The prophecy of the 11th chapter

The Lord then proceeded to reveal the things contained in the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Daniel, which have respect, first, to the pushing of the Ram westward against Greece in the reign of the fourth king after Cyrus; secondly, to the power of Alexander of Macedon, and the division of his kingdom into four lesser ones, which should be inherited by others not descended from him. These matters occupy the first four verses, and constitute a kind of preface to what follows; and serve to establish the connection of the "prophecy" with "the vision of the evening and morning contained in the eighth chapter. Thirdly, the revelation relates to the Greco-Egyptian, and to the Assyro-Macedonian, horns of the goat, styled "the king of the south," and "the king of the north." The wars and policy of these two powers as far as they compromised the land of Israel and the Jews, form the subject of the eleventh chapter from the fifth, to the thirty-fifth, verses, inciusive. Fourthly, from the thirty-sixth to the fortieth verse the prophecy relates to the Little Horn of the goat and the Accursed One whom he should acknowledge and increase with glory. Fifthly, it refers to the time of the end, or "the latter days," when "the king of the south," and "the king of the north" should re-appear on the stage of action, and the power of the little horn, and that of the king of the north, should coalesce, and form one power, as when the Roman and Assyro-Macedonian were blended together B.C. 67. Sixthly, it reveals the invasion of the land of Israel by the little horn's northern king, who over-runs Egypt, and finally encamps before the holy mountain. And seventhly, the eleventh chapter closes with the prediction of his final destruction at the hand of Michael, the great prince of Israel, their consequent deliverance, the resurrection of many of the dead, and the exaltation of the wise in the wisdom of God (Dan. 12:1-3)....

The date of the prophecy is the third year of Cyrus, B.C. 540, and runs thus -- Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, namely, Ahasuerus, Smerdis, and Darius; and the fourth, or Xerxes, shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. And Alexander, the Macedonian, a mighty king shall stand up, ruling with great dominion and doing according to his will. And when he shall stand up, having suffered no defeat, his kingdom, shall be broken, and shall be divided into four kingdoms toward the four winds of heaven: and their glory and power shall fall not to his posterity, nor according to the extent of his dominion which, he ruled: for his kingdom, shall be plucked up, even for other rulers beside those of his family. And the king of the south shall be strong, and shall be one of his, Alexander's princes, or generals and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion, extending over Egypt, Libya, Cyrenaica, Arabia, Palestine, Coele-Syria, and most of the maritime provinces of Asia Minor; with the island of Cyprus, and several others in the AEgean sea, and even some cities of Greece, as Cicyon and Corinth. Such was the dominion of Ptolemy Soter, the first Macedonian king of Egypt....