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“Now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings will stand up in Persia; and the fourth will be far richer than all of them. When he has grown strong through his riches, he will stir up all against the realm of Greece. A mighty king will stand up, who will rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. When he stands up, his kingdom will be broken, and will be divided toward the four winds of the sky, but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom will be plucked up, even for others besides these.

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Now I will tell you the truth.

The Angel Gives a Message to Daniel

“Three[a] more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth[b] king will be unusually rich,[c] more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against[d] the kingdom of Greece. Then a powerful king[e] will arise, exercising great authority and doing as he pleases. Shortly after his rise to power,[f] his kingdom will be broken up and distributed toward the four winds of the sky[g]—but not to his posterity or with the authority he exercised, for his kingdom will be uprooted and distributed to others besides these.

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 11:2 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.).
  2. Daniel 11:2 sn This fourth king is Xerxes I (ca. 486-465 b.c.).
  3. Daniel 11:2 tn Heb “rich with great riches.”
  4. Daniel 11:2 tn Or “All [of it] will arouse the kingdom of Greece.” The text is difficult. The text is traditionally taken to have the fourth king as the subject of the verb, making the relationship between הַכֹּל (hakkol, “all, the whole, everyone, everything”) and the kingdom of Greece difficult. Presumably “everyone” is the direct object, but the “kingdom” has the direct object marker אֶת (ʾet). This is very unlikely to be the preposition אֶת (ʾet, “with”) because the verb עוּר (ʿur, “to arouse”) uses the preposition עַל (ʿal) to mean “stir up against.” Nevertheless the meaning “against” is typically supplied or assumed from context. An alternative is to take הַכֹּל as the subject, meaning “all of it,” that is the power and wealth, will arouse [the interest] of the kingdom of Greece. This makes sense of the articular use of הַכֹּל, the parsing of the verb, and the direct object indicator, and also fits the context where in the next verse the Greek king rises up.
  5. Daniel 11:3 sn The powerful king mentioned here is Alexander the Great (ca. 336-323 b.c.).
  6. Daniel 11:4 tn Heb “and when he stands.”
  7. Daniel 11:4 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.