Глава 11

1–2. A brief outline of the history of the Persian kingdom. 3–20. The Greco-Macedonian kingdom and the mutual struggle of the Syrian and Egyptian monarchies that would form from it. 21–45. The activities of Antiochus Epiphanes. Daniel 11:1. So, from the first year of Darius the Mede, I became his support and reinforcement. Daniel 11:2. Now I will tell you the truth: behold, three more kings will rise in Persia; then the fourth will surpass everyone in great wealth, and when he becomes stronger with his wealth, he will raise everyone up against the kingdom of Greece. Since the revelation was communicated to the prophet in the third year of Cyrus (Dan. 10:1), then the three kings who are about to rebel in Persia mean the three successors of Cyrus: Cambyses (529–522), False Merdis (522–521) and Darius Hystaspes (521–486), and the fourth king, “surpassing all in great wealth,” is the famous Xerxes (486–465), truly famous for his untold riches and famous for his unsuccessful campaign against the Greeks. A continuation of the wars started by Xerxes' father Darius Hystaspes, it ended in the complete defeat of the Persians at Salamis. Daniel 11:3. And a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power, and will act according to his will. Daniel 11:4. But when he rises, his kingdom will be destroyed and divided into the four winds of heaven, and will not pass to his descendants, and not with the power with which he ruled; for his kingdom will be divided and will fall to others besides these. Since the Battle of Salamis, the Persian kingdom began to clearly decline; Greece becomes a world power. In view of this significance of the campaign of Xerxes, the celestial passes over his successors in the kingdom in silence and moves from the Persian monarchy to the third world kingdom - the Greek-Macedonian, and from its representatives - to Alexander the Great, since only from this time the Greeks come into contact with the people of God. Regarding Alexander the Great and his activities, the revelation communicates the same thing that was known to the prophet Daniel from previous visions (Dan.7:6; Dan.8:5-8, 21-22). What is new is the indication that after the death of Alexander, power will pass not to his descendants, but to persons strangers to him. Indeed, Alexander the Great left behind his feeble-minded brother Arrhidaeus and two young children. None of them was capable of managing the huge empire, and it was divided by Alexander’s generals, with each part naturally being weaker than the entire kingdom. Dan.11:5. And the king of the south will become strong, and one of his princes will overpower him and will rule, and his dominion will be great. Dan.11:6. But after a few years they will become close, and the daughter of the southern king will come to the northern king to establish correct relations between them; but she will not retain strength in her hands, and neither will her family, but both she and those who accompanied her, and those born by her, and those who helped her in those times will be betrayed. Of the four kingdoms that emerged from the monarchy of Alexander the Great, the northern (Syrian) and southern (Egyptian) grew stronger over time, and were in constant struggle with each other. Palestine, located between them, was also involved in their feuds and, as previously subject to Alexander the Great, repeatedly passed from one hand to another: from Syria to Egypt and vice versa. Revelation concerns only these two kingdoms, as those that had contact with the people of God; the history of the other two - Thracian and Macedonian - is left aside by him. The successors of Alexander the Great on the thrones of Egypt and Syria were Ptolemy Lagov (323 - 285) and Seleucus Nicator. The first of them, the “king of the south,” soon became a strong and wealthy sovereign; however, Seleucus Nicator, who ruled from Phrygia to the Indus, did not yield to his enemy, with whom he was forced to fight, making attempts to attract the Jewish people subordinate to Ptolemy. An attempt at a more or less lasting rapprochement between the two kings, “northern” and “southern,” was made under the successor of Ptolemy Lagov, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, and the second successor of Seleucus, Antiochus Theos. Wanting to put an end to the strife, Ptolemy Philadelphus gave his daughter Berenice to Antiochus, giving her, among other things, Palestine as a dowry. Antiochus at that time was already married to Laodice and had two sons from her - Seleucus Callinicus and Antiochus. Although before her marriage to Berenice, Laodice and her children were removed, but after the death of Ptolemy Philadelpha returned to the court again and, fearing her rival, poisoned her husband, ordered the death of Bernice and her young son, and Seleucus Callinice, her son from Theos, elevated her son from Theos to the Syrian throne. So “the daughter of the southern king... “She couldn’t keep the strength in her hands, and her family couldn’t resist.” The attempt to bring the kingdoms closer ended in nothing. Dan.11:7. But a branch will arise from its roots, come to the army and enter the fortifications of the king of the north, and will act in them, and will become stronger. Daniel 11:8. Even their gods, their idols with their precious vessels, silver and gold, he will take captive to Egypt and for several years he will stand higher than the king of the north. Dan.11:9. Although this one will invade the kingdom of the southern king, he will return to his own land. The avenger for Berenice was “the branch from her root” - the brother of Bernice, the son and successor of Ptolemy Philadelphus - Ptolemy Euergetes. He killed the murderer and her rival, Laodice, and then took possession of the regions belonging to Syria: Cilicia, Pamphylia, Ionia, Palestine, etc. The formidable invasion of the “southern” king ended only thanks to the uprising that arose in Egypt. Returning home, Ptolemy captured countless treasures from the conquered regions, 40,000 talents of silver and 2,500 precious vessels and idols, among which were images transferred from Egypt to Persia by Cambyses. For the return of the latter, Ptolemy received the name Evergeta. While he was busy calming Egypt, Seleucus again attracted the regions of Asia Minor to his side and launched a campaign against Egypt, but in a decisive battle he was so defeated that he returned to Antioch with only a few companions. Daniel 11:10. Then his sons will arm themselves and gather a large army, and one of them will quickly go, flood and pass, and then, returning, will fight with him until his fortifications. Daniel 11:11. And the king of the south will be irritated, and will come out and fight with him, with the king of the north, and will put up a large army, and the army will be delivered into his hands. Daniel 11:12. And the army will be encouraged, and the heart of the king will be lifted up; he will overthrow many thousands, but this will not make him stronger. Daniel 11:13. For the king of the north will return and field a larger army than before, and in a few years he will quickly come with a huge army and great wealth. After the death of Callinicus, who died in captivity among the Parthians, his son Seleucus Keraunus ascended the throne. Poisoned by his entourage two years after his accession, he did not have time to do anything against Egypt. Keraun was followed by his brother Antiochus, who, wanting to annex Coele-Syria and Phenicia to his kingdom, began a war against the Egyptian king Ptolemy Philopator. During this war he took possession of Selecia at Orontes, Tire and Ptolemais, twice reached the city of Dora, which lay two miles north of Caesarea, besieged it, and finally concluded a four-month truce. Upon the resumption of hostilities, he launched a new campaign against Egypt in 218, during which he locked the Egyptian troops in Sidon and took possession of Gilead, Samaria and Phenicia. But at the beginning of the next 217, Ptolemy Philopator came out against Antiochus with an army of 70,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry and 73 elephants and inflicted a terrible defeat on him at Raphia, near Gaza. Having lost 10,000 infantry and 300 cavalry in the battle, Antiochus escaped death by flight; the war, however, ended peacefully. 18 years after the defeat at Raphia, Antiochus, taking advantage of the minority of Ptolemy Philopator’s successor, Ptolemy Epiphanes, the internal unrest in Egypt that arose due to the cruelty and bad rule of the regent Agathocles, and, finally, the help of Philip of Macedon, opposed Egypt and managed, first of all, to take possession of Phenicia and Southern Syria (Dan. 11:16). Daniel 11:14. In those days many will rise up against the king of the south, and the rebellious of the sons of your people will rise up to fulfill the vision and will fall. Daniel 11:15. And the king of the north will come, build a rampart and take possession of the fortified city, and the armies of the south will not stand, nor his chosen army; there is not enough strength to resist. Daniel 11:16. And whoever comes out to him will do according to his will, and no one will resist him; and he will set up his camp on the glorious land, and it will suffer by his hand. In Antiochus's war with Egypt, some of the Palestinian Jews took his side, having forgotten the benefits the Ptolemies had shown them. They came out to meet Antiochus, united with his troops and helped them in attacks on the garrison left on the Jerusalem mountain by the Egyptian commander Osprey. But this alliance with the Syrian king brought nothing but harm to the Jews. Antiochus began the conquest of the Egyptian regions from Palestine itself, as the possession of the southern king; took many cities subject to Egypt, and among them Jerusalem. The “muscles of the south”, the Egyptian commanders with a selected army, could not resist him. It was Scopa, who had managed to conquer Coele-Syria, who suffered a strong defeat in 198 at Ponsala, near the source of the Jordan, thanks to which all of Coele-Syria and Palestine as far as Gaza again found itself in the hands of Antiochus. Daniel 11:17. And he intends to enter with all the might of his kingdom, and the righteous with him, and will accomplish this; and the daughter of the wives will be given to him for her destruction, but this plan will not come true, and there will be no benefit to him from it. Wanting, if possible, to seize the Egyptian possessions of the “king of the south,” Antiochus began to act by cunning. After the defeat of Palestine, he made peace with Ptolemy and betrothed his daughter Cleopatra to him, a seven-year-old boy, hoping, with her assistance, to destroy the young king and seize Egypt. But Ptolemy and his nobles, having discovered the plans of Antiochus, were very careful; at the same time, Cleopatra was clearly inclined to side with her husband, and not her father. Thanks to all this, Antiochus’s insidious plans “did not take place” and did not bring him any benefit. Daniel 11:18. Then he will turn his face to the islands and take possession of many; but a certain leader will stop the shame inflicted on him and even turn his own shame on him. Daniel 11:19. Then he will turn his face towards the fortresses of his land; but he stumbles and falls and is no longer there. Having failed in his attempt to take possession of Egypt, Antiochus satisfied his passion for conquest with a successful campaign in 197 against the islands and coastal regions of Asia Minor: he conquered Rhodes, Samos, Colophon, Phocaea, etc. The end of his victories was put by the Roman consul Scipio Nazica ("a certain leader") and his brother Scipio Africanus. Sent by the Roman government to protect the islands under Roman protectorate, in 190 they inflicted a terrible defeat on Antiochus at Magnesia. Having concluded a humiliating peace with the victors, he returned to his land and soon died during the popular indignation that arose over the king’s robbery of the church of Zeus, or Bel, in the city of Elimais, south of the Caspian Sea. Daniel 11:20. In his place will arise someone who will send a tax collector to walk through the kingdom of glory; but after a few days he too will die, and not from indignation or in battle. Antiochus was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV Philopator, who reigned for 12 years and did not accomplish anything outstanding. He only managed to disgrace himself by attempting to rob the treasures of the Jerusalem temple, for which purpose, under a plausible pretext, he sent his dignitary Iliodor to Palestine. But the Lord miraculously saved His sanctuary from the wicked (2 Mac. 3:7-29). Daniel 11:21. And the despised will rise in his place, and they will not give him royal honors, but he will come without noise and take possession of the kingdom through flattery. Daniel 11:22. And the flooding hordes will be drowned and crushed by him, even the leader of the covenant himself. Daniel 11:23. For after he enters into an alliance with him, he will act by deceit, and will rise and gain the upper hand with a small nation. Daniel 11:24. He will enter peaceful and fruitful countries, and will do what his fathers and the fathers of his fathers did not do; he will squander the booty, stolen property and wealth on his own and will have his own plans in the fortress, but only for a time. Seleucus Philopator's successor was his brother; son of Antiochus, Antiochus Epiphanes (175–164). He is characterized as a “despicable” person, that is, insignificant in moral dignity and unworthy of his rights to the throne, which is why “they will not give him royal honors,” but he “will take possession of the kingdom through flattery.” And indeed, Antiochus Epiphanes cunningly eliminated the legitimate heir to the throne - the son of Seleucus Demetrius, who was at that time a hostage in Rome, and prevented the intrigues of the state treasurer Iliodorus and his sister, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, for the same throne in favor of her young son, the Egyptian king Ptolemy Philometor. With this latter, Antiochus Epiphanes began a war in which the “overwhelming hordes” of Egypt were defeated by him (1 Mac. 1:17–19). Having then concluded a temporary alliance with Philometor, Antiochus, under the guise of kinship, entered Memphis and here, under the pretext that he was taking care of his young nephew-king and the affairs of his reign, began to have full control over the kingdom of Egypt: he entered “the peaceful and fruitful countries” of Egypt and heavily plundered them; I thought about destroying the Egyptian fortresses and weakening the country and then finally taking possession of the southern kingdom. Daniel 11:25. Then he will stir up his strength and spirit with a numerous army against the king of the south, and the king of the south will go to war with a great and even stronger army, but will not resist, because there will be treachery against him. Daniel 11:26. Even those who eat at his table will destroy him, and his army will be overflowing, and many will fall slain. Daniel 11:27. Both of these kings will have deceit in their hearts, and lies will be spoken at the same table, but there will be no success, because the end is still postponed until time. Antiochus's plans to “reign over both kingdoms” (1 Mac. 1:16) and the campaign he undertook against Egypt for this purpose were not crowned with success: he returned to Syria with the plunder. Daniel 11:28. And he will go to his land with great wealth and hostile intentions against the holy covenant, and he will fulfill it and return to his land. Irritated by this failure, Antiochus rewarded himself at the expense of Judea. With a strong army, he entered Jerusalem, entered the church and took from there the golden altar, church vessels and all the church accessories, took off its outer decorations, captured gold, silver and all the treasures that he found in the sanctuary, and with this booty returned to his capital (1 Mac. 1:20-24). Daniel 11:29. At the appointed time he will go south again; but the last campaign will not be the same as the previous one, Daniel 11:30. For at the same time the ships of Chittim will come with him; and he will lose heart, and return, and become embittered against the holy covenant, and fulfill his intention, and again enter into an agreement with the apostates from the holy covenant. Daniel 11:31. And they will appoint a part of the army that will defile the sanctuary of power, and will stop the daily sacrifice, and will set up the abomination that makes desolate. Soon Antiochus again moved against Egypt (2 Mac. 5:1), but this campaign was unsuccessful: the Roman legates who arrived at the same time demanded that Antiochus withdraw from the borders of the friends of the Roman people. According to the story of Livy and Justin, the head of the Roman fleet ("ships of Chittim") Popilius Lenus, having met Antiochus four miles from Alexandria, drew a circle around him and said: "You will not leave here until you give your word that you will leave Egypt." Antiochus left Egypt, but took out his failure on the Jews: he robbed and burned their cities, took away livestock, etc. (1 Mac. 1:29–32); entered into an agreement with “apostates from the holy covenant,” who themselves “joined themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil” (1 Mac. 1:11–15); settled in Jerusalem “part of the army,” which “shed innocent blood around the sanctuary” and desecrated the holy place in every possible way (1 Mac. 1:33–37; 2 Mac. 6: 4–5), and, finally, ceasing daily worship, he erected a statue of Olympian Jupiter in the Temple of Jerusalem, and the Church itself called the church of this god (1 Mac. 1:54; 2Mac.6:2). Daniel 11:32. He will attract to himself those who act wickedly against the covenant with flattery; but the people who honor their God will be strengthened and act. Daniel 11:33. And the wise among the people will admonish many, although they will suffer for some time from sword and fire, from captivity and robbery; Daniel 11:34. and during their suffering they will have some help, and many will join them, but in a false way. Daniel 11:35. Some of the wise will also suffer, to test them, to purify them, and to make them white for the last time; for there is still time before the deadline. By flattery and cunning, with the promise of rewards and earthly benefits, Antiochus attracted to his side the “sons of wickedness” who came from among Israel, who entered into an alliance with the pagans and convinced others to do so, built pagan schools, introduced pagan rituals, deviating from the law of Moses, sacrificed to idols, etc. (1 Mac. 1:11-15, 42-43). All the more famous were people who truly “honored their God”: devoted to the faith of their fathers, during the era of persecution they “strengthened” and “strengthened” in their religious zeal, preferring to die rather than betray the law of the Lord (1 Mac. 1:62–68; 2 Mac. 2:16–30). These zealots attracted the best part of God's people, although they themselves suffered terrible persecution from the pagans: they were forced to deviate from the law of the Most High, make sacrifices to idols, eat pork, participate in pagan religious processions, and for refusal they were killed, burned, hanged, tortured and tormented, taken into captivity, cities and houses burned, etc. ( 1Mak.1:24-32, 36-37, 57-61; 1Mak.2:26-38; 2Mak.6:7-11, 18; True, the Jews had “some help” for themselves at this time in the person of Mattathias and his sons, who gathered around him zealots of the faith and by force of arms “defended ... the law from the hand of the pagans” (1 Mac. 2:16–48), and his children cleansed the Jerusalem temple of pagan abominations and restored true worship (1 Mac. 4, etc.), but this help was not enough to fight the cruel persecutor Judaism Even those of the Jews who, under the influence of the victories of the Maccabees, joined the society of zealots of the faith (1 Mac.7:6), fell away from it at every opportunity (1 Mac.6:21-23; 1 Mac.9:23). Daniel 11:36. And that king will act according to his own will, and will exalt himself and exalt himself above every deity, and will speak blasphemous things about the God of gods and will prosper until the wrath is accomplished: for what is foreordained will be fulfilled. Daniel 11:37. And he will not think about the gods of his fathers, and will not respect the wishes of his wives, nor even any deity; for he will exalt himself above all. Daniel 11:38. But he will give honor to the god of fortresses in his place, and this god, whom his fathers did not know, he will honor with gold and silver, and expensive stones, and various jewels, Daniel 11:39. and he will build a strong fortress with a foreign god: those who recognize him will increase honors and give power over many, and will distribute the land as a reward. In his persecution of the Jews, Antiochus reached such arrogance and pride that he considered himself above any deity: he blasphemed the “God of gods,” considering himself equal to Him, and despised “the gods of his fathers”; He placed only the “god of fortresses” - Jupiter of Olympus - in the temple in Jerusalem, strengthening the fortress itself - the capital of Judea and dedicating the church itself to “god”; only this god, “whom his fathers did not know” and whose cult he became acquainted with in Rome, he honored, bringing him rich gifts and rewarding with honors, glory and power those who “recognized” and revered the god he respected (1 Mac. 2:18). Daniel 11:40. At the end of time the king of the south will fight with him, and the king of the north will rush towards him like a storm with chariots, horsemen and numerous ships, and will attack the regions, flood them, and pass through them. Dan.11:41. And he will enter the most beautiful of lands, and many regions will suffer and only Edom, Moab and most of the children of Ammon will be saved from his hand. Daniel 11:42. And he will stretch out his hand to different countries; The land of Egypt will not be saved. Daniel 11:43. And he will take possession of the treasures of gold and silver and various jewels of Egypt; The Libyans and Ethiopians will follow him. Daniel 11:44. But rumors from the east and north will alarm him, and he will come out in great rage to destroy and destroy many, Daniel 11:45. and he will pitch his royal tents between the sea and the mountain of the glorious sanctuary; but he will come to his end, and no one will help him. At the end of his reign, Antiochus with a large army again went against the king of Egypt and, passing through the regions of the “king of the south,” devastated them. Judea was also plundered by him. Only the possessions of the Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites remained untouched: he left them alone, hastening against the Egyptian king, so as not to give him time to strengthen himself. The spread of rumors about indignation against him in the distant possessions of his kingdom in the north and east forced Antiochus to hasten his return home (cf. 2 Mac. 5:11). The irritated king moved to the borders of his kingdom and camped between the sea and Jerusalem. Soon after this, during his return from a campaign in Persia, between Antioch and Ecbatana, Antiochus died, struck by God with a terrible illness (2 Mac. 9: 1, 3, 5, 9, 28). You might be interested in: