Page 327 - Daniel

posthumously to Roxana, was murdered in 310 B.C. The empire of
Alexander the Great eventually fell into the hands of his four generals
and did not preserve the glory and power it had in his day. The strong

central rule that had characterized it passed with his death. This event,
recorded in Daniel’s prophecy written about 539 B.C., was fulfilled
14
between the time Alexander died in 323 B.C. and 301 B.C.

PTOLEMY I SOTER AND SELEUCUS I NICATOR (11:5)

11:5 “Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes
shall be stronger than he and shall rule, and his authority shall be a

great authority.”

Beginning in verse 5, the struggle between the various kings of the
south, namely Egypt, and the kings of the north, namely Syria, began
and was traced by Daniel in this prophecy to the time of Antiochus IV
Epiphanes (175–164 B.C.), a period of about 150 years. In verse 8, the
king of the south is identified as Egypt, and the Septuagint translates
“south” as “Egypt” throughout this passage. Syria is not mentioned by

name, as at the time of Daniel’s writing no such nation existed and such
a reference would be confusing. In tracing the struggles between Egypt
and Syria, the prophecy is selective and not all the rulers are mentioned,
but usually the identification is clear. 15

The king of the south in verse 5 was probably Ptolemy I Soter (323–
285 B.C.). The one referred to as “stronger than he” is the king of Syria,
Seleucus I Nicator (312–281 B.C.). These rulers took the title of king in

306 B.C. Seleucus had fled from Antigonus of Babylon and was
temporarily associated with Ptolemy I. They combined their strength and

defeated Antigonus, thus paving the way for Seleucus to gain control of
the entire area from Asia Minor to India; and in time, he became
stronger than Ptolemy who ruled Egypt.
Hence the Scripture says that Seleucus “shall be stronger than he

[Ptolemy] and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority.”
This is qualified by the statement in the preceding verse, “nor according
to the authority with which he ruled.” The emergence of Ptolemy as