which Philopator had conquered, by the victory he had gained at Raphia. "And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the South." This prophecy was fulfilled by the league between the kings of Macedonia and Syria against the infant monarch of Egypt: by the conspiracy of Agathocles and Agathoclea for the regency and by that of Scopas, to dispossess him of his crown and life. * Also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision, but they shall fall." Several apostate Jews, to ingratiate themselves with the king of Egypt, complied with every thing he required of them, even in opposition to the sacred ordinances of the law, by which means they were in great favour with him, but their influence was not long-lived; for when Antiochus regained possession of Judea and Jerusalem, he either extirpated, or drove out of the country, all the partisans of Ptolemy. This subjection of the Jews to the sovereignty of the kings of Syria, prepared the way for the accomplishment of the prophecy, which denounced the calamities that Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the Great, was to bring upon this people; which occasioned a great number of them to "fall" into apostacy. "So the king of the North shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities, and the arms of the South shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. But he that cometh against him, shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: And he shall stand in the glorious land which by his hand shall be consumed." Antiochus, after having defeated the Egyptian army at Paneas, besieged and took, first Sidon, then Gaza, and afterwards all the cities of those provinces, not Ver. 14. The angel Gabriel here speaks to Daniel. s Ver. 15. VOL. VII. C withstanding the opposition made by the chosen troops which the king of Egypt had sent against him. "He did according to his own will," in Colosyria and Palestine, and nothing was able to withstand him. Pursuing his conquests in Palestine, he entered Judea, "that glorious," or, according to the Hebrew," that desirable land." He there established his authority; and strengthened it, by repulsing from the castle of Jerusalem the garrison which Scopas had thrown into it. This garrison being so well defended, that Antiochus was obliged to send for all his troops in order to force it; and the siege continuing a long time, the country was ruined and consumed" by the stay the army was obliged to make in it. "He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him: thus shall he do, and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: But she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him." Antiochus, seeing that the Romans undertook the defence of young Ptolemy Epiphanes, thought it would best suit his interest to lull the king asleep, by giving him his daughter in marriage, in order to corrupt her," and excite her to betray her husband; but he was not successful in his design; for as soon as she was married to Ptolemy, she renounced her father's interests, and embraced those of her husband. It was on this account that we see her* joined with him in the embassy which was sent from Egypt to Rome, to congratulate the Romans on the victory which Acilius had gained over her father at Thermopyla. "After this he shall turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: But a prince for his own be Legati ab Ptolemæo & Cleopatrú, regibus Ægypti, gratulantes quod Manins Acilius consul Antiochum regem Gracie xpulisset, venerunt. Liv. 1. xxxvii, n. 3. half shall cause the reproach offered by him [Antiochus] to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him." Antiochus, having put an end to the war of Cœlosyria and Palestine, sent his two sons, at the head of the land army to Sardis, whilst himself embarked on board the fleet, and sailed to the Ægean sea, where he took several islands, and extended his empire exceedingly on that side.However, "the prince" of the people, whom he had insulted by making this invasion, that is, L. Scipio the Roman consul, "caused the reproach to turn upon him;" by defeating him at mount Sipylus and repulsing him from every part of Asia Minor. Y" Then he shall turn his face towards the fort of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.” Antiochus, after his defeat, returned to Antioch, the capital of his kingdom, and the strongest fortress in it. He went soon after into the provinces of the East, in order to levy money to pay the Romans; but, having plundered the temple of Elymais, he there lost his life in a miserable manner. Such is the prophecy of Daniel relating to Antiochus, which I have explained in most places, according to the Hebrew text. I confess there may be some doubtful and obscure terms, which may be difficult to explain, and are variously interpreted by commentators; but is it possible for the substance of the prophecy to appear obscure and doubtful? Can any reasonable man, who makes use of his understanding, ascribe such a prediction, either to mere chance, or to the conjectures of human prudence and sagacity? Can any light, but that which proceeds from God himself, penetrate, in this manner, into the darkness of futurity, and point out the events of it in so exact and circumstantial a manner? Not to mention what is here said concerning Egypt, Seleucus Callinicus, king of Syria, leaves two chil Ver 19. 1 dren behind him. The eldest reigns but three years, and does not perform any exploit worthy of being recorded; and, accordingly, the prophet does not take any notice of him. The youngest is Antiochus, surnamed the Great, from his great actions; and accordingly our prophet gives an abstract of the principal circumstances of his life, his most important enterprises, and even the manner of his death. In it we see his expeditions into Colosyria and Phœnicia, several cities of which are besieged and taken by that monarch; his entrance into Jerusalem, which is laid waste by the stay his troops make in it; his conquest of a great many islands; the marriage of his daughter with the king of Egypt, which does not answer the design he had in view; his overthrow by the Roman consul, his retreat to Antioch, and, lastly, his unfortunate end. These are, in a manner, the out-lines of Antiochus's picture, which can be made to resemble none but himself. Is it to be supposed that the prophet drew those features without design and at random, in the picture he has left us of him? The facts, which denote the accomplishment of the prophecy, are all told by heathen authors, who lived many centuries after the prophet, and whose fidelity cannot be suspected. We must renounce, not only religion, but reason, to refuse to acknowledge, in such prophecies as these, the intervention of a Supreme Being, to whom all ages are present, and who governs the world with absolute power. SECT. IX. Seleucus Philopator succeeds to the throne of Antiochus his father. The first occurrences of the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes in Egypt.Various embassies sent to the Achæans and Romans. Complaints made against Philip. Commissioners are sent from Rome to inquire into those complaints; and at the same time to take cognizance of the ill treatment of Sparta by the Achæans. Sequel of that affair. ANTIOCHUS the Great dying, Seleucus Philopator, his eldest son, whom he had left in Antioch when he set out for the eastern provinces, succeeded him. But his reign was obscure and contemptible, occasioned by the misery to which the Romans had reduced that crown; and the exorbitant* sum (a thousand talents annually) he was obliged to pay, during all his reign, by virtue of the treaty of peace concluded between the king his father and that people. Ptolemy Epiphanes at that time reigned in Egypt. Immediately upon his accession to the throne, he had sent an ambassador into Achaia, to renew the alliance which the king his father had formerly concluded with the Achæans. The latter accepted of this offer with joy; and accordingly sent deputies to the king, Lycortas, father of Polybius the historian, and two other ambassadors. The alliance being renewed, Philopoemen, who was at that time in office, inviting Ptolemy's ambassador to a banquet, the conversation turned upon that prince. In the praise which the ambassador bestowed upon him, he expatiated very much on his dexterity in the chace, his address in riding, and his vigour and activity in the exer-, cise of his arms; and to give an example of what he Appian. in Syr. p. 116. Polyb. in Leg. c. xxxvii. • About 150,000l. A. M. 3817. Ant. J. C. 187. |