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Geneva Bible Notes (1560): Daniel 11

1 a The Angel assureth Daniel that God hathe giuen him power to perfomre these things, seing he appointed him to assist Darius, when he ouercame the Caldeans.

1 ! A prophecie of the kingdomes, which shulde be enemies to the Church of God, as of Persia

2 b Whereof Cambyses that now reigned, was the first, the second Smerdes, the third, Darius the sonne of Hystaspis, and the fourth Zerxes, which all were enemies to the people of God & stode against them.

2 c For he raised vp all the East countries to fight against the Grecians: and albeit he had in his armie nine hundreth thousand men, yet in foure battels he was discomfited and fled away with shame.

3 ! Of Grece

4 k That is, his posteritie hauing no parte thereof.

4 i None of these foure shalbe able to be compared to the power of Alexander.

4 h Thus God reuenged Alexanders ambicion & crueltie in causing his posteritie to be murthered, partely of the fathers chief friends, & partely one of another.

4 g After this his monarchie was deuided into foure: for Seleucus had Syria, Antigonus Asia minor, Cassander the kingdome of Macedonia, and Ptolemeus Egypt.

4 e For when his estate was moste florishing, he ouercame him self with drinke, and so fell into a disease: or as some write, was poysoned by Cassander.

4 f For his twelue chief princes first deuided his kingdome among them selues.

5 m That is, Antiochus the sonne of Seleucus, and one of Alexanders princes shalbe more mightie: for he shulde haue bothe Asia & Syria.

5 l To wit, Ptolemeus King of Egypt.

5 ! Of Egypt

6 q Some read, feed, meaning the childe begotten of Berenice.

6 r Some read, she that begate her, & thereby vnderstand her nurce, which broght her vp: so that all thei that were occasion of this mariage, were destroyed.

6 n That is, Bernice the daughter of Ptolemeus Philadelphus shalbe giuen in mariage to Antiochus Theos, thinking by this affinitie that Asyria and Egypt shulde haue a continual peace together.

6 o That force & strength shal not continue: for sone after Berenice & her yong sonne after her housbands death, was slayne of her stepsonne Seleucus Calinicus the sonne of Laodice, the lawful wife of Antiochus, but put away for this womans sake.

7 s Meaning that Ptolemeus Euergetes after the death of his father Philadelphus shulde succede in the kingdome being of the same stocke that Berenice was.

7 t To reuenge his sisters death against Antiochus Calinicus King of Syria.

8 u For this Ptolemeus reigned fix & fortie yeres.

10 x Meaning Seleucus and Antiochus the great, the sonnes of Calinicus shal make warre against Ptolemeus Philopater the sonne of Philadelphus.

10 y For his elder brother Seleucus dyed, or was slayne whiles the warres were preparing.

10 z That is, Philopater when he shal se Antiochus to take great dominions from him in Syria, & also readie to inuade Egypt.

11 a For Antiochus had six thousand horsemen & threscore thousand fotemen.

13 b After the death of Ptolemeus Philopater, who left Ptolemeus Epiphanes his heire.

14 d For vnder Onias which falsely alledged that place of Isa 19,19 certeine of the Jewes retyred with him into Egypt to fulfil this prophecie: also the Angel sheweth that all these troubles which are in the Church, are by the prouidence & counsel of God.

14 c For not onely Antiochus came against him, but also Philoppe King of Macedonia, and these two broght great power with them.

15 e The Egyptians were not able to resist Stopas Antiochus captaine.

16 f He sheweth that he shal not onely afflict the Egyptians, but also the Jewes, and shal enter into their countrey, whereof he admonisheth them before that they may knowe that all these things come by Gods prouidence.

17 g This was the seconde battel that Antiochus foght against Ptolemeus Epiphanes.

17 h To wit, a beautiful woman, which was Cleopatra Antiochus daughter.

17 i For he regarded not the life of his daughter in respect of the kingdome of Egypt.

17 k She shal not agre to his wicked counsel, but shal loue her housband as her duetie requirethy, and not seke his destruction.

18 l That is, towarde Asia, Grecia & those yles which are in the sea called Mediterraneun: for the Jewes called all countreis yles which were deuided from them by sea.

18 m For where as Antiochus was wont to contemne the Romaines, & put their ambassadours to shame in all places, Attillius the Consul, or Lucius Scipio put him to flight and caused his shame to turne on his owne head.

18 n By his wicked life and obeying of foolish counsel.

19 p For when as vnder the pretence of pouertie he wolde haue robbed the temple of Jupiter Dodaneus, the countrei men slue him.

19 o For feare of the Romaines he shal flee to his holdes.

20 r Not by foraine enemies or battel, but by treason.

20 q That is Seleucus shal succede his father Antiochus.

21 s Which was Antiochus Epiphanes, who as is thoght, was the occasion of Seleucus his brothers death and was of a vile, cruel & flattering nature, and defrauded hjis borhters sonne of the kingdome, & vsurped the kingdome without the consent of the people.

22 u Meaning Ptolomeus Philometor Philopaters sonne, who was this childes cousin germaine, & is here called the prince of the couenant, because he was the chief, & all other followed his conduite.

22 t He sheweth the great foraine powers shal come to helpe the yong sonne of Seleucus against his vncle Antiochus, & yet, shalbe ouerthrowen.

23 x For after the battel Philometor & his vncle Antiochus made a league.

23 y For he came vpon him as vnwares, & when he suspected his vncle Antiochus nothing.

24 a He wil content him self with the smale holdes for a time, but euer labor by crafte to atteine to the chiefest.

24 z Meaning in Egypt.

26 c Signifying his princes and the chief about him.

26 d Declaring that his soldiers shal brast out & venture their life to slay & to be slaine for the sauegarde of their prince.

27 e The vncle & the nephewe shal take truce, & banket together, yet in their hearts thei shal imagine mischief one against another.

27 f Signifying that it standeth not in the counsel of men to bring things to pase, but in the prouidence of God who ruleth the Kings by a secret bridel that they cannot do what thei list themslues.

28 g Which he shal take of the Jewes in spoiling Jerusalem & the Temple, & this is tolde them before to moue them to pacience, knowing all things are done by Gods prouidence.

28 ! Of Syria

30 i With the Jewes which shal forsake the counant of the Lord: for first he was called against the Jewes by Jason the hie Priest, and this seconde time by Menelaus.

30 h That is, the Romaine power shal come against him: for P popilius the ambassador appointed him to depart in the Romaines name, to which thing he obeid, althogh with grief, and to reuenge his rage he cam against the people of God the seconde time.

31 l So called, because the power of God was nothing diminished, althogh this tyrant set vp in the Temple the image of Jupiter Olympius, and so began to corrupt the pure service of God.

31 k A great faction of the wicked Jewes shal holde with Antiochus.

32 m Meaning suche as bare the name of Jewes but in dede were nothing lesse: for they solde their soules, and betrayed their brethren for gaine.

33 n They that remaine constant among the people, shal teache others, by their example and edifie many in the true religion.

33 o Whereby he exhorteth the godlie to constancie althogh they shulde perish a thousand times, and thogh their miseries endure neuer so long.

34 p As God wil not leaue his Church destitute, yet wil he not deliuer it all at once, but so helpe, as they may stil seme to fight vnder the crosse, as he did in the time of the Maccabees whereof he here prophecieth.

34 q That is, there shalbe euen of this smale nomber many hypocrites.

35 r To wit, of them that feare God & wil lose their life for the defense of true religion, signifying also that the Church must continually be tryed and purged & oght to loke for one persecution after another: for God hathe appointed the time: therefore we must obey.

36 s Because the Angels purpose is to shewe the whole course of the persecutions of the Jewes vnto the comming of Christ, he now speaketh of the monarchie of the Romaines which he noteth by the name of a Kings, who were without all religion & contemned the true God.

36 ! And of the Romaines.

36 t So long the tyrants shal preuaile as God hathe appointed to punish his people: but he sheweth that it is but for a time.

37 x Signifying that they shulde be without all humanitie: for the loue of women is taken for singular or great loue, as {2 Sam. 1, 26}.

37 u The Romaines shal obserue no certeine for me of religion as other nations, but shal change their gods at their pleasures, yea contemne them & preferre them selues to their gods.

38 y That is, the god of power and riches: they shal esteme their owne power aboue all their gods & worship it.

38 z Vnder pretence of worshipping the gods, they shal enriche their citie with the most precious jewels of all the worlde, because that hereby all men shulde haue them in admiration for their power & riches.

39 a Althogh in their hearts thei had no religion, yet they did acknowledge the gods and worshipped them in their temples, lest they shulde haue bene despised as atheistes: but this was to increase their fame and riches: and when they gate any countrey, they so made others the rulers thereof, that the profite euer came to the Romaines.

40 b That is, bothe the Egyptians & the Syrians shal at length fight against the Romaines, but they shal be ouercome.

41 c The Angel forewarneth the Jewes that when they shulde se the Romaines inuade them, and that the wicked shulde escape their hands, that then they shulde escape their hands, that then they shulde not thinke but that all this was done by Gods prouidence, for asmuche as he warned them of it so long a fore, and therefore he wolde stil preserue him.

44 d Hearing the Crassus was slaine & Antonius discomfited.

44 e For Augustus ouercame the Parthians, and recouered that which Antonius had lost.

45 f The Romaines after this reigned quietly through all countreis & from sea to sea, and in Judea: but at length for their crueltie God shal destroy them.