In Daniel 10:20 the angel says he was sent by God immediately when Daniel began to pray, twenty-one days earlier, but he was hindered by the “prince of Persia” and the “prince of Greece.” Who is the “prince of Persia”?
For ma
ny interpreters, the prince of Persia is some kind of a national angel or territorial angel, in charge of the nation of Persia. In 12:1 Michael is the “prince” of God’s people, Israel. In 1 Enoch 20:1-8 for Michael as an archangel (cf., Jude 9).
The idea that nations had a particular angelic being ruling over it in the spiritual world may be behind the idea of local gods, or patron gods of the city-states. In 3 Enoch 35:12 identifies Samma’el as the “prince of Rome” and Dubbie’el as the Prince of Persia; both of these princes sit daily with Satan and write out the sins of Israel in order to deliver them to the seraphim.
3 Enoch 35:12 Why is their name called seraphim? Because they burn the tablets of Satan. Every day Satan sits with Sammaʾel, Prince of Rome, and with Dubbiʾel, Prince of Persia, and they write down the sins of Israel on tablets and give them to the seraphim to bring them before the Holy One, blessed be he, so that he should destroy Israel from the world.
In the Second Temple period the idea of an angelic “prince” developed into a mini-theology of angels. In Genesis 10 there are seventy nations and there were seventy sons of Abraham in Exodus 1:5. In addition, the Masoretic text of Deuteronomy 32:8 says God has fixed the borders of peoples “according to the number of the sons of God.” The Septuagint has “according to the angels of God” (κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων θεοῦ). From these texts developed the idea there is a divine council with as many as seventy angels in charge of the nations. A Jewish writer would not think the gods of the nations were real, but they would not deny spiritual beings played a role in international politics. Although the text does not specifically mention angels, Sirach 17:17 says:
Sirach 17:17 (NRSV) He appointed a ruler for every nation, but Israel is the Lord’s own portion.
Does the Bible really claim there is a divine council or “regional angels” in charge of the nations? As appealing as this tradition is, it must be emphasized it is only a tradition developed on the Second Temple Period.
If the prince of Persia is not an angelic or demonic being, then the phrase refers to human political leaders. William Shea, for example, argued the princes in Daniel 10 refers to the kings of the Persians and Greeks. The prince of Persia is either Cyrus the Great or Cambyses, not a powerful angelic being. Without identifying specific Persian or Greek kings, but may be the case the cosmic battle between the prince of Persia, the prince of Greece, and the prince of Israel foreshadows the earthly conflict between the Persians, Greeks and the Judeans described in Daniel 11.
The significant elements in Daniel 10 is that the prince of Persia was able to hinder the messenger from God and that messenger was unable to overcome the prince of Persia for three weeks. Even then, he needed help from Michael, the Prince of Israel to overcome. At the very least, the prince of Persia is an enemy of God who (for some unexplained reason) wants to prevent Daniel from receiving the message from God.
Bibliography: David E. Stevens, “Daniel 10 and the Notion of Territorial Spirits” BSac 157 (2000): 410-431; William H. Shea, “Wrestling with the Prince of Persia: A Study on Daniel 10,” Andrews University Seminary Studies 21 (1983); David E. Stevens, “Does Deuteronomy 32:8 Refer to ‘Sons of God’ or ‘Sons of Israel’” BibSac 154 (1997): 131-41.; Michael S. Heiser, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the ‘Sons of God,’” BibSac 158 (2001). S. R. Driver, Daniel, 157 has a brief discussion of the “doctrine of tutelary angels.”
Re: “ … there were seventy sons of Abraham in Exodus 1:5“ — how are you reading “Abraham” where the text says “Jacob”?
Sorry. The family of Abraham…same as the sons of Jacob. Working from memory, I suppose.
Why is a prince, like Cyrus the Great or Cambyses, not a powerful angelic being? The prince represents the power of the state, and have an army, etc. I think of the later usage of ‘the angel of the church at X’ in Revelation. Surely that ‘angelic spirit or whatever’ is represented by the polity of the people assembled at that place.
This thinking gives us some concreteness to ‘the powers and principalities’ that we wrestle with. E.g. the fear of global warming to be addressed by the angel of the investors in the liquefied natural gas pipeline, (South Korean pension fund + NY film mogul + etc) who are to disable the angel of the coal fired electricity plants (resident under the prince of China and supplied by the princes of Australia) over the next 30 years, but who are prevented by the same angel of those who fear global warming (blockades etc). As well as not a few random spirits in the crowd.
My point depends on how you understand the prince of Persia hindering the messenger. I think Michael is a reference to an angelic defender of God’s people (at least that is what he is in Daniel 12). If the messenger needs the help of this angelic guardian against the power of the prince of Persia and Greece, this may be enough to imply the Prince of Persia is an angelic being as well.
You analogies are all perfectly fine, of course, and Cyrus might very well be the intended point; but then is the prince of Greece Alexander? If so, then the point of the passage is something like, “Persia and Greece are going to do a great deal to hinder God’s purposes, but ultimately God will overcome them and establish his kingdom.”
If Gabriel needed Michael’s help to overcome the Prince of Persia, there is no doubt he is a Demonic being.
No mere man could do such a thing as impede an Angel (Archangel).
The “prince of persia” is a demonic presence but never rule out the fact that mankind can be a force to be reckoned with, as revealed through the many advancements and accomplishments throughout HIStory. Satanic forces are merely the influence. Mankind wields the balance.
But mankind aren’t as powerful as the celestial or shiny men (angels) and way less powerful then God.
Im iranian.i must say it cannot be human why?cause firstly cyrus th great is God annointed in bible both in old and new teastement he cannot be against God and it is aaying about this cyrus cause prophet daniel pbuh was at his time and another king dariush the great and then no simple man can see angels rather than see the best angels and archangels which are so great and close to God rather than fight them and even archangels cannot defeat them?cause archangel can desteoy cities and even earth itself .so its 0 chance to be human.it can be gaurdians of persia i must admit u can see them in ancient persopolis building even nowadays.it is said in riligion of iranians which was zoroastianism at those time that king of grrifins protect mountains of iran he was sent by angel protector of iran or some other myths in riligion or .but the point is even that zoroastianism is riligion of God its monothiestic and even in it has fortold the coming of jesus christ word of God resulting in 3 magus finding out and watching stars and scriptures to find him cause magus are zoroastianism priests and…why should they be enemy?i wonder so much to find out.i must admit i dont know this topic is from christians or jews cause both have these in their books i think.so if it is christian bible i must say prince in greek dictionary is meaned as leader .so it may mean leader of these countries.
I don’t get what you’re saying, but no a human can stop an angel. Now maybe a fallen angel but only cause people now have authority over them but during the Old Testament they didn’t. Might been an angel working through the a human to stop an angel for 21 days.
Correct, Anthony. The answer is in the Talmud.
As I read this blog post, I am intrigued by the reasoning behind the speculation on who the prince of Persia is. The talk of angels and other spiritual beings is interesting because of the lack of scripture given to us regarding their significance. However, I believe that our understanding should be limited. We should be less focused on the spiritual technicalities and more on the power of the Lord. Throughout Daniels dreams and vision, we get a glimpse into how wild the intricacies of the world God created and kingdoms that existed and will exist. Our understanding is surface level compared to the reality of how vast the spiritual world is. There are evil works that strive against the work of God. As the angel Gabriel is held up by the prince of Persia, there is a clear representation of spiritual warfare. “That means that the prince of Persia is also a spiritual being, an angel, but since this angel is working against God’s purposes, we would call this spiritual being a demon” (Longman, Pg.120). Throughout the Bible we are given glimpses of the spiritual world. As Christians we need to be aware that we do not harp on it and take our attention off the Lord. The prince of Persia is a unique part of scripture that discusses the working of evil that try to stop the Lord plans.
I find it interesting the whole idea of whether the Prince of Persia is a spiritual being or not. Looking at the idea of this prince being a human that is interfering with an angelic being is quite hard for me to fathom unless of course there is a demonic force behind this prince. For if this is to be understood as some angelic being from God what man could even begin to hinder it? If it is a demonic being, then I think it can give a little more reason for another spiritual being having some trouble. As mentioned in the post, the theology of Angels and each one rules a nation is not something that exist until the time of the Second Temple period (Long, 2020). So, to think that this was a battle based on a nation of angels who ruled their own territory would be a bit farfetched. The part that I don’t seem to mind is that there are still spiritual forces in the world that affect how things are done. My personal grasp of this section is informed by some New Testament scripture and an idea presented in this blog. Starting with the idea from this blog of the prince of Persian being merely a foreshadowing of what is to come (Long 2020). Maybe it is not the Prince of Persian but just imagery to help Daniel better understand what is happening and put things into perspective because the Persians would be great symbolism to opposition to God. We know that there are spirits out there that do try to hinder the work of God and for us living in the age with the New Testament it can be examined in Ephesians. It says that as believers we battle against spirits that are against the Lord and us (Ephesians 6:12). So, while I agree that it does not give us this idea of beings who rule nations, I would argue it is more for Daniels understanding of the spiritual battle going on.
Daniel 10 and its description of Michael fighting with the “Prince of Persia” for 21 days is perhaps one of the most puzzling and perplexing passages in the Old Testament, as it seems to assume that spiritual beings rule over earthly nations. This idea finds its basis in Genesis 10 where it lists 70 nations, leading to the concept that 70 angels were in charge of these nations (Long, 91). This finds its Biblical roots in passages such as Deuteronomy 32:8, which in the Dead Sea Scrolls reads the ‘sons of God’ and in the LXX reads “ἀγγέλων θεοῦ”.
I would argue that this Divine Council theology is Biblical, as it is also seen in passages such as Ps 82:1; 8-9, with Ps 89:6 serving as a proof text that this divine council meets in heaven and thus cannot allow a human interpretation. Other passages such as Job 1:8, 1 Kg 22:19-23, and obviously Dan 7:9-11 also display Divine council and courtroom language. I find it interesting you claim that the Divine Council theology was a intertestamental tradition that developed, not finding any other Biblical precedent. I see the opposite is usually claimed, that the concept of a divine council is quite ancient, similar to the motif of Yahweh as a divine warrior, and was left behind during the exilic period leading into the intertestamental period. Perhaps I am just misinformed about the nature of the debate, either way, I would simply argue that Job 1 and 1 Kings 19 display earlier attestation of such a tradition that clearly pre-dates the Second Temple Period. Psalms 82 may also qualify as a pre-exilic text, although some scholarship may say otherwise, I would have to consult some commentaries. Other cultures such as Ugarit clearly display early notions of a Divine council and assembly of gods, with other Ancient Near Eastern cultures taking similar approaches, I find no reason why Ancient Israel could not do the same.
It seems like there is some sort of emphasis on this being a intertestamental development so that one can deny its reality, which considering its presence in Daniel would potentially counter such a claim. As unpreferable as this notion seems, one should not fear the supernatural worldview of the Old Testament, although one must always consult what scholarship says about the topic in order to avoid simply psychoanalyzing why another perspective holds their views. I don’t think someone should fear that the world today is controlled specifically by spiritual powers in the same way understood during the Old Testament and Intertestamental period, although spiritual powers obviously influence today’s world. I think Christ’s death and resurrection reclaimed the nations of the world from these rebellious sons of God, as is similarly described in Timothy Gombis’s book The Drama of Ephesians. At the very least, Paul sees Christ’s death and resurrection as the beginning of his cosmic conquest and inauguration of His kingdom, signaling the defeat of these powers and principalities, with their final defeat coming in the eschatological second coming. This defeat of these rebellious spiritual beings signals their loss of control over the nations and the newly shaping victory of Jesus Christ.
In Daniel 10, we learn about an angel that he says was sent by God when Daniel started to pray. This apparent angel is the prince of Persia who is a person who is against Christianity. Many interpreters say that this man is some kind of national angel and is in charge of leading Persia. For whatever reason, the prince of Persia was not a fan of God and tried to separate God and Daniel. I think these powerful rulers such as the prince of Persia were scared of Daniel and God because of the amazing things they were able to accomplish. I almost feel a sense of jealousy here too because these rulers were scared by God because of the chance He would overthrow their rule. Quite frankly, I would be scared of God as well but instead of sabotaging him, I would join Daniel on his mission to get people to worship God. I am still asking myself the question of why the prince of Persia was scared of God and Daniel. Him posing as an angel sent by God takes courage but the wrong kind of courage, the prince of Persia in my opinion was a foolish man for the actions he took.
The passage from 3rd Enoch reminds me that the name Satan means accuser in Hebrew. I wonder if the author(s) of Enoch were referring to that principle, but applying it to the idea of regional spirits. Perhaps they believed that all spiritual beings who were not angelic (but not necessarily demonic, either) were what would amount to prosecutors, and Satan was one of these prosecutors who became corrupt with ambition. It reeks of Jewish Gnosticism, though. I’ve always felt that Jewish Gnosticism was just vague enough to be possible, but not important enough to matter even if it were true. Even if there are regional accusers, it should have no bearing on the Christian life. All we’re supposed to do is preach the Gospel and glorify God. For the Christian, the hidden spiritual world is meant to stay hidden.
Regional spirits is possible in 3 Enoch; the issue is that in the Second Temple Period, Jewish thinking about God made him more and more transcendent, separate from this world. God therefore must use intermediaries to be active in our world. The led to an increased interest in angles and demons. The develop a whole spiritual realm from a few hints int he Hebrew Bible! This continues into Jewish mysticism in the Middle Ages. You can check that out in this book: https://readingacts.com/2020/05/04/book-review-marvin-sweeney-jewish-mysticism-from-ancient-times-through-today/
The debate between whether the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece are spiritual beings or a reference to human leaders is interesting, and one that may never have a concrete answer during this life. I believe that this passage is talking about spiritual beings. The fact that the prince of Persia was able to hinder the angel for 21 days seems to lend credibility to him being a spiritual being (Dan. 10:13). The description of a heavenly being, or perhaps God, that we are given also causes one to question if any human being could hinder any spiritual being in any way, or would we all just collapse terrified (Dan 10:3-7). With all of the references to spiritual beings in the passage, I do not see any reason why the passage would stop talking about spiritual beings to talk about two human kings. There are implications from this passage, but it is nothing groundbreaking unless you stretch it. Longman III (2020) remarks “There is a battle among spiritual beings going on behind the scenes of the conflict between God’s faithful people and those who seek to oppress them” (p. 120). This statement is the best application to gain surrounding the discussion of spiritual activity in this passage. Some individuals or groups will try to glean more from this passage and develop strange ideas on how we are supposed to interact with spiritual activity. This should not be the conclusion we draw from this passage. We should respond by acknowledging there is spiritual warfare going on and leave it at that. We are not called to fight spiritual battles. Rather, we are called to pray and share the gospel with others.
We obviously do not know who the Prince of Persia really is right? I always find it curious how we love to debate and discuss these things in the Bible that seemingly do not have true answers. Whenever it was talked about the prince of Persia in this context, I was shocked and surprised to see the supposed amount of power that he held over others and how he was able to hinder a plan made by God. Is this truly someone who can affect God’s plan? Of course not, but this idea of a powerful enemy of the Lord is very intriguing. With many different crazy views on the Anti-Christ and so many radical ideas around, I wonder how many there are about this Prince of Persia Character.I love reading through these and also looking into other ideas within the Bible of these powerful creatures and those either with or close to God (such as the divine council within Genesis). Then we come to this idea of it not being a divine person in nature but simply a powerful political figure and again I point to how crazy some of those theories can be. How would you answer radical thoughts towards who the Prince of Persia is in this context?
I personally believe that the Prince of Persia was an angel, because of multiple reasons. The first reason consists of the idea that angels are more powerful than humans, and are superior creatures which is plainly stated in 2 Peter 2:11 and also displayed in Psalms 8, and Hebrews 1:4 which shows how humanity is lower than the angels, and Jesus’ resurrection made Him higher than the angels in His humanity. There are various other verses that discuss this concept as well, but I won’t reference them all. Why might this matter and how does this connect to the point about the prince of Persia being an angel? Well, how could the messenger angel be hindered or stopped by a mere human? It only would make sense if he was hindered by another angelic being like himself. Also, angels have been a major part of God’s plan throughout the Bible, they are mentioned frequently. The New Testament even mentions that Satan is the ruler and prince of the air which is important to take notice of in Ephesians 2:2 and John 12:31; Ephesians 6:12-16 talks about resisting the flaming arrows of the evil one with the armor of God and the powers and authorities in the spiritual world. There are plenty of Scripture references that talk about there being a spiritual war going on. Though some Christians can effortlessly get carried away with this idea, it doesn’t mean we should disregard this concept entirely due to fear that we might become like one of them. The book of Job covers the divine council and how the angels are watching the human race to see if they will glorify God or not. I Prince of Persia was hindering the messenger of God because he wanted to stop God’s plan that would result in glorification.
The debate of the identity of the “prince of Persia” is a mystery that has been going on for a long time. It is one of the things that the Bible doesn’t elaborate on but it is a fun topic to talk about. As mentioned in the article and in class, one option is that it is talking about an angel who was in charge of Persia. The idea that some angels being in charge of areas seems to come that concept of large pantheons of pagan religions. In the book of 3 Enoch, we are given a name for the “prince of Persia” Samma’el, who was said to meet with Satan every day to tell of the sins of Israel. One thing to remember is that this idea only came up during the second temple period. The next idea is the thing was referring to actual humans. The articles mentioned the idea that the prince of Persia, being Cyrus the Great or Cambyses. But as mentioned is class, this causes a problem because as it is stated in the article the prince was responsible for hindering the Messenger of God. So, this is makes it hard to imagine that an angel of God would hindered by a simple human. But the last to thing to keep in mind is that it isn’t clearly stated in the Bible and therefore not really a pressing matter to know or be concerned about, so just as the article ends, all we needed to know is that there was a enity that wanted to prevent the interpetation of Daniel’s visions from reaching him.
In Daniel 10 after Daniel prays, he is sent an angel by God to help explain and answer questions about Israel’s future. After his three week fast, Daniel is tired and ready for clarification. However, there was a delay from the angel. When the angel (probably Gabriel) gets to Daniel, he apologizes for the wait and says that he was stopped by the “Prince of Persia.” This is really confusing, as how would an angel be stopped by a human prince? After reading the different interpretations of the Prince of Persia (spiritual being or human political ruler), I would say that I believe the Prince of Persia is a spiritual being. It is interesting to think of spiritual beings as rulers over areas, even more so than kings, but it makes sense. We are told that there is a spiritual battle going around us all the time. For instance, Ephesians 6: 12 says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” With this in mind, we can infer that the “Prince of Persia” is a spiritual being. He may have also been hostile to God and His mission, stopping Gabriel from helping Daniel until defeated. There is not much clarification, so maybe we are just meant to wonder about this one.
This blog post left me thinking about a few things. First of all, I am amazed at just how important it is to have background information to understand complex passages like this – even just the bit of context given in this blog post helped me understand just how much historical background helps! Second, I’m reminded that there are many things in scripture that we won’t know with total certainty; this may be a good example of such a thing. I like how this blog post ended – by emphasizing what we do know about the identity of the prince of Persia. I like the strategy of emphasizing what can be known despite the many unknown variables. I think that not knowing everything leaves more room for faith in and wonder of God. We will never understand everything, and while we should strive to learn about God increasingly, it’s important to remember we cannot exhaust God or his Word.
Finally, this post reminded me of Ephesians 6:12, which says that our struggle isn’t against the flesh and blood realities of our world, but against the realities and spiritual forces in the heavenly realms. The book of Daniel as a whole has reminded me that much of what we see physically is a manifestation of spiritual realities. For example, empires rising and falling aren’t just events isolated from spiritual realities – honestly, I don’t think that the spiritual and the physical can be completely removed from each other. P Long has said in class that many things we diagnose today as mental illnesses would have been seen as spiritual/demonic activity in ancient times. I think that the reality is hard to pinpoint because the spiritual and the physical are so hard to separate.
There was definitely some spiritual aspects to the Prince of Persia encounter, but some of what is proposed, like in Enoch, does not make a lot of sense. It does seem like the resistance that delayed the angel in Daniel 10:20 was delayed by another spiritual force. If it had been a physical Prince of Persia, there would be no reason for delay. The only thing I can think of to delay a spirit is a spirit. Humans fight in the spiritual because they are spiritual beings. Either way, it would be the spiritual warfare of a person, not the person themselves. It would also not be necessary for another spirit to intervene. If that prince was so powerful, would not the angel return to where it came to warn someone? Why would it leave the other angel? What does not make sense is what is mentioned in the book of Enoch with princes writing out the sins of man to turn in to the seraphim. (I assume they would relay this to God in this instance as angels are not the ones who benefit from the knowledge. Sin is separation from God not angels.) God is omniscient. Let us say it was that way, it certainly would not be now. 1 Timothy 2:5 states plainly that there is no other mediator between God and man besides Jesus Christ. There is no need for this spiritual hierarchy to report sins to “the big man upstairs.”
The concept of a territorial spiritual being makes sense to me. All through scripture we see the natural order of power is to delegate certain people in charge of specific territories. For example, In exodus Jethro encourages Moses to put upstanding men “over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.” (Ex 18:21) A similar hierarchical structure of power is delegated in Nehemiah as some chapters of Nehemiah are literally just a list of when everyone was given to work on. So given the fact that there is a spiritual reality of which cannot be seen, this structure of power and hierarchy in certain territories lines up with the usual leadership structure we see in God’s people and image bearers as well. This ordered structure shows God’s nature as a God of order rather than a God of chaos.
I apricate this article as it healthily addresses the issues proposed by multiple religious parties as to what this Prince of Persia, or Prince of Greece might be. Consider this simply speculation, but I think there’s a reasonable point to be made here. Good systematic theological practices typically take multiple passages, as the Bible is often redundant on certain principles within scripture, to build a solid set of doctrines around. I feel this talk that surrounds, who is the prince of Persia is slightly folly. I will not discard all the talk about it, as it is intriguing to consider but helps to prove my point I am attempting to make.
There are certain things within scripture that have simply not been revealed to us to understand and that is fine. I don’t say this as if I so fear these potential angelic beings, or disregard them as unimportant, but some things are simply unexplainable, and I am content with that. In rebuttal to my own argument, I have to consider these thoughts.
While I am by no means a scholar in angelology, nor have a decent understanding of the topic, I do know that demons, whoever they may be, are active within the world in some way. Could it be that this “prince of Persia,” or “prince of Greece,” are simply demons? We know that the Old Testament contains a plethora of passages and terms in a euphemism format. Could this simply be a euphemism for a specific demon? One that carries more power like the size and might of the empire of Persia, or Greece?
Or could this be a small window into how Yahweh is provident or sovereign throughout the world? Think of Daniel 2:21, “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;” (ESV, 2025) Yahweh clearly has the ability to do so. Does he use angelic beings to go about controlling how certain things happen in the world?
Again, this is all speculation, but I rest solidly in the fact that Yahweh, my creator, is perfectly sovereign over all things. He is the source of all morality, humanity, and perfection. For:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.”
This is the LORD’s declaration.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9, (CSB, 2020)
This blog helped me think more about who the prince of Persia might be in Daniel 10. I like the fact that it does not force one answer but shows both the spiritual and political possibilities. Whether the prince is an angelic or human ruler, the main point seems to be that Gods message faced real resistance. That stood out for me the most.
What I really connected with was the idea of delay. Daniel prayed and God responded right away but the answer took time to reach him. I can relate to that. There has been times in my life where I prayed and waited but things moved slow. It felt like nothing was happening even though things could have been happening behind the scenes.