Daniel 11:1

Also I, in the first year of Darius the Mede,.... These words more properly belong to the preceding chapter, and should have concluded that, and the "eleventh" chapter should have begun in the next

Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him. This chapter is an enlargement of the eighth. Also I ... even I - the angel, who was "like the appearance of a man" (Daniel 10:18).

DANIEL CHAPTER 11 The overthrow of Persia by the king of Greeks, whose empire shall be divided, . Leagues and conflicts between the kings of the south and of the north, . The exploits of one of the latter princes, ; who, being checked in his progress by the ships of Chittim, shall turn his fury against the Holy Land, . An impious tyranny set up, . Events that shall take place in the latter times, . This first verse should have been the last verse of the tenth chapter, for it pertains to it; and the second verse of this chapter should have been the first; which neglect those who divided the Scripture into chapters have been found guilty of more than once. Thus speaks the angel to Daniel; because Darius had the rule of Babylon by the consent of Cyrus, he settled the monarchy of the Medes and Persians upon the ruins of the Babylonian, for the verifying of prophecies, and for protection and preservation of the church.

Daniel 11:1 Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, [even] I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.Ver. 1. Also I,] i.e., I, Gabriel the angel, glad of such an office, for the good of God’ s people, whereunto also I was sent by Christ. In the first year of Darius the Mede.] Who now began to think of sending home the captive Jews, but had some hesitations and fluctuations of mind about it. I stood to confirm and to strengthen him.] Angels cannot enlighten the mind, or powerfully incline the will of man, for so the Holy Ghost only doth; but, as instruments of the Holy Ghost, they can stir up phantasms of the Word read or heard. They can also propose truth and right to the mind, advise and persuade to it as counsellors, and inwardly instigate as it were by speaking and doing after a spiritual manner, suggesting good thoughts, as devils do evil; yea, they can strangely wind themselves into men’ s imaginations, so as to appear to them in their dreams.

XI. (1) In the first year of Darius.—These words must be closely connected with the last verse of Daniel 10. The allusion is, most probably, to the fall of Babylon and the return from the Exile, at which time, as at the Exodus, the angel of the Lord went before His people. There is also a reference to Daniel 6:22.

CHAPTER XI This chapter gives a more particular explanation of those events which were predicted in the eighth chapter. The prophet had foretold the partition of Alexander's kingdom into four parts. Two of these, in which were included Egypt and Syria, the one to the north, the other to the south, in respect of Judea, appear to take up the chief attention of the prophet, as his people were particularly concerned in their fate; these being the countries in which by far the greatest number of the Jews were, and still are, dispersed. Of these countries he treats (according to the views of the most enlightened expositors) down to the conquest of Macedon, A.M. 3836, B.C. 168, when he begins to speak of the Romans, 1-30; and then of the Church under that power, 31-35. This leads him to speak of Antichrist, who was to spring up in that quarter, 36-39; and of those powers which at the TIME of the end, or the latter days of the Roman monarchy, (as this term is generally understood,) were to push at it, and overthrow many countries, 40-43. By the king of the SOUTH, in the fortieth verse, the dominion of the Saracens, or Arabs, is supposed to be intended, which was an exceeding great plague to the Roman empire in the east, and also to several papistical countries, for the space of one hundred and fifty years, i.e. from A.D. 612, when Mohammed and his followers first began their depredations, to A.D. 762, when Bagdad was built, and made the capital of the caliphs of the house of Abbas, from which epoch the Saracens became a more settled people. By the king of the NORTH in the same verse the prophet is supposed by some to design that great scourge of eastern Christendom, the Ottoman or Othman empire, by which, after about a hundred and fifty years of almost uninterrupted hostilities, the Roman empire in the east was completely overturned, A.D. 1453. The chapter concludes with a prediction of the final overthrow of this northern power, and of the manner in which this great event shall be accomplished, 44, 45. But it should be observed that, notwithstanding the very learned observations of Bishop Newton and others upon this chapter, their scheme of interpretation presents very great and insurmountable difficulties; among which the very lengthy detail of events in the Syrian and Egyptian histories, comprising a period of less than two hundred years, and the rather uncouth transition to the incomparably greater transactions in Antichristian times, and of much longer duration, which are passed over with unaccountable brevity, are not the least. On all these subjects, however, the reader must judge for himself. See the notes. NOTES ON CHAP. XI Verse 1. In the first year of Darius the Mede] This is a continuation of the preceding discourse. Bp.

Daniel 11:1. And as for me, in … I stood up to be a supporter and a stronghold unto him] I myself, also, in the first year of Darius, came forward to support Michael. As soon as ‘Darius the Mede’ (Daniel 5:31, Daniel 9:1) ‘received the kingdom,’ there was need for the defenders of Israel to co-operate on its behalf; and (it seems to be implied) it was through this angelic intervention that the natural hostility of Persia to Israel was turned to friendliness. I stood up] The Heb. is peculiar, lit. my standing (was). One or two parallels can be quoted (as Judges 19:9; Job 9:27); but the addition of a letter would give the normal Hebrew for I stood up (ςξγϊι for ςξγι). a supporter] prop. one holding strongly or firmly: see Isaiah 41:9; Isaiah 41:13; Ezekiel 30:25. stronghold] Daniel 11:7; Daniel 11:10; Daniel 11:19; Daniel 11:31; Daniel 11:38-39; Isaiah 23:4; Isaiah 23:11 : here in a figurative sense, as often of Jehovah (e.g. Psalms 27:1; Psalms 28:1).

Also I - I the angel. He alludes here to what he had done on a former occasion to promote the interests of the Hebrew people, and to secure those arrangements which were necessary for their welfare -

1. R.V. reads,”And as for me, in the first year,” etc. This is a continuation of Gabriel’s speech which should not have been interrupted by a chapter heading. For Darius the Mede see our Introduction, III, 3, (5).