Daniel 10:20

Knowest thou, &c. A rhetorical question, designed to recall to Daniel what had been said in Daniel 10:12; Daniel 10:14, and to indicate to him its importance.

and now will I return, &c. to carry on and complete the successes begun in Daniel 10:13. -Now" must mean, as soon as possible, as soon as I have given thee this revelation (Daniel 11:2 ff.): I cannot tarry here longer than is necessary, as I have still to contend in heaven against the enemies of Israel.

and when I go forth(viz. from the contest with the -prince" of Persia), lo, the prince of Greece (Heb. Javan, as Daniel 8:21) will come in] As soon as the conflict with Persia is ended, one with Greece will begin: -go forth" and -come in," as 2 Kings 11:5; 2 Kings 11:7. It would be more in accordance with the usual sense of go forthin such a connexion as the present, to understand it of going forth tothe contest with the prince of Persia (cf. of going forth on a military expedition, with to battleexpressed, Deuteronomy 20:1; Deuteronomy 21:10; without it, Judges 9:29 2 Samuel 11:1; 2 Samuel 18:2 (end), 3, 6, 2 Kings 9:21, &c.); but unless the future is greatly foreshortened, or -go forth" is understood not of proceeding to, but of continuing in, the conflict (so Keil), this interpretation agrees hardly with the history; for the empire of Alexander and his successors did not arise till two centuries after the time of Cyrus.