Introduction: A Chapter of Historical Prophecy
Chapter 11 of Daniel is one of the most enigmatic chapters in the book. The angel unfolds before Daniel the course of generations: the end of the Persian Empire, the rise of the Greek Empire, its division after Alexander the Great, and the prolonged wars between the "King of the South" and the "King of the North" - leading up to Antiochus and the Roman Empire. To anyone reading these verses without knowing the history, they sound like a riddle. It is not for nothing that the Malbim remarks that the commentators were confounded in explaining this prophecy. Yet once we understand the chronicles of that era, it becomes clear that the prophet is describing with precision events that actually took place.
וַאֲנִי בִּשְׁנַת אַחַת לְדָרְיָוֶשׁ הַמָּדִי עׇמְדִי לְמַחֲזִיק וּלְמָעוֹז לוֹ׃ - "And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to support and strengthen him."
The angel is saying: I was still standing during the period when Darius desired to assist the Jewish people. This comes after what had already occurred with Daniel - how he interpreted the vision of Belshazzar, who saw the hand emerge and write upon the palace wall, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, u-Pharsin." Following this, Darius vowed to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash, and the Malbim explains that here he received help and support for the sake of rebuilding the Temple.
The Four Kings of Persia and the Rise of the Greek Empire
וְעַתָּה אֱמֶת אַגִּיד לָךְ הִנֵּה־עוֹד שְׁלֹשָׁה מְלָכִים עֹמְדִים לְפָרַס וְהָרְבִיעִי יַעֲשִׁיר עֹשֶׁר־גָּדוֹל מִכֹּל וּכְחֶזְקָתוֹ בְעׇשְׁרוֹ יָעִיר הַכֹּל אֵת מַלְכוּת יָוָן׃ - "And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise for Persia, and the fourth will amass far greater wealth than all of them, and when he grows strong through his wealth, he will stir up everything against the kingdom of Greece."
"Now I will tell you the truth" - what has further been decreed concerning the Jewish people. Three kings will arise for Persia besides Cyrus, and counting Cyrus, this fourth king completes four. "And when he grows strong through his wealth, he will stir up everything" - in his immense strength and tremendous wealth, he will mobilize all his armies to wage war against the kingdom of Greece. At that time, Greece did not yet have a single king.
וְעָמַד מֶלֶךְ גִּבּוֹר וּמָשַׁל מִמְשָׁל רַב וְעָשָׂה כִּרְצוֹנוֹ׃ - "And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with vast dominion and do as he pleases."
Then a mighty king will arise over Greece, namely Alexander the Great. "And he will rule with vast dominion and do as he pleases" - he will hold absolute sovereign power; he will defeat Darius, king of Persia, take over his empire, and the Persians will be subjugated to the Greeks. And when will this happen? When that fourth king, possessing great wealth, might, and power, reigns.
וּכְעׇמְדוֹ תִּשָּׁבֵר מַלְכוּתוֹ וְתֵחָץ לְאַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת הַשָּׁמָיִם וְלֹא לְאַחֲרִיתוֹ וְלֹא כְמׇשְׁלוֹ אֲשֶׁר מָשָׁל כִּי תִנָּתֵשׁ מַלְכוּתוֹ וְלַאֲחֵרִים מִלְּבַד־אֵלֶּה׃ - "And when he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled, for his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others besides these."
"And when he has arisen" - at the peak of his power and might, his kingdom will be shattered, for he died young. His kingdom would not continue to future generations. "And divided toward the four winds of heaven" - four kings and rulers inherited the Greek empire. "But not to his posterity" - the kingdom would not pass to Alexander's descendants. "Nor according to his dominion with which he ruled" - their dominion would not be absolute like his, for Alexander the Great was one of those who ruled the entire world. "For his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others besides these" - beyond the fact that the kingdom would be uprooted from his dynasty, aside from the four principal kings, smaller rulers - regional governors - would also arise and hold power. Thus, the core kingdom was split into four, and the remaining territories were divided into even smaller fragments.
The Malbim's Introduction: The Division of the Chapter and the Names of the Kings
וְיֶחֱזַק מֶלֶךְ־הַנֶּגֶב וּמִן־שָׂרָיו וְיֶחֱזַק עָלָיו וּמָשָׁל מִמְשָׁל רַב מֶמְשַׁלְתּוֹ׃ - And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his officers; and he shall prevail over him and rule, his dominion shall be a great dominion.
Here, the Malbim prefaces that the commentators were confounded by the interpretation of this prophecy: which kingdom is being discussed, what was to take place, and corresponding to which era. Therefore, he explains primarily according to the view of the Abarbanel. The division of the chapter is as follows: until verse 31, Daniel is shown what will happen during the Greek empire up to Antiochus; from verse 31 onward, he begins to be shown the Roman empire; and from verse 36, the vision begins to explain the earlier visions he saw, in the first vision and the second vision. Up to verse 31, the Malbim generally adheres closely to the Abarbanel, and from that point forward, he adopts a different course in expounding the verses.
For this purpose, the Malbim presents an introduction drawn from the ancient chronicles: after the death of Alexander the Great (Alexander of Macedon), the empire was divided into four, and among them, two were stronger and held far greater dominion - the king of the south and the king of the north. Everything is measured relative to Eretz Yisrael: the south (Negev) is Egypt, which lies to the south, and the north is Assyria and Babylon (the Seleucid realm), which are to the north. These names may not mean much to us at first glance, but to one familiar with history, they reveal the hierarchy and the transfer of power from generation to generation.
A king named Seleucus ruled in Assyria and Babylon, and he was the one who built Antioch. He and his descendants conquered Persia, most of Asia, and Greece, and they were all called Antiochus - as the Abarbanel explains - and from him emerged Antiochus the wicked. The kings of the south, the kings of Egypt, were called "Ptolemy" (in classical works: Ptolemaios), and in the words of Chazal and the Talmud he is referred to as "King Talmai." Ptolemy I ruled after Alexander, and he brought great hardship upon the Jewish people. After him came his son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, who was the one who ordered the Torah translated into Greek (the Septuagint, into seventy languages); he was a friend of the Jews, unlike his father, and bestowed goodness upon the people of Israel. The entire dynasty of Egyptian kings was called Ptolemy, just as "Pharaoh" was the dynastic title of Egyptian monarchs and "Avimelech" the title of Philistine kings in the Land of Israel.
Regarding Ptolemy I, the verse states: "And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his officers" - the king became stronger than his officers, namely stronger than Seleucus, who was originally a general in the army. Ptolemy prevailed over him, seized royal power, and began to rule as the king of the south. "And he shall prevail over him and rule, his dominion shall be a great dominion" - he overpowered him, gained supremacy over the king of the north, and ruled over him. The two were divided, one in the south and one in the north, and the king of the south, Ptolemy, succeeded in gaining the upper hand over the king of the north.
The Match That Turned to Tragedy: Berenice and Laodice
וּלְקֵץ שָׁנִים יִתְחַבָּרוּ וּבַת מֶלֶךְ־הַנֶּגֶב תָּבוֹא אֶל־מֶלֶךְ הַצָּפוֹן לַעֲשׂוֹת מֵישָׁרִים וְלֹא־תַעְצֹר כּוֹחַ הַזְּרוֹעַ וְלֹא יַעֲמֹד וּזְרֹעוֹ וְתִנָּתֵן הִיא וּמְבִיאֶיהָ וְהַיֹּלְדָהּ וּמַחֲזִקָהּ בָּעִתִּים׃ - And at the end of years they shall join together, and the daughter of the king 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, nor shall he stand or his arm; and she shall be delivered up, along with those who brought her, and her foster-father, and he who supported her in those times.
"And at the end of years they shall join together": After the war between the king of the south and the king of the north, when the king of the north saw rebellions rising against him within his own country, he made peace with the king of the south and sought his assistance. And upon what was this peace established? Upon a marriage alliance. Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of the south, gave his daughter Berenice to Antiochus Theos, king of the north, on condition that the king of the north divorce his wife, and that the daughter of the king of the south become the sole queen in his palace. His motive was transparent: if my daughter is wife to the king of the north, my grandchildren will rule after him. Why did the king of the north consent? Because he had no choice, since an insurrection had broken out within his borders, and this was the price of military aid. Since he was already married to a woman named Laodice, and the king of the south refused to let his daughter enter as a rival wife - especially knowing that the future monarch might come from that first wife - he stipulated that Antiochus divorce her. This is the meaning of "and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement" - to forge a compromise and bring peace between them.
However, after Berenice bore a son to the king of the north, her father Ptolemy died. Antiochus Theos, who had felt bound to Ptolemy and had married his daughter on that account, now felt unrestrained. He took back Laodice, the first wife he had been forced to banish. But Laodice no longer trusted a husband who, for political gain, had been willing to cast her aside and marry another; she also knew that the throne would not go to her own son, but to Berenice's son. What did she do? She administered a lethal poison to her husband, killing him, and then poisoned Berenice and all who were with her. She eliminated the entire royal leadership: the king, her husband; the second wife; and the infant heir to the throne born of the daughter of the king of the south. Her own son, Seleucus Callinicus, then ascended the throne.
This is what is meant by "but she shall not retain the power of the arm": Berenice would not be able to restrain the power of the man of force who had unjustly and improperly driven his lawful wife away from him. It would not endure, because ultimately Laodice would return to him and even murder him. "Nor shall he stand": he himself would not survive, for she would poison him and he would die. "And she shall be delivered up, along with those who brought her": Berenice would be surrendered to death together with her entire retinue and the royal guard she had brought with her from Egypt to the palace of the king of the north. "And her foster-father" (hayoledah): this was the guardian who had raised her and was like a father to her. "And he who supported her in those times": her counselor, who strengthened her with his advice and guided her on how to conduct herself. For in those days, every prominent figure in the kingdom had counselors, assistants, and ministers; this is hardly an invention of modern politicians.
The Brother's Revenge: The King of the South Strikes the North
וְעָמַד מִנֵּצֶר שׇׁרָשֶׁיהָ כַּנּוֹ וְיָבֹא אֶל־הַחַיִל וְיָבֹא בְּמָעוֹז מֶלֶךְ הַצָּפוֹן וְעָשָׂה בָהֶם וְהֶחֱזִיק׃ - But one from a shoot of her roots shall arise in his place, and he shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and deal against them and prevail.
"And there shall stand up a shoot from her roots in his place" - Ptolemy Euergetes, the brother of Berenice, reigned in Egypt. This was natural: her father had married her off to the king of the north, and when the father died, the son - her brother - inherited his father's kingdom. The Malbim cites from the historical chronicles that when Berenice sensed that Laodice was plotting to kill her, she fled, and they besieged her. The peoples of Aram came to her aid, and her brother Euergetes also arrived with his armies to help her, but they were too late, for she had already been killed. In the wake of this act, all the nations of the north came to assist the king of the south, to take vengeance on the kingdom and on Laodice for murdering the daughter of the king of Egypt. This is the meaning of "and he shall come to the army" - that he came and joined the army of the northern nations who were outraged by this disgraceful act, and they killed Laodice and her son - measure for measure, "because you drowned others, you were drowned." The brother went and avenged his sister's death and her honor. "And he shall enter the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail" - the king of the south, Euergetes, seized from Seleucus Callinicus, the son of Antiochus Theos, the entire northern realm up to the Tigris River, and all the fortified cities in the southern region as far as Babylon. Not only did he slay them, but he also conquered their kingdom.
וְגַם אֱלֹהֵיהֶם עִם־נְסִכֵיהֶם עִם־כְּלֵי חֶמְדָּתָם כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב בַּשְּׁבִי יָבִא מִצְרָיִם וְהוּא שָׁנִים יַעֲמֹד מִמֶּלֶךְ הַצָּפוֹן׃ - "And also their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold, shall he carry captive into Egypt; and he shall stand for more years than the king of the north."
"And also their gods, with their princes" - they would bring their governors from Egypt to be stationed in the north, for the north was now considered his, having conquered it. "And he shall stand years from the king of the north" - for two years he remained there and had respite from the king of the north, and his rule during that period was absolute.
וּבָא בְּמַלְכוּת מֶלֶךְ הַנֶּגֶב וְשָׁב אֶל־אַדְמָתוֹ׃ - "And he shall enter the kingdom of the king of the south, and shall return to his own land."
Afterwards, the king of the north, Seleucus Callinicus, returned and restored the lands of Syria under his dominion, coming with a mighty fleet to conquer the islands that were under the realm of the king of the south. This is the meaning of "and he shall enter the kingdom of the king of the south." But ultimately, the Holy One, Blessed be He, sent a stormy wind that shattered the ships with which he intended to conquer the king of the south, and the king returned to his land in disgrace - "and shall return to his own land," having failed to bring his plan to fruition.
Antiochus the Great Against Ptolemy
וּבָנָו יִתְגָּרוּ וְאָסְפוּ הֲמוֹן חֲיָלִים רַבִּים וּבָא בוֹא וְשָׁטַף וְעָבָר וְיָשֹׁב וְיִתְגָּרֶה עַד־מָעֻזֹּה׃ - "And his sons shall stir up strife, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through; and he shall return and stir up strife, even to his fortress."
"And his sons" - the sons of the king of the north, who gathered a multitude of great forces. One of the sons died in battle, and Antiochus - known as "Antiochus the Great," even though he was the younger surviving brother - came to fight with Ptolemy Philopator, the king of the south. This is why the verse says "and one shall certainly come" in the singular: only one of them came, not both, as the other had died in battle. "And overflow, and pass through" - when Ptolemy saw that the king of the north was stronger than he, he sent emissaries to make peace with him, and they made peace for four months. Later, Antiochus saw that Ptolemy was scheming against him and that the peace was not genuine, but rather like the false truces of the Palestinians - merely a way to buy time to regroup and prepare weapons for the next round. Therefore, he came against him a second time, which is "and he shall return and stir up strife, even to his fortress": he returned a second time and advanced all the way to the fortress on the Egyptian border called, says the Malbim, Rafah, reaching the stronghold of the king of the south.
וְיִתְמַרְמַר מֶלֶךְ הַנֶּגֶב וְיָצָא וְנִלְחַם עִמּוֹ עִם־מֶלֶךְ הַצָּפוֹן וְהֶעֱמִיד הָמוֹן רָב וְנִתַּן הֶהָמוֹן בְּיָדוֹ׃ - "And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north; and he shall set forth a great multitude, and the multitude shall be given into his hand."
The king of the south, the Malbim explains, was a wicked and corrupt king, devoted to pleasure and constantly pursuing it. As long as the enemy was far away, he paid no attention and did not prepare for war; but when the enemy reached his border, then "the king of the south shall be moved with choler" - he realized he had to stop feasting and go out to battle. He went out and fought him bitterly, arrayed a great multitude of soldiers against the king of the north, and the multitude was given into his hand.
וְנִשָּׂא הֶהָמוֹן וְרָם לְבָבוֹ וְהִפִּיל רִבֹּאוֹת וְלֹא יָעוֹז׃ - "And the multitude shall be lifted up, and his heart shall be exalted; and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail."
The multitude of the king of the south was lifted up, and his heart was exalted: they were already certain of their victory, and therefore did not pursue him to total defeat, for the king returned to his pleasures. And even though the army of the king of the south cast down tens upon tens of thousands from the king of the north, nevertheless, "he shall not prevail" - in the end, the king of the north would gain strength once again. Why was this so? Because the king of the south was certain he was finished with him and returned to his feast, when in truth he had not finished him off completely; and having failed to finish him off entirely, they returned to wage war against him once more, as we will see in the next verse.
וְשָׁב מֶלֶךְ הַצָּפוֹן וְהֶעֱמִיד הָמוֹן רַב מִן־הָרִאשׁוֹן וּלְקֵץ הָעִתִּים שָׁנִים יָבוֹא בוֹא בְּחַיִל גָּדוֹל וּבִרְכוּשׁ רָב׃ - "For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the first; and at the end of the times, after years, he shall come with a great army and with much substance."
"For the king of the north shall return" - this is Antiochus the Great, who mustered a multitude greater than the first, larger than what he brought the previous time, and he won many battles. "And at the end of the times, after years" - after years passed from the earlier wars, he would come a second time to Syria and the land of Egypt, which were under Ptolemy's control, to wage war against Ptolemy Epiphanes, son of Ptolemy Philopator, who was still young in years; the kingdom was not fully in his hands, but rather in the hands of the regents who governed the realm. "With a great army and with much substance" - he brought with him vast provisions for the purpose of the war.
"And the Children of the Lawless of Your People" - The Jews Who Miscalculated
וּבָעִתִּים הָהֵם רַבִּים יַעַמְדוּ עַל־מֶלֶךְ הַנֶּגֶב וּבְנֵי פָּרִיצֵי עַמְּךָ יִנַּשְּׂאוּ לְהַעֲמִיד חָזוֹן וְנִכְשָׁלוּ׃ - "And in those times many shall stand up against the king of the south; and the children of the lawless of your people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision, but they shall stumble."
In those times, many rose up against the king of the south: both the king of Macedonia and other kings waged war against Egypt, and many rebelled against him. "And also the children of the lawless of your people" - even Jews from among your people, who hated Ptolemy because his father had caused them great suffering, claimed that according to the vision and prophecy, it was the king of the north who was meant to rule. So they went and allied themselves with none other than Antiochus: they received him with honor, aided him, and assisted him in the war. "Shall exalt themselves to establish the vision" - they arose to try and fulfill a vision, claiming they had a prophecy that this was how they should act, but that was not the case. "And they shall stumble" - this brought about their downfall and ruin, and through this, many of your people died. Their own actions ultimately brought about their failure.
וְיָבֹא מֶלֶךְ הַצָּפוֹן וְיִשְׁפֹּךְ סוֹלְלָה וְלָכַד עִיר מִבְצָרוֹת וּזְרֹעוֹת הַנֶּגֶב לֹא יַעֲמֹדוּ וְעַם מִבְחָרָיו וְאֵין כֹּחַ לַעֲמֹד׃ - "So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a siege ramp, and capture a well-fortified city; and the arms of the south shall not withstand, nor his select people, for there shall be no strength to stand."
The king of the north prevailed and cast up a siege ramp. What is casting up a siege ramp? When they wished to conquer a city, they would pile up earth next to the wall until a ramp was formed, and across it they would ascend over the wall and fight the city's inhabitants. "And capture a well-fortified city" - the fortress city of the king of the south. "And the arms of the south shall not withstand" - his army's forces will not hold out in battle. "Nor his select people, for there shall be no strength to stand" - even if he sends his elite forces, his very finest troops, there will be no strength to withstand him; for he captured the fortress of Sidon and Gad, which belonged to the king of Egypt, and the commanders he sent could not rescue them from the hands of the king of the north.
וְיַעַשׂ הַבָּא אֵלָיו כִּרְצוֹנוֹ וְאֵין עוֹמֵד לְפָנָיו וְיַעֲמֹד בְּאֶרֶץ־הַצְּבִי וְכָלָה בְיָדוֹ׃ - "And he who comes against him shall do according to his will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the Land of Beauty, and it shall be consumed in his hand."
"And he who comes against him shall do according to his will" - the king of the north, coming into the lands of the king of the south, acted as he pleased and conquered all the provinces of Syria from him, with none standing before him. "And he shall stand in the Land of Beauty" - there he stood with his encampment. "And it shall be consumed in his hand" - he completed the conquest of Syria, and the entire land was completely in his hand. According to Rashi, "and he shall stand in the Land of Beauty" refers to the Land of Israel, and he consumed the land and its population.
The Stratagem That Failed: Cleopatra Loyal to Her Husband
וְיָשֵׂם פָּנָיו לָבוֹא בְּתֹקֶף כׇּל־מַלְכוּתוֹ וִישָׁרִים עִמּוֹ וְעָשָׂה וּבַת הַנָּשִׁים יִתֶּן־לוֹ לְהַשְׁחִיתָהּ וְלֹא תַעֲמֹד וְלֹא־לוֹ תִהְיֶה׃ - "He shall set his face to come with the might of his entire kingdom, with terms of equity with him, and he shall act; and he shall give him the daughter of women to destroy it, but she shall not stand, neither shall she be for him."
The verses here, like the rest of the prophecies, are like an enigma, and one must know the historical reality to decipher them. The Malbim explains: after conquering all the lands that had been in the hands of Seleucus Nicator - except for Egypt - he set his face to come "with the might of his entire kingdom," meaning to the very center, to Egypt, which was the core strength of the kingdom of the south. After conquering the entire surrounding region and softening the ground, he now wanted to conquer the stronghold itself. However, he feared that the Romans would come to Egypt's aid and wage war against him, as was customary in those days for one king to enlist other rulers to assist him. What did he do? He acted with cunning: he presented himself as wanting to compromise with the king of Egypt and make peace with him, and not only that, but he also gave him his daughter Cleopatra in marriage - so that he would have a fifth column from within, someone to help him overcome the king of Egypt. This is the meaning of "with terms of equity with him" - he forged a compromise with him, supposedly dealing with him uprightly. "And he shall give him the daughter of women" - one of the daughters he had from his wives, for he had several wives. "To destroy it" - he intended to ruin Egypt through her. "But she shall not stand, neither shall she be for him" - yet his daughter remained loyal to her husband; she did not follow her father's counsel, but instead assisted her husband against her father.
The War with the Romans and the Commander's Response
וְיָשֵׂם פָּנָיו לְאִיִּים וְלָכַד רַבִּים וְהִשְׁבִּית קָצִין חֶרְפָּתוֹ לוֹ בִּלְתִּי חֶרְפָּתוֹ יָשִׁיב לוֹ׃ - And he shall turn his face toward the coastlands and capture many; and a commander shall put an end to his reproach against him, but his reproach he shall turn back upon him.
Afterward, Antiochus set his sights on the islands and captured many islands that were allies of the Romans. He even reached the land of Greece and waged war against the Romans on the advice of Hannibal, who incited him to fight them. "And a commander shall put an end..." - he even defeated the commander, an important leader appointed by the Romans, in his battles; that commander's name was Lucius Scipio, and he put an end to his reproach by slaying him in battle. "But his reproach he shall turn back upon him" - when Antiochus sought peace from the Romans, the Roman general said to him: The hearts of the Romans do not soften when they are defeated, nor do their hearts become haughty when they are victorious; when we are defeated we are not broken, and when we are victorious we do not boast. And he said to him: Even now, I ask of you nothing more than what I asked before I defeated you - that you remove your rule from Syria, and pay me the war expenses, twelve thousand talents, over twelve years. And this is the meaning of "but his reproach he shall turn back upon him": you must merely restore the dishonor we suffered; return what you conquered and the money we expended.
וְיָשֵׁב פָּנָיו לְמָעוּזֵּי אַרְצוֹ וְנִכְשַׁל וְנָפַל וְלֹא יִמָּצֵא׃ - Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land; and he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
Antiochus turned back toward the fortresses of his own land, since after his defeat by the Romans he was obligated to pay twelve thousand talents, and for this he needed money. He returned to his land to exact and collect taxes in order to fulfill his obligation to the Romans. On the way, he heard of a great treasure in one of the temples of idol worship; he seized upon it like one finding great spoil and plundered all the silver and gold there. The people, who were devoted to idol worship, were incensed that their king entered an idolatrous temple and took all its wealth, and they assassinated him in secret. This is "and he shall stumble and fall, and not be found" - they killed him in secret, and his burial place was unknown. So may all Your enemies perish, Hashem.
"One Who Dispatches an Exactor Through the Glory of the Kingdom" - A King of Tax Collection
וְעָמַד עַל־כַּנּוֹ מַעֲבִיר נוֹגֵשׂ הֶדֶר מַלְכוּת וּבְיָמִים אֲחָדִים יִשָּׁבֵר וְלֹא בְאַפַּיִם וְלֹא בְמִלְחָמָה׃ - And in his place shall arise one who dispatches an exactor through the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle.
After Antiochus the Great, his son, Seleucus Philopator, reigned. His entire reign lasted only twelve years, and he waged no wars and performed no deeds worthy of being recorded and etched for posterity in the chronicles of history. All that is related of him is that he would travel through the cities to exact the tax his father had obligated himself to pay the kings of Rome. This is "and in his place shall arise one who dispatches an exactor through the glory of the kingdom": the entire glory of his kingdom was manifested in his being an exactor, going about and collecting taxes - cynically speaking, the entire dignity and splendor of his royalty was that he was a tax collector. "But within a few days he shall be broken" - he died when his servants conspired against him. "Neither in anger nor in battle" - not through an open revolt from within, nor through war from without, but by the ancient method: they poisoned him with a deadly poison.
In summary: In this portion of the chapter, the angel unfolds before Daniel the progression of the generations from the end of the Persian Empire until the era of the Second Temple: the four Persian kings, the rise of Alexander the Great and the shattering of his kingdom to the four winds, followed by the prolonged, bloody struggles between the King of the South (Ptolemy - Egypt) and the King of the North (Seleucus and Antiochus - Assyria and Babylonia): the royal match meant for peace that ended in murder, the brother's vengeance, the campaigns of Antiochus the Great, the failure of the lawless among our people who thought to fulfill a vision and stumbled, and finally the disgraceful death of Antiochus and his son whose entire royal splendor was collecting taxes. From the entire picture emerges the realization that the wheels of history - the wars, the diplomatic marriages, the cunning, and the poison - were all foreseen in prophecy, and everything is guided by a single directing Hand, until the time of the end.