vail, as in the former and latter attempts;" that is, in the two former expeditions; because of the ships that come from Chittim; that is, the Grecian ships that brought Poplius and the other Roman ambassadors into Egypt, to Alexandria, whose arrival put an end to all his expectations of conquering that country; for they made him, "to his great grief, return out of Egypt.' What is said in verses forty-third and forty-fourth of his stretching forth his hand upon the land of Egypt, “and his having power over the treasures of gold and silver, and all other precious things of that country," was fulfilled exactly, in the frequent expeditions to that country, from which he carried off great spoils.

The prophet in this chapter (xi.) also predicts, in strong language, the disappointment of Antiochus, upon his being prevented by the Romans from seizing on Egypt, which was just ready to fall into his hands: and, also, how he turned his vengeance against the holy city, and desecrated the sanctuary of God. "For the ships of Chittim shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the covenant: so shall he do; and he shall have intelligence with them that forsake the covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.'

These prophecies respecting Antiochus Epiphanes, so exactly correspond with the events related of him by all the historians, that Porphyry, who wrote largely against the Scriptures, acknowledged the exact coincidence, but pretended that these predictions were never penned by Daniel, but by some writer who lived after the time of Antiochus. And to make this the more probable, he compared what is contained in this eleventh chapter of Daniel, with the accounts of all the historians extant in his time, most of which are now lost, and proved that the agreement was most exact; from which he drew the inference, that this chapter must have been written after the events took place. This work of Porphyry is now lost, and also several answers to it by learned Christians. All we now have of it is found in Jerome's Commentary on Daniel.

SECTION XV.

HISTORY OF JUDAS CONTINUED DISTRESSING CONDITION OF THE JEWS-DEATH OF ELEAZAR, BROTHER OF JUDAS-DEATH OF ANTIOCHUS-MISERABLE END OF MENELAUS CIVIL WAR BETWEEN THE TWO BROTHERS IN EGYPT-INTERPOSITION OF THE ROMANS-DEMETRIUS SUCCEEDS ANTIOCHUS-ALCIMUS APPOINTED HIGH-PRIEST -THE QUARREL OF THE TWO BROTHERS, PTOLEMY PHILOMETOR AND PTOLEMY PHYSCON, BROUGHT BEFORE THE ROMAN SENATE AND decided.

JUDAS MACCABEUS was not permitted to be idle; for although the Syrians were driven from Judea, the neighbouring nations seemed to have entered into a general conspiracy against the Jews. Judas, therefore, turned his arms against the Edomites, who had been foremost in forming this confederation. Of them he slew twenty thousand men. He next passed over Jordan to the land of the Ammonites, where he fought many battles, and having vanquished the enemies of the Jews in that quarter, and taken Jazar, returned to Judea.

The heathen about Gilead, hearing of the discomfiture of so many of their friends, rose against the Jews, and having slain a thousand of them in the land of Tob, forced the rest to take refuge in a castle. The people of Phenicia also rose against the Jews of Galilee; and Judas, receiving urgent calls for help from both these places, was at a loss which way he should march. He, therefore, consulted the Sanhedrim, who advised him to divide his forces. Accordingly, he and Jonathan passed over Jordan, and arrived just in time to relieve the Jews who were besieged in Dathema.

Simon took another division of the army and marched to Galilee, where also he met with great success; for in many conflicts with the enemy, he came off uniformly victorious. But finding that the Jews in those parts could not be protected from the heathen round about, he took measures to have them transplanted into Judea. While these two divisions of the army had been completely successful, a third which had been left at Jerusalem, under Joseph and Azarias, having undertaken an expedition against Jamnia, on the seacoast, where Gorgias commanded, were by him repulsed with great loss.

Lysias, who, after the death of Antiochus, had seized upon. the chief authority, as he had the young king in his power, now resolved to march with a great army against Judas. He collected sixty thousand infantry, as many cavalry as he could find, and eighty elephants, and with this force marched towards Judea. This great army commenced the war by laying siege to Bethsura; but Judas, coming upon them, slew eleven thousand of his infantry, and sixteen hundred of his cavalry, and put the rest to flight. Lysias, growing weary of this unsuc

cessful war, now made peace with Judas and his peoplo. Quintillus Memmius, and Torquatus Manlius, who were then ambassadors from the Romans, in Syria, were very helpful to the Jews on this occasion. The edict of Antiochus, requiring the people to conform to the heathen worship, was entirely rescinded; and liberty was given them to live according to their own laws. But this law was not of long continuance. The nations by whom the Jews were surrounded, began to raise disturbances as soon as Lysias was gone. Judas was soon called to inflict punishment on Joppa, where two hundred Jews had been drowned. He burned their shipping, and then turning to Jamnia treated them in the same manner, and for a similar offence.

He was next called into Gilead, where Timotheus continued to raise disturbances. He had now collected a more numerous army, which was entirely overthrown by Judas, and thirty thousand of his men slain. Timotheus himself was in his flight taken prisoner; but on the promise that he would release many Jews whom he had in his power, he was permitted to go free. Judas, finding that the Jews beyond Jordan would be perpetually molested, treated them as Simon had the Galileans, and transplanted them into the land of Judea. As the garrison, however, in the fortress at Jerusalem was a perpetual thorn in the sides of the Jews, Judas collected a great force, and prepared all sorts of engines of war used in sieges, and pressed with all his might to take it; but the apostate Jews who were in the garrison, knowing that they should receive no mercy if the castle were taken, several of them made their escape, and going to the king at Antioch, urged their suit so earnestly, that he was persuaded to collect a great army of a hundred thousand foot, twenty thousand horse, and thirty-two elephants, at the head of which he marched himself, accompanied by Lysias his guardian. When they arrived in Judea, they laid siege to Bethsura, when Judas making an attack upon them in the night, slew about five thousand men, and returned without suffering any loss. The next day Judas encountered the whole Syrian army with his small force; but finding that he must be overwhelmed by the multitude, withdrew to Jerusalem.

In this battle, Eleazar, one of Judas' brothers, lost his life by a very daring act. Observing that one of the elephants was much larger than the rest, he imagined that the king was carried on the back of this large animal, and that by destroying him he should deliver his country, and obtain everlasting renown; he ran under the elephant and pierced his belly with his sword; but before he could make his escape, the wounded beast fell upon him, and crushed him to death.

Bethsura, now, after a brave defence by its garrison, fell into

the hands of the Syrians. Antiochus marched immediately to Jerusalem, and laid siege to the sanctuary: and when they were reduced to great straits, deliverance was obtained in an unexpected manner. When Antiochus Epiphanes was near his end, he had called one of his generals named Philip, and in a formal manner appointed him the guardian of his young son; and committed to him his signet and his crown. But before Philip arrived at Antioch, Lysias, who had been left governor of Syria and guardian of the young king, had taken the supreme power into his own hands, and retained possession of the king's person, refusing to resign either the one or the other to Philip. But now, while Lysias and all the best troops were absent, he watched his opportunity for seizing Antioch, and endeavouring to make himself master of the Syrian empire. Lysias, hearing of this event, found it necessary to return back, and thereupon, again made peace with the Jews.

Menelaus, the wicked high-priest of the Jews, had a great hand in instigating the king to engage in this war, and accompanied the Syrian army into Jerusalem, with the hope that he would be restored to his office; and also that the government of the whole country would be put into his hands. But when the issue of the war proved to be unfortunate, Lysias was so much exasperated against this wretch, that he accused him to the king as the author of all the mischief: on which he was condemned to death, and carried to Berhoea, a city of Syria, where he was cast headlong into a tower of ashes which was in that place. This punishment was inflicted for treason, sacrilege, and such other crimes as were considered more than commonly enormous; and was well adapted to the shocking crimes of which this man had been so long and signally guilty.

On the death of Menelaus, the office of high-priest should have descended to Onias, the son of that Onias whom Menelaus caused to be put to death at Antioch; but it was conferred on one Alcimus, or Jacimus, as he is sometimes called; a man not less wicked than Menelaus himself. Onias being much dissatisfied that he was thus deprived of his right, escaped from Antioch, where he had resided from the time of his father's death, and fled into Egypt, where he succeeded in insinuating himself into the favour of Ptolemy Philometor and his queen Cleopatra.

On the return of the king and Lysias with the Syrian army, Antioch was without difficulty recovered, and Philip, seeking safety in flight, soon after perished.

It has been seen that there were two brothers in Egypt, Ptolemy Philometor and Ptolemy Physcon, both of whom had been crowned; and although for a while there was a compromise between them, their rival pretensions soon involved them

in a fresh quarrel. In this contest Ptolemy Physcon had prevailed against his brother, and driven him out of the kingdom.

The Roman senate, hearing of this civil war in Egypt, sent orders to their ambassadors in Syria, Cneius Octavius, Spurius Lucretius, and Lucius Aurelius, to go to Egypt and settle the dispute between the two brothers. But while they were on their journey, Philometor had fled, and was on his way to Rome, on foot, and in a sordid habit. Demetrius, the son of Seleucus Philopater, late king of Syria, who was then a hostage at Rome, being informed of the fact, provided a royal equipage and robes for Philometor, and met him before he reached the city. He not only refused, however, to accept them, but would not even permit Demetrius to accompany him. He did this, that the senate, seeing his miserable condition, might be the more disposed to compassionate his cause, and grant him the assistance which he asked. As soon as the senate heard of his arrival, they sent for him, and immediately directed that he should be furnished with everything answerable to his royal dignity; and having heard his complaint, decreed that the kingdom should be restored to him, appointing Quintus and Canuleius, two of their own body, to see that their decree was executed. These ambassadors, on their arrival in Egypt, made a compromise between the two brothers, assigning Egypt and Cyprus to Philometor, and Lybia and Cyrene to Physcon.

The Roman ambassadors who were sent to Syria, finding that the Syrian fleet contained more ships, and the Syrian army more elephants, than were allowed by the treaty made with Antiochus the Great, proceeded to burn the supernumerary ships, and slay the supernumerary elephants. Many of the Syrians were exceedingly indignant at this arbitrary proceeding of the ambassadors, and one Leptines was so transported with rage, that he fell upon Cneius Octavius while he was anointing himself at Laodicea and slew him in the gymnasium. This Octavius had recently been consul at Rome, and was the first of his family who had attained that high honour. From him was descended Octavius Cesar, (commonly called Augustus,) who was so long emperor of Rome. It was supposed that Lysias had secretly instigated the man to commit this violation of the law of nations; but he immediately dispatched ambassadors to Rome to disclaim this act, on the part of the government. The Senate heard them, but returned no answer, saying that they would reserve their judgment of the true authors of the murder, until future inquiry.

Demetrius, having made another unsuccessful attempt to obtain permission to return to his own country, by the advice of his friends, (among whom was Polybius the historian,) made his