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and, as if with new and other views of aggrandizement, to turn his face to the isles, (the Grecian Isles,) and take many, till some prince or general, as one whose honour was shamed by the act, should repulse him, and make him return ignominiously to his own land, where he would stumble, and fall, and not be found,—so Antiochus the Great, when prepared to enter Egypt, changed his plan, made peace with the young Ptolemy, betrothed his daughter to him, and after a while conducted her to the marriage; then, as considering all secure in that quarter, turned his face toward the Grecian Isles, and with a great fleet and army took many, thereby offending the majesty of the Roman Republic, whose confederates they were; whereupon the Roman commanders caused the reproach to turn on him, attacked and defeated him utterly both at Thermopyla and in the decisive battle of Magnesia, and so forced him to return to his own land. a disgraced fugitive, the western half of his empire being surrendered, and an immense tribute imposed on him;1 to obtain help towards the payment of which, when he had entered and sought to plunder some rich temple in Elymais, he was attacked, killed, and found no more.7. As the next successor2 of the King of the North was

1 The Articles of the Treaty are given in full in the Univ. Hist. ix. 268. 2 20. "Then shall stand up in his estate* a raiser of taxes in the glory of his kingdom: but in few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle."

Literally on his base; i. e. on the base of the former king.

Literally, one who makes an exactor to pass over the glory of his kingdom. The Hebrew word for exactor, (i) is used with reference to money exactions. So Deut. xv. 2, 3; "Every creditor, that lendeth aught to his neighbour, shall not exact it of his neighbour, or brother; of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again :" and 2 Kings xxiii. 35; Jehoiakim taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh : he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land." In Zech. ix. 8, "And no oppressor shall pass through them any more," the same word is used.-"The glory" may mean simply his (once) glorious kingdom :-or perhaps the Jewish temple. See Note suprà on verse 16.

Some Hebrew manuscripts, I believe, read, one drawing near. But the sense seems to require Vanderhooght's reading, w, an exactor, with a slight change of the vowel-points.

DEN, from ; a contracted verbal, (root) breathe,) which 1st

described as a raiser of taxes, or one that would cause an exactor to pass over the glory of his kingdom, then perish within few days, not in an angry brawl or battle,

-so Antiochus's son and successor Seleucus Philopator was scarcely known except as a raiser of taxes, to pay off the tribute of 1000 talents imposed for twelve years by the Romans; his exactor of taxes, Heliodorus, being sent to gather them, not merely elsewhere and otherwise in the once glorious kingdom of Syria, but by plunder too of that which the revealing Angel might specially mean by "the glory of his kingdom," (though he did not so appreciate it,) viz. the Temple of Jerusalem soon after which sacrilege, and in the twelfth or last year for which the Roman tribute of 1000 talents had been imposed,' having fulfilled his predicted character, he was killed; that same Heliodorus, who had been his instrument for spoiling the temple, treacherously assassinating him.2-8. Whereas the next king of the

So Wintle. Bishop Newton has not remarked this characteristic fact. 2 21. "And in his estate shall stand up a vile person,† to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom; but he shall come in peaceably,§ and obtain the

signifies the breathing organ, i. e. the nose, or nostrils; 2ndly, as the breathing of the nostrils often expresses anger, means anger also. In this sense the word is used, Gen. xxvii. 44, of the anger of Esau against Jacob, which made him seek to kill him; Judges xiv. 19 of that of Samson against the Philistines, which issued in a murderous attack upon them; and 1 Sam. xx. 30, &c, of that of Saul against Jonathan, under the influence of which he cast a javelin at him to slay him. So that this phrase in the text may very well mean, that the king should neither be slain in any private angry brawl or quarrel, nor in public war. Hence Wintle's recourse to the Coptic version for the different reading of, signifying arms, or weapons of war, seems quite unnecessary.

*

aby; literally, on his base.

So verses 7, 20, before.

is used in Isaiah's memorable proand the Niphil Particip. of

+, one despised, the same word that phecy of Christ, liii. 3, “He is despised," &c; to esteem lightly, to despise. So 2 Sam. vi. 16, 2 Kings xix. 21, &c. i. e. on whom they (the people) shall not confer the honour," &c.

, in quietness. The word is used Prov. xvii. 1, "Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith;" as also Psalm cxxii. 7; and again Dan. viii. 25, In peace (Gesen. in the midst of peace) he shall destroy many." So too verse 24 infrà.

"

North was to be a man every way contemptible, and yet, contrary to all probabilities attendant on such a character, to obtain successes eventually against his rival' kingdom by flatteries.* 22. And (with) + the arms of a flood shall they be overflowed from before him, and shall be broken: yea also the prince of the covenant. 23. And after§ the league made with him || he shall work deceitfully: for ¶he shall come up, ** and shall become strong with a small people."

124. "He shall enter peaceably++ even unto the fattest places of the province :‡‡

nipbbņ, lubricitates, blanditiæ; Trommius. Thus the word has a double sense; being applied both to the slipperiness of a path, and the slipperiness or flattering and deceit of the tongue. In the former sense it occurs Psalm xxxv. 6; "Let their way be dark and slippery:" in the latter its originating verb, ¿ņ, Prov. ii. 16, vii. 5; "The stranger that flattereth, or dissembleth, with her words:" and Prov. xxix. 5; "A man that flattereth or dissembleth to his neighbour." In this latter sense the verbal seems to be used both here and in the verses 32, 34, below.-" Arts of dissimulation." Gesenius.

The with is not in the Hebrew. Therefore rather, "The arms of the overflowing shall," &c. So the Greek, και βραχίονες το κατακλύζοντος κατακλυσθησονται απο προσωπου αυτού. The article is before flood in the Hebrew.

Bishop Newton and others explain this as the Jewish High Priest, associated with the Mosaic Covenant. But the word ♫, covenant, by itself is as general in Hebrew as in English; and therefore Michaelis' rendering rex fœderatus, which Wintle approves, probably more correct.―The word 723, rendered prince, is also one of general meaning, and applied alike to chiefs royal, military, civil, and ecclesiastical: e. g. 1 Sam. ix. 16, x. 1, of Saul, the ruling prince over Israel; 1 Chron. xiii. 1, 2, 2 Chron. xxxii. 21, of military leaders; 2 Chron. xxviii. 7, of a ruler over the palace; 1 Chron. ix. 11 and 2 Chron. xxxi. 13, of the priest Azariah, the ruler over the house or temple of God.-In Dan. ix. 25, 26, it is used both of the Prince Messiah, and of the Roman Prince that was to come and desolate Jerusalem.

Wintle explains it historically of the then king of Egypt; as confederated by league with Antiochus Epiphanes, soon after the latter's establishment in the kingdom. I think it refers rather to the previous treaty with the Egyptian king, made by his father Antiochus : especially as history records no new treaty made with him by Epiphanes himself.

$from, out of; and sometimes after, or by reason of. Compare the Y in the important verse 31 infrá.

Lit. "And after the (i. e. their or his) being associated with him he shall practise deceit :” Sept. Και απο των συναμίξεων προς αυτόν ποιήσει δολον. It is the Hithpael Syriac infinitive form (to join oneself) used as a noun, derived from , to be joined or confederated; a word so used, Gen. xiv. 3.

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+, as in verse 21: where see Note §. Wintle would prefer to construe this with the last clause of the verse preceding: "shall become strong by quiet meaeures :" an idea with which the of the next word well agrees.

IIT, pinguetudines provincia. Tromm. 7 is thus used figuratively in Isaac's blessings on Jacob and Esau, Gen. xxvii. 28, 39; "God give thee of the fatness of the earth."-, like the English province, is a word used of some smaller division of a country or kingdom. So in Ezra and Daniel (e. g. Dan. ii. 48, iii. 2, 3) of the provinces of the Persian empire very frequently. In one case, Ezra v. 8, Judea is thus specified, "the province of Judea." And, as there is no specification of any particular province of either

such as none before, to succeed in the first instance to the northern kingdom by flatteries, (the arms of the overflower, its previous occupant by force, being overflowed from before him,) to become strong with contracted means and a small people, to attack the King of the South, albeit united by treaty with him, apparently

and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his father's fathers: he shall scatter among them* the prey and spoil and riches (yea) and he shall forecast his devices + against the strong holds, even for a time.§ 25. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south, with a great army and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle, with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand. For ¶ they shall forecast devices against him: 26. yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat†† shall destroy him; ‡‡ and his army shall overflow,§§ and many shall fall down slain. 27. And both these king's hearts shall be to do mischief; and they shall speak lies at one table but it shall not prosper:¶¶ for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.” ***

**

the Syrian or the Egyptian kingdom, and Judea, (in a Jewish mind) was the province par excellence, I conceive that this is the one here intended; and not, as Wintle, the Delta of Egypt. This view best suits history, on Wintle's own report of it: "When Antiochus went to examine the southern parts of his dominion (2 Macc. iv. 21) he sent Apollonius with his retinue into Egypt; but it does not appear that he made an excursion thither himself."

* Among whom? Newton supposes among his own Syrian people; citing Polybius and 1 Mac. iii. 30 in proof of his munificence in gifts and public shows, on which the spoil and riches he acquired were spent: Wintle, that it refers to the large donations and bribes, from out of the plunder, with which he courted the Egyptians, which is also noted in the 1st Maccabees, i. 16.-Or may the mean, belonging to them; viz. to his father's fathers? that is, as stored by them? So 1 Sam. xiv. 16, "the watchman of Saul," , signifies of or belonging to Saul.

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The Septuagint for

+ Or, devise his devices. 2, strong holds, seems to have read,

Egypt : its translation being επ' Αίγυπτον λογιείται λογισμες.

§; éws Kаips. Sept. Compare this with the "at the time appointed.” of verses 27 and 29: also with the notices of time in verses 13, 15. The word , time, will be observed on in a subsequent note.

|| Or, stir himself up for the war.

¶, for, because.

**As in verse 25. They shall devise devices, or plots.-So Wintle. ++, costly food and delicacies from the royal table.-Gesen. So Dan. i. 5, 8, 13, 15.

Wintle observes, "Instead of, shall bruise or break him, one manuscript reads, shall sell or betray him:" which last reading he adopts. And certainly, if the word bear this sense, (which seems however a little doubtful) it well suits the context. $§"Shall be overflowed:

I conceive.

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Vul. and Syr. passively and so Wintle. Rightly, III, Sept. eis Toynplay; Wintle, to act maliciously. ¶¶ That is, the policy shall not succeed. ; a word so used in Isa. liii. 10, "The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand; "and Isa. liv. 17, weapon formed against thee shall prosper."

*** Sept. ότι ετι πέρας εις καιρον. translation.

"No

So Wintle; as also the authorised English

by his father's treaty noted before in the prophecy,) to defeat him and his armies once and again, (acquiring thereby and profusely scattering much plunder and treasure,) and, aided by treachery in the southern king's court, to overflow into Egypt, scheme mischief against its king under the same roof,' and while making profession of friendship, then return (as if to give time for his policy to work) into his own land, there manifesting in some way or other a heart set against "the holy covenant," or covenant and religion of the Jews, God's holy people,—so Antiochus Epiphanes, brother to the late King, and not the lawful heir to the throne, escaping from Rome, where he had been long time a hostage, did by flattering alike the Romans, the Princes Eumenes and Attalus, and the Syrian people, obtain the Syrian kingdom, overwhelming the adverse power of the usurper Heliodorus, become strong, though with a kingdom now reduced and disgraced, attack the Egyptian Prince Philometor his nephew, albeit allied by treaty as well as blood, defeat him signally in two successive expeditions, and enter and spoil Egypt of its riches; by his squandering of which in shows, gifts, and pageantry, he sought and gained the title of Illustrious, his true one being the Vile:3 until, at length, having got Philometor into his hands, and the Alexandrians having set up his brother Physcon in his room, he planned at the same table with Philometor a scheme of discord and division between the two brothers, whereby it seemed he might best prepare Egypt to be a little after his prey; then returning, while the scheme might work, to his own land, did in the way attack Jerusalem, massacring 40,000 of its inhabitants, and despoiling and profaning its temple, because of the Jews having broken into insurrection on a false report of his death. It was thus that he fulfilled the first part of the prophecy concerning him.-9. As,

2

This was when at Memphis. Alexandria had not yet submitted to Antiochus Epiphanes. For a brief sketch of the history, see 1 Mac. i. 17-23.

2 The treaty made by his father Antiochus the Great with Egypt, just before his turning his face to the Isles of Chittim, was still uncancelled.

3 An example of allusive contrast. See Vol. i. pp. 112, 245.

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