Chapter Ten

1. A vision of Daniel in the third year of Cyrus’s reign. 2–3. The state of the prophet before the vision. 4–10. The time of the vision, its setting, and the state of the prophet and his companions at that time. 11–21. The content of the revelation.

Daniel 10:1. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel, who was called by the name Belshazzar; and the revelation was true and of great magnitude. He understood the revelation and perceived the vision. By its character the revelation was perfect truth; it was a communication of what would certainly be fulfilled and come to pass. By its subject it was a revelation of great tribulation (“magnitude”).

Daniel 10:2. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks of days. Daniel 10:3. I did not eat pleasant bread; meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with balm until the end of three weeks of days. The occasion for the revelation was the profound sorrow of the prophet, expressed in fasting. He refrained from meat, wine, and pleasant bread, which were considered festive food among the Jews (Gen 27:25; Isa 22:13), and did not anoint himself with fragrant oil, which was a sign of joy (Eccl 9:8; Isa 61:3; Amos 6:6). Thus the prophet kept three weeks of the first month (Dan 10:4), that is, of Nisan, and thus also the days of the Passover celebration. The reasons for such sorrow, as one may infer, were as follows. Judging from (Dan 10:12), the prophet Daniel even in the third year of Cyrus’s reign did not abandon his thoughts and concerns for his people, those thoughts which had begun with the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede (Dan 9:1 and following). Disheartening and without consolation, since the contemporary state of the Jews was sorrowful and the future promised nothing good, they plunged the prophet into grief. And indeed, although two whole years had passed after the return of the Jews to their homeland, those who returned found no happiness there. After restoring the altar (Ezra 3:1-2), they undertook the building of the temple. But already at its laying the joyful shouts of the people were mixed with the weeping of the elders, who had seen the former temple in its glory (Ezra 3:12-13), and a little later the joy was entirely to disappear. The intrigues of the Samaritans began, with all their effort arming the Persian government against the Jews and stopping the construction of the temple (Ezra 4:1-5). Their aim was achieved, whereby two years after their liberation the Jews could not celebrate the Passover feast in proper form. It is not surprising, therefore, if the prophet Daniel himself shared in those days the grief of his countrymen.

Daniel 10:5. And I lifted up my eyes and behold, one man clothed in linen, and his loins girded with gold of Uphaz. Daniel 10:6. His body was like topaz, his face like the appearance of lightning; his eyes like burning lamps, his hands and feet like polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. The appearance of the man who appeared to Daniel resembles the appearance of the Son of Man (Rev 1:13-15), which is why some consider him a divine being. But as is evident from (Dan 10:11), he who appeared was one of the ministering spirits, and all his speech (Dan 10:11-12) resembles, or more precisely, reproduces the words of the Archangel Gabriel (Dan 9:21-22), on which account it is possible to identify the man of the present vision with the latter.

Daniel 10:7. And I alone, Daniel, saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great fear fell upon them and they fled to hide themselves. The prophet’s companions did not see the vision itself, but they heard, probably, the extraordinary voice of him who appeared (Dan 10:6), and, feeling the nearness of a heavenly messenger, fled in terror.

Daniel 10:8. And I remained alone and looked upon this great vision; there was no strength left in me, and my appearance was greatly changed, I had no vigor. Daniel 10:9. And I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a stupor on my face and lay face to the ground. Daniel 10:10. And behold, a hand touched me and set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. The prophet felt himself inwardly as though completely stricken. From the state of stupor his rising hand lifted him; but even after this he was in a state to barely raise himself upon his knees, remain in a half-standing position, supporting himself against the ground by his hands and knees.

Daniel 10:12. But 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 God, your words have been heard, and I have come on account of your words. Daniel 10:13. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but behold, Michael, one of the first princes, came to help me, and I remained there beside the kings of Persia. Even in the first year of Darius the Mede the angel was bringing before God the fervent prayer of the prophet Daniel for the liberation of the Jews from captivity (Dan 9:4-19); now, in the 3rd year of Cyrus, the same angel was laying before God’s throne the fervent prayer of the prophet about what was crushing him—about the improvement of the wretched condition of the exiles. On his own account Michael, “the prince of the Jews,” was making intercession for the same thing. And this united intercession was heard by God from the very first day. But the fulfillment of the requests of the angel and Prince Michael is resisted by “the prince of the kingdom of Persia,” acting in favor of his own people. “The prince of the kingdom of Persia,” the guardian of Medo-Persian interests, resists God’s fulfillment of Daniel’s prayer because with the fulfillment of the promise of salvation for the Jews and the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth is closely linked the diminishment and destruction of the power of God-hostile nations (Zech 1:11-12). From this side the resistance of the spirit, the guardian of the Medo-Persian kingdom, is analogous to the slander of Satan against the high priest Jesus (Zech 3:1-3). The balance in the spiritual struggle between the representatives of the heavenly host did not incline to either side; and the prayer of the prophet could not be granted; even now the angel departs to struggle with the prince of Persia (Dan 10:20). The speech of the angel, explaining the cause of the opposition which the Jews encountered from the Persian government in building the temple, also brings comfort to the prophet Daniel, inasmuch as it reveals that for the good of the Jews he, the Archangel Michael, is fighting.

Daniel 10:14. But now I have come to make known to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision is for days yet to come. Daniel 10:20. Having no means, however, to fulfill Daniel’s prayer: the struggle with the prince of the kingdom of Persia is not over and in the future its continuation lies ahead (Dan.10:20), the angel promises to reveal to the prophet the fate of his people in distant times. As far as one may infer from (Dan 10:20), by them is meant the period of Greco-Macedonian rule (“the prince of Greece will come”). To the exposition of the history of the latter in its relations to the people chosen by God the revelation of chapter 11 is devoted.