Darius and Cyrus were names of Persian kings. In fact, there were several kings called Cyrus and Darius, but the ones relevant to the biblical record were Cyrus II (also known as Cyrus the great): 576–530 BC; Darius I (also known as Darius the great): 550–486BC. Cyrus II is mentioned in the Bible in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; [...]
Answers about Daniel
Daniel uses animals such as a lion, bear, leopard, dragon, goat and ram to refer to nations that controlled large parts of the area around the Middle East. The lion (Dan 7:4) symbolised the Babylonians, the bear (Dan 7:5) symbolised the Medo-Persian empire, the leopard (Dan 7:6) symbolised the Greek empire, and so on. In [...]
We know that Revelation uses symbols because it is a prophecy (Rev. 1:3) following on from Daniel’s prophecies in Dan. 2, 7 and 8. In Dan. 2, 7 and 8 prophecies are given that use symbols — Dan. 2: a statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay (which is crushed by a rock); Dan. [...]
The prince of the kingdom of Persia is most likely Cyrus the great, who started ruling in 559BC. The “kings of Persia” is probably referring to Cyrus and his father Cambyses, who died in 551BC, co-ruling with Cyrus for about 8 years. It is not uncommon in Scripture for kings to be referred to as [...]
Daniel 9 (ESV) 24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from [...]
The person who asked this question also wrote: It is so hard to believe that if someone’s Grandfather was a wicked man, God would punish his grandchildren who love God. I do believe in the consequences of sin, but does God punish our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren for our sins? Well, God does say that [...]
There are two beasts in Revelation: the beast that comes out of the sea, and the beast that comes out of the earth. The beast of the sea The beast of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, of Revelation 13:1-2 and 17:3-10, represents the kingdoms of men. Revelation 13:1-2. And I saw a [...]
Reference to the ‘abomination of desolation’ occurs in Daniel 8:13; 9:27, Matthew 24:15, and Mark 13:14. In the two New Testament texts, the reader is advised to refer to Daniel’s reference to the ‘abomination’, in order to understand its meaning. Due to this advice, many people believe that the ‘abomination of desolation’ has the same [...]
Neither the Bible nor external texts give any date of birth for Belshazzar or indication of age so we can only speculate. His grandmother, Adad-Guppi, was born 649 BC and lived 98 years (according the Haran Inscription). This being the case we expect his father, Nabonidus, to have been 60+ when he took the throne [...]
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream involves a statue of a man made from different materials (Dan. 2:31-33). A stone then hits the statue, destroys it, turns into a mountain, and fills the earth (Dan. 2:34-35). Like lots of other prophecies, these aren’t literal things; rather the items represent other things. In this prophecy Daniel tells us (Dan. 2:36-45) [...]
