John Calvin Commentary Daniel 11:2

"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 when he is waxed strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece." — Daniel 11:2 (ASV)

We must now understand God’s intention in informing His servant Daniel in this way of future events. He was clearly unwilling to gratify a vain curiosity, and He elaborated on events that needed to be known, thus enabling the Prophet not only to rely privately on God’s grace, through this demonstration of His care for His Church, but also to exhort others to persevere in the faith.

This chapter seems like a historical narrative in the form of an enigmatic description of events that were then future. The angel relates and places before Daniel's eyes occurrences yet to happen. From this, we gather very clearly how God spoke through His prophets; and thus Daniel, in his prophetic character alone, is clear proof to us of God’s particular favor towards the Israelites.

Here the angel discusses not the general state of the world, but first the Persian kingdom, then the monarchy of Alexander, and afterwards the two kingdoms of Syria and Egypt. From this, we clearly perceive how the whole discourse was directed to the faithful.

God did not concern Himself with the welfare of other nations, but wished to benefit His Church, and principally to sustain the faithful under their approaching troubles. It was to assure them that God would never forget His covenant, and that He would so moderate the convulsions then taking place throughout the world as to always be protecting His people by His assistance. But we will have to repeat this again, and even more than once, as we proceed.

First of all, the angel states, Three kings shall yet stand up in Persia. With respect to the clause, Behold! I announce to you the truth, I explained in yesterday’s Lecture how frequently he confirmed his prophecy whenever he dealt with events of the greatest importance, which seemed almost incredible. I shall tell you the real truth; three kings shall stand up. The Jews are not only very ignorant of everything, but very stupid also—then they have no sense of shame, and are endowed with a perverse audacity; for they think there were only three kings of Persia, and they neglect all history, and mix and confuse things that are perfectly clear and completely distinct.

There were eight kings of Persia of whom no mention is made here. Why, then, does the angel say, three kings should stand up? This was the first year of Darius, as we saw before. Therefore, in their number of kings, Cyrus, the first monarch, is included, along with his son Cambyses.

Once these two kings have been identified, a new question arises; for some add Smerdis to Cambyses, though he was only an impostor. The Magi falsely presented him as the son of Darius, for the purpose of acquiring the sovereignty for themselves. Thus he was acknowledged as king for seven months; but when the deception was discovered, he was slain by seven of the nobles, among whom was Darius the son of Hystaspes. According to the common narrative, Darius was made king by the consent of the others based on the neighing of his horse.

The differing interpretations might discourage us from reading them, so we must gather the truth from the historical outcome. For Smerdis, as I have stated, cannot be counted among the kings of Persia, as he was merely an impostor. I therefore exclude him, following the careful judgment of others who have considered this point attentively.

We must now observe why Daniel mentions four kings, the fourth of whom, he states, should be very rich. Cambyses succeeded Cyrus, who was reigning when the prophecy was uttered. He was always moving to distant places; he scarcely allowed himself rest for a single year; he was exceedingly desirous of glory, insatiable in his ambition, and always stirring up new wars.

Cambyses, Cyrus's son, who had slain his brother, died in Egypt, yet he added that country to the Persian Empire. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, succeeded, and Xerxes followed him. Those who think Darius, the son of Hystaspes, is the fourth king are deceived; without doubt, the Prophet meant Xerxes, who crossed the sea with a mighty army.

He led with him 900,000 men; and, however incredible this may appear, all historians constantly affirm it. He was so puffed up with pride that he said he came to put fetters on the Hellespont, while his army covered all the neighboring country. This is one point: the four kings were Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius the son of Hystaspes, and Xerxes, omitting Smerdis.

We may now inquire why the angel limits the number to four, since the successor of Xerxes was Artaxerxes, or Darius Longimanus (the long-handed), and there were others after him. This difficulty is solved by the following probable explanation: Xerxes destroyed the power of the Persian Empire by his rashness; he escaped with the greatest disgrace and was barely saved by the ignominy of his flight.

He hastily brought away only a few companions with him in a small boat and could not obtain a single transport ship, although the Hellespont had previously been covered with his ships. His whole army was almost cut to pieces, first at Thermopylae, then at Leuctra, and afterwards at other places. From that period, the Persian Empire declined, for when its military glory was annihilated, the people gave themselves over to laziness and idleness, according to the testimony of Xenophon.

Some interpreters explain the phrase three kings stood up as referring to the flourishing period of the Persian monarchy: they take the words “stood up” emphatically, because from that period the nation’s power began to decline. For Xerxes, on his return, was hated by the whole people: first for his folly, then for his putting his brother to death, for his disgraceful conduct towards his sister, and for his other crimes. And as he was so loaded with infamy before his own people, he was slain by Artabanus, who reigned seven months.

Since the power of Persia was then almost entirely destroyed, or at least was beginning to decline, some interpreters state that these three kings “stood up,” and then add Xerxes as the fourth and the most opulent. But suppose we take the words “stood up” relatively, with respect to the Church?

For the angel states that the Persian prince, Cambyses, stood before him in an attitude of hostility and conflict. The angel seems rather to hint at the standing up of four kings of Persia, for the purpose of reminding the Jews of the serious evils and severe troubles they must suffer under their rule.

In this sense, I interpret the verb “to stand,” referring it to the contests by which God harassed the Church until the death of Xerxes. For at that period, when the power of the Persians declined, a longer period of rest and relaxation was granted to the people of God.

This is the reason why the angel omits and passes over in silence all the kings from Artabanus to Darius the son of Arsaces; for Arsaces was the second to last king, and although Ochus reigned before him, we know from secular historians how his descendants were reduced to the lowest rank under the last Darius, whom Alexander conquered, as we will see later.

For this reason, I think this is the genuine meaning of the passage: from Cyrus to Xerxes, kings of Persia would stand up against the Israelites, and during that entire period, the conflicts would be renewed, and the Jews would almost perish through despair under that continual series of evils.

Some say four kings would stand forth until all the Jews were led out; and we know this was never completed, for only a small portion returned. As to my own opinion, I am unwilling to argue with others, yet I do not hesitate to assert the angel’s intention to exhort all the pious to endurance, for he announced the standing up of these four kings, who would bring various tribulations upon them.

As to the fourth king, the statement of this passage suits Xerxes exactly. The fourth, he says, shall be enriched with wealth; for the noun has a similar meaning to the verb, as they both spring from the same root. Indeed, Darius the son of Hystaspes determined to wage war with Greece; he made the attempt but without success, especially at the Battle of Marathon.

He was cut off by sudden death when his treasures were prepared and many forces were collected. He thus left the materials of war for his son. Xerxes, in the prime of his life, saw every preparation for war made ready for him; he eagerly seized the opportunity and paid no attention to sound advice.

For, as we have already stated, he destroyed himself and the whole monarchy, not by a single slaughter only, but by four. And this power of raising an army of 900,000 men was no ordinary occurrence. If he had only carried with him across the sea 100,000 men, this would have been a large force.

But his ability to feed such large forces while he passed through so many provinces, and then to transport them across the sea, exceeds what we can ordinarily believe. We are not surprised, then, at the angel’s predicting the extreme wealth of this king.

He adds, In his fortitude and in his riches he shall stir them all up against the realm of the Greeks. This was not accomplished by Darius the son of Hystaspes. According to my previous statement, he attacked certain Grecian cities, but without causing confusion throughout the whole East, as Xerxes his successor did.

As for the phrase, the kingdom of Javan, I willingly agree with the opinion of those who think the word is equivalent to the Greek word Ionia. For Javan went out in that direction and lived there with his descendants in the Grecian territory, from where almost the whole of Greece obtained its present name.

The whole Grecian nation is often called “Chittim,” and some see good reason for them being termed “Machetae,” from Chittim the son of Javan; thus, by the addition of a letter, we arrive at the Macedonians. For the conjecture is probable that this people were first called Maketae, and afterwards Macedonians.

Without doubt, in this passage and in many others, Javan stands for the whole of Greece, since Ionia was the part of the country most celebrated in Judea and throughout the East generally. Xerxes then stirred up against the realm of Javan—meaning Greece—all the people of the East, for it is very well known how his empire spread far and wide in every direction.

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