We are now introduced with the “king of the North” and the “king of the South” whoever had control of Syria and Egypt, which are countries North and South of Palestine respectively.
•Antiochus II Theos is the King of the north
•Ptolemy II Philadelphus is the King of the south.
The Northern Seleucid kingdom had Antioch as capital and the Southern Ptolemic kingdom had Alexandria as capital, founded by Alexander. All the kings of Egypt carried the name Ptolemy and the Kings of Syria were called Seleucus or Antiochus. But they had a second name of identification. The king of the North, Seleucus fled to Egypt after being pushed out by another one of Alexander’s generals. Ptolemy helped him with a great army and he got back the Northern kingdom and was strong.
Daniel Chapter 11 verse 5 to 13
5 And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
6 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.
7 But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail:
8 And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north.
9 So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land.
10 But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
12 And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it.
13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches.
🟢“King of the south”
Ptolemy, who had Egypt, Palestine and part of Syria in the south, is the king of the south at this point of the prophecy. He was to be strong. Ruled from 323 B.C. to 285 B.C.
🟢"One of his princes"
One of the mighty kings/Alexander’s princes.
🟢“King's daughter of the south”
Ptolemy Philadelphus’ daughter was Berenice. Berenice was to come to Antiochus Theos and become his wife, to try and join the kingdoms in this way. For the son to be born to this pair was to rule the kingdom. So Antiochus divorced Laodice his wife and married Berenice.
🟢“She shall not retain the power of the arm”
Berenice’s father died in 247 B.C., and when word carried to Antiochus he immediately threw Berenice out and took back his ex-wife Laodice, with her two sons Seleucus Callinicus, and Antiochus Hierax. Laodice then had Antiochus Theos poisoned, 246 B.C., and had Seleucus Callinicus pronounced as king in his stead.
🟢“She shall be given up, they that brought her”
Berenice was put to death by the orders of Laodice and also all of Berenice’s Egyptian attendants that she had with her. The next king of Egypt, Ptolemy III Euegetes (246-221), a brother of Berenice, determined to avenge Berenice’s death by invading Syria.
🟢“Enter into fortress of king of north and prevail”
In the process of his triumphant Syrian campaign, Ptolemy III captured 2500 gold and silver images and transported it back to Egypt. They hailed this Greek king in Egypt as the wonderful benefactor (Euegetes) and he was called Ptolemy III Euegetes. Euergetes gained Seleucia, the capital of Syria, and a large part of Asia Minor and would have continued to gain more if it were not for a call to come back to Egypt because of trouble there.
🟢“But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces”
The king of the North’s sons or Seleucus Callinicus’ sons, Seleucus Ceraunus and Antiochus Magnus.
These two sons, Seleucus being the older, were stirred up because of the land that had been taken from them.
🟢“One shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through”
Seleucus Ceraunus was a weak leader destitute of money and unable to keep his army in obedience to him. In the year 242, Seleucus II Callinicus attempted to avenge himself against Egypt but his army was defeated and his navy blown away. He returned to Antioch bloodied and empty handed. He only reigned for 3 years and was then poisoned by two of his generals. This left Antiochus Magnus to be proclaimed as king, and it was he who came to avenge.
🟢“Then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress”
Antiochus took charge of the army and retook Seleucia, also recovering Syria. Some places were taken by force and others by treaty. Talking of the ongoing revenge, as Antiochus overcame in battle Nicholaus, the Egyptian general, and had thoughts of invading Egypt itself. This revenge peaks in verse 11.
🟢“King of the south in verse 11”
Euergetes had passed off the scene by now and Ptolemy Philopater had taken the throne of the south in Egypt.
🟢“Come forth and fight with him...king of north”
Philopater, south, went out to meet Antiochus, north, at the battle of Raphia near Gaza in 217 B.C.
The great multitude that Antiochus set forth consisted of the following; 62,000 foot, 6000 horse and 102 elephants.
Philopater met Antiochus with a larger army. Even though he had less elephants, only 73 elephants, his total army with foot and horse amounted to a greater amount than his opponent. Philopater defeated Antiochus by slaying 10,000 foot, 3000 horse, and taking captive over 4000 prisoners. Philopater suffered the loss of only 700 horse and 1400 infantry. So the multitude was given into the hand of the king of the south, Philopater.
🟢“Many stand up against the king of the south”
Stand up against Ptolemy Epiphanes. During this time of Antiochus wanting to invade Egypt, he made a league with king Philip of Macedonia. The two of them agreed to divide the Egyptian empire by taking what was the closest and most convenient parts to them. Philip was to take Caria, Libya, Cyrenaica, and Egypt with Antiochus taking all the rest. Antiochus entered into Coele-Syria and Palestine and was soon the conqueror.
At the same time that this was going on, the provinces of Egypt were rebelling against Agathocles the prime minister of Egypt, who was conducting the affairs of the kingdom for the young king. The power that he could exercise was going to his head, with Egypt itself being disturbed by seditions. The Alexandrians rose up and caused him, his sister, mother, and their associates to be put to death.