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Daniel 10:4
Verse
Context
Daniel’s Vision by the Tigris
3I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.4On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,5I lifted up my eyes, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.
Summary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
By the side of - Hiddekel - The same as the Tigris. the great river of Assyria; as the Euphrates of Syria, and the Nile of Egypt.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
The Theophany. - On the day named Daniel found himself on the side (banks) of the river Hiddekel, i.e., the Tigris (see under Gen 2:14), along with some who accompanied him (Dan 10:7); thus he was there in reality, and not merely in vision as at the Ulai, Dan 8:2. For what purpose he was there is not said. Here he saw a celestial being, whose form is described, Dan 10:5, Dan 10:6. It was a man (אחד, one, not several) clothed in בּדּים, i.e., in a talar of shining white linen (regarding בּדּים, see under Eze 9:2), and his loins girt about with gold of Uphaz. אוּפז occurs nowhere else, except in Jer 10:9 : gold of Uphaz and silver of Tarshish, from which we must conclude that Uphaz is the name of a region, a country, probably only a dialectically different form for אופיר; the combination with the Sanscr. vipa - Hyphasis is, on the other hand, very far-fetched.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
first month--Nisan, the month most suited for considering Israel's calamity, being that in which the feast of unleavened bread reminded them of their Egyptian bondage. Daniel mourned not merely for the seven days appointed (Exo 12:18), from the evening of the fourteenth to the twenty-first of Nisan, but thrice seven days, to mark extraordinary sorrow. His mourning ended on the twenty-first day, the closing day of the passover feast; but the vision is not till the twenty-fourth, because of the opposition of "the prince of Persia" (Dan 10:13). I was by . . . the . . . river--in waking reality, not a trance (Dan 10:7); when younger, he saw the future in images, but now when old, he receives revelations from angels in common language, that is, in the apocalyptic mode. In the patriarchal period God often appeared visibly, that is, theophany. In the prophets, next in the succession, the inward character of revelation is prominent. The consummation is when the seer looks up from earth into the unseen world, and has the future shown to him by angels, that is, apocalypse. So in the New Testament there is a parallel progression: God in the flesh, the spiritual activity of the apostles and the apocalypse [AUBERLEN]. Hiddekel--the Tigris.
John Gill Bible Commentary
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month,.... Of the third year of Cyrus, as Jacchiades; or rather of the Jewish year, the month Ab or Nisan, which answers to part of March and April; so that Daniel's fast began on the third day of the month, and lasted to the twenty fourth, in which time was the Jewish passover; and by this it seems it was not now kept; and perhaps in those times was not used to be observed by the Jews in a foreign land: as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; the same with the Tigris, called by both names from the swiftness and rapidity of its motion, "hiddekel" signifying both sharp and swift; and tigris, in the Persian language, a dart; see Gen 2:14. This is the same river the Targum of Jonathan on Gen 2:14 calls Diglath; and is by Pliny (e) called Diglito, who observes that it has the name of Tigris from its swiftness; so he says the Medes call an arrow; likewise Curtius (f) takes notice of the same, and says that it is named Tigris from the celerity with which it flows; for in the Persian language they call a dart "tigris": so signifies in the Hebrew language "sharp" or "polished", as an arrow is; and "swift", as an arrow flies, and both make Hiddekel: now this river was near Shushan, where Daniel resided; nay, Benjamin of Tudela (g) says, that the river Hiddekel divides the city of Shushan, over which is a bridge, on one side of which Jews dwelt, at the time he was there; unless he means that it cuts and divides the province of Elam in Persia, he had before been speaking of; and so Diodorus Siculus (h) says, that both Euphrates and Tigris pass through Media into Mesopotamia; wherefore it is no wonder to hear of Daniel by the side of the river Hiddekel or Tigris: here Daniel was, not in vision, but in person, having others with him, as appears from a following verse; by it he was walking, contemplating, praying, or conversing. (e) Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 27. (f) Hist. l. 4. c. 9. (g) Itinerarium, p. 86. (h) Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 99.
Daniel 10:4
Daniel’s Vision by the Tigris
3I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.4On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,5I lifted up my eyes, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
By the side of - Hiddekel - The same as the Tigris. the great river of Assyria; as the Euphrates of Syria, and the Nile of Egypt.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
The Theophany. - On the day named Daniel found himself on the side (banks) of the river Hiddekel, i.e., the Tigris (see under Gen 2:14), along with some who accompanied him (Dan 10:7); thus he was there in reality, and not merely in vision as at the Ulai, Dan 8:2. For what purpose he was there is not said. Here he saw a celestial being, whose form is described, Dan 10:5, Dan 10:6. It was a man (אחד, one, not several) clothed in בּדּים, i.e., in a talar of shining white linen (regarding בּדּים, see under Eze 9:2), and his loins girt about with gold of Uphaz. אוּפז occurs nowhere else, except in Jer 10:9 : gold of Uphaz and silver of Tarshish, from which we must conclude that Uphaz is the name of a region, a country, probably only a dialectically different form for אופיר; the combination with the Sanscr. vipa - Hyphasis is, on the other hand, very far-fetched.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
first month--Nisan, the month most suited for considering Israel's calamity, being that in which the feast of unleavened bread reminded them of their Egyptian bondage. Daniel mourned not merely for the seven days appointed (Exo 12:18), from the evening of the fourteenth to the twenty-first of Nisan, but thrice seven days, to mark extraordinary sorrow. His mourning ended on the twenty-first day, the closing day of the passover feast; but the vision is not till the twenty-fourth, because of the opposition of "the prince of Persia" (Dan 10:13). I was by . . . the . . . river--in waking reality, not a trance (Dan 10:7); when younger, he saw the future in images, but now when old, he receives revelations from angels in common language, that is, in the apocalyptic mode. In the patriarchal period God often appeared visibly, that is, theophany. In the prophets, next in the succession, the inward character of revelation is prominent. The consummation is when the seer looks up from earth into the unseen world, and has the future shown to him by angels, that is, apocalypse. So in the New Testament there is a parallel progression: God in the flesh, the spiritual activity of the apostles and the apocalypse [AUBERLEN]. Hiddekel--the Tigris.
John Gill Bible Commentary
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month,.... Of the third year of Cyrus, as Jacchiades; or rather of the Jewish year, the month Ab or Nisan, which answers to part of March and April; so that Daniel's fast began on the third day of the month, and lasted to the twenty fourth, in which time was the Jewish passover; and by this it seems it was not now kept; and perhaps in those times was not used to be observed by the Jews in a foreign land: as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; the same with the Tigris, called by both names from the swiftness and rapidity of its motion, "hiddekel" signifying both sharp and swift; and tigris, in the Persian language, a dart; see Gen 2:14. This is the same river the Targum of Jonathan on Gen 2:14 calls Diglath; and is by Pliny (e) called Diglito, who observes that it has the name of Tigris from its swiftness; so he says the Medes call an arrow; likewise Curtius (f) takes notice of the same, and says that it is named Tigris from the celerity with which it flows; for in the Persian language they call a dart "tigris": so signifies in the Hebrew language "sharp" or "polished", as an arrow is; and "swift", as an arrow flies, and both make Hiddekel: now this river was near Shushan, where Daniel resided; nay, Benjamin of Tudela (g) says, that the river Hiddekel divides the city of Shushan, over which is a bridge, on one side of which Jews dwelt, at the time he was there; unless he means that it cuts and divides the province of Elam in Persia, he had before been speaking of; and so Diodorus Siculus (h) says, that both Euphrates and Tigris pass through Media into Mesopotamia; wherefore it is no wonder to hear of Daniel by the side of the river Hiddekel or Tigris: here Daniel was, not in vision, but in person, having others with him, as appears from a following verse; by it he was walking, contemplating, praying, or conversing. (e) Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 27. (f) Hist. l. 4. c. 9. (g) Itinerarium, p. 86. (h) Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 99.