Daniel 11:11 Commentary and Bible Study

Two years later in 217 BC Ptolemy IV invaded the north and faced Antiochus III at the battle of Raphia – ‘It is said that he [Ptolemy] assembled 70,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 73 elephants’ (E J Young). He was ‘moved with choler’, filled with anger, at having his territory previously invaded and his fortresses taken. ‘And he shall set forth a great multitude’ – this is either the multitude that Ptolemy brought with him, or the multitude raised to resist him by Antiochus, who had an army of 62,000 foot-soldiers, 6,000 cavalry, and 102 elephants. The latter view is confirmed by the comparison in verse 13 which indicates that a later multitude gathered by him was greater than this earlier multitude. Ptolemy defeated Antiochus and the multitude raised by Antiochus was ’given into his hand’ exactly as the prophecy predicted. ‘Hereon he was forced to retreat with the loss of ten thousand of his men slain, and four thousand taken prisoners’ (Prideaux).Verse 12 continues to predict the behaviour of the king of the south, Ptolemy IV Philopater. ‘His heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands.’ He gained a great victory but it did him little good. The historian Humphrey Prideaux writes that he was ‘a most profligate and vicious prince’. Barnes says, ‘He was wholly given up to luxury, sloth, and voluptuousness, and returned immediately after his victory into Egypt, and surrendered himself up to the enjoyment of his pleasures.’ This conduct, say Barnes, caused some of his people to rebel against him, and the effect of the victory was far less than might have been expected – ‘but he shall not be strengthened by it.’Following the death of Ptolemy IV in 203 BC, his son Ptolemy V Epiphanes ruled as a child, not being crowned until 196 BC. ‘For the king of the north shall return, and set forth a multitude greater than the former.’ After the defeat of verse 12, Antiochus III took steps to recover again the territory of Palestine and Coele-Syria to its north. Calvin says that ‘When, therefore, he [Antiochus III the Great] perceived the land deprived of its king, he drew up an army and invaded Egypt.’ He assembled an even larger force than the multitude he previously had when he was defeated at Raphia (verse 11), and this time he triumphed. This was the battle of Panion in 198 BC. Barnes says that he brought with him forces with which he had successfully invaded the East. He came ‘with great riches’ which he had ‘obtained in his conquests in Parthia and other portions of the East’, comments Barnes, quoting Prideaux.‘And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south.’ The commentators refer this to an alliance which Antiochus made with Philip of Macedon as well as with Agathocles ‘who excited a rebellion against him [the king of the south] in Egypt’ (Barnes). There was an attempted plot within Egypt involving a general named Scopas to kill the child king, but this failed. ‘Also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.’ Barnes and others explain that Palestine lay between these two great powers – the north and the south – and as the fortunes of the war went back and forth, the ruling authority over Palestine kept changing hands. Certain Jews will see a potential for self-advancement in this situation. Was this an attempt to establish the vision witting or unwitting? Some see this as fulfilled in Onias IV the son of the high priest in Jerusalem who was dismissed. Onias went to Egypt and built a rival temple where he served as high priest. This was supposedly a deliberate attempt to fulfil Isaiah 19:19, understood literally. However these events took place during the reign of Ptolemy VI Philometer around 150 BC, too late to tie in with this passage in Daniel describing events in 198 BC, and, besides, Isaiah 19:19 is better seen as a spiritual prophecy describing the conquests of the gospel. Barnes believes this refers to the rulers over Judah appointed by Ptolemy, who deserted the king of the south and sided with and assisted Antiochus (Josephus), and in this way unwittingly established the vision, but did not obtain their goal, for ‘Antiochus subsequently, on his return from Egypt (B.C. 198), took Jerusalem, and slew many of the party of Ptolemy. who had given themselves up to him (Prideaux)’ (Barnes).