“Et post finem annorum fœderabuntur : filiaque regis austri veniet ad regem aquilonis facere amicitiam, et non obtinebit fortitudinem brachii, nec stabit semen ejus : et tradetur ipsa, et qui adduxerunt eam adolescentes ejus, et qui confortabant eam in temporibus.”
“And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; 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. join: Heb. associate themselves an: Heb. rights he that begat: or, whom she brought forth”
“After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to seal the agreement. But his daughter will not retain her position of power, nor will his strength endure. At that time she will be given up, along with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her.”
“At the end of years they shall join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the strength of her arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm; but she shall be given up, and those who brought her, and he who became the father of her, and he who strengthened her in those times.”
“And at the end of years they shall join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the strength of her arm; 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 those times.”
South. Bernice, daughter of Ptolemeus Philadelphus, given in marriage to Antiochus Theos, grandson of Seleucus, (Challoner) and king of Syria. She brought a great “dowry,” and was therefore styled Phernophoros. Antiochus agreed to repudiate Laodicea; but he soon took her back. Fearing his inconstancy, she poisoned him, and slew his son by Bernice. This lady in a rage mounted her chariot, and having knocked down the cruel minister of such barbarity, trampled upon his body. The rest pretended that the infant was still living, and delivered up a part of the palace to Bernice, yet slew her as soon as they had an opportunity. (St. Jerome; Usher, year of the world 3758; V. Max. ix. 10. &c; Calmet) — Young. Hebrew, “her conductors, her child, and he that,” &c. (Haydock) — Her physician, Aristarchus, persuaded her to enter the palace. Her women and Egyptian guards defended her for some time. (Polygæn. Strat. viii.; Calmet)
II. The fruitless attempt to unite these two kingdoms as iron and clay in Nebuchadnezzar's image (v. 6): "At the end of certain years, about seventy after Alexander's death, the Lagidæ and the Seleucidæ shall associate, but not in sincerity. Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, shall marry his daughter Berenice to Antiochus Theos, king of Syria," who had already a wife called Laodice. "Berenice shall come to the king of the north, to make an agreement, but it shall not hold: She shall not retain the power of the arm; neither she nor her posterity shall establish themselves in the kingdom of the north, neither shall Ptolemy her father, nor Antiochus her husband (between whom there was to be a great alliance), stand, nor their arm, but she shall be given up and those that brought her," all that projected that unhappy marriage between her and Antiochus, which occasioned so much mischief, instead of producing a coalition between the northern and southern crowns, as was hoped. Antiochus divorced Berenice, took his former wife Laodice again, who soon after poisoned him, procured Berenice and her son to be murdered, and set up her own son by Antiochus to be king, who was called Seleucus Callinicus.
Verses 1-30 The angel shows Daniel the succession of the Persian and Grecian empires. The kings of Egypt and Syria are noticed: Judea was between their dominions, and affected by their contests. From ver. ( 5-30 ) , is generally considered to relate to the events which came to pass during the continuance of these governments; and from ver. ( 21 ) , to relate to Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a cruel and violent persecutor of the Jews. See what decaying, perishing things worldly pomp and possessions are, and the power by which they are gotten. God, in his providence, sets up one, and pulls down another, as he pleases. This world is full of wars and fightings, which come from men's lusts. All changes and revolutions of states and kingdoms, and every event, are plainly and perfectly foreseen by God. No word of God shall fall to the ground; but what he has designed, what he has declared, shall infallibly come to pass. While the potsherds of the earth strive with each other, they prevail and are prevailed against, deceive and are deceived; but those who know God will trust in him, and he will enable them to stand their ground, bear their cross, and maintain their conflict.