Daniel 10

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Daniel's vision by the Tigris

¹ In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. And the word was true, and it concerned a great conflict; and he understood the word and had understanding of the vision.

² In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. ³ I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, and I did not anoint myself at all, until the three full weeks were completed.

⁴ On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was on the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, ⁵ I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there was a man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with fine gold of Uphaz. ⁶ His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and his feet like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. ⁷ And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell on them, and they fled to hide themselves. ⁸ So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me; my splendor was changed to ruin within me, and I retained no strength. ⁹ Then I heard the sound of his words; and when I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

The messenger strengthens Daniel

¹⁰ And then a hand touched me and set me trembling on my knees and on the palms of my hands. ¹¹ And he said to me, "Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. ¹² Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your Elohim, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. ¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and see, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the last days, for the vision is yet for days to come."

¹⁵ When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was speechless. ¹⁶ And then one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke, and said to him who stood before me, "O my lord, because of the vision pangs have come upon me, and I retain no strength. ¹⁷ How can the servant of this my lord speak with this my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, and no breath is left in me." ¹⁸ Then one with the appearance of a man touched me again and strengthened me. ¹⁹ And he said, "Do not fear, O man greatly beloved; peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong." And when he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."

²⁰ Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? And now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, see, the prince of Greece will come. ²¹ But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. And there is no one who stands firmly with me against these, except Michael, your prince.

Notes

• 10:1 The third year of Cyrus is about 536 BC, counting from his conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, and this is the last dated vision in the book. Daniel, taken to Babylon as a youth (1:1-6), was now an old man; 1:21 says that he remained until the first year of King Cyrus, probably meaning that he lived on into Cyrus's reign. "A great conflict" is tsava gadol, literally "a great host" or "great warfare," the hard struggle that chapters 10-12 unfold; these three chapters form one vision: the setting (chapter 10), the revelation (11:1-12:4) and the closing words (12:5-13).
• 10:4 Daniel's three weeks of mourning, without rich food, ended about the twenty-fourth day of the first month (Nisan, the month of Aviv, Exodus 12:2), so they most likely took in Passover on the fourteenth and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:5-6). "Humble yourself" in verse 12 (hit'annot) is the language of fasting, as in "you shall afflict your souls" on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29). The Tigris here is the Hiddekel, one of the four rivers of Eden (Genesis 2:14).
• 10:5 The man "clothed in linen" (lavush baddim) is dressed like a priest on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:4) and like the heavenly scribe of Ezekiel 9:2. His appearance in verse 6 echoes what Ezekiel saw (Ezekiel 1:7, 13, 16) and is close to John's vision of the risen Yeshua (Revelation 1:13-15). Who he is is debated: many identify him with Gabriel (8:16; 9:21), others with a higher heavenly messenger, and some Christian readers with an appearance of the Messiah before His birth; that he needs Michael's help (verse 13) leads many to see an angel.
• 10:13 "The prince of the kingdom of Persia" is a heavenly power standing behind the Persian empire, since no man could hold back this messenger for three weeks; "the prince of Greece" (verse 20) is another. The thought that the nations have heavenly rulers also appears in the reading of Deuteronomy 32:8 found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Greek version (see the note there), and Paul writes of spiritual rulers and authorities (Ephesians 6:12). Michael, whose name means "Who is like El?", is "one of the chief princes"; Jude 1:9 calls him the archangel, and in Revelation 12:7 he and his angels fight the dragon.
• 10:21 In "Michael, your prince" the word "your" is plural: Michael is the prince of Daniel's people, and 12:1 calls him "the great prince who stands over the children of your people." "The book of truth" is the record of what Elohim has determined, which the messenger now opens in part (11:2), like the books opened in the judgment of 7:10. "Greece" is Yavan in Hebrew (Javan, a son of Japheth, Genesis 10:2), the name used for the Greeks.

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