From Persia to Greece (11:2-20):

Big Idea: Often working behind the scenes, God foresees and oversees the struggles of his people with hostile world forces.

Understanding the Text

See the unit on 10:1–11:1 for a discussion of the larger context, structure, and comparisons of chapters 10–12. Against this backdrop, 11:2–20 (the extended unit’s second section) divides into two parts: a summary of the transition from Persia to Greece (11:2–4) and a description of key events in the Ptolemaic and Seleucid wars (11:5–20). Because the unnamed persons in this passage are difficult to follow, an interpretive paraphrase appears in the “Additional Insights” following this unit.

Historical and Cultural Background

Akkadian apocalypses from the twelfth to third century BC reveal a literary relationship with t…