate, who came in
ships. Ptolemæus Philometer, king of Egypt, being now in a strict
alliance with the Romans, craved their aid against Antiochus, who had
besieged him and his mother Cleopatra in the city of Alexandria. The
Roman senate thereupon sent an embassy to Antiochus, to command him to
raise the siege, and, when he desired some time to consider of it and
consult with his friends about it, Popilius, one of the ambassadors,
with his staff drew a circle about him, and told him, as one having
authority, he should give a positive answer before he came out of that
circle; whereupon, fearing the Roman power, he was forced immediately
to give orders for the raising of the siege and the retreat of his army
out of Egypt. So Livy and others relate the story which this prophecy
refers to. He shall be grieved, and return; for it was a great
vexation to him to be forced to yield thus.
V. His rage and cruel practices against the Jews. This is that part of
his government, or mis-government rather, which is most enlarged upon
in this prediction. In his return from his expedition into Egypt (which
is prophesied of,
he did exploits against the Jews, in the sixth year of his
reign; then he spoiled the city and temple. But the most terrible storm
was in his return from Egypt, two years after, prophesied of
Then he took Judea in his way home; and, because he could not gain his
point in Egypt by reason of the Romans interposing, he wreaked his
revenge upon the poor Jews, who gave him no provocation, but had
greatly provoked God to permit him to do it,
1. He had a rooted antipathy to the Jews’ religion: His heart
was against the holy covenant,
v. 28.
And
(v. 30)
he had indignation against the holy covenant, that covenant of
peculiarity by which the Jews were incorporated a people distinct from
all other nations, and dignified above them. He hated the law of Moses
and the worship of the true God, and was vexed at the privileges of the
Jewish nation and the promises made to them. Note, That which is the
hope and joy of the people of God is the envy of their neighbours, and
that is the holy covenant. Esau hated Jacob because he had got
the blessing. Those that are strangers to the covenant are often
enemies to it.
2. He carried on his malicious designs against the Jews by the
assistance of some perfidious apostate Jews. He kept up intelligence
with those that forsook the holy covenant
(v. 30),
some of the Jews that were false to their religion, and introduced the
customs of the heathen, with whom they made a covenant. See the
fulfilling of this,
1 Mac. i. 11-15,
where it is expressly said, concerning those renegado Jews, that they
made themselves uncircumcised and forsook the holy covenant. We
read
(2 Mac. iv. 9)
of Jason, the brother of Onias the high priest, who by the appointment
of Antiochus set up a school at Jerusalem, for the training up of
youth in the fashions of the heathen; and
(2 Mac. iv. 23,
&c.) of Menelaus, who fell in with the interests of Antiochus, and was
the man that helped him into Jerusalem, now in his last return from
Egypt. We read much in the book of the Maccabees of the mischief done
to the Jews by these treacherous men of their own nation, Jason and
Menelaus, and their party. These upon all occasions he made use of.
“Such as do wickedly against the covenant, such as throw up
their religion, and comply with the heathen, he shall corrupt with
flatteries, to harden them in their apostasy, and to make use of
them as decoys to draw in others,”
Note, It is not strange if those who do not live up to their religion,
but in their conversations do wickedly against the covenant, are
easily corrupted by flatteries to quit their religion. Those
that make shipwreck of a good conscience will soon make shipwreck of
the faith.
3. He profaned the temple. Arms stand on his part
(v. 31),
not only his own army which he now brought from Egypt, but a great
party of deserters from the Jewish religion that joined with them; and
they polluted the sanctuary of strength, not only the holy city,
but the temple. The story of this we have,
1 Mac. i. 21,
&c. He entered proudly into the sanctuary, took away the
golden altar, and the candlestick, &c. And therefore
(v. 25)
there was a great mourning in Israel; the princes and elders
mourned, &c. And
(2 Mac. v. 15,
&c.) Antiochus went into the most holy temple, Menelaus, that
traitor to the laws and to his own country, being his guide.
Antiochus, having resolved to bring all about him to be of his
religion, took away the daily sacrifice,
v. 31.
Some observe that the word Tammidh, which signifies no more than
daily, is only here, and in the parallel place, used for the
daily sacrifice, as if there were a designed liberty left to
supply it either with sacrifice, which was suppressed by
Antiochus, or with gospel-worship, which was suppressed by the
Antichrist. Then he set up the abomination of desolation upon the
altar
(1 Mac. i. 54),
even an idol altar
(v. 59),
and called the temple the temple of Jupiter Olympius,
2 Mac. vi. 2.
4. He persecuted those who retained their integrity. Though there are
many who forsake the covenant and do wickedly against it,
yet there is a people who do know their God and retain the
knowledge of him, and they shall be strong and do exploits,
v. 32.
When others yield to the tyrant’s demands, and surrender their
consciences to his impositions, they bravely keep their ground, resist
the temptation, and make the tyrant himself ashamed of his attempt upon
them. Good old Eleazar, one of the principal scribes, when he
had swine’s flesh thrust into his mouth, did bravely spit it out again,
though he knew he must be tormented to death for so doing, and was so,
2 Mac. vi. 19.
The mother and her seven sons were put to death for adhering to their
religion,
2 Mac. vii.
This might well be called doing exploits; for to choose
suffering rather than sin is a great exploit. And it was by
faith, by being strong in faith, that they did those
exploits, that they were tortured, not accepting deliverance, as
the apostle speaks, probably with reference to that story,
Or it may refer to the military courage and achievements of Judas
Maccabæus and others in opposition to Antiochus. Note, The right
knowledge of God is, and will be, the strength of the soul, and, in the
strength of that, gracious souls do exploits. Those that know his
name will put their trust in him, and by that trust will do great
things. Now, concerning this people that knew their God, we are here
told,
(1.) That they shall instruct many,
v. 33.
They shall make it their business to show others what they have learned
themselves of the difference between truth and falsehood, good and
evil. Note, Those that have the knowledge of God themselves should
communicate their knowledge to those about them, and this spiritual
charity must be extensive: they must instruct many. Some
understand this of a society newly erected for the propagating of
divine knowledge, called Assideans, godly men, pietists
(so the name signifies), that were both knowing and zealous in the law;
these instructed many. Note, In times of persecution and apostasy,
which are trying times, those that have knowledge ought to make use of
it for the strengthening and establishing of others. Those that
understand aright themselves ought to do what they can to bring others
to understand; for knowledge is a talent that must be traded with. Or,
They shall instruct many by their perseverance in their duty and their
patient suffering for it. Good examples instruct many, and with many
are the most powerful instructions.
(2.) They shall fall by the cruelty of Antiochus, shall be put
to the torture, and put to death, by his rage. Though they are so
excellent and intelligent themselves, and so useful and serviceable to
others, yet Antiochus shall show them no mercy, but they shall fall
for some days; so it may be read,
Thou shalt have tribulation ten days. We read much, in the books
of the Maccabees, of Antiochus’s barbarous usage of the pious Jews, how
many he slew in wars and how many he murdered in cold blood. Women were
put to death for having their children circumcised, and
their infants were hanged about their necks,
1 Mac. i. 60, 61.
But why did God suffer this? How can this be reconciled with the
justice and goodness of God? I answer, Very well, if we consider what
it was that God aimed at in this
(v. 35):
Some of those of understanding shall fall, but it shall be for
the good of the church and for their own spiritual benefit. It
shall be to try them, and to purge, and to make them white.
They needed these afflictions themselves. The best have their
spots, which must be washed off, their dross, which must be purged out;
and their troubles, particularly their share in the public
troubles, help to do this; being sanctified to them by the grace of
God, they are means of mortifying their corruptions, weaning them from
the world, and awakening them to greater seriousness and diligence in
religion. They try them, as silver in the furnace is refined from its
dross; they purge them, as wheat in the barn is winnowed from the
chaff; and they make them white, as cloth by the fuller is
cleared from its spots. See
Their sufferings for righteousness’ sake would try and purge the
nation of the Jews, would convince them of the truth, excellency, and
power of that holy religion which these understanding men died
for their adherence to. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
church; it is precious blood, and not a drop of it should be shed but
upon such a valuable consideration.
(3.) The cause of religion, though it be thus run upon, shall not be
run down. When they shall fall they shall not be utterly cast
down, but they shall be holpen with a little help,
v. 34.
Judas Maccabæus, and his brethren, and a few with them, shall
make head against the tyrant, and assert the injured cause of
their religion; they pulled down the idolatrous altars,
circumcised the children that they found uncircumcised, recovered the
law out of the hand of the Gentiles, and the work prospered in their
hands,
1 Mac. ii. 45,
&c. Note, Those that stand by the cause of religion when it is
threatened and struck at, though they may not immediately be delivered
and made victorious, shall yet have present help. And a
little help must not be despised; but, when times are very bad,
we must be thankful for some reviving. It is likewise foretold
that many shall cleave to them with flatteries; when they see
the Maccabees prosper some Jews shall join with them that are no true
friends to religion, but will only pretend friendship either with
design to betray them or in hope to rise with them; but
the fiery trial
(v. 35)
will separate between the precious and the vile, and by it
those that are perfect will be made manifest and those that are
not.
(4.) Though these troubles may continue long, yet they will have an
end. They are for a time appointed, a limited time, fixed in
the divine counsels. This warfare shall be accomplished.
Hitherto the power of the enemy shall come, and no
further; here shall its proud waves be stayed.
5. He grew very proud, insolent, and profane, and, being puffed up with
his conquests, bade defiance to Heaven, and trampled upon every thing
that was sacred,
&c. And here some think begins a prophecy of the antichrist, the papal
kingdom. It is plain that St. Paul, in his prophecy of the rise and
reign of the man of sin, alludes to this
which shows that Antiochus was a type and figure of that enemy, as
Babylon also was; but, this being joined in a continued discourse with
the foregoing prophecies concerning Antiochus, to me it seems probably
that it principally refers to him, and in him had its primary
accomplishment, and has reference to the other only by way of
accommodation.
(1.) He shall impiously dishonour the God of Israel, the only living
and true God, called here the God of gods. He shall, in defiance
of him and his authority, do according to his will against his
people and his holy religion; he shall exalt himself above him,
as Sennacherib did, and shall speak marvellous things against
him and against his laws and institutions. This was fulfilled when
Antiochus forbade sacrifices to be offered in God’s
temple, and ordered the sabbaths to be profaned, the
sanctuary and the holy people to be polluted, &c.,
to the end that they might forget the law and change all the
ordinances, and this upon pain of death,
1 Mac. i. 45.
(2.) He shall proudly put contempt upon all other gods, shall
magnify himself above every god, even the gods of the nations.
Antiochus wrote to his own kingdom that every one should leave the gods
he had worshipped, and worship such as he ordered, contrary to the
practice of all the conquerors that went before him,
1 Mac. i. 41, 42.
And all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the
king; fond as they were of their gods, they did not think them
worth suffering for, but, their gods being idols, it was all alike to
them what gods they worshipped. Antiochus did not regard any
god, but magnified himself above all,
v. 37.
He was so proud that he thought himself above the condition of a mortal
man, that he could command the waves of the sea, and reach to the
stars of heaven, as his insolence and haughtiness are expressed,
2 Mac. ix. 8, 10.
Thus he carried all before him, till the indignation was
accomplished
(v. 36),
till he had run his length, and filled up the measure of his iniquity;
for that which is determined shall be done, and nothing more,
nothing short.
(3.) He shall, contrary to the way of the heathen, disregard the god of
his fathers,
Though an affection to the religion of their ancestors was, among the
heathen, almost as natural to them as the desire of women (for,
if you search through the isles of Chittim, you will not find an
instance of a nation that has changed its gods,
Jer. ii. 10, 11),
yet Antiochus shall not regard the god of his fathers; he made
laws to abolish the religion of his country, and to bring in the idols
of the Greeks. And though his predecessors had honoured the God of
Israel, and given great gifts to the temple at Jerusalem
(2 Mac. iii. 2, 3),
he offered the greatest indignities to God and his temple. His not
regarding the desire of women may denote his barbarous cruelty
(he shall spare no age or sex, no, not the tender ones) or his
unnatural lusts, or, in general, his contempt of every thing which men
of honour have a concern for, or it might be accomplished in something
we meet not with in history. Its being joined to his not regarding
the god of his fathers intimates that the idolatries of his country
had in them more of the gratifications of the flesh than those of other
countries (Lucian has written of the Syrian goddesses), and yet that
would not prevail to keep him to them.
(4.) He shall set up an unknown god, a new god,
In his estate, in the room of the god of his fathers (Apollo and
Diana, deities of pleasure), he shall honour the god of forces,
a supposed deity of power, a god whom his fathers knew not, nor
worshipped; because he will be thought in wisdom and strength to excel
his fathers, he shall honour this god with gold, and silver, and
precious stones, thinking nothing too good for the god he has taken
a fancy to. This seems to be Jupiter Olympius, known among the
Phœnicians by the name of Baal-Semen, the lord of heaven, but
never introduced among the Syrians till Antiochus introduced it. Thus
shall he do in the most strong holds, in the temple of
Jerusalem, which is called the sanctuary of strength
(v. 31),
and here the fortresses of munitions; there he shall set up the
image of this strange god. Some read it, He shall commit the
munitions of strength, or of the most strong God (that is, the city
Jerusalem), to a strange god; he put it under the protection and
government of Jupiter Olympius. This god he shall not only acknowledge,
but shall increase with glory, by setting his image even upon
God’s altar. And he shall cause those that minister to this
idol to rule over many, shall put them into places of power and
trust, and they shall divide the land for gain, shall be
maintained richly out of the profits of the country. Some by the
Mahuzzim, or god of forces, that Antiochus shall worship,
understand money, which is said to answer all things, and
which is the great idol of worldly people.
Now here is very much that is applicable to the man of sin; he
exalts himself above all that is called god or that is worshipped;
magnifies himself above all; his flatterers call him our lord
god the pope. By forbidding marriage, and magnifying the single
life, he pretends not to regard the desire of women; and honours the
god of forces, the god Mahuzzim, or strong holds,
saints and angels, whom his followers take for their protectors, as the
heathen did of old their demons; these they make presidents of several
countries, &c. These they honour with vast treasures dedicated to them,
and therein the learned Mr. Mede thinks that this prophecy was
fulfilled, and that it is referred to
VI. Here seems to be another expedition into Egypt, or, at least, a
struggle with Egypt. The Romans had tied him up from invading Ptolemy,
but now that king of the south pushes at him
(v. 40),
makes an attempt upon some of his territories, where upon Antiochus,
the king of the north, comes against him like a whirlwind, with
incredible swiftness and fury, with chariots, and horses, and many
ships, a great force. He shall come trough countries, and shall
overflow and pass over. In this flying march many countries
shall be overthrown by him; and he shall enter into the glorious
land, the land of Israel; it is the same word that is translated
the pleasant land,
ch. viii. 9.
He shall make dreadful work among the nations thereabout; yet some
shall escape his fury, particularly Edom and Moab, and the chief of
the children of Ammon,
v. 41.
He did not put these countries under contribution, because they had
joined with him against the Jews. But especially the land of Egypt
shall not escape, but he will quite beggar that, so bare will he
strip it. This some reckon his fourth and last expedition against
Egypt, in the tenth or eleventh year of his reign, under pretence of
assisting the younger brother of Ptolemæus Philometer against
him. We read not of any great slaughter made in this expedition, but
great plunder; for, it should seem, that was what he came for: He
shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and all the
precious things of Egypt,
v. 43.
Polybius, in Athenæus, relates that Antiochus, having got
together abundance of wealth, by spoiling young Philometer, and
breaking league with him, and by the contributions of his friends,
bestowed a vast deal upon a triumph, in imitation of Paulus
Æmilius, and describes the extravagance of it; here we are told
how he got that money which he spent so profusely. Notice is here
taken likewise of the use he made of the Lybians and Ethiopians, who
bordered upon Egypt; they were at his steps; he had them at his
foot, had them at his beck, and they made inroads upon Egypt to serve
him.
VII. Here is a prediction of the fall and ruin of Antiochus, as before
(ch. viii. 25),
when he is in the height of his honour, flushed with victory, and laden
with spoils, tidings out of the east and out of the north
(out of the north-east) shall trouble him,
Or, He shall have intelligence, both from the eastern and northern
parts, that the king of Parthia is invading his kingdom. This obliged
him to drop the enterprises he had in hand, and to go against the
Persians and Parthians that were revolting from him; and this
vexed him, for now he thought utterly to ruin and extirpate the
Jewish nation, when that expedition called him off, in which he
perished. This is explained by a passage in Tacitus (though an impious
one) where he commends Antiochus for his attempt to take away the
superstition of the Jews, and bring in the manners of the
Greeks, among them (ut teterrimam gentem in melius mutaret–to
meliorate an odious nation), and laments that he was hindered from
accomplishing it by the Parthian war. Now here is,
1. The last effort of his rage against the Jews. When he finds himself
perplexed and embarrassed in his affairs he shall go forth with
great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many,
v. 44.
The story of this we have
1 Mac. iii. 27,
&c., what a rage Antiochus was in when he heard of the successes of
Judas Maccabæus, and the orders he gave to Lysias to destroy
Jerusalem. Then he planted the tabernacles of his palace, or
tents of his court, between the seas, between the Great Sea and
the Dead Sea. He set up his royal pavilion at Emmaus near Jerusalem, in
token that, though he could not be present himself, yet he gave full
power to his captains to prosecute the war against the Jews with the
utmost rigour. He placed his tent there, as if he had taken possession
of the glorious holy mountain and called it his own.
Note, When impiety grows very impudent we may see its ruin near.
2. His exit: He shall come to his end and none shall help him;
God shall cut him off in the midst of his days and none shall be able
to prevent his fall. This is the same with that which was foretold
(He shall be broken without hand), where we took a view of his
miserable end. Note, When God’s time shall come to bring proud
oppressors to their end none shall be able to help them, nor perhaps
inclined to help them; for those that covet to be feared by all when
they are in their grandeur, when they come to be in distress will find
themselves loved by none; none will lend them so much as a hand or a
prayer to help them; and, if the Lord do not help, who shall?
Of the kings that came after Antiochus nothing is here prophesied, for
that was the most malicious mischievous enemy to the church, that was a
type of the son of perdition, whom the Lord shall consume with the
breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming, and
none shall help him.
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