Daniel 11:21

11:21 “Then there will arise in his place a despicable person ¹  to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred. He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit.

Daniel 9:1

Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first year of Darius ²  son of Ahasuerus, ³  who was of Median descent and who had been ⁴  appointed king over the Babylonian ⁵  empire –

Daniel 7:27

7:27 Then the kingdom, authority,

and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven

will be delivered to the people of the holy ones ⁶  of the Most High.

His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;

all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

Daniel 4:3

4:3 “How great are his signs!

How mighty are his wonders!

His kingdom will last forever, ⁷ 

and his authority continues from one generation to the next.”

Daniel 11:20

11:20 There will arise after him ⁸  one ⁹  who will send out an exactor ¹⁰  of tribute to enhance the splendor of the kingdom, but after a few days he will be destroyed, ¹¹  though not in anger or battle.

Daniel 10:13

10:13 However, the prince of the kingdom of Persia was opposing me for twenty-one days. But ¹²  Michael, one of the leading princes, came to help me, because I was left there ¹³  with the kings of Persia.

Daniel 11:2

11:2 Now I will tell you the truth.

The Angel Gives a Message to Daniel

“Three ¹⁴  more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth ¹⁵  king will be unusually rich, ¹⁶  more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against ¹⁷  the kingdom of Greece.

[11:21]  ¹ sn This despicable person to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred is Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ca. 175-164 B.C.).

[9:1]  ² sn The identity of this Darius is a major problem in correlating the biblical material with the extra-biblical records of this period. Most modern scholars treat the reference as a mistaken allusion to Darius Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 B.C.). Others have maintained instead that this name is a reference to the Persian governor Gubaru. Still others understand the reference to be to the Persian king Cyrus (cf. 6:28, where the vav (ו) may be understood as vav explicativum, meaning “even”). Under either of these latter two interpretations, the first year of Darius would have been ca. 538 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately eighty-two years old at this time.

[9:1]  ³ tc The LXX reads “Xerxes.” This is the reading used by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV). Most other English versions retain the Hebrew name “Ahasuerus.”

[9:1]  ⁴ tc The present translation follows the MT in reading a Hophal (i.e., passive). Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate all presuppose the Hiphil (i.e., active). Even though this is the only occurrence of the Hophal of this verb in the Bible, there is no need to emend the vocalization to the Hiphil.

[9:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”

[7:27]  ³ tn If the “holy ones” are angels, then this probably refers to the angels as protectors of God’s people. If the “holy ones” are God’s people, then this is an appositional construction, “the people who are the holy ones.” See 8:24 for the corresponding Hebrew phrase and the note there.

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Aram “his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.”

[11:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “on his place.”

[11:20]  ⁶ sn The one who will send out an exactor of tribute was Seleucus IV Philopator (ca. 187-176 B.C.).

[11:20]  ⁷ sn Perhaps this exactor of tribute was Heliodorus (cf. 2 Maccabees 3).

[11:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “broken” or “shattered.”

[10:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “and behold.”

[10:13]  ⁷ tc The Greek version of Theodotion reads “I left him [i.e., Michael] there,” and this is followed by a number of English translations (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:2]  ⁷ sn Perhaps these three more kings are Cambyses (ca. 530-522 B.C.), Pseudo-Smerdis (ca. 522 B.C.), and Darius I Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 B.C.).

[11:2]  ⁸ sn This fourth king is Xerxes I (ca. 486-465 B.C.). The following reference to one of his chiefs apparently has in view Seleucus Nicator.

[11:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “rich with great riches.”

[11:2]  ¹⁰ tn The text is difficult. The Hebrew has here אֶת (’et), the marker of a definite direct object. As it stands, this would suggest the meaning that “he will arouse everyone, that is, the kingdom of Greece.” The context, however, seems to suggest the idea that this Persian king will arouse in hostility against Greece the constituent elements of his own empire. This requires supplying the word “against,” which is not actually present in the Hebrew text.