Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 11 · Questions · Question 20 – Question 22
20. Quest. Of the first variance betweene the king of the South, and the king of the North: and of their ioyning together againe.
v. 6. In the ende of the yeares they shall be ioyned together againe. 1. It is euident then that first the league made betweene the first kings of the North and South Ptolome Lagi, and Seleucus, was afterward broken: which was vponupon this occasion: Antiochus Soter succeeded Seleucus, and married his fathers wife Stratonica, by the aduise of Erasistratus his Physitian, by whome he had issue Antiochus Theos: Megas the brother of Philadelphus king of Egypt, married a daughter of this Soter, by which occasion Megas claiming to be king of Cyrene, which his father made him gouernour of, was aided by his father in law against Philadelphus, and so the truce was broken.
2. Then Philadelphus to accord this dissention, giueth his daughter Berenice to wife to Antiochus surnamed Theos, the sonne of Soter: and Philadelphus accompanied her vntounto Pelusium, giuing vntounto her a rich dowrie of siluer and gold, whereupon she was called Phernophoras, of her great dowrie.
3. But this coniunction did not long hold: for Antiochus Theos had a former wife Laodice, by whome he had two sonnes, Seleucus Callinicus, and Antiochus Hierax: whome he did repudiate, and tooke Berenice to wife, by whome he had a sonne. But not long after Laodice with her sonnes were receiued to fauour; which Laodice, suspecting the inconstancie of her husband, poisoned him: and her sonne Callinicus tooke Berenice, and her sonne, and all her companie, and put them to the sword: wherupon the quarrell was renewed between the kings of the North and South. Appianus in Syriac. thinketh that these were two sisters, Laodice and Berenice both daughters to Philadelphus: but that is not like, because the text speaketh but of the kings daughter (not daughters) of the South, that should come to the king of the North.
4. Thus hauehave we the meaning of these words, shee shall not reteine the power of the arme: shee, namely Berenice, should not long continue in grace and fauour with Antiochus, who was as an arme to embrace the two kings together: neither should be continue and his arme: some read, and his seede. L. Calvin. because vau is wanting in the latter word, whereas zeroagh with vau signifieth an arme, which word was vsed before: but it is an vsuall thing in the Hebrew tongue sometime to expresse, and sometime to suppresse that letter: Lyranus expoundeth it of Berenice and her seede: but that can not be, for the verb is put in the masculine: some referre it to Antiochus, that he should not stand with his arme: he should cast off Berenice, who was suborned as an arme to bind them together, Iun. but it may better be referred to Philadelphus, that he should not long continue after, nor this his arme (his daughter) which he vsed as a band of peace: but shee shall be deliuered to death: for Callinicus tooke Berenice and all her companie, and put them to death, before they could be rescued: and her sonne, Iun. Polan. Lat. rather then he which begate her. Genevens. Vatab. And he which had comforted her, or made her mightie in his times, that is, Antiochus Theos, who had before aduanced her, and cast of Laodice, should not continue: for his wife poisoned him. Osiand. Polan. some vnderstand it of those which tooke her part, Iun. but because it is put in the singular number, and mention is made before of those which had brought her out of Egypt, and so attended on …, the former sense is better.
5. Thus we see fulfilled, that which was reuealed long before vntounto Nabuchadnezzer, c. 2. 43. that they should mingle themselues with the seede of men, but they should not ioyne one with an other, as yron cannot be mixed with clay: this place therefore sheweth, that that vision of the yron and clay legs is vnderstood of the two kingdoms of the North & South.
Quest. 21. What king of the South this was whose daughter came to the king of the North.
1. It is agreed that this was Ptolome Philadelphus, as is before shewed, but some mistake Ptolome Ceraunus for Philadelphus his brother, affirming that this Philadelphus killed Seleucus, that had slaine Lysimachus, that had married his sister Arsinoe, Oecolamp. whereas it was Ceraunus not Philadelphus that killed Seleucus.
2. This Philadelphus, was the sonne of Ptolome Lagi, by his second wife Berenice: he had other sonnes by Euridice his first wife the daughter of Antipater, but he disinherited them, and for louelove of his wife Berenice he made Philadelphus his youngest king, as Iustine …aith, while he liued; but as Pausanias, it was a little before his death: he killed two of his brothers that he might be more secure in the kingdome, and therefore was called by the contrarie Philadelphus, a louer of his brethren, Iun.
3. He had an other enormous fault beside, he married his owne sister Arsinoe, who died before she was deliuered of child, and afterward had children by an other Arsinoe daughter of Lysimachus: of the first Arsinoe, was the region Arsinoitis called, Pausan. in A…tic.
4. This Philadephus was exceeding rich, as is partly touched before: Hierome here writeth, that he had 200. thousand footemen, and 20. thousand horse, 400. elephants, and 1500. long shippes of warre, and a 1000. shippes of burthen: he receiued yearely out of Egypt 14. thousand and eight hundred talents of siluer, and 15. thousand measures of wheat, called artaba, which conteyned 3. bushels and almost an halfe: and least this might seeme incredible, that Egypt should affoard yearely so great a tribute, Strabo lib. 17. reporteth out of Cicero in one of his orations, that Ptolome Auletes, who was but a remisse and negligent Prince, receiued yearely 12. thousand and 500. talents of siluer.
5. This king is commended for his singular louelove of learning, whom Tertullian affirmeth in Apologet. to hauehave beene most learned himselfe: he founded a famous librarie at Alexandria, whereof Demetrius Phalereus had the ouersight: he caused the Scriptures to be translated into the Greek tongue by the 70. interpreters, whom Eleazar the high Priest sent vntounto him: which booke was carefully kept in the kings librarie, wherein were many thousand bookes: for the question beeing asked by him of Demetrius, how many thousand bookes he had gathered together, he answeared he had gotten 200. thousand, but shortly he would make them vp 500. thousand, Perer.
6. This Philadelphus was verie beneficiall to the Iewes: he redeemed an 120. thousand of them, that were slaues in Egypt, and sent them home, and bestowed many rich gifts vponupon the Temple at Ierusalem, Ioseph. lib. 12. antiquit. c. 2.
Quest. 22. Of the translation of the Septuagint, which was procured by this Ptolome Philadelphus.
Seeing mention is made of the acts of this Ptolome Philadelphus, among the which the most famous was the translating of the Hebrewe Scriptures into the Greeke tongue, it shall not be amisse to insert somewhat concerning that translation.
1. It is euident that the translation which goeth vnderunder the name of the Septuagint, in many places is verie corrupt, and varieth from the originall: as Pagnin sheweth, Isagog. c. 9. And as it is euident, Gen. 5. and 11. they fained a 1350. yeares more, and Gen. 11. they put in Cainan one more then the originall text hath: and they make but 70. persons to descend into Egypt with Iaakob, to answer vntounto the 70. languages, which they thinke to hauehave beene spread ouer the earth, Gen. 10. Hierome thinketh, that the speciall principles of our faith, they either omitted in their translation, or interpreted after an other manner, to the intent to conceale the secrets of their faith.
2. Ireneus, Iustinus, Chrysostome, Hilarie, Augustine doe ascribe verie much vntounto this translation, and thinke that the interpreters were put into so many seuerall celles, and yet agreed together, except only in some certaine places: But Hierome praefat. in pentate…. thinketh that to be a fable of their 70. celles at Alexandria.
3. But there is great vncertaintie beside. 1. Hierome writeth, that it is the generall opinion of the Iewes, that the Septuag. onelyonly translated the 5. bookes of Moses, in 5. cap. Ezech. 2. And there were diuerse copies of the Septuagint: Alexandria and all Egypt followed Hesychius copie: Constantinople and all vntounto Antioch, vsed Lucianus edition: And the middle Prouinces betweene them, preferred the translation amended by Origen, and set forth by Pamphilus, Hierome praefat. in Paralip. 4. And beside the translation of the Septuag. whereof there were so many editions, there were other translations of the Scriptures into the Greeke tongue, as by Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotian: wherefore in so great varietie and vncertaintie of translations, the most sure way is, to hauehave recourse vntounto the originall, as Hierome and Augustine doe well aduise, ex Bulling.