Daniel 11.12-The Prophecy of the Failure of Ptolemy IV Philopator to Pursue His Advantage Because of His Pride
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday April 23, 2014
Daniel 11:12-The Prophecy of the Failure of Ptolemy IV Philopator to Pursue His Advantage Because of His Pride
Lesson # 329
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 11:2.
Daniel 11:2 “Now, at this present time, I must reveal to you the truth. Behold, three future kings will ascend to power for Persia. Then, the fourth will cause greater riches to make him wealthier than each and every one of these in comparison. However, when he amasses power through his wealth, the entire nation will stir up the Greek kingdom. 3 Next, a powerful king will ascend to power so that he will rule with great authority with the result that he will do according to his desire. 4 However, after he ascends to power, his kingdom will be broken up. Then, it will be divided towards the heaven’s four winds but not for the benefit of his posterity and in addition, not according to his sovereign will which he sovereignly exercised. For his kingdom will be uprooted specifically, for the benefit of others, to the separation and exclusion of these. 5 Then, the king ruling the south as well as one of his subordinate commanders will be strong. In fact, he will become stronger than him because he will exercise authority over a dominion greater than his dominion. 6 Next, at the end of an unspecified number of years, they will form an alliance as the daughter of the king ruling the south will enter into marriage with the king ruling the north in order to secure a peaceful arrangement. However, she will by no means retain her powerful position likewise he will by no means endure, namely his power. For she will be delivered over as well as he who caused her to enter into marriage, as well as her child and in addition, her benefactor during those times. 7 But one of the branches from her roots will ascend to power in his place. Then, he will wage an attack against their army so that he will enter the fortress of the king ruling the north. Indeed, he will take action against them so that he will be victorious. 8 Consequently, he will also cause their gods to be transported into captivity to Egypt along with their cast images, as well as their valuable silver and gold articles. Furthermore, for some years he will withdraw from the king ruling the north. 9 Then, he will wage an attack against the king ruling the south but will return to his land. 10 Following this, his sons will initiate hostile military action. Specifically, they will muster a multitude of great military forces. Then, he will as a certainty wage a massive attack so that he will overflow, yes, pass through like a flood with the result that he will turn him back. Indeed, he will engage in hostile military action up to his fortress. 11 Then, the king ruling the south will cause himself to be enraged so that he will march out in order to wage war against him, against the king ruling the north. Consequently, he will cause a great multitude to be assembled. However, despite this, this multitude will be delivered into his power.” (My translation)
Daniel 11:12 “When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail.” (NASB95)
“The multitude” is referring to the multitude of troops assembled by the king ruling the north which were defeated by the army led by the king ruling the south.
“Is carried away” is the verb nā∙śā(ʾ) (נָשָׂא) (naw-saw), which means “to be defeated” and its subject is the multitude of troops led by the king ruling the north and its object is the army led by the king ruling the south.
This would indicate that when the multitude of troops led by the king ruling the north “were defeated” by the army led by the king ruling the south, the king ruling the south became arrogant.
“His heart” refers to the “heart” of the king ruling the south and denotes that aspect of his soul, which circulated his thought or mental activity and was where his frame of reference and memory center resided.
It is also the place where his vocabulary and the classification of his thoughts resided as well as his conscience where his norms and standards resided.
This king’s entire mental attitude circulated in the lē·ḇāḇ as well as his subconscious where various categories of things that shock or impress from adversity, sin, failure or disappointment are located.
Also, it contained his volition, which he used to decide not to pursue his advantage against the king ruling the north.
“Will be lifted up” is the verb rûm (רוּם) (room), which means “to lift up” referring to the king ruling the south’s heart “being arrogant” as a result of his great military victory over the king ruling the north.
This verb denotes that because of this great military victory over the king ruling the north, the king ruling the south possessed in his heart an exaggerated view of himself and importance in an overbearing manner.
“And he will cause tens of thousands to fall” is a concessive clause meaning that “despite the fact” or “even though” the king ruling the south will cause the deaths of thousands, he will in fact not remain strong militarily and politically.
“Yet he will not prevail” is emphatic meaning it is emphasizing with the reader that the king ruling the south will not remain strong politically and militarily despite the fact that he killed ten thousand of the troops under the command of the king of the north.
Daniel 11:12 “When this multitude will be defeated, his heart will become arrogant. Even though, he will cause ten thousand to fall in combat, he will by no means continue to prevail.” (My translation)
The angel continues to communicate to Daniel God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel during the Times of the Gentiles.
Specifically, he continues to describe for Daniel the events that will take place during the reigns of Ptolemy IV Philopator (221-204 B.C.) and Antiochus III the Great (223-187 B.C.).
The latter is the king of the north in Daniel 11:11-12 and the former is the king of the south.
As we noted in our study of Daniel 11:11, the king ruling the south in Daniel 11:11 is a reference to Ptolemy IV Philopator (221-204 B.C.).
The king ruling the north is a reference to Antiochus III the Great (223-187 B.C.).
In 217 B.C., Ptolemy IV Philopator attacked the great army assembled by Antiochus III the Great at Raphia.
The account of this great battle appears in Polybius’ work “Histories” (pages 430–436).
In this battle, Ptolemy IV Philopator was accompanied by his sister-wife, Arsinoe.
He led an army of 70,000 as well as 5,000 cavalry and 73 elephants.
Antiochus II the Great led an army of 62,000 as well as 6,000 cavalry and 102 elephants.
Antiochus lost 14,000 men according to Polybius. Ptolemy IV Philopator regained the land of Israel.
According to Jerome, Antiochus was almost captured but escaped to the desert.
Now, here in Daniel 11:12, the angelic being tells Daniel that when this multitude of troops under the command of the king ruling the north is defeated in battle, the heart of the king ruling the south will become arrogant.
The angel then surprisingly adds that despite causing the death of ten thousand in battle, this king ruling the south will by no means continue to prevail militarily and politically over the king of the north.
This too was fulfilled in history since history records that Ptolemy IV Philopator did indeed become proud and arrogant because of his great military victory at Raphia over Antiochus III the Great.
Unlike his father, Ptolemy IV Philopator lacked his father’s military instinct and did not press his advantage.
Instead, he was content with the victory and did not pursue Antiochus.
In fact, he established a peace treaty with Antiochus.
This came back to haunt his kingdom after his death.
Therefore, the ascendancy of Ptolemy IV Philopator did not continue after his great victory over Antiochus at Raphia.
He did not continue to maintain his military superiority after this great victory.
Instead Antiochus III continue to wage war biding his time until he could once again attack Egypt.
During these years of peace between the two kingdoms, Antiochus III no longer possessed Phoenicia and Palestine since he was forced to give them over to Ptolemy IV.
However, from 212 to 204, Antiochus III subdued many rebellious provinces in the Middle East.
From the Caspian Sea in the north to the Indus River in the east, he achieved great military success.
Then, in 203, he saw a great opportunity to exact revenge against the Ptolemaic dynasty since Ptolemy IV had just died and had been succeeded by Ptolemy V (Epiphanes) who was only a small child of four years old when he ascended to the throne.
The pride and arrogance of Ptolemy IV Philopator was manifested by the fact that he killed his father, mother and brother, married his sister Arsinoe.
He also loved a flute-player named Agathoclea.
In the Scriptures, pride is a great evil because it involves pretending to a greatness and glory that belongs rightly to God alone.
It is condemned as evil (1 Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 21:4; James 4:16; cf. Mark 7:22-23; Romans 1:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:20; 2 Timothy 3:1-2; 1 John 2:16).
It is a characteristic of Satan (Ezekiel 28:2; 1 Timothy 3:6; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4, the antichrist).
There are warnings about pride in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 16:5, 18; cf. Proverbs 3:7, 34; 6:16-17; 11:2; 25:6-7, 27; 26:12; 27:1; 29:23) as well as elsewhere in Scripture (Psalm 119:21; cf. Leviticus 26:19).
God is said to be opposed to the proud (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34).