Daniel 7:28 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 7:28
Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
to alter · verb, pual imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
me
עֲלַ֔י'a.Lai
H5922
above · preposition + pronominal suffix
kept
נִטְרֵֽתnit.Ret
H5202
to retain · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
matter
וּמִלְּתָ֖אu.mi.le.Ta'
H4406
a word · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular determined + particle of affirmation
heart
בְּלִבִּ֥יbe.li.Bi
H3821
the heart · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix
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
Luke 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
Daniel 4:19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar,…
Daniel 7:15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.
Genesis 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed?…
Daniel 5:6 Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one…
Daniel 8:17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at…
Daniel 8:19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 7:15–end
Here we have, I. The deep impressions which these visions made upon the prophet. God in them put honour upon him, and gave him satisfaction, yet not without a great allay of pain and perplexity (Dan 7:15): I Daniel was grieved in my spirit, in the midst of my body. The word here used for the body properly signifies a sheath or scabbard, for the body is no more to the soul; that is the weapon; it is that which we are principally to take care of. The visions of my head troubled me, and again (Dan 7:28), my cogitations much troubled me. The manner in which these things were discovered to him quite overwhelmed him, and put his thoughts so much to the stretch that his spirits failed him, and the…
cogitations . . . troubled me--showing that the Holy Spirit intended much more to be understood by Daniel's words than Daniel himself understood. We are not to limit the significance of prophecies to what the prophets themselves understood (Pe1 1:11-12).
With this chapter the Hebrew part of the book begins and continues to be the language of the remainder; the visions relating wholly to the Jews and Jerusalem. The scene here narrows from world-wide prophecies to those affecting the one covenant-people in the five centuries between the exile and the advent. Antichrist, like Christ, has a more immediate future, as well as one more remote. The vision, the eighth chapter, begins, and that, the…
The end of the matter - So said the expounding angel; and he said so because the purpose of God had determined it. In considering these things, and looking at the evils that shall come upon the world before those auspicious times can take place, I may say with Daniel, My cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I keep the matter of my conjectures and consequent feelings in my own heart.
John Gill on Daniel 7:28
The Church Fathers
Daniel adds, "Here the account ends," that is, the interpretation of the vision. "As for me, my thoughts greatly terrified me, and my face turned pale," because of the sad news of the afflictions, which the little horn will impose on my people and priests. "But I kept the matter in my mind," so that I might not sadden my listeners with such a bad omen.
Verse 28. "Thus far is the end of the word." That is, "the end of that word and discourse which the Lord revealed to me in this present vision." "...I, Daniel, was much troubled with my thoughts, and my countenance was altered within me; but I preserved the word in my heart." Up to this point the Book of Daniel was written in the Chaldee and Syriac language. All the rest that follows up to the very end of the volume we read in Hebrew.
As the prophet says, "This is the end of the account. I, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubling me, and my form was changed and I kept the matter in my heart." [Daniel 7:27-28] And so it is necessary for every man who reads the godly writings to imitate the prophet Daniel and not to be rash and heedless, seeking a time before the due time and desiring to see the fruit of the fig, but to hold with fear the mystery of God in his heart, so that he himself may not, having ensnared himself with his own lips, his own soul become liable. For the time shall come when the almond shall blossom and the caper-berry shall grow rough and the grasshopper shall multiply, the fig shall sprout and the fruit of apostasy shall prosper. Then the door of life shall be shut and the water pots from the spring shall be shattered and the wheel shall run afoul in the pit and the crowd shall be idle because they mourn and all shall arise at the sound of a sparrow and all the daughters of song shall be troubled and the mourners shall be gathered in the market and man shall depart to his eternal home. [Ecclesiastes 12:3-6]
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Cogitations — (or “thoughts,” as the Chaldee word in Dan. 7:28 literally means), earnest meditation.
Daniel, Book of — Is ranked by the Jews in that division of their Bible called the Hagiographa (Heb. Khethubim). (See BIBLE.) It consists of two distinct parts. The first part, consisting of the first six chapters, is…
Dreams · Mentioned in scripture of: Daniel — Mentioned in scripture of: Daniel
Prophets · Sometimes received divine communications and uttered predictions under great bodily and mental excitement — Sometimes received divine communications and uttered predictions under great bodily and mental excitement
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Hitherto is the end of the matter,.... Of the angel's words, and of the interpretation of those things Daniel was desirous of being informed about, and of the whole dream and vision Daniel had; and indeed this is the end and issue of all events in Providence, the kingdom and glory of Christ with his people:
as for me Daniel: with respect to his frame of mind, and the state of his body, when he awaked from this dream, and reflected upon it, and especially upon that part of it which affected the people of God:
my cogitations much troubled me; when he thought of these powerful monarchies, their strength and cruelty, and what the people of God would suffer under them, and especially under the…
Daniel 7:28
28. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
28. Hucusque finis sermonis, [36] mihi Danieli, [37] multum cogitationes meae terruerunt me, et vilgus meus mutatus est super me, vel, in me, et sermonem servavi, [38] in corde meo.
In this verse Daniel first says the vision was concluded, and thus the faithful might rest satisfied in looking for nothing beyond it. For we know how restless are the fancies of mankind, and how insane a disease is a vain curiosity. God is aware of what is useful for our information, and so he adopts his method of teaching to our capacity an…
The interpretation of the vision. - Dan 7:14 concludes the account of the contents of the vision, but not the vision itself. That continues to the end of the chapter. Dan 7:15. The things which Daniel saw made a deep impression on his mind. His spirit was troubled within him; the sight filled him with terror. It was not the mystery of the images, nor the fact that all was not clear before his sight, that troubled and disquieted him; for Dan 7:28 shows that the disquietude did not subside when an angel explained the images he had seen. It was the things themselves as they passed in vision before him - the momentous events, the calamities which the people of God would have to endure till the t…
When this arrogant king has been destroyed, God’s kingdom will be established forever over all the kingdoms under heaven (cp. Ps 2; Isa 9:6-7). The holy people of the Most High are officers of God’s kingdom (cp. Luke 22:29-30; 1 Cor 6:2-3; Rev 3:21; 20:4).
Rashi on Daniel 7:28
until here [as translated,] until here.
my thoughts terrified me greatly My thoughts were terrifying me greatly.
and my colors changed The appearance of my good looks and my features changed.
I kept...in my heart I hid in my heart.
