Daniel 11:17

Upright ones. Heb. yesharim. The meaning of the Hebrew of this passage is obscure. The phrase reads literally, “and upright [ones] with him and he shall make.” One attempt at the meaning is that which appears in the KJV. Other versions take yesharim as equivalent to mesharim, “uprightnesses,” or “equities.” Mesharim is used in verse 6 of an equitable agreement between the king of the north and the king of the south. If mesharim is the correct reading there may be a possible reference to the fact that when Ptolemy XI Auletes died in 51 B.C., he placed his two children, Cleopatra and Ptolemy XII, under the guardianship of Rome.

The daughter of women. An unusual expression, possibly emphasizing the femininity of the woman referred to. Some have applied this expression to Cleopatra, the daughter of Ptolemy XI. She was placed under Roman guardianship in 51 B.C., and three years later became the mistress of Julius Caesar, who had invaded Egypt. After Julius Caesar was assassinated, Cleopatra turned her affections to Mark Antony, the rival of Caesar’s heir, Octavian. Octavian (later Augustus) defeated the combined forces of Cleopatra and Antony at Actium (31 B.C.). The next year Antony’s suicide (said by some to have been engineered by Cleopatra) opened the way for the new victor. Then Cleopatra, finding that she could not ingratiate herself with Octavian, committed suicide.

With Cleopatra the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt ended, and from 30 B.C. onward Egypt was a province of the Roman Empire. Cleopatra’s devious career fits well the specifications of the final clause of this verse, for Cleopatra did not stand for Caesar, but for her own political interests.