The Syriac and the Vulgate read, “be washed,” or “be swept away” (see RSV). According to the exposition referred to above (v. 24), this verse describes the fate of Antony. When Cleopatra, frightened by the din of battle, withdrew from Actium, taking with her the 60 ships supplied by the Egyptian navy, Antony followed her and thereby conceded the victory to Augustus. Antony’s supporters went over to Augustus. Finally Antony committed suicide. According to those who emphasize the chronological continuity of the chapter (see on v. 23), the unstable political situation that plagued the empire between the reigns of Nero and Diocletian is here foretold.

Some see a reference in this phrase to royal favorites. From the days of the early Caesars, palace intrigue marks the rise and fall of the emperors of Rome. In later years, particularly, when one army officer after another succeeded to the throne of the Caesars, often each at the price of the head of his predecessor, the prediction that royal favorites would rise and “destroy” those who had befriended them and that “many” would “fall down slain” as a result, met a singularly apt fulfillment. In the ancient Orient those who ate food provided by another person were expected to remain loyal to him.