Daniel 10:20

“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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — A heavenly messenger addresses Daniel during a vision, immediately after strengthening him and before revealing further prophetic details. The speaker interrupts his own explanation to clarify the urgent purpose of his appearance.

The words — הֲ/יָדַ֙עְתָּ֙ (ha./ya.Da'.ta) translates to "do you know," and לְ/הִלָּחֵ֖ם (le./hi.la.Chem) means "to engage in battle." These terms frame the speaker's arrival as a direct inquiry into Daniel's awareness of a coming spiritual conflict.

The thread — The "prince of Greece" and "prince of Persia" reappear in Daniel 8:5, 8:21, and 11:2, where they are explicitly identified with earthly kings and nations. These passages map the same unseen political and spiritual opposition across multiple prophetic visions.

Why it lands — It demands that a reader stop treating historical events as purely terrestrial and recognize the urgent, unseen battles driving them. The text requires immediate attention to spiritual realities before moving to further revelation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיֹּ֗אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said הֲיָדַ֙עְתָּ֙ha./ya.Da'.ta¿/ do you know לָמָּה־la./mah-<to>/ why?בָּ֣אתִיBa.tihave I come אֵלֶ֔יךָ'e.Lei./khato/ you וְעַתָּ֣הve./'a.Tahand/ now אָשׁ֔וּב'a.ShuvI will return לְהִלָּחֵ֖םle./hi.la.Chemto/ engage in battle עִם־'im-with שַׂ֣רsar[the] prince of פָּרָ֑סpa.RasPersia וַאֲנִ֣יva./'a.Niand/ I יוֹצֵ֔אyo.Tze'[am] about to go forth וְהִנֵּ֥הve./hi.Nehand/ there!שַׂר־sar-[the] prince of יָוָ֖ןya.VanGreece בָּֽא׃Ba'he will come

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Daniel 8:21 The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.
Daniel 8:5 As I was contemplating all this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came out of the west, crossing the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground.
Daniel 11:2 Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
Daniel 7:6 Next, as I watched, suddenly another beast appeared. It was like a leopard, and on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.
Daniel 10:13 However, the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.
Acts 12:23 Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.