King James Version · The Persian return
Daniel 10
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
In the third year of king of a thing was unto , 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 . In those days I was three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came nor in my , neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of , and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I alone saw the : for the men that were with me saw not the ; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great , and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on , and toward the ground. And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O , a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not, : for from the first day that thou didst set thine to understand, and to thyself before thy , thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of of withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, , one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of . Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the : for yet the is for many days. And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set toward the ground, and I became dumb. And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my : then I opened my , and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my , by the my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the this my talk with this my ? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, 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 speak; for thou hast strengthened me. Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of : and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will shew thee that which is noted in the of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but your prince.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The Persian return, 539 BC to 332 BC ›
Persia takes Babylon and reverses its policy, sending exiled peoples home to rebuild their temples. Judah returns as a small province, rebuilding under imperial permission rather than independence.
- Persia
- The largest empire the world had yet seen, from the Indus to the Aegean, run through provinces, a royal road, and a postal system. Its policy on conquered peoples was to send them home and fund their temples, in exchange for loyalty and prayers for the king. The Cyrus Cylinder states the policy in Cyrus's own words, and Ezra opens with the same policy applied to Judah.
- Judah
- A small, poor province called Yehud, a fraction of the old kingdom, with a rebuilt temple that made the people who remembered the first one weep. No king, and no prospect of one. Leadership passes to priests and scribes, which shapes everything afterward.
- Greece
- Persia and Greece collide at Marathon and Salamis, Persia loses, and Athens spends the following decades on the Parthenon, tragedy, and Socrates. Herodotus writes the first history in order to explain that war. Then Plato and Aristotle, whose vocabulary the church will still be using at Nicaea eight centuries later.
- Further afield
- Rome throws out its kings and becomes a republic. In India and China this is the age of the Buddha's early followers and of Confucian teaching taking hold. More of what the world still thinks with was invented in this era than in almost any other.