Daniel 11:5 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And the king of the south shall be strong’ – the king of Egypt, who was initially Ptolemy I Soter (meaning Saviour). Because of his comparative strength the king of the south eclipsed some of the other rival powers. Egypt was one of the four emergent regions coming out of the so-called wars of the Diadochi (crown princes). Only two of these four stronger regions are mentioned in these verses – the other being the king of the north. These two are no doubt singled out in the prophecy because of their interaction with Judah which lay between them, and because the narrative is going to lead us to Antiochus IV in verse 21, who will have a greater significance in the prophecy as a type of antichrist. ‘And one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.’ Many commentators understand ‘one of his princes’ to mean one of Alexander’s princes (referring back to verse 4), rather than to one of the king of the south’s princes. This one is taken to be Seleucus I Nicator. It is true that for a time, having lost power over Babylonia, Seleucus did reside with Ptolemy I in Egypt, but he later recovered Babylonia, and in 281 BC he took most of the empire apart from Egypt and Palestine, becoming the one who is called here the king of the north. We have to understand in what follows that the king of the north and the king of the south, are really two distinct dynasties of kings, and not simply two individuals; these verses cover a period of time longer than the lifetime of any single monarch.The fact that Seleucus is meant by ‘one of the princes’ is confirmed by the clause, ‘And in the end of years they shall join themselves together.’ This is the joining together of two potential dynastic rivals – the king of the north and the king of the south – through a political marriage. This took place during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, son of Ptolemy I, who persuaded Antiochus II Theos, grandson of Seleucus I, to marry his daughter Berenice in 252 BC. In order for this marriage to go ahead, Antiochus had to divorce his existing wife Laodice, and set aside her children as legitimate heirs. This new marriage was supposed to strengthen both regions. But when Berenice’s father died, Antiochus returned to Laodice who took revenge and had her son, Seleucus II Callinicus, murder Berenice. Thus Berenice did not ‘retain the power of the arm’ – the intended strengthening of the two powers. Laodice is also said to have murdered her own husband Antiochus II, and her son Seleucus II was placed on the throne. ‘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.’ The schemes of Ptolemy II utterly failed, and Berenice fled after Antiochus returned to his first wife, and she was murdered, her child also killed, her father – ‘he that begat her’ – dying before her.