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Verses 16-19.
After
Scopas surrendered at Sidon, Antiochus was welcomed by the Jews in
Jerusalem. The Jews were glad to be free of the Egyptians. The Seleucid
Empire would now keep control of Palestine until the Romans came in
146 B.C.
As
part of his preparations for waging war against Rome, Antiochus made
a peace treaty with Ptolemy V Epiphanes in 197 B.C. The king was ten
years old, but the marriage did not take place until 193 B.C. when
he was fourteen. His wife was Cleopatra - “the daughter of women.”
She was not the famous Cleopatra of history. Antiochus had hoped that
his daughter would remain loyal to him, but she did not. She was loyal
to her husband and to Egypt - “will not stand for him or be on
his side.”
Antiochus
pushed forward to Rome anyway. He captured a number of Greek islands
- “coast lands and capture many.” Hannibal from Carthage
joined him and together they entered Greece. The Romans had warned
him to stay out of Greece but he ignored the warning. In 191 B.C.
he was defeated by the Roman commander Lucius Cornelius Scipio. Rome
demanded payment for the expense of defeating him. So Antiochus left
and went to Elymias. There he died trying to steal the money he owed
Rome. |
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