11:1
This verse follows on from the end of chapter 10 and refers to the year when the captives were given orders to return to Jerusalem. The decision was made by the earthly ruler, Darius or Cyrus (see earlier discussion), but angelic forces also played their part. What goes on in the spiritual and physical realms are linked. It is not all spiritual, and it is not all earthly. Both matter.
What follows is quite unique in the detail of the prophecies. This is quite unlike most of the material we find in the other prophets. It is also very different from Revelation. While Revelation and Daniel bear a number of important similarities, and are dealing with similar matters in part, Revelation does not give specific details in the way that Daniel does. This should be borne in mind when interpreting Revelation, and would indicate that trying to be too specific in Revelation is a mistake.
11:2
After Cyrus, the Medo-Persian kings were Cambyses (530-522 BC), Smerdis (522 BC), Darius I (521-486 BC) and Xerxes (known as Ahasuerus in Esther, 485-465 BC). Xerxes was the one who was far richer than the previous ones, and he waged war against Greece.
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