Daniel 10

Daniel, after three weeks of mourning and fasting, meets a dazzling heavenly messenger by the Tigris. The messenger reveals that Daniel’s prayer was heard at once, but that an unseen spiritual conflict delayed the answer. Daniel is strengthened and told he will learn what is written in the Book of Truth.

Daniel 10:1

This vision comes in the third year of Cyrus, after the first Jews had returned from exile. Daniel, now very old, is given a true message about a great conflict. God also gives him understanding of it, so it is not left a riddle.

BSA: conflict (“warfare, battle”): The word points to hard, long struggle, both on earth and in the unseen realm, as the chapter goes on to show. understanding (“discernment, insight”): God does not only show Daniel a vision but opens its meaning to him.

See also: Ezra 1:1.

Daniel 10:2-3

Daniel mourned for three full weeks. He gave up rich food, meat, wine and the usual oils for the body. It was a partial fast of grief and seeking. He was likely burdened for his people and the unfinished state of God’s work.

BSA: mourning (“to lament, in grief”): His fasting was not a ritual but a heartfelt sorrow over God’s people.

See also: Daniel 9:3.

Daniel 10:4

The date falls in the first month, the season of Passover and Unleavened Bread. Daniel stands beside the Tigris, one of the great rivers of Mesopotamia. In this ordinary riverside place, heaven is about to break in.

BSA: Tigris (“Hiddekel, a major river in Mesopotamia”): This is the older name used in the Hebrew text for the great eastern river.

Daniel 10:5-6

Daniel sees a man in linen with a gold belt, shining like gemstone, lightning and fire. The picture shows glory and holiness. Whether this is an angel or a greater heavenly figure, the sight is meant to overwhelm. Revelation 1:13-15 has a similar description.

BSA: beryl (“jasper, a precious gemstone”): His body gleamed like a jewel, showing radiant glory. flaming torches (“lamps of fire, blazing with fervor”): His eyes burn with piercing, searching intensity.

See also: Revelation 1:13-15; Ezekiel 1:26-28.

Daniel 10:7

Daniel’s companions saw nothing, yet fear seized them and they fled. A vision from God is given to those he chooses. The same happened to those with Paul on the Damascus road, who sensed something but did not see it as Paul did.

BSA: terror (“fear, trembling”): Even unseen, heaven’s nearness shakes the human heart.

See also: Acts 9:7.

Daniel 10:8-9

Alone, Daniel loses all strength. His face goes pale, and when he hears the voice he falls unconscious, face to the ground. A sinful human cannot stand easily before the holiness of God’s messenger. Daniel is not harmed. He is brought low so that he can be raised.

BSA: powerless (“without any ability to act”): Daniel is brought to the end of his own strength, ready to receive God’s.

See also: Isaiah 6:5.

Daniel 10:10

A hand touches Daniel and lifts him just enough to be on his hands and knees. He is still shaking. God’s help comes gently and in stages. He does not crush the weak but steadies him step by step.

BSA: trembling (“with fear, to move back and forth”): Daniel is swaying and shaking, too weak to rise at once.

Daniel 10:11

The messenger calls Daniel highly precious, a man deeply loved and treasured. Before giving any message, he gives assurance of Daniel’s worth to God. Then he tells him to stand and listen. Daniel does, still shaking.

BSA: highly precious (“a man greatly desired, cherished”): Daniel is valued in heaven, not just useful there.

See also: Daniel 9:23.

Daniel 10:12

Daniel is told not to fear. From the very first day he set his heart to understand and humble himself, God heard him. The answer was on its way from the start. Delay did not mean that God had ignored him.

BSA: humble (“to chasten, to afflict”): Daniel’s fasting was a lowering of himself before God. heard (“listened to, attended to”): God paid close attention to Daniel’s prayer and acted on it.

See also: Psalm 34:15; 1 John 5:14-15.

Daniel 10:13

The messenger was held up twenty-one days by the prince of Persia, a spiritual power behind that kingdom. Michael, a chief prince, came to help. The verse lifts the curtain on a conflict in unseen realms that affects what happens on earth. Christians see this with reverence and humility.

BSA: Michael (“who is like God, an archangel”): His very name is a question that exalts God above all rivals.

Hebrew: שַׂר (sar, H8269) — “prince, ruler, captain.” The word is used for human rulers and heavenly ones alike. Here it points to a powerful spiritual authority standing behind the Persian kingdom.

See also: Ephesians 6:12; Jude 1:9.

Daniel 10:14

The messenger has come to help Daniel understand what will happen to his people in the latter days. The vision reaches far beyond Daniel’s own time. It is given so that God’s people know that history is in his hands.

BSA: latter days (“last days, end of time, future”): The word looks to the coming age when God’s plan for his people reaches its goal.

See also: Daniel 2:28.

Daniel 10:15-16

Daniel bows low and cannot speak. Then one in human likeness touches his lips, and he can speak again. He calls the visitor my lord and confesses that the vision has left him in anguish and without strength. God’s touch gives the voice back.

BSA: anguish (“sorrow, deep distress”): The vision pierced Daniel with real pain, like the pains of labor. speechless (“dumb, mute, unable to say anything”): Awe left Daniel without words until God opened his mouth.

See also: Isaiah 6:6-7; Jeremiah 1:9.

Daniel 10:17

Daniel asks how a servant can speak with such a lord, since he has no strength and hardly any breath. He feels his smallness. Honest weakness before God is a good place to be, for help then comes from God and not from ourselves.

BSA: breath (“spirit, wind, or life-giving air”): Daniel feels that even the breath of life has almost left him.

Daniel 10:18-19

A third time the heavenly one touches Daniel and strengthens him. He again calls him greatly loved, and says Peace be with you, and be strong. Daniel finds strength as the messenger speaks. God’s words and touch work together to lift the weak.

BSA: Peace (“shalom, completeness and wellness”): The word means full well-being, not just the absence of fear. strengthened (“made strong, encouraged”): God’s word itself puts courage into Daniel.

Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם (shalom, H7965) — “peace, wholeness, well-being.” It speaks of a settled, complete welfare of body and soul, which is what Daniel needed after his terror.

See also: Isaiah 41:10; Philippians 4:13.

Daniel 10:20

The messenger asks if Daniel knows why he has come. He must soon return to fight the prince of Persia, and then the prince of Greece will come. Behind the rise and fall of empires lies a struggle in the spiritual realm. Greece looks ahead to what Daniel will be told in chapter 11.

BSA: fight (“engage in battle, struggle”): The word shows that this is real, ongoing warfare and not a mere figure of speech. Greece (“the land of the Greeks, Javan”): The name Javan is the Hebrew word, pointing to the next great power to rise.

See also: Daniel 8:21.

Daniel 10:21

Before he goes, the messenger will tell Daniel what is written in the Book of Truth. What is coming is already fixed and certain in God’s purpose. In the struggle, only Michael, Daniel’s own prince, stands with the messenger. God’s people are guarded by heaven.

BSA: inscribed (“recorded, written down”): The future is set down and fixed in God’s own record. Book of Truth (“faithfulness, stability”): The book is utterly dependable, for it comes from the God who does not change.

See also: Daniel 12:1; Psalm 139:16.