Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 11:14

"And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the children of the violent among thy people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall fall." — Daniel 11:14 (ASV)

And in those times many will stand up against the king of the south – Against the king of Egypt. This means not only Antiochus the Great, who was always opposed to him and constantly waged war against him, but also others with whom he would be particularly involved, or who would be opposed to him. The reference is especially to Philip, king of Macedon, and to Agathocles, who incited a rebellion against him in Egypt (see Jerome on Daniel 11; Polybius, xv. 20; Lengerke, in loc.; and Prideaux, iii. 198).

Antiochus and Philip of Macedon entered into an agreement to invade the dominions of Ptolemy Epiphanes and to divide them between themselves. At the same time, a treasonable plot was laid against Ptolemy's life by Scopas the Aetolian (Polybius, xvii.), who commanded the Egyptian army and planned to take advantage of the king’s youth to seize the throne. This project was defeated by the vigilance of Aristomenes, the prime minister (Prideaux, iii. 181).

See also the account of the conspiracy of Agathocles and his sister Agathoclea against Ptolemy, when an infant, in Prideaux, iii. 168 and following. These facts fully align with what is said in the present passage.

Also the robbers of your people will exalt themselves – The angel here turns to Daniel and states what his own people—the Jews—would do in these circumstances. It is to be remembered that, in these times, they were alternately under the dominion of the Egyptian and the Syrian monarchs: Ptolemy and Antiochus.

The principal theater of the wars between Syria and Egypt was Palestine—the borderland between them; Judea, therefore, often changed masters. Ptolemy Philopater had subdued Coele-Syria and Palestine, and Ptolemy Epiphanes came into possession of them when he ascended the throne.

But the angel now says that a portion of Daniel's people would take opportunity, due to the weakness of the youthful monarch of Egypt, the conspiracies in his own kingdom, and the foreign alliances against him, to attempt to throw off his authority and become independent. That part of the people who would attempt to do this is designated in the common translation as “the robbers of your people.”

This, however, is not an entirely correct translation and does not properly indicate the persons who would be engaged in the plot. The marginal reading is “children of robbers.” The Latin Vulgate reads, filii quoque proevaricatorum populi tui. The Greek renders it οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν λοιμῶν τοῦ λαοῦ σοῦ (hoi huioi tōn loimōn tou laou sou) – “the sons of the pests of your people.” Lengerke translates it as “the most powerful people of your nation” – die gewaltsamsten Leute deines Volkes.

The Hebrew word (פריץ, pârı̂yts) properly means “rending, ravenous”—as of wild beasts (Isaiah 35:9)—and then “violent, rapacious; an oppressor, robber” (Gesenius, Lexicon). The reference here seems to be to the mighty ones of the nation—the chiefs or rulers—but a name is given to them that would aptly describe their character for oppression and rapacity.

It would seem—and this is indeed probable from the circumstances—that the nation was not only subject to this foreign authority, but also that those placed over it under that foreign rule, who were probably mainly their own people, were themselves tyrannical and oppressive in character.

These subordinate rulers, however, preferred the authority of Antiochus to that of Ptolemy. On the occasion of Antiochus’s return from his conquests in Coele-Syria and Samaria, they met him and professed submission to him (Josephus, Ant., Book XII, Chapter 3).

Josephus (Ant., Book XII, Chapter 3, Section 3) states: “The Jews, of their own accord, went over to him, received him into the city (Jerusalem), gave plentiful provision to his army and his elephants, and readily assisted him when he besieged the garrison in the citadel of Jerusalem.”

On this occasion, Josephus says that Antiochus bestowed many favors on the Jews: he wrote letters to his army generals commending their conduct, published a decree respecting the piety of the Jewish people, and sent a letter to Ptolemy stating what he had done for them and what he desired should be further done (see these statements and letters in Josephus, ut supra).

To establish the vision – That is, to bring to pass what is seen in the vision and what had been predicted concerning the Hebrew people. Their conduct in this matter would have an important bearing on the fulfillment of the prophecy pertaining to that people and would be one of the links in the chain of events securing its accomplishment. The angel does not say that it was part of their “design” to “establish the vision,” but that this would be the “result” of what they did. No doubt their conduct in this matter greatly influenced the series of events that contributed to the accomplishment of that prediction. Lengerke supposes that the “vision” here refers to that spoken of in Daniel 9:24.

But they will fall – They will not succeed in their intended object. Their conduct in the affair will indeed promote the fulfillment of the “vision,” but it will not secure the ends “they” have in mind—perhaps their own aggrandizement, the favor of Antiochus toward themselves, the permanent separation of the nation from Egyptian rule, or the hope that their country might become independent altogether.

As a matter of fact, Antiochus subsequently, on his return from Egypt (198 B.C.), took Jerusalem and killed many of Ptolemy’s party who had surrendered to him. However, he showed particular favor to those who had adhered to the observance of their own law and could not be prevailed upon by the king of Egypt to apostatize from it (Prideaux, iii. 198; Josephus, Ant., Book XII, Chapter 5, Section 3).