Dear Jackie H,

Your Question: I am a born again Christian and one of my coworkers said that there is reference to Cleopatrain the bible but I don't know of any?

My Answer(s): Thank you for your question. May God always bless you in understanding His holy word, and may you remain humble in receiving instructions. You ask about Cleopatrain, also called Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt during the time of 51-30 BC. There were women in the family of those who ruled in throughout the kingdom of Egypt with the name Cleoaptra. But the Bible does not call any of these women rulers by the name Cleoaptra, as with most rulers not of the nations of Israel or Judah. Mostly, rulers of other nations are not named by name by the men moved by the Holy Spirit to write the Scriptures, they are called the queen or king of this or that nation or country only. Remember, this do not mean these people did not exist.

Therefore, I must mention, it is said by commentaries that Daniel 11 speak of Cleoaptra I, see verse 17 commentary. Here in Daniel 11:17, the daughter given away by the "king of the south" is said to be a Cleoaptra. Yet, when we go to Matthew 12:42 another woman called by Christ "the Queen of the South". The commentaries say this is the "queen of Sheba" a country in southwest Arabia. So, you see identifying which queen of the south may take some deep study of the Bible along with other historical books and writings of the time.

For instance, the works of Jewish historian Josephus identify a woman called Cleoaptra in his writings. This is the Cleoaptra most often spoken of in history (see 51-30 BC period). She is the Cleoaptra who is said to have had an affair with Mark Anthony, the Roman ruler. Anthony is said to have allowed Cleoaptra to rule Egypt and some other countries and territories under Roman control. It is said that Mark Anthony and Cleoaptra lived and reigned a few decades before the time of Jesus the Christ. There is another Cleoaptra mentioned by Josephus to have been married to Herod the Great. From Josephus writings she does not appear to be the same Cleoaptra who had the affair with Mark Anthony.

In Christ love,

Ron Davis, minister of Christ