The Kings of the North and the South

This is the section I cut out of the sermon, because it is far too long for a Sunday morning. But it is an incredible section. It does not give names. It just talks about the king of the North and the king of the South, the next one, the next one, and their sons. Every single time, you see a parallel in history. I would strongly urge you to take the time to study it. It is a real flex of Daniel's prophecy, and it points to God as the true author.

The king of the South is the Ptolemaic king in Egypt. The king of the North is the Seleucid king in Syria. Israel sat in the middle.

The main ancient sources are the Greek historian Polybius (second century BC), Appian's Syrian Wars, Livy, Josephus, and Jerome's Commentary on Daniel (about AD 407), which preserves a great deal of older Greek history and also the arguments of the skeptic Porphyry. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, on chapter 11 Dates are the usual ones in standard reference works, and some are approximate.

A commander grows stronger (11:5)

"The king of the South will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow even stronger and will rule his own kingdom with great authority." Daniel 11:5

The king of the South is Ptolemy I Soter, Alexander's general who took Egypt. Seleucus I fled to Ptolemy about 316 BC and served under him. With Ptolemy's help he won back Babylon in 312 BC, and went on to build the largest of the four kingdoms. Diodorus Siculus 19.55-56, 19.90-91; Appian, Syrian Wars 53-55

A daughter given in marriage (11:6)

"After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to seal the agreement. But his daughter will not retain her position of power, nor will his strength endure. At that time she will be given up, along with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her." Daniel 11:6

About 252 BC, Ptolemy II made peace with the Seleucid king Antiochus II and gave him his daughter Berenice in marriage. Antiochus put away his first wife, Laodice, to marry her. After Ptolemy II died in 246 BC, Antiochus went back to Laodice and died soon after, by some accounts poisoned by her. Berenice and her infant son were murdered at Antioch. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel 11:6; Appian, Syrian Wars 65; Justin, Epitome 27.1

Her brother takes revenge (11:7-8)

"But one from her family line will rise up in his place, come against the army of the king of the North, and enter his fortress, fighting and prevailing. He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North." Daniel 11:7-8

This is her family going to rescue her. He did not make it in time. Instead he started a war and plundered the North for all it was worth.

The one "from her family line" Daniel 11:7 is her brother, Ptolemy III Euergetes. He invaded the Seleucid kingdom in 246 BC, the Third Syrian War, and took Seleucia, the port of Antioch. Jerome says he brought back 40,000 talents of silver and 2,500 sacred images. Egyptian inscriptions from his reign boast that he brought back the images of the gods. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel 11:7-9; Canopus Decree (238 BC); Adulis inscription (OGIS 54)

The North strikes back and fails (11:9)

"...who will invade the realm of the king of the South and then return to his own land." Daniel 11:9

Seleucus II, Laodice's son, tried to invade Egypt about 242 BC and had to go back home. Justin, Epitome 27.2; Jerome, Commentary on Daniel 11:9

His sons (11:10)

"But his sons will stir up strife and assemble a great army, which will advance forcefully, sweeping through like a flood, and will again carry the battle as far as his fortress." Daniel 11:10

Seleucus II had two sons. Seleucus III reigned briefly and was assassinated in 223 BC. His brother, Antiochus III, later called the Great, took Seleucia back from Egypt in 219 BC and swept down through Phoenicia and Judea toward Egypt in the Fourth Syrian War. Polybius, Histories 5.40-71

A great army delivered into his enemy's hand (11:11-12)

"In a rage, the king of the South will march out to fight the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be delivered into the hand of his enemy. When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be proud in heart and will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not triumph." Daniel 11:11-12

Antiochus III attacked the South with a huge army, and he lost, and he had to go back.

This is the battle of Raphia in 217 BC, near Gaza. Polybius gives Antiochus about 62,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 102 elephants, and says nearly 10,000 of his infantry were killed. Ptolemy IV won, but he made peace and went back to his easy life in Alexandria instead of pressing his advantage. Polybius, Histories 5.79-87 He cast down tens of thousands, but did not triumph.

He comes back, and wins (11:13-16)

"For the king of the North will raise another army, larger than the first, and after some years he will advance with a great army and many supplies." Daniel 11:13 "Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand." Daniel 11:15 "He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand." Daniel 11:16

Within a few years Antiochus III came back, attacked again, and this time he succeeded.

Ptolemy IV died about 204 BC and left a child, Ptolemy V, on the throne. Antiochus III and Philip V of Macedon agreed to divide Egypt's lands between them. Polybius, Histories 15.20 Those are the "many" who "rise up against the king of the South." Daniel 11:14 Antiochus defeated the Egyptian general Scopas at Panium, near the springs of the Jordan, about 200 BC. Scopas fled to Sidon, was besieged there, and surrendered. Polybius, Histories 16.18-19; Jerome, Commentary on Daniel 11:15 Judea, the Beautiful Land, passed from Egypt to the Seleucids. Josephus preserves a letter of Antiochus III rewarding the Jews who helped him. Josephus, Antiquities 12.129-144 Some read "violent ones among your own people" in verse 14 as Jews who took sides in this war.

Another daughter (11:17)

"He will resolve to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and will reach an agreement with the king of the South. He will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plan will not succeed or help him." Daniel 11:17

Antiochus III gave his daughter Cleopatra I to Ptolemy V in marriage about 194/193 BC. He hoped to control Egypt through her, but she sided with her husband and with Egypt. Livy 35.13; Appian, Syrian Wars 5; Jerome, Commentary on Daniel 11:17

A commander from the coastlands (11:18-19)

"Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many of them. But a commander will put an end to his reproach and will turn it back upon him. After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be no more." Daniel 11:18-19

Antiochus III moved west into the coasts of Asia Minor and into Greece. Rome stopped him. The Roman commander Lucius Cornelius Scipio defeated him at Magnesia in 190 BC. In the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC) Antiochus had to give up Asia Minor, pay a huge indemnity, and send hostages to Rome, among them his own son, the future Antiochus IV. Livy 37.37-44, 38.38; Polybius, Histories 21.42-45; Appian, Syrian Wars 30-39 Short of money, Antiochus III tried to plunder a temple of Bel in Elymais in 187 BC and was killed there. Diodorus Siculus 28.3, 29.15; Strabo, Geography 16.1.18; Justin, Epitome 32.2

A tax collector (11:20)

"In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or in battle." Daniel 11:20

His son Seleucus IV inherited the Roman debt. Second Maccabees tells how he sent his minister Heliodorus to take the treasures of the temple in Jerusalem. 2 Maccabees 3 In 175 BC Heliodorus killed Seleucus IV in a plot, not in battle. Appian, Syrian Wars 45 That opened the door for the man in the next lesson.

Next: Antiochus IV Epiphanes.