Daniel 10:20

Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. THEN SAID HE, KNOWEST THOU WHEREFORE I COME UNTO THEE? The angel asks, after Daniel had recovered from his fright, whether he has understood what was revealed (). On Daniel by his silence intimating that he did understand, the angel declares he will return to renew the fight with the evil angel, the prince of Persia. This points to new difficulties to the Jews' restoration, which would arise in the Persian court, but which would be counteracted by God through the ministry of angels. AND WHEN I AM GONE FORTH, LO, THE PRINCE OF GRECIA SHALL COME - Alexander the Great, who conquered Persia, and favoured the Jews (Calvin). Rather, as the prince of Persia is...

The angel appears here to lead the Prophet in vain through a winding course; for he might directly and simply have told him why he had come. It was necessary to recall the Prophet to his senses, as he was at one time scarcely master of his actions. He was not indeed permanently injured in his mind, but the disturbance of feeling through which he had passed had temporarily disarranged the calmness of his thoughts. This event both occurred and is narrated for our advantage. This is the reason why the angel again uses this preface, _Dost thee know? _as if he wished to gather together the Prophet’s senses which were formerly wandering and dispersed. He urges him to pay great attention. _And now, _says he, _I will return; _that is, after I shall have explained to thee what thou wilt afterwards hear, _I will return again to contend with the prince of the Persians. _Here the angel indicates the...

10-21 Whenever we enter into communion with God, it becomes us to have a due sense of the infinite distance between us and the holy God. How shall we, that are dust and ashes, speak to the Lord of glory? Nothing is more likely, nothing more effectual to revive the drooping spirits of the saints, than to be assured of God's love to them. From the very first day we begin to look toward God in a way of duty, he is ready to meet us in the way of mercy. Thus ready is God to hear prayer. When the angel had told the prophet of the things to come, he was to return, and oppose the decrees of the Persian kings against the Jews. The angels are employed as God's ministering servants, Hebrews 1:14. Though much was done against the Jews by the kings of Persia, God permitting it, much more mischief would have been done if God had not prevented it. He would now more fully show what were God's purposes,...

Verse Daniel 10:20. _KNOWEST THOU WHEREFORE I COME_] So high art thou in the favour of God, that he hath sent me unto thee to give thee farther satisfaction; though I was elsewhere employed upon a most important mission, and I must speedily return to accomplish it, _viz_.: - _TO FIGHT WITH THE KING OF PERSIA_] To remove all the scruples of Cyrus, and to excite him to do all that God designs him to do for the restoration of my people, and the rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem. Nothing less than a supernatural agency in the mind of Cyrus can account for his decree in favour of the Jews. He had no natural, no political inclination to it; and his reluctance to obey the heavenly motions is here represented as a _fight between him and the angel_. _THE PRINCE OF GRECIA SHALL COME._] I believe this refers to Alexa

THEN SAID HE, KNOWEST THOU WHEREFORE I COME UNTO THEE? - This was known by what the angel had said in Daniel 10:14. He seems to have called his attention to it, and to have proposed the question, because Daniel had been so overcome by his fright that it might be doubtful whether he had understood him distinctly when he had told him the object of his coming. He therefore proposes the question here; and as the silence of Daniel seems to have been construed as a declaration that he did understand the purpose of the visit, he proceeds to unfold frilly the purport of his message. AND NOW WILL I RETURN - That is, evidently, after he had made known to him the message which he came to deliver. He cannot mean that he would then leave Daniel, and return immediately to Persia, for he proceeds at length Dan. 11–12 to deliver his m

EXPOSITION DANIEL 10:1 THE ANGELS OF THE NATIONS. The three chapters (10, 11; and 12.) form a section apart from the rest of Daniel. One marked peculiarity is the long and very old interpolation which occupies nearly the whole of Daniel 11:1. Not improbably something has dropped out, and. not a few things have been modified in consequence of this interpolation. DANIEL 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus King of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long; and he understood the t

THEN SAID HE, KNOWEST THOU WHEREFORE I COME UNTO THEE?.... He had told him before, Daniel 10:12, that it was on account of his prayers, and to bring an answer to them; and particularly to inform him what would befall his people in the latter day; and now, lest, through the hurry of his spirits, he had not observed it, or had forgot it, he reminds him of it, to stir up his desire the more after the knowledge of particulars, which he was now about to relate unto him: and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia; the evil spirit, in the court of Persia, he had been contesting with before, and had got the better of by the help of Michael; but since this good angel had been with Daniel, the evil one had been working upon the king and counsellors of Persia, and had wrought them up to an indifference unto, or carelessness about, the affairs of the people of the Jews, and to listen t...

CHAPTER 10 THE PREPARATION FOR THE FINAL PROPHECY This chapter contains the preface to the final great prophecies as found in the last two Chapter s of this book. The certain man who appeared unto Daniel at the banks of the river Hiddekel (Tigris) was the Lord. Compare with Revelation 1:1, where John, the beloved disciple, beheld Him in a vision of glory. Daniel's vision is a pre-incarnation vision of the same One whom John beheld after His resurrection and in His glorified humanity. The delayed answer by the angelic messenger is explained by the power of darkness. A powerful demon-prince, a satanic agency, having control over Persia, so that he claimed the title the prince of Persia, kept back the answer. Then the prophet was strengthened....

DANIEL 10. INTRODUCTION TO THE FINAL VISION. The last three Chapter s of Daniel form a unity and describe the final vision. Daniel 10 is introductory. A shining being appears to Daniel near the great river and tells him that he has been sent in answer to his prayers. The guardian angel of Persia had tried to intercept him, but Michael the protector of Israel had come to his assistance. DANIEL 10:1. THIRD YEAR OF CYRUS: 535 B.C, the latest date in the Book. Daniel 10:4. the great river: elsewhere (_cf. Genesis 15:18_) the Euphrates is described in this way, and as the Hiddekel, _i.e._ the Tigris, was 50 miles from Babylon, Charles thinks the name of the river is an interpolation....

_Knowest thou_, &c. A rhetorical question, designed to recall to Daniel what had been said in Daniel 10:12_; Daniel 10:14_, and to indicate to him its importance. _and now will I return_, &c. to carry on and complete the successes begun in Daniel 10:13. -Now" must mean, as soon as possible, as soon as I have given thee this revelation (Daniel 11:2 ff.): I cannot tarry here longer than is necessary, as I have still to contend in heaven against the enemies of Israel. _and when I_ GO _forth_(viz. from the contest with the -prince" of Persia), _lo, the prince of_ GREECE (Heb. JAVAN,