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1In the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him. 2aAnd now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches,
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Four kings follow Darius, the 4th King (Xerxes) is the most wealthy of the 4.
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2bhe will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.
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Xerxes attacked Macedonian Greece and won, but did not conquer Greece.
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3And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.
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Alexander the Great Arises and easily subdues all opposition.
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4But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others besides them.
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When Alexander Dies, his Generals divide the kingdom into 4 sections, but their (combined) might is never equal to Alexander
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5Then the king of the South will grow strong, along with one of his princes who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain will be a great dominion indeed.
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Of the 4 Kingdoms, the Ptolemys (Egypt) and the Seleucids (Syria) are strongest and initially seem to cooperate.
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6After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to carry out a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her position of power, nor will he remain with his power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who sired her as well as he who supported her in those times.
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King Ptolemy marries his daughter Berenice to King Seleucus who divorced his wife to marry her. When Ptolemy died, Seleucus exiled Berenice and remarried his first wife. The first wife then killed Berenice, her father and her followers.
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7But one of the descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and display great strength. 8Also their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years.
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Ptolemy Euergetes (Berenice’s Brother "a descendant of her line") becomes king and attacks the Syria, robbing them of their wealth, but does not destroy Syria
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9Then the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.
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The Syrian King tries, unsuccessfully, to counterattack Egypt.
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10His sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, that he may again wage war up to his very fortress.
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The sons of the Egyptian King then attack Syria and lay siege on its capital.
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11The king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into the hand of the former. 12When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail.
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The Battle escalated as the Egyptian King (now Ptolemy Philopater) went to fight Syria (under King Antiochus the Great) but was too interested in partying to finish the job, so he didn’t conquer Syria.
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13For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and after an interval of some years he will press on with a great army and much equipment. 14Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down.
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The king of Syria was joined by others, including Macedonians and Jews to try to stop the Egyptians. The Jewish units failed to be valiant in the fight.
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15Then the king of the North will come, cast up a siege ramp and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand.
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Fed up with the raids from Egypt, the Syrian king gathered his forces and attacked Egypt.
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16But he who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.
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The Syrians not only occupy Egypt, but also occupy and oppress Israel.
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17He will set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side.
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Upon conquering Egypt, Antiochus the great sends his daughter Cleopatra and orders her to be married to the young King Euegertes of Egypt as soon as He is of age. Antiochus expects her to support him, but instead she rebels against him and helps Euegertes.
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18Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him; moreover, he will repay him for his scorn.
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Antiochus abandoned Egypt and targeted Rome and the Greek Aisles, but Rome defeated him and forced him to pay them tribute. Holding several of his heirs as captives until he repaid the war debt.
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19So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be found no more.
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Antiochus attempted to plunder his own people to pay Roman Tribute. He died when he fell while fleeing the angry mob.
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20Then in his place one will arise who will send an oppressor through the Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle.
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Antiochus’s son Seleucus Philopater raises taxes on the Syrian empire to try to pay the tribute. He died of poisoning by his own people who disliked the taxes.
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21In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
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Seleucus’s son and heir was held captive in Rome, so next in line was his infant son. Seleucus’s brother Antiochus declared himself co-monarch with the infant and then killed the child 5 years later.
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22The overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant. 23After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people. 24aIn a time of tranquility he will enter the richest parts of the realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his ancestors; he will distribute plunder, booty and possessions among them,
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Calling Himself Antiochus Epiphanes (the manifest god), he overcame opposition by bribing the military to support him, and then betrayed those who supported him, leaving only a small group of supporters. His opponents called him Antiochus Epimanes (the mad man). He takes money from the richest areas of his kingdom and distributes it to his few loyal supporters.
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24band he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. 25He will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him. 26Those who eat his choice food will destroy him, and his army will overflow, but many will fall down slain.
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The Syrian king attacked Egypt, but Egyptian king had a superior army. Just when the Egyptians seemed sure to win, the Egyptian king was betrayed by His generals.
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27As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on evil, and they will speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, for the end is still to come at the appointed time.
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The Syrians were stopped from conquering the Egyptians when the Romans intervened at Alexandria and forced them to negotiate a treaty, but both sides were trying to cheat in their negotiations.
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28Then he will return to his land with much plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.
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The Syrian King returned home with lots of plunder, while intending to sneak back and conquer Egypt.
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29At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.
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When Syria again tried to attack Egypt again, the Roman (Kittim) Navy prevented his attacks. Like a bully who had been bested, he then looked for someone else to beat up and turned his anger against Israel. Some Israelis cooperated with him, so he promoted them and gave them power.
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31Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.
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Antiochus Epiphanies turned to Jerusalem and polluted the holy temple. He built an altar, a pagan altar above the altar of God and he offered a pig upon this altar to an idol that they had set up there in the temple of God. Some believe that the alter was dedicated to worship of himself.
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32By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.
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Those who were not truly dedicated to worshipping God joined him in this worship, but those who knew God, led by Mattathias Maccabees opposed him and killed a person trying to sacrifice to an idol in the temple.
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33Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days.
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After the death of Mattathias Maccabees, His sons were influential teachers of the people, and they formed a militia led by Judas Maccabees and began guerrilla type attacks against the Syrians. But all 5 of Mattathias’s sons died violent deaths and the rebellion nearly failed.
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34Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy. 35Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time."
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Rome stepped in to "save" Israel from the Syrians. Since they were starting to win, many people started to act like supporters, while still denying the power of God (this may be the roots of the Sadducees).
When they finally retook control of the temple, they purified it and restarted temple worship, which is what is celebrated with the holiday of Hanukkah each year. This is also the "Feast of the Dedication of the Temple" referred to in John 10:22-23.
Eventually Rome used this "help" as a way to take control of Israel for themselves.
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