Daniel 11.17-The Prophecy of the Failed Attempt of Antiochus III to Destroy the Kingdom of Ptolemy V Epiphanes By Giving Him His Daughter Cleopatra in Marriage
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday May 6, 2014
Daniel: Daniel 11:17-The Prophecy of the Failed Attempt of Antiochus III to Destroy the Kingdom of Ptolemy V Epiphanes By Giving Him His Daughter Cleopatra in Marriage
Lesson # 334
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. 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. 13 For he will return again since he will muster a multitude larger than the first in order to wage a massive attack with a great army as well as enormous logistical provision at the end of an interval of some years. 14 In fact, during those days, certain great ones will oppose the king ruling the south. Even violent persons belonging to your people will for their own benefit, rebel in order to fulfill the revelation but they will be overthrown. 15 And so, the king ruling the north will wage an attack. Specifically, he will construct a siege mound in order to capture a fortified city. However, the south’s armed forces will by no means stand their ground, not even their elite unit because there will be no strength. 16 Consequently, the one who waged the attack will do according to his desire because there will be absolutely no one standing against him. Furthermore, he will occupy the beautiful land so that it will be completely in his power.” (My translation)
Daniel 11:17 “He will set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side.” (NASB95)
“He will set his face to come” is composed of the verb śîm (שִׂים) (seem), “He will set” which is followed by the noun pā∙ně(h) (פָּנֶה) (pah-neh), “face” which is modified by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “his” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh) “to” and its object is the verb bô(ʾ) (בּוֹא) (bo), “come.”
The verb śîm literally means “to set” and is used here with the noun pā∙ně(h) which means “face” and is modified by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ), which means “his.”
Therefore, this entire expression literally means “to set his face.”
However, idiomatically it means “he will devise a plan.”
Therefore, they speak of the king of the north devising a plan with the strength of his entire kingdom to enter into an agreement with the king of the south.
The verb bô(ʾ) means “to enter into an agreement” referring to the king of the north devising a plan “to enter into an agreement” with the king of the south with the entire power of his kingdom.
The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of this verb bô(ʾ) and governs it and is functioning as a marker of purpose expressing the purpose for which the king of the north will devise a plan.
This indicates that he devised a plan “in order to” or “for the purpose of” entering into an agreement with the king of the south.
“Bringing with him a proposal of peace” is advancing upon and intensifying the previous statement that the king of the north with the power of his entire kingdom will devise a plan to enter into an agreement with the king of the south.
The advancement and the intensification is that the intention of the king of the north seeking to enter into an agreement with the king of the south is to injure the interests of the king of the south and his kingdom.
“Bringing with him a proposal of peace” is composed of the adjective yā·šār (יָשָׁר) (yaw-shawr´), “a proposal” and then we have the preposition ʿim (עִם) (eem), “with” and its object is the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “him.”
The adjective yā·šār is in the plural and means “equitable terms” since it pertains to dealing fairly and equally with another party.
Here it refers to the “equitable terms” or “favorable terms” offered by the king of the north to the king of the south.
The third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) means “him” referring to the king of the south and not the king of the north.
Its object of the preposition ʿim, which is a marker of disadvantage.
This indicates that this agreement offered by the king of the north to the king of the south will be to the detriment of the latter or in other words it is designed to injure or hurt the interests of the king of the south.
It is better to not take this prepositional phrase as indicating that the king of the north will enter into an agreement with the king of the south while possessing equitable terms since the intention of the king of the north is to injure the king of the south with this agreement.
“Which he will put into effect” presents the result of the previous angelic prediction that the king of the north will devise a plan to enter an equitable agreement with the king of the south whose intent is to injure the king of the south.
It speaks of the king of the north accomplishing his plan to enter into an equitable agreement with the king of the south.
“He will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it” explains specifically how the king of the north will accomplish forming an agreement with the king of the south and with equitable terms for the latter.
It refers to the king of the north giving his daughter in marriage to the king of the south for the express purpose of destroying the latter’s kingdom.
“But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side” reveals that the daughter of the king of the north will never be loyal to her father because she will never stay united with her father.
Daniel 11:17 “Then, with the power of his entire kingdom, he will devise a plan to enter into an agreement. Indeed, equitable terms to injure him. Consequently, he will accomplish it. Namely, he will give in marriage a daughter from his harem for the purpose of destroying it. However, she will never remain loyal because she will never stay united for the benefit of him.” (My translation)
The angel predicts that after the king of the north has solidified his power in the Middle East and occupies Israel, he will devise a plan to enter into an agreement with the king of the south.
The king of the north will approach the king of the south with this proposal of an alliance with the power of his entire kingdom behind him.
In fact, the king of the north will propose apparent equitable terms to the king of the south but the intention of the former is to injure the latter.
The angelic being then gives specific details as to how the king of the north will enter into an apparent equitable agreement with the king of the south.
He will do so by offering his daughter in marriage to the king of the south and the purpose of this marriage is to destroy the kingdom of the south.
However, the angel informs Daniel that she will not go along with her father’s scheme and will stay loyal to her husband so as to thwart her father’s deceitful plan.
As was the case with all of the prophecies which appear in Daniel 11:2-16, this prophecy in Daniel 11:17 was fulfilled in history as well.
History records that in 197 B.C. as a result of the threat from Rome, Antiochus III initiated an alliance with Ptolemy V Epiphanes by offering in marriage his daughter Cleopatra and which marriage took place in 195 B.C.
This Cleopatra is not the same woman who became involved with the great Romans Marc Antony and Gaius Julius Caesar however, she is the grandmother of the Cleopatra who becomes involved with these two Roman greats.
Antiochus did not want to openly attack Egypt militarily out of fear that Rome would intervene.
His plan was to bring the young Ptolemy V Epiphanes under the control of his daughter who in turn would influence the king’s decision making in favor of the Seleucid dynasty.
Also, of course the plan included his daughter getting pregnant and giving birth to a son who would become the legal heir of both the crowns in Egypt and Syria but this daughter of Antiochus III consistently sided with her husband against her father, even though her husband was only a young boy of seven at the time.