Daniel 11:2
New International Version
“Now then, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

New Living Translation
“Now then, I will reveal the truth to you. Three more Persian kings will reign, to be succeeded by a fourth, far richer than the others. He will use his wealth to stir up everyone to fight against the kingdom of Greece.

English Standard Version
“And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.

New American Standard Bible
And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will stir up the entire empire against the realm of Greece.

NASB 1995
“And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.

NASB 1977
“And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.

Legacy Standard Bible
So now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to stand in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the kingdom of Greece.

Amplified Bible
And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will become far richer than all of them. When he becomes strong through his riches he will stir up the whole empire against the realm of Greece.

Christian Standard Bible
Now I will tell you the truth. “Three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth will be far richer than the others. By the power he gains through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now I will tell you the truth.” Three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth will be far richer than the others. By the power he gains through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

American Standard Version
And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and when he is waxed strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Therefore I shall show you again in the truth: three Kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth will be rich in great riches, more than all of them, and when he is strong in his place, he shall awaken all the kingdoms of the Greeks

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And now I will tell thee the truth. Behold, there shall yet rise up three kings in Persia: and the fourth shall be very far richer than all: and after that he is master of his wealth, he shall rise up against all the kingdoms of the Greeks.

Contemporary English Version
What I am going to tell you is certain to happen. Four kings will rule Persia, one after the other, but the fourth one will become much richer than the others. In fact, his wealth will make him so powerful that he will turn everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And now I will shew thee the truth. Behold there shall stand yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be enriched exceedingly above them all: and when he shall be grown mighty by his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.

English Revised Version
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 when he is waxed strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
[The person who looked like a human continued,] "What I am about to tell you is the truth. Three more kings will rule Persia. Then there will be a fourth, who will become much richer than all the others. As he becomes strong through his wealth, he will turn everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

Good News Translation
And what I am now going to tell you is true." The angel said, "Three more kings will rule over Persia, followed by a fourth, who will be richer than all the others. At the height of his power and wealth he will challenge the kingdom of Greece.

International Standard Version
"'Now I'll tell you the truth: Pay attention! Three more kings will arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain more than them all. As soon as he gains power by means of his wealth, he'll stir up everyone against the Grecian kingdoms.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And now will I declare unto thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all; and when he is waxed strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.

Literal Standard Version
and now, I declare to you truth: Behold, yet three kings are standing for Persia, and the fourth becomes far richer than all, and according to his strength by his riches he stirs up the whole, with the kingdom of Javan.

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
“Now I shall tell you the truth. “Three kings of Persia are yet to appear; and a fourth shall acquire the greatest riches of all. Strengthened by his riches, he shall stir up all kingdoms, even that of Greece.

NET Bible
Now I will tell you the truth. The Angel Gives a Message to Daniel "Three more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth king will be unusually rich, more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

New Revised Standard Version
“Now I will announce the truth to you. Three more kings shall arise in Persia. The fourth shall be far richer than all of them, and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.

New Heart English Bible
And now what I show you is true. Look, there shall arise three more kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than all of them; and when he has grown strong through his riches, he shall stir up all the kingdom of Greece.

Webster's Bible Translation
And now will I show 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.

World English Bible
“Now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings will stand up in Persia. 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.

Young's Literal Translation
and, now, truth I declare to thee, Lo, yet three kings are standing for Persia, and the fourth doth become far richer than all, and according to his strength by his riches he stirreth up the whole, with the kingdom of Javan.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Prophecies about Persia and Greece
1“And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to strengthen and protect him. 2Now 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. 3Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.…

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 8:26
The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been spoken is true. Now you must seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future."

Daniel 10:1
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, and it concerned a great conflict. And the understanding of the message was given to him in a vision.

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.

Daniel 10:21
But first I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. Yet no one has the courage to support me against these, except Michael your prince.


Treasury of Scripture

And now will I show you 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.

will I.

Daniel 8:26
And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

Daniel 10:1,21
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 thing, and had understanding of the vision…

Proverbs 22:21
That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

three.

Ezra 4:5,6
And hired counsellers against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia…

far.

Psalm 73:6,7
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment…

stir.

Daniel 11:25
And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him.

Daniel 7:5
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

Daniel 8:4
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

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Daniel 11
1. The overthrow of Persia by the king of Grecia.
5. Leagues and conflicts between the kings of the south and of the north.
30. The invasion and tyranny of the Romans.














(2) The truth.--Comp. Daniel 10:21. This is the commencement of the revelation promised in Daniel 10:14; and from this point till the end of the book the difficulties that have to be encountered in attempting an exposition are almost insuperable. It has been customary from the time of St. Jerome, if not from an earlier epoch, to explain most of what follows as referring to the Ptolemies and Seleucidae. The difficulties which oppose this interpretation will be pointed out in the notes. It is a question whether, after all, the early interpretation is correct, and, if not, whether this revelation does not still await its complete fulfilment. The mere similarity which exists between certain things predicted here and what actually occurred in the times of the Ptolemies is not sufficient to limit the fulfilment of the prophecy to those times, still less to justify the assumption that the section before us is a history of what occurred from the disruption of the Greek Empire to the death of Antiochus. "History repeats itself;" and just as Antiochus (Daniel 8:23-25) is a type of Antichrist (Daniel 7:21), so the events and political combinations which preceded Antiochus may be regarded as typical of what will occur before the coming of the Messiah and the general resurrection, with a prediction of which (Daniel 12:2-3) this revelation concludes.

Three kings.--It is hard to say who these were. Cyrus being on the throne already, it is most probable that his three successors are intended--Cambyses, Darius, and Xerxes. Those four kings appear to have been selected whose influence was most prominent in its bearings upon Israel. Xerxes is called the fourth king because the reckoning dates from Cyrus, and the short reign of the Pseudo Smerdis is not taken into account. Not only do the riches of Xerxes point him out as the last king, but also his conduct towards Greece may be correctly described as "stirring up" against himself "the realm of Grecia." . . .

Verse 2. - And now will I show 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. The rendering of the LXX. is, "And now I came to show thee the truth. Behold, three kings have risen, and the fourth shall be rich with great riches above all, and when he shall strengthen himself in his riches, he shall stir himself up against every king of the Greeks." Theodotion is very like this, only the last words of the verse are, "all the realms of the Greeks." The Peshitta is very like Theodotion, having "kingdoms" instead of "realm." The Vulgate is in nearly exact agreement with the Massoretic text. When we turn to the Massoretic text and compare it with the versions, we find that the LXX. must have read, וּבְחֶזְקָתו, as it has ἐν. Theodotion reads, μετὰ; the Peshitta, ma; the Vulgate, cum. This is the beginning of the revelation referred to in Daniel 10:21a. The doubtful authenticity of that clause throws a shadow on this verse. It is to be noted that we are no longer in the region of symbol, but of distinct narration. There may have been something in the nature of a vision, and that here we have, enlarged, an interpretation of it. The fourth king is certainly Xerxes. If we regard him as one of the three successors to Cyrus, then Cambyses and Darius Hystaspis are the other two. So Hitzig and Delitzsch. Keil would more naturally make the fourth not the fourth King of Persia, but the fourth successor of Cyrus. (For the Hebrew usage, see Exodus 22:30.) Professor Bevan, assuming in his superior way the ignorance of the writer before us, here determines that he drew "most of his information" from the Bible, and, as there are only four names of Persian kings given in Ezra and Nehemiah, that he, this careful student of Scripture, came to the conclusion that there were only four kings. In the first place, if this portion was written, as it not impossibly was, in the Maceabean period, the writer must have got his information of the invasion of Greece by Xerxes from classical sources; he could not fail to know of Cambyses and the pseudo-Smerdis. Further, scarcely even the most casual reader of Ezra could fail to distinguish between the Artaxerxes who before Darius Hystaspis hindered the work of the Jews, and the Artaxerxes after Darius who fostered it. We have followed Herodotus in calling the brother of Cambysos, whose name the usurper assumed, "Smerdis;" but Ctesias calls him "Tanyoxarces;" Xenophon, "Tanaoxares;" and AEschylus, "Marries." We know that Artaxerxes was probably not a personal name, but rather a title, as was also Aehsverosh Xerxes. Some, as Behramnn, assume the fourth monarch here to be Darius Codomannus, but there seems no reason for this assump tion, save that critics are superior persons; and the writer, albeit many of them admit him to be inspired, would be more likely to be wrong in his facts than that their theories should be defective. As the writer here gives no names, it is certainly singular to assert that, though, if we take his Hebrew as grammatical, he gives a correct enumera tion of the Persian kings, he has defied Hebrew usage, and been wrong in his enumeration. He shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. All the versions except the Vulgate imply a plural here- מַלְכֻיות instead of מַלְכוּת. This reading is preferable to the Massoretic, which would arise easily from the next verse. If we may take this as the true reading, then the diversities of the states in Greece is indicated in the way most natural to an Oriental.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now then,
וְעַתָּ֕ה (wə·‘at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 6258: At this time

I will tell
אַגִּ֣יד (’ag·gîḏ)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5046: To be conspicuous

you the truth:
אֱמֶ֖ת (’ĕ·meṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 571: Stability, certainty, truth, trustworthiness

Three
שְׁלֹשָׁ֨ה (šə·lō·šāh)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

more
עוֹד֩ (‘ō·wḏ)
Adverb
Strong's 5750: Iteration, continuance, again, repeatedly, still, more

kings
מְלָכִ֜ים (mə·lā·ḵîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4428: A king

will arise
עֹמְדִ֣ים (‘ō·mə·ḏîm)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 5975: To stand, in various relations

in Persia,
לְפָרַ֗ס (lə·p̄ā·ras)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6539: Persia -- a country in west Asia which conquered Babylon

and then a fourth,
וְהָֽרְבִיעִי֙ (wə·hā·rə·ḇî·‘î)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Number - ordinal masculine singular
Strong's 7243: Fourth, a fourth

who will be
עֹֽשֶׁר־ (‘ō·šer-)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6239: Wealth

far
גָּדוֹל֙ (gā·ḏō·wl)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

richer [than the others].
יַעֲשִׁ֤יר (ya·‘ă·šîr)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6238: To accumulate, chiefly, to grow, rich

By the power
וּכְחֶזְקָת֣וֹ (ū·ḵə·ḥez·qā·ṯōw)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 2393: Prevailing power

of his wealth,
בְעָשְׁר֔וֹ (ḇə·‘ā·šə·rōw)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6239: Wealth

he will stir up
יָעִ֣יר (yā·‘îr)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5782: To rouse oneself, awake

everyone
מִכֹּ֔ל (mik·kōl)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

against the kingdom
מַלְכ֥וּת (mal·ḵūṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 4438: Royalty, royal power, reign, kingdom

of Greece.
יָוָֽן׃ (yā·wān)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3120: Javan -- a son of Japheth, also his descendants and their land


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OT Prophets: Daniel 11:2 Now will I show you the truth (Dan. Da Dn)
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