صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

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

In the distribution of provinces, an ambiguous position was taken by Cole-Syria, with Phoenicia, and Palestine; and this intermediate region remained a bone of contention between the kings of Syria and Egypt, and in the century and a half which followed the death of Alexander, repeatedly changed hands. At Triparadisus, in 321, Syria was assigned to Laomedon; but Ptolemy got possession of it in 320, only to lose it again in 315 to Antigonus, to recover at least the S. part of it after the battle of Gaza in 312, and to relinquish it a second time to Antigonus in 311. After the battle of Ipsus in 301, Ptolemy, as a matter of fact, obtained Cole-Syria and Phoenicia; but his right to these provinces became a subject of protracted dispute between the later Ptolemies and Seleucidae. On the one hand, it was alleged that after the victory it had been distinctly agreed that Seleucus should have 'the whole of Syria'; on the other, it was claimed that Ptolemy Lagi had only joined the coalition against Antigonus on the understanding that he should receive Cole-Syria and Phoenicia (Polyb. v. 67; cf. also the quotation from Diodorus in Mahaffy, Empire of the Ptolemies, p. 66). Upon the whole, during the period here in question, Palestine remained, with short interruptions, in the hands of the Ptolemies till the battle of Paneion in 198, after which it was retained permanently by the kings of Syria.

6. Ptolemy II. (Philadelphus), 285—247, and Antiochus II. (Theos), 261-246.

Antiochus I. (Soter), B.C. 280-261, is passed by in the survey, as a ruler whose reign was of no importance to the Jews. The allusion in v. 6 is to what happened about B.C. 249. In order to terminate his long wars with Antiochus II. (Theos), Ptolemy Philadelphus gave him in marriage his daughter, Berenice, upon condition that he should divorce his legitimate wife, Laodice, and that his two sons, Seleucus and Antiochus, should renounce all claim to the throne of Syria: in the event of Antiochus and Berenice having issue, Ptolemy hoped in this way to secure Syria as an Egyptian province. After two years, however, Ptolemy died. Antiochus then took back Laodice, and divorced Berenice. Laodice, however, dreading her husband's fickleness ('ambiguum viri animum,' Jerome), and fearing lest he might again evince a preference for Berenice, before long procured his death by poison. She then persuaded her son, Seleucus, to secure the throne for himself by murdering both Berenice and her infant child (Jerome ad loc.; Appian, Syr. 65; Justin xxvii. 1).

at the end of (some) years] 31 years after the death of Seleucus Nicator.

join themselves together] by the matrimonial alliance just described. and the daughter of the king of the south]

Berenice.

come to] in marriage (cf. Josh. xv. 18; Jud. xii. 9).

to make an agreement] lit. uprightness (Ps. ix. 8), or equity

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. But out of a branch of her roots shall one 7

(Ps. xcviii. 9), i.e. (here) the equitable adjustment of a dispute. Comp. v. 17.

but she shall not retain the power of the arm] fig. for, she will not be able to maintain herself against her rival, Laodice. As said above, she was first divorced by Antiochus in favour of Laodice, and afterwards murdered at her instigation.

neither shall he stand] Antiochus, who was murdered by Laodice. nor his arm] his might will come to an end. Theod., Kamph., Prince, 'nor his seed' (ivṛ for iy¬?), referring to Antiochus' issue by Berenice1.

but she shall be given up] Berenice, put to death at the instigation of Laodice.

they that brought her] either into the marriage, or to Syria. The expression is a vague one. The reference may be (Ewald, Meinh.) to Berenice's attendants, who accompanied her to Antioch, and met there the same fate as their mistress; it may be (Hitz., Keil) simply to Antiochus (the plural being generic, without reference to the number of persons actually meant; cf. Gen. xxi. 7, Mt. ii. 20); it may even be, more generally, to the ministers of Ptolemy who supported the alliance, and who were 'given up,' in the sense of finding their expectations disappointed.

he that begat her and supported (v. 1) her] Ptolemy Philadelphus (so Ew., Hitz., Keil). Or, he that begat her, and he that obtained (v. 21) her; i.e. Ptolemy, and Antiochus (so von Leng:, Zöckl., Meinh.).

in the times] at the time in question in those times (R.V.).

7-9. Ptolemy III. (Euergetes I.), 247-222, and Seleucus II. (Callinicus), 246–226.

Ptolemy Euergetes I., Berenice's brother, an enterprising and energetic king, in revenge for his sister's murder, invaded the empire of Seleucus, seized Seleukeia (Polyb. v. 58 end), the fortified port of Antioch (Acts xiii. 4), and overran the greater part of Seleucus' Asiatic dominions as far as Babylon. The murder of Berenice had made Seleucus unpopular with his subjects; and had Ptolemy not been called home by an insurrection in Egypt, he would in all probability have made himself master of Seleucus' entire empire (Justin xxvii. 1). Ptolemy returned, bringing back with him an immense quantity of spoil (cf. Mahaffy, The Empire of the Ptolemies, pp. 196—200).

7.

But one of the shoots (Is. xi. 1) of her roots] Ptolemy III., Berenice's brother.

1 Bevan and Marti render the last three clauses, but the arm (fig. for the support afforded by Berenice) shall not retain strength, neither shall his (other) arms (supports) abide (prove effectual),-altering (with Hitz.) the division and punctua tion of the last two words.

stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and 8 shall deal against them, and shall prevail: 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 stand up in his (Ptolemy II.'s) place] or office, position. So Gen. xl. 13, xli. 13; and below, vv. 20, 21, 38.

and shall come unto the army] shall place himself at its head, with the object, viz., of attacking Syria.

and shall enter into the stronghold of the king of the north] Seleukeia.

and shall deal with them] viz. as he may find fit, in no friendly manner; the pron. referring to the subjects of Seleucus: cf. Jer. xviii. 23 'in the time of thine anger deal thou with them.'

and shall prevail] or shew strength, shew himself strong.

8. And also their gods, with their molten images, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold, shall he bring into captivity into Egypt] The custom of carrying off the gods of a conquered nation was common in antiquity: the capture of its gods implied naturally that the nation's strongest support had passed into the hands of the victors. Cf. Is. xlvi. 1, 2; Jer. xlviii. 7, xlix. 3. On the present occasion Jerome, following Porphyry, states that Ptolemy brought back with him 40,000 talents of silver and 2,500 precious vessels and images of gods, among the latter being those which Cambyses had carried off from Egypt 280 years before (cf. the Canopus decree, Il. 9-10: Mahaffy, p. 230). In consequence of the recovery of these images, it was said, the Egyptians conferred upon him the title of Euergetes ('Benefactor').

precious vessels] lit. vessels of desire: the same expression, 2 Chron. xxxii. 27, xxxvi. 10; Hos. xiii. 15; Neh. ii. 9; Jer. xxv. 34.

and he shall refrain some years from (R.V.)] i.e. desist from attacking. 'Refrain' is lit. stand: cf. in the Heb. Gen. xxix. 35, 2 Ki. iv. 6.

9. And he shall come into the kingdom of the king of the south, but he shall, &c.] After two years Seleucus Callinicus succeeded in re-establishing his power in Asia (B.C. 242); but proceeding to march against Ptolemy he was defeated, and obliged to retreat, accompanied by only a few attendants, to Antioch (Justin xxvii. 2), B.C. 240.

10-19. Seleucus III. (Ceraunos), 226-223, and Antiochus III. (the Great), 223-187: Ptolemy IV. (Philopator), 222—205, and Ptolemy V. (Epiphanes), 205-181.

Seleucus Callinicus left two sons, Seleucus Ceraunos and Antiochus. The former succeeded him, but was murdered, after two years, in the course of an expedition in Asia Minor (Polyb. v. 40). Antiochus, who then came to the throne, determined to resume the war with Egypt, hoping, in view of Ptolemy Philopator's effeminacy and supineness,

shall return into his own land. But his sons shall be stirred to

that an easy task lay before him (Polyb. v. 42)1. First, acting on the advice of his friend, the physician Apollophanes, he recovered the important fortress of Seleukeia (Polyb. v. 58-60, see above, on v. 7); then Theodotus, Ptolemy's præfect in Cole-Syria (v. 40), invited him treacherously to take possession of that province, and enabled him further to secure Tyre, Ptolemais, and other neighbouring towns (v. 61). Meanwhile Ptolemy, roused from his lethargy by the loss of ColeSyria, had advanced his troops as far as Pelusium; and his ministers, wishing to gain time for further warlike preparations, succeeded in obtaining from Antiochus an armistice for four months. Antiochus accordingly retired for the winter to Seleukeia, leaving garrisons in Phoenicia and Cœle-Syria, which (being ignorant of Ptolemy's real intentions) he hoped he had now finally secured (v. 62—66). However, in the following spring (218), a large Egyptian army, which had meantime been organized, marched under Nicolaus through Palestine as far as a spot between Lebanon and the sea, where it was met by Antiochus and completely defeated (v. 68–69). After this Antiochus advanced into Palestine, takes Philoteria, Scythopolis (Beth-shean) and Atabyrium, as also Abila, Gadara, and Rabbath-Ammon, on the E. of Jordan, leaves a governor, with 8000 soldiers, in Samaria, and retires into winter-quarters at Ptolemais (v. 70-71).

In the next spring (217) Antiochus and Ptolemy both take the field, with armies of 60,000 or 70,000 men each (v. 79). Ptolemy, starting from Alexandria, advances to within 50 stadia of Raphia (the borderfortress of Palestine, in the direction of Egypt); Antiochus first marches to Gaza, then by slow stages, passing Raphia, to within five stadia of the spot on which the army of Ptolemy was encamped (v. 80). In the battle which ensued (v. 82-85), Antiochus was defeated (with the loss of 10,000 infantry, 300 cavalry, besides 4,000 prisoners), and fell back upon Gaza, retiring afterwards to Antioch (v. 86). He then sent to Ptolemy to ask terms of peace, which Ptolemy, satisfied with his victory, and with its natural consequence, the recovery of Cole-Syria, granted for one year (v. 87).

The second part of v. 12 refers plainly to Ptolemy's victory at Raphia; but it is impossible to feel certain which of the events just described are referred to in v. 10b-12a. The sequence of events as described in these verses seems, in fact, not to agree with that of the narrative of Polybius.

10. his sons] Seleucus Ceraunos and Antiochus the Great, the two being grouped together, because (probably) the campaign of Seleucus in Asia Minor was the first stage in an organized plan of hostilities against Egypt.

shall stir themselves up] viz., as the word used implies, for war or combat (cf. ¿pelíšw): so. v. 25; Deut. ii. 5, 9, 19, 24 [R.V. contend]; 2 Ki. xiv. 10 (properly, Why shouldest thou stir thyself up againsti.e. advance against, challenge-calamity?').

1 The events summarized in vv. 10-12 are narrated at length in Polyb. v. 5871, 79-87 (v. 62—68, 79-87, are translated in Mahaffy, Z.c., pp. 250-263).

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. And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the

and he (or it) shall come on] i.e. either Antiochus, or his army (the 'multitude' just spoken of). The attack upon Egypt, planned originally by the two brothers, was, after the death of Seleucus, carried out by Antiochus.

and flood up and flow over] viz. in the campaigns of 219 in ColeSyria, and of 218 in Palestine (as described above). The words are borrowed from Is. viii. 8: the advancing hosts of Antiochus (as in Is. those of the Assyrians) are compared to a flood of waters inundating a land. Cf. Jer. xlvii. 2.

and he (or it) shall return] Antiochus, after wintering in Ptolemais, ' returned' to the attack upon Egypt in 217.

and they (his forces) shall stir themselves up (advancing) as far as his stronghold] Probably Gaza, which was the most important fortress of Palestine on the south, and a play upon the name of which () is perhaps intended by the Heb. word here used (D). The strength of Gaza may be estimated by the fact that it resisted Alexander the Great for two months.

11. the king of the south] Ptolemy Philopator.

shall be moved with choler (viii. 7), and shall come forth] to meet the advancing army of Antiochus (v. 10b). In the narrative of Polybius, however, Ptolemy appears as the first in the field.

11b-12a. Very ambiguous. The two alternative explanations

are:

(1) And he (Ptolemy) will raise a great army, and it will be placed under his (Ptolemy's) command1,-the fact being mentioned on account of Ptolemy's unwarlike nature and usual indifference,—(12) and the multitude (the army of Ptolemy) shall lift itself up (viz. to attack: cf. Is. xxxiii. 10 A.V.), its2 (or his2, i.e. Ptolemy's) heart being exalted, i.e. elated with the prospect of success (von Lengerke, Hitzig, Ewald, Meinhold); (2) And he (Antiochus) will raise a great army (cf. v. 13a), but it will be given into his (Ptolemy's) hands, (12) and the multitude (the army of Antiochus) shall be carried away (R.V. marg. ; cf. for the rend. Is. viii. 4, xl. 24, xli. 16), and3 his (Ptolemy's) heart shall be exalted, i.e. elated with the victory (Bev., Behrm., Keil for v. 116, Prince). There are objections to each of these interpretations, both on the score of Heb. usage, and relation to the context, and also on account (see above) of imperfect agreement with the history; but, on the whole, the second is preferable. To be exalted (or lifted up), of the heart, as ch. v. 20; Deut. viii. 14, xvii. 20.

1 'Give into the hand,' as Gen. xxxii. 17, xxxix. 4, 2 Sam. x. 10.
2 Heb. text (with no 'and').

3 Heb. marg. (with 'and').

« السابقةمتابعة »