Daniel 10:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 10:7
And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
vision
הַמַּרְאָ֔הha.mar.'Ah
H4759
a vision · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
men
וְהָאֲנָשִׁים֙ve.ha.'a.na.Shim
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
saw
רָא֖וּra.'U
H7200
to see · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
vision
הַמַּרְאָ֑הha.mar.'Ah
H4759
a vision · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
but
אֲבָ֗ל'a.Val
H61
nay · interjection
great
גְדֹלָה֙ge.do.Lah
H1419
great (in any sense) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
quaking
חֲרָדָ֤הcha.ra.Dah
H2731
fear · noun, common feminine singular absolute
fell
נָפְלָ֣הna.fe.Lah
H5307
to fall · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
fled
וַֽיִּבְרְח֖וּvai.yiv.re.Chu
H1272
to bolt · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
hide
בְּהֵחָבֵֽאbe.he.cha.Ve'
H2244
to secrete · preposition + verb, niphal infinitive construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Acts 22:9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
Genesis 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Isaiah 2:10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
Hebrews 12:21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
Ezekiel 12:18 Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness;
2 Kings 6:17-20 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: a…
Jeremiah 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 10:1-9
This vision is dated in the third year of Cyrus, that is, of his reign after the conquest of Babylon, his third year since Daniel became acquainted with him and a subject to him. Here is,
I. A general idea of this prophecy (Dan 10:1): The thing was true; every word of God is so; it was true that Daniel had such a vision, and that such and such things were said. This he solemnly attests upon the word of a prophet. Et hoc paratus est verificare - He was prepared to verify it; and, if it was a word spoken from heaven, no doubt it is stedfast and may be depended upon. But the time appointed was long, as long as to the end of the reign of Antiochus, which was 300 years, a long time indeed when it…
they fled--terrified by the presence of the presence of the angel.
Adam Clarke on Daniel 10:7
The men that were with me saw not the vision - An exactly parallel case with what occurred at the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, Act 9:7. There was a Divine influence which they all felt, but only Daniel saw the corporeal appearance.
John Gill on Daniel 10:7
And I Daniel alone saw the vision,.... The object or person described; though he was not alone when he saw it, yet he alone saw it; the eyes of his body and mind being quicker than the rest, the Lord strengthening and enlightening both; for this was a peculiar and distinguishing favour granted to him:
for the men that were with me saw not the vision; at least not so clearly and distinctly as Daniel did; they might have some confused sight of an object that appeared very terrible; but, being struck with consternation, they had not presence of mind to look at it; and so could neither form nor retain scarce any idea of it: or their eyes might be held, and their sight clouded; or be stricken wi…
Verse 7. "And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me saw it not; but an exceeding great terror fell upon them, and they fled away and hid themselves." The Apostle Paul had a similar experience in the Book of Acts, in that while the others could see nothing, he alone beheld the vision (Acts 22:6-9).
"And, I, Daniel alone saw the vision." [Daniel 10:7] For to the saints and to those who fear him, to these only he reveals himself. For if one now expects this also to be conducted in the church, he has not the fear of God, and the assembly of the saints helps him in nothing, having not acquired the power of the Spirit in himself. For also at that time, there were many who were standing with Daniel, but they did not see the vision for they were not worthy, but great astonishment fell upon them and they fled in fear. [Daniel 10:7]
But perhaps someone would say, "Why then did they flee, if they did not see the vision?" Most likely this fact is what filled them all the more with dread, for since they saw no one and yet heard a great voice, they likely all ran away in fright. Then he calls their astonishment not only cowardice but also the inability to see. These events resemble the things that happened to Paul on the road near Damascus. There he too saw a light that flashed around him. His companions saw nothing but only heard a voice. And then his companions likewise fled from the divine prophet when they heard only the voice, while he remained there alone.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Daniel 10:7
Daniel 10:7
7. And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
7. Et vidi ego Daniel solus visionem, et viri qui erant mecum, non viderunt visionem, imo [131] terror magnus irruit super eos, et fugerunt in latebras. [132]
He pursues his own narrative in which he appears prolix, but not without design. This prophecy required all kinds of sanction for the purpose of inspiring unhesitating confidence in it, not only with those Jews of that generation, but with all posterity. Although the predictions of the eleventh chapter have been fulfilled, yet their utility is manifest to us as…
According to this verse, the form described in Dan 10:5 and Dan 10:6 was visible to Daniel alone. His companions saw not the appearance, but they were so alarmed by the invisible nearness of the heavenly being that they fled and hid themselves. What is here said resembles Act 9:3., where Christ, after His exaltation, appeared to Paul and spoke to him - Paul's companions hearing only the voice, but seeing no one. In order to account for the flight of Daniel's companions, it is not necessary to suppose the existence of thunder and lightning, of which the text makes no mention. The supposition also of Theodor. and Hitzig, that the men indeed saw not the angel, but that they heard his voice, is…
Daniel’s response was typical for humans in the presence of heavenly beings (cp. Josh 5:14; Isa 6:5; Acts 9:7-9; Rev 1:17).
Rashi on Daniel 10:7
but the men who were with me Our Sages of blessed memory said that they were Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
but a great quaking fell upon them Our Sages of blessed memory said that although a person does not see something of which he is terrified, his guardian angel, who is in heaven, does see it; therefore, he becomes terrified.
