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22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea also, the 23 prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, 24 and shall become strong with a small people. He shall

22-24. General description of Antiochus' character and dealings. The verses have often (from Jerome onwards) been referred to Antiochus' first Egyptian campaign; but though occurrences in that campaign may be alluded to in them, they cannot, as a whole, be understood naturally as a description of it1. Observe also that the 'king of the south' is for the first time mentioned explicitly in v. 25. 22. And the arms of the flood] fig. for opposing forces. The metaphor is a mixed one for arms,' cf. v. 15; for the fig. of the flood, vv. 10, 26, 40; Is. viii. 8, xxviii. 2, 15; Jer. xlvii. 2. reference is ambiguous: it might of course be to the forces of Ptolemy Philometor; but more probably the domestic or other enemies who opposed Antiochus' rise to power are meant. According to Jerome there was a party in Syria which favoured the claims of Philometor.

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shall be flooded (or swept) away from before him] he will prevail against them.

be broken] cf., of an army, 2 Ch. xiv. 12.

and also the prince of the covenant] most probably the high-priest, Onias III., who was deposed from his office by Antiochus in 175, and whose death was at least an indirect consequence of action taken by Antiochus (see above, on ix. 26). The words might, however, be also rendered a confederate prince (cf. Gen. xiv. 13; Ob. 7; Heb.): the reference would then be to Ptolemy Philometor; but it is an objection to this view that the king of Egypt is regularly throughout the chapter called the king of the south'; nor are the relations which (so far as we know) subsisted between Antiochus and Philometor such as would be described naturally as a ' covenant' or 'league.'

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23. And from the time when he (or any) joins himself unto him-viz. in a league (2 Ch. xxx. 35, 37; cf. above, v. 6)—he shall work deceit] he will immediately scheme to overreach his ally. The reference is again ambiguous. The allusion might be specially to Antiochus' insincere friendship with Philometor, or to the manner in which he treated his allies in general.

and he shall come up] i.e., probably, rise to power (cf. Deut. xxviii. 43). The explanation go up (the Nile to Memphis)' (Jer. ascendit Memphim) is not natural. (The comma after up in A.V. should be transferred to follow strong.)

with a little (v. 34) nation] alluding apparently (Bevan) to the partisans of Antiochus, by whose help he was able to rise to power and overcome his rivals.'

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1 The terms in which Jerome (p. 713) describes the campaign (though the facts, he says, are derived from Porphyry) are manifestly coloured by the phraseology of these verses of Daniel.

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. And 25

24. In (time of) security (v. 21) and upon the fattest places (cf. Gen. xxvii. 28, Heb.) of the province shall he come] The Heb. is unusually harsh; though the fact in both A.V. and R.V. is most successfully concealed. In security' is probably accidentally out of place, and

for ובמשמני מדינה בשלוה יבוא .should follow * come in the Heb

I'm a niwa). Cf. viii. 25 (also of Antiochus) and in (time of) security he shall destroy many. Again, the allusion is uncertain: it may be to Antiochus' acquisition of power over Syria; it may be to his attacks upon Judah, or to his invasions of Egypt.

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prey and spoil and substance he shall scatter unto them] to his followers, or it may be to his people generally (for the vague use of the pron., cf. vv. 7, 25). The allusion is, no doubt, to Antiochus' lavish prodigality, in which he differed from most of the previous Syrian kings (his fathers,' and 'his fathers' fathers'), who were usually in lack of surplus money. Cf. 1 Macc. iii. 30, and he feared that he should not have enough as at other times for the charges and the gifts which he used to give aforetime with a liberal hand, and he abounded above the kings which were before him'; also his liberality at Naukratis (above, p. 180), and the anecdotes of his lavish gifts to boon-companions, and even to strangers, in Polyb. xxvi. 10. 9-10, and Athen. x. 52 (p. 438). He was also very munificent in gifts to cities and temples, and in public shows (Liv. xli. 20, who cites examples1). Naturally, the funds for such purposes were obtained largely from the 'prey' and 'spoil' of plundered provinces: cf. 1 Macc. i. 19, 'and he took the spoils of Egypt,' iii. 31; Polyb. xxxi. 4. 9 (the cost of the games given by him in rivalry with those of Aem. Paullus in 167, defrayed in part out of the plunder of Egypt).

against fortresses, also, he shall devise his devices] frame warlike plans,-whether successfully, as against Pelusium and the other places in Egypt which he secured (cf. 1 Macc. i. 19, of his first campaign in Egypt, and they took the strong cities in the land of Egypt'), or unsuccessfully, as against Alexandria (see p. 180): perhaps, more particularly, the latter ('devise,'-as though ineffectually).

and that, until a time] until the time fixed, in the counsels of God, as the limit of such enterprises: cf. vv. 27, 35.

1 For instance, he promised and partly bore the cost of, a city-wall at Megalopolis in Arcadia: he contributed largely to the restoration of the temple of Zeus Olympios at Athens; he presented gold vessels to the Prytaneum at Cyzicus, and beautified Delos with altars and statues; and at home he not only made many improvements in his capital, but also, what in Syria was an innovation, gave frequent gladiatorial shows. The words 'spectaculorum quoque omnis generis magnificentia superiores reges vicit' (cf. Polyb. xxvi. 10, 11) illustrate especially 1 Macc. iii. 30, cited above.

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 26 against him. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and 27 many shall fall down slain. And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one

25-28. Antiochus' first Egyptian expedition (B. C. 170).

25. courage] lit. heart: cf. Josh. ii. 11; Am. ii. 16; Ps. lxxvi. 5. the king of the south] Ptolemy Philometor.

shall be stirred up] shall stir himself up (v. 10).

a great army...a very great and mighty army] We have no independent evidence as to the relative size of the armies of Antiochus and Philometor. There is however no reason to suppose that the author would not represent correctly what had taken place only two or three years before he wrote.

but he shall not stand, for they shall devise devices against him] In spite of his superior army, Philometor could not maintain the contest, owing to the treachery of his adherents. We cannot say more particularly what is referred to: it is possible that the fortress of Pelusium, and Philometor himself, both fell into Antiochus' hands by treachery.

26. And they that eat of his delicacies (i. 5) shall break him] some of his courtiers will be his ruin. For the expression, cf. 1 Kin. ii. 7, 'those that eat of thy table'; break, as v. 20. The allusion may be to Eulaeus and Lenaeus, at whose ill-advised suggestion it was that Philometor was first led to think of reconquering Syria, and the former of whom, after the battle of Pelusium, persuaded the king to abandon his country. Ptolemy Macron, also, the very capable (Polyb. xxvii. 12) governor of Cyprus (though this was perhaps later), deserted to Antiochus (2 Macc. x. 13). and his army shall overflow] i.e. Antiochus' army. But the pronouns from v. 25 b refer all to Philometor: the verb should therefore probably be vocalized as a passive (D) and his army (Philometor's) shall be flooded (or swept) away; the word, as v. 22.

and many shall fall down slain] cf. 1 Macc. i. 18, 'and many fell down slain' (also of Antiochus' victories in Egypt), where the Greek (except in the tense) is exactly the same as in LXX. and Theod. here.

27. And as for the two kings, their heart (shall be) for mischief; and at one table they shall speak lies] Antiochus and Philometor, after the latter had fallen into his uncle's hands, were outwardly on friendly terms with one another; but their friendship was insincere, as is expressively shewn by the picture which the writer's words suggest sitting and eating at one table, they both in fact spoke lies,-Antiochus, in professing disinterestedness, as though his only object were to gain Egypt for his nephew's benefit, (cui regnum quaeri suis viribus simulabat, Livy xlv. 11), and Philometor in feigning that he believed his uncle's assurances, and cherished for him gratitude and regard.

table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. Then shall he return into his land 28 with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy

but it shall not prosper] The common plan, on which they were supposed to be agreed, the conquest of Egypt, ostensibly for Philometor, in reality for Antiochus.

for the end (remaineth) yet for the time appointed] matters will not yet be settled in Egypt: the end of Antiochus' doings there belongs still to a time fixed in the future.

It must be admitted that some of the references in vv. 25-27 (esp. in v. 27) would be more pointed and significant, if they could be supposed to allude to events in the second Egyptian campaign of Antiochus, as well as to events in the first. Upon the chronology adopted above (which is that of most modern historians), this can only be, if the author, neglecting the strict chronological sequence, throws the first two Egyptian campaigns together, and then (v. 28) proceeds to describe the attack upon Jerusalem. We do not, however, possess any continuous narrative of the events of Antiochus' reign; nor does there seem to be any express statement that Antiochus returned to Syria, or even that he left Egypt, at the close of what is described above as his 'first' Egyptian expedition; hence it is possible that Mahaffy1 is right in his contention that Antiochus' first two campaigns (as they are commonly called) were in reality only two stages in one campaign-the first stage ending at Pelusium, and the second embracing the conquest of Egypt, and both belonging to the year B.C. 170. If this view be adopted, the attack upon Jerusalem (v. 28; 1 Macc. i. 20-24) will come at the end of what is called above the 'second' Egyptian expedition (but thrown back now to B.C. 170)2, and both that and the 'first' Egyptian expedition will be summarized in vv. 25-28 and 1 Macc. i. 16-19.

28. Then] And. A chronological sequence is not expressed in the Heb.; and is perhaps (see the beginning of the last note) not intended by the writer.

he shall return to his own land] in 170, at the close of his 'first' Egyptian campaign,-in whatever sense this may be understood (see on v. 27). The clause anticipates what really took place only after what is described in the two following clauses; and hence, it is repeated, in its proper place, at the end of the verse.

with great substance] the 'spoils of Egypt' (1 Macc. i. 19): the word, as vv. 13, 24. Cf. the allusion in Orac. Sib. iii. 614-5.

against the holy covenant] alluding to Antiochus' hostile visit to Jerusalem, in which he 'entered presumptuously into the sanctuary,' and carried away the golden vessels, and other treasures, belonging to the Temple, besides massacring many of the Jews (1 Macc. i. 20-24).

Empire of the Ptolemies, p. 494 f., cf. pp. 333-337, 340. So Wellhausen, Isr. und Füd. Gesch. (1894), p. 203 n. (ed. 3, 1897, p. 246 n.).

2 An interval of two years between this attack upon Jerusalem, and the persecuting edict of B.C. 168 is required by the dates in 1 Macc. i. 20 and 1 Macc. i. 29, 54.

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covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. 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

and he shall do] in the pregnant sense explained on viii. 12: R.V. 'do (his pleasure).'

and return to his own land] 1 Macc. i. 24; 2 Macc. v. 21.
29. Antiochus' 'third' Egyptian expedition (B.C. 168).
the time appointed] the time fixed in the counsels of God.

but it shall not be in the latter time as in the former] this expedition will not be as successful as the previous one.

30-39. Antiochus' retreat from Egypt, (v. 30a), and the measures adopted by him shortly afterwards against the Jews (vv. 30b—39).

30. For Kitian ships shall come against him] The allusion is to C. Popillius Laenas and the other Roman legates, who, as described above (p. 181), obliged Antiochus, when within sight of Alexandria, to withdraw his forces unconditionally from Egypt. Kittim, properly the Kitians, or people of Kitti (in Phoen. Inscriptions 'n), a well-known town in Cyprus, the Greek Kition; hence in the O.T. the name of the inhabitants of Cyprus, Gen. x. 4; Is. xxiii. 1, 12; somewhat more widely, in Jer. ii. 10; Ez. xxvii. 6, 'isles (or coast-lands) of the Kitians,' of the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. By the later Jews it was used still more generally for any western maritime people (cf. Jos. Ant. I. i. 1); thus in 1 Macc. i. 1, viii. 5 it denotes the Macedonians, and here 'Kitian ships' means Roman ships (so LXX. κal novoi Pwμaîo). The expression is suggested by the terms of Balaam's prophecy in Num. xxiv. 24 (where, however, it is not certain what exactly is denoted by it).

and he shall be cowed, and return] 'cowed' (a rare word: Ps. cix. 16, A.V., R. V., badly, 'broken in heart'), viz. by the summary manner in which Popillius treated him1. Cf. the terms used by Polyb. (xxix. 11), • Antiochus accordingly withdrew his forces to Syria, βαρυνόμενος καὶ στένων, εἴκων δὲ τοῖς καιροῖς κατὰ τὸ παρόν; and Livy • Obstupefactus tam violento imperio' (the demand of Popillius).

have indignation &c.] a stronger expression than was used in v. 28; he will this time be incensed against it.

and he shall do] viz. his pleasure, as v. 28.

and he shall return (viz. home to Antioch), ana have regard unto (v. 37 Heb.) them that &c.] After his return home he will fix his attention upon the apostate Jews, and use them as his agents, for the purpose of carrying out his designs. Shortly before the time of Antiochus there had arisen a party among the Jews, whose object was to Hellenize their

1 The word (D) might possibly, however, have here its Syriac sense of rebuked: cf. LXX. Eußpunσovтai aur, a word which in Matth. ix. 30 is represented

כאא in the Pesh. by

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