These two likewise continued distinct kingdoms, after the others were swallowed up by the power of the Romans. But there is a more proper and peculiar reason for enlarging upon these two particularly; "because Judea lying between them was sometimes in the possession of the kings of Egypt, and sometimes of the kings of Syria; and it is the purpose of holy scripture, to interweave only so much of foreign affairs, as hath some relation to the Jews;"* and it is in respect of their situation to Judea, that the kings of Egypt and Syria are called the kings of the south' and the north.' 'And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes, that is of Alexander's princes, and he shall be strong above him,' -ver. 5. There is manifestly either some redundance, or some defect in the Hebrew copy; which should be rendered as it is by the seventy," And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes shall be strong above him;" or perhaps may better be rendered thus,-' And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and the king of the north shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.' The king of the south' was indeed very 'strong;' for "Ptolemy had annexed Cyprus, Phoenicia, Caria, and many islands, and cities, and regions to Egypt, as Jerome here commemorates out of the ancients."§"He had likewise enlarged the bounds of his empire, (as Justin testifies,) by the acquisition of Cyrene, and was now become so great, that he was in a condition not so much to fear as to be feared by his enemies." But still the king of the north, or Seleucus Nicator, was strong above him ;' for having annexed, as we have seen, the kingdoms of Macedon and Thrace to the crown of Syria, he was become master of three

* Idcirco autem cætera regna dimittens, Macedoniæ videlicet et Asiæ, tantum de Ægypti et Syriæ narrat regibus: quia în medio Judæa posita, nunc ab illis nunc ab istis regibus tenebatur. Et Scripturæ sanctæ propositum est non externam absque Judæis historiam texere ; sed eam quæ Israeli populo copulata, est. [Therefore passing over the other kingdoms, that is, of Macedon and Asia, he only makes mention of the kings of Egypt and Syria; because &c. as in the text.] Hieron, in locum, col. 1122 edit. Benedict.

+ Either the in pin is redundant, or the words

are wanting.

† Και εἰς των άρχοντων αυτε ἐνισχύσει ἐπ ̓ ἀυτον. [Translated in the text.] Sept.

§ Ad Ægyptum adjecerat Cyprum, Phoenicen, Cariam, aliasque insulas et regiones. ut hic ex antiquis commemorat Hieronymus. [Translated in the text.] Grot. The words in Jerome are, ' et multas insula: urbesque, et regiones.' [And many islands, and cities, and countries.]

||---terminos quoque imperii acquisita Cyrene urbe ampliaverat, factusque jam tantus erat, ut non tam timeret quam timendus ipse hostibus esset. [Translated in the text.] Justin. lib. 13, cap. 6.

parts out of four of Alexander's dominions. All historians agree in representing him not only as the longest liver of Alexander's successors, but likewise as "the conqueror of the conquerors.' Appian in particular enumerates the nations which he subdued, and the cities which he built, and affirms that after Alexander he possessed the largest part of Asia: for all was subject to him from Phrygia up to the river Indus, and beyond it: † and afterwards he denominates him expressly, "the greatest king after Alexander." +

Seleucus Nicator,§ having reigned seven months after the death of Lysimachus, over the kingdoms of Macedon, Thrace, and Syria, was basely murdered; and to him succeeded in the throne of Syria his son Antiochus Soter, and to Antiochus Soter succeeded his son Antiochus Theus. At the same time Ptolemy Philadelphus reigned in Egypt after his father, the first Ptolemy, the son of Lagus. There were frequent wars between the kings of Egypt and Syria. There were so particularly between Ptolemy Philadelphus, the second king of Egypt; and Antiochus Theus, the third king of Syria. And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm, neither shall he stand, nor his arm; but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times,'-ver. 6. And in the end of years,' that is, after several years; for these wars lasted long, as Jerome reports out of the ancients, and Antiochus Theus fought against Ptolemy Philadelphus with all the forces of Babylon and the east,

cap. 2.

victoremque victorum extitisse.

[Translated in the text.] Justin. lib. 17

† Appian. de Bell. Syr. p. 123, edit. Steph.; p. 197, edit. Tollii. 'O; wpisai Twde Δάλιτα μετα Αλεξανδρον της Ασίας το πλέον· ἀπὸ γαρ Φρυγίας ἐπι ποταμον Ινδον άνω, ώαντα Σελευκω κατηκως και τον Ινδον πέρασας, κ. τ. λ. Quo excepto [Alexandro] nemo unquam plures terras in Asia tenuit: nam a Phrygiæ terminis Indum usque Mediterranea Seleuco parebant omnia: et hoc quoque trajecto, &c. [Translated in the text.] Vide etiam, p. 201, edit. Tollii.

-Baσidea Twy iπı 'Aλe§avôpw μy150.-Regem post Alexandrum maximum. [TransJated in the text.] p. 128, edit. Steph.; p. 207. edit. Tollii.

§ Quippe post menses admodum septem, &c. [For after seven months, &c.] Justin. lib. 17, cap. 2, sect. 4, p. 351, edit. Grævii. Appian. de Bell. Syr.

Iste adversus Ptolemæum Philadelphum, qui secundus imperabat Ægyptiis, gessit bella quam plurima: et totis Babylonis atque orientis viribus dimicavit. [He waged many wars against Ptolemy Philadelphus, the second king of the Egyptians, and engaged with all the forces of Babylon and the east in his army.] Hieron. Comment. in locum. Col. 1123. vol. 3, edit. Benedict.

66

They shall join themselves together' or 'shall associate themselves: At length they agreed to make peace upon condition, that Antiochus Theus should put away his former wife Laodice and her two sons, and should marry Berenice the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus.* 'For the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make rights' or 'an agreement:' and accordingly Ptolemy Philadelphus brought his daughter to Antiochus Theus, and with her an immense treasure, so that he received the appellation of the dowry-giver.'" + But she shall not retain the power of the arm,' that is, her interest and power with Antiochus; for " after some time, in a fit of love, he brought back his former wife Laodice with her children to court again." Neither shall he stand, nor his arm,' or 'his seed;' for Laodice fearing the fickle temper of her husband, lest he should recal Berenice, caused him to be poisoned; § and neither did his seed by Berenice succeed him in the kingdom, but Laodice contrived and managed matters so, as to fix her elder son Seleucus Callinicus on the throne of his ancestors. 'But she shall be given up;' for Laodice not content with poisoning her husband, caused also Berenice to be murdered. || And they that brought her;' for her Egyptian women and attendants, endeavouring to defend her, were many of them slain with her.¶And he that begat her,' or rather as it is in the margin, 'he whom she brought forth;' for the son was murdered as well as the mother, by order of Laodice.** And he that strengthened her in these times :' her husband Antiochus, as Jerome

* Volens itaque Ptolemæus Philadelphus post multos annos molestum finire certamen, filiam suam nomine Berenicen, Antiocho uxorem dedit; qui de priore uxore nomine Laodice, habebat duos filios, &c. [Ptolemy Philadelphus therefore being at length desirous to put an end to a grievous contest, gave his daughter Berenice to Antiochus in marriage, who had two sons by his former wife Laodice, &c.] Hieron. ibid.

+ Dedrxitque eam usque Pelusium; et infinita auri et argenti millia, dotis nomine dedit: Unde propopos, id est, dotalis appellatus est. [Translated in the text.] Hieron. ibid.

post multum temporis amore superatus, Laodicem cum liberis suis reduxit in regiam. [Translated in the text.] Hieron. ibid.

§ Quæ metuens ambiguum viri animumne Berenicen reduceret, virum per ministros veneno interfecit, &c. [Translated in the text.] Hieron. ibid. Appian. de Bell. Syr. p. 130, edit. Steph.; p. 211, edit. Tollii. Valer. Maximus, lib. 9, cap. 14. Plin. lib. 7 sect. 10, edit. Harduini.

Hieron. ibid. Appian. ibid. Polyæni Strat. lib. 8. cap. 50.

f Hieron. ibid. αἱ δὲ ἀμφ' αύτην γυναίκες ὑπερασπίζεσαι προσαπέθανον αἱ πλείονες. Qure vero circa eam erant mulieres defensionem parantes, plurimæ ceciderunt. [Translated in the text.] Polyænus ibid. p. 801, edit. Maasvicii.

** Hieron. ibid. Appian. ibid. Polyæn. ibid. Justin, lib. 27, cap. 1

conceives;* or those who took her part and defended her; or rathe her father who died a little before, and was so very fond of her, tha he took care continually to send her fresh supplies of the water of the Nile, thinking it better for her to drink of that than of any other river, as Polybius relates.t

So the

But such wickedness should not pass unpunished and unrevenged. • But out of a branch of her root shall one stand up in his estate, or rather, as it is translated in the Vulgar Latin, 'out of a branch of her root shall stand up a plant;'‡ and he shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress' or the fenced cities of the king of the north, and shall deal,' shall act against them, and shall prevail; And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods with their princes,' or rather, their gods with their molten images,'§ ' and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold, and he shall continue more years than the king of the north,' or more literally ' he shall continue some years after the king of the north. king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land,' ver. 7-9. This branch,' which sprung out of the same root' with Berenice, was Ptolemy Euergetes her brother, who no sooner succeeded his father Ptolemy Philadelphus in the kingdom, than he came with a great army, and entered into the provinces of the king of the north,' that is, of Seleucus Callinicus, who with his mother Laodice reigned in Syria: and he 'acted against them,' and 'prevailed' so far, that he took Syria and Cilicia, and the upper parts beyond Euphrates, and almost all Asia. And when he had heard that a sedition was raised in Egypt, he plundered the kingdom of Seleucus, and took forty thousand talents of silver and precious vessels, and images of the gods,

* Rex quoque Antiochus qui confortabat eam, hoc est, per quem poterat prævalere, veneno uxoris occisus est. [King Antiochus also, who strengthened her, that is, by whom she was enabled to prevail, was poisoned by his wife.] Hieron, ibid.

+ Και ὁ της Αιγυπτω δε βασιλευς δευτερος, ο Φιλάδελφος ἐπικλην, ἐκδες την άρα θυγατέρα Βερενικην 'Αντιόχω τω Συρίας βασιλει, ἐν ἐπιμελεια εἶχε πεμπειν άυτη το άπο το Νειλω ύδωρ, ίνα μόνο τότε το ποταμι ἡ παις πινη, ὡς ίσορει Πολύβιος. Ptolemaeus secundus Ægypti rex, cognomine Philadelphus, cum filiam Berenicen Antiocho regi Syriæ nuptum dedisset, mittendam ad ipsam Nili aquam sedulo curavit, ut eam solam gnata biberet, quod Polybius scripsit. [Ptolemy the second, king of Egypt, surnamed Philadelphus, when he had given his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus king of Syria, was urgently solicitous to send the water of the Nile to her, that she might drink of that only, as Polybius records.] Athenæus, lib. 2, p. 45. edit. Casaubon.

Et stalit de germine radicum ejus plantatio. [Translated in the text.]`Vulg Deos eorum et sculptilia. [Their gods and graven images.] Vulg. Tus Deus auto MITX TWY YWISTWY auTwY.-Sept. Deos eorum cum fusilibus eorum.-Arab. [Translated in the text.

*

two thousand and five hundred: among which were also those, which Cambyses, after he had taken Egypt, had carried into Persia. And for thus restoring their gods after many years, the Egyptians, who were a nation much addicted to idolatry, complimented him with the title of Euergetes or the benefactor." This is Jerome's account, extracted from ancient historians; but there are authors. still extant, who confirm several of the same particulars. Appian mforms us, that "Laodice having killed Antiochus, and after him both Berenice and her child, Ptolemy the son of Philadelphus, to revenge these murders, invaded Syria, slew Laodice, and proceeded as far as to Babylon." From Polybius we learn, that "Ptolemy, surnamed Euergetes, being greatly incensed at the cruel treatment of his sister Berenice, marched with an army into Syria, and took the city of Seleucia, which was kept for some years afterwards by the garrisons of the kings of Egypt." Thus did he enter into the fortress of the king of the north.' Polyænus affirms, that "Ptolemy made himself master of all the country from mount Taurus as far as to India without war or battle:"§ but he ascribes it by mistake to the father instead of the son. Justin asserts, that "if Ptolemy had not been recalled by a domestic sedition into Egypt, he would have

* de plantione et de germine radicis ejus, eo quod esset germanus: et venit cum exercitu magno, et ingressus est provinciam regis aquilonis, id est Seleuci cognomento Callinici, qui cum matre Laodice regnabat in Syria: et abusus est eis; et obtinuit, in tantum ut Syriam caperet, et Ciliciam, superioresque partes trans Euphratem, et propemodum universam Asiam. Quumque audisset in Ægypto seditionem moveri, diripiens regnum Seleuci, quadraginta millia talentorum argenti tulit, et vasa pretiosa simulacraque deorum, duo millia quingenta: in quibus erant, et illa quæ Cambyses capta Ægypto in Persas portaverat. Denique gens Ægyptiorum idololatriæ dedita, quia post multos annos deos eorum retulerat, Euergeten eum appellavit. [Translated in the text.] Hieron ibid.

+ Και αὐτον έκτεινε Λαοδίκη, και ἐπ' ἐκεινον Βερενικην τε και το Βερενίκης βρεφος, και Πτολε μαιος ὁ τε Φιλαδελφε ταυτα τιννύμενος, Λαοδίκην τε έκτεινε, και ἐς Συριαν ἐνεβαλε, και ἐς Βαβυλώνα ixare. Laodice ipsum interfecit, et mox Berenicem cum infantulo. Eam injuriam Ptulemæus Philadelphi filius, ut ulcisceretur, de Laodice sumpsit supplicium, et ingressus Syriam, Babylonem usque pervenit. [Translated in the text.] Appian. de Bell. Syr. p. 130, edit. Steph.; p. 211, edit. Tollii.

† Συνεβαινε γαρ Σελεύκειαν ἔτι τοτε κατέχεσθαι φρεραις ύπο των ἐξ Αιγύπτε βασιλέων, ἐκ των κατα τον Ευεργετην ἐπικληθεντα Πτολεμαιον καίρων, ἐν οἷς ἐκεινος δια τα Βερενικης συμπτωματα, και την ύπερ ἐκεινησ όργην, ςρατευσας εις τας κατα Συρίαν τόπως, έγκρατης έγενετο ταυτης της Tλews. Adhuc illa tempestate regum Ægypti præsidiis tenebatur Suleucia, jam inde ab illis temporibus, cum Ptolemæus cognomento Euergeta, propter casum Berenicæ Seleuco regi iratus bello Syriæ illato, ea urbe est potitus. [Translated in the text.] Polyb. lib. 5, p. 402, 403, edit. Casaubon.

5. Από το Ταυρο μέχρι της Ινδικής χωρις πολεμε και μαχης ἐκρατησε. A Tauro usque a Indiam absque bello ac pugna superavit. [Translated in the text.] Polyæni Strat. lib. ◄ cap. 50, p. 802, edit. Maasvicii.