Attributed commentary excerpt
Barnes' Notes on Daniel 11:14
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Notes on the Whole Bible
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south - Against the king of Egypt. That is, not only Antiochus the Great, who was always opposed to him, and who was constantly waging war with him, but also others with whom he would be particularly involved, or who would be opposed to him. The reference is especially to Philip, king of Macedon, and to Agathocles, who excited a rebellion against him in Egypt. See Jerome on Daniel 11:0; Polybius, xv. 20; Lengerke, “in loc.;” and Prideaux, iii. 198. Antiochus and Philip of Macedon entered into an agreement to invade the dominions of Ptolemy Epiphanes, and to divide them between themselves. At the same time a treasonable plot was laid against the life of Ptolemy by Scopas the AEtolian (Polyb. xvii.), who had under his command the army of the Egyptians, and who designed to take advantage of the youth of the king, and seize upon the throne. This project was defeated by the vigilance of Aristomenes, the prime minister. - Prideaux, iii. 181. See also the account of the conspiracy of Agathocles, and his sister Agathoclea, against Ptolemy, when an infant, in Prideaux, iii. 168, seq. These facts fully accord with what is said in the passage before us. Also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves - The angel here turns to Daniel, and states what would be done in these circumstances by his own people - the Jews. It is to be remembered that, in these times, they were alternately under the dominion of the Egyptian and the Syrian monarchs - of Ptolemy and of Antiochus. The principal seat of the wars between Syria and Egypt was Palestine - the border land between them and Judea, therefore, often changed masters. Ptolemy Philopater had subdued Coelo-Syria and Palestine, and Ptolemy Epiphanes came into possession of them when he ascended the throne. But the angel now says that a portion of his people would take occasion, from the weakness of the youthful monarch of Egypt, and the conspiracies in his own kingdom, and the foreign combinations against him, to attempt to throw off his authority, and to become independent. That part of the people who would attempt to do this is designated in the common translation as “the robbers of thy people.” This, however, is scarcely a correct version, and does not properly indicate the persons that would be engaged in the plot. The marginal reading is, “children of robbers.” The Latin Vulgate, “filii quoque proevaricatorum populi tui.” The Greek renders it οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν λοιμῶν τοῦ λαοῦ σοῦ hoi huioi tōn loimōn tou laou sou - “the sons of the pests of thy people.” Lengerke renders it, “the most powerful people of thy nation “ - die gewaltsam sten Leute deines Volkes. The Hebrew word (פריץ pârı̂yts) means, properly, “rending, ravenous” - as of wild beasts, Isaiah 35:9; and then “violent, rapacious; an opressor, robber.” - Gesenius, Lexicon The reference here seems to be to the mighty ones of the nation; the chiefs, or rulers - but a name is given them that would properly denote their character for oppression and rapacity. It would seem - what is indeed probable from the circumstances of the case - that the nation was not only subject to this foreign authority, but that those who were placed over it, under that foreign authority, and who were probably mainly of their own people, were also themselves tyrannical and oppressive in their character. These subordinate rulers, however, preferred the authority of Antiochus to that of Ptolemy…
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