Daniel 10 · Verse 20

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.
Daniel 10:20, King James Version

Daniel 10:20 in other translations

BSB“Do you know why I have come to you?” he said. “I must return at once to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I have gone forth, behold, the prince of Greece will come.
WEBThen he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come.
ASVThen said he, Knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I go forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come.
YLTAnd he saith, Hast thou known why I have come unto thee? and now I turn back to fight with the head of Persia; yea, I am going forth, and lo, the head of Javan hath come;
DARBYAnd he said, Knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee? And now I return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I go forth, behold, the prince of Greece shall come.
BBEThen he said, It is clear to you why I have come to you. And now I will give you an account of what is recorded in the true writings:
WebsterThen said he, Knowest thou for what cause I come to 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.

What does Daniel 10:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
20. Knowest thou wherefore--The angel asks, after Daniel had recovered from his fright, whether he has understood what was revealed (Da 10:13). 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. prince of Grecia shall come--Alexander the Great, who conquered Persia, and favored the Jews [Calvin]. Rather, as the prince of Persia is an angel, representing the hostile world power, so the prince of Grecia is a fresh angelic adversary, representing Greece. When I am gone forth from conquering the Persian foe, a fresh one starts up, namely, the world power that succeeds Persia, Greece; Antiochus Epiphanes, and his antitype Antichrist, but him, too, with the help of Michael, Israel's champion, I shall overcome [Gejer].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 20 Knowest thou wherefore I come - So high art thou in the favor 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 favor 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 Alexander the Great, who was to destroy the Persian empire. See Dan 11:2-3 (note).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Daniel 10:10-21

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…

Read the full comment on Daniel 10:10-21 →

Daniel 10:20 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֗אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
הֲיָדַ֙עְתָּ֙ha.ya.Da'.ta¿ do you knowH3045
לָמָּה\־la.mah-<to> why?H4100
בָּ֣אתִיBa.tihave I comeH935
אֵלֶ֔יךָ'e.Lei.khato youH413
וְעַתָּ֣הve.'a.Tahand nowH6258
אָשׁ֔וּב'a.ShuvI will returnH7725
לְהִלָּחֵ֖םle.hi.la.Chemto engage in battleH3898
עִם\־'im-withH5973
שַׂ֣רsar[the] prince ofH8269
פָּרָ֑סpa.RasPersiaH6539
וַאֲנִ֣יva.'a.Niand IH589
יוֹצֵ֔אyo.Tze'[am] about to go forthH3318
וְהִנֵּ֥הve.hi.Nehand there!H2009
שַׂר\־sar-[the] prince ofH8269
יָוָ֖ןya.VanGreeceH3120
בָּֽא\׃Ba'he will comeH935

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Daniel 10:20

  • Daniel 8:21

    And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

  • Daniel 11:2-4

    And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.

  • Daniel 8:5-8

    And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

  • Acts 12:23

    And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

  • Isaiah 37:36

    Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

  • Daniel 7:6

    After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

  • Daniel 10:13

    But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
to fight.
13; Isa 37:36; Ac 12:23
the prince of Grecia.
7:6; 8:5-8,21; 11:2-4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Daniel 10:19

    And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.

  • 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.

  • Daniel 10:21

    But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

Read all of Daniel 10

Daniel 10:20 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y dijo: ¿Sabes por qué he venido á ti? Porque luego tengo de volver para pelear con el príncipe de los Persas; y en saliendo yo, luego viene el príncipe de Grecia.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et il dit: Sais-tu pourquoi je suis venu vers toi? Et maintenant, je m’en retournerai pour combattre contre le chef de la Perse; et quand je sortirai, voici, le chef de Javan viendra.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Da sprach er: Weißt du, warum ich zu dir gekommen bin? Und jetzt werde ich zurückkehren, um mit dem Fürsten von Persien zu streiten; aber wenn ich ausziehe, siehe, so wird der Fürst von Griechenland kommen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et ait: Numquid scis quare venerim ad te? et nunc revertar ut prælier adversum principem Persarum. Cum ego egrederer, apparuit princeps Græcorum veniens.