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Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 10:1

In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia - In regard to Cyrus, see the notes at Isaiah 41:2. In Daniel 1:21, it is said that “Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.” But it is not necessarily implied in that passage that he “died” then. It may mean only that he continued in authority, and was employed, in various ways, as a public officer, until that time. See the note at that passage. For anything that appears, he may have lived several years after, though, for causes now... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 10:2

In those days I Daniel was mourning - I was afflicting myself; that is, he had set apart this time as an extraordinary fast. He was sad and troubled. He does not say on what account he was thus troubled, but there can be little doubt that it was on account of his people. This was two years after the order had been given by Cyrus for the restoration of the Hebrew people to their country, but it is not improbable that they met with many embarrassments in their efforts to return, and possibly... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 10:3

I ate no pleasant bread - Margin, “bread of desires.” So the Hebrew. The meaning is, that he abstained from ordinary food, and partook of that only which was coarse and disagreeable.Neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth - That is, he lived on bread or vegetables. It is not to be inferred from this that Daniel ordinarily made use of wine, for it would seem from Daniel 1:0: that that was not his custom. What would appear from this passage would be, that he practiced on this occasion the most... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 10:4

And in the four and twentieth day of the first month - At the close of his season of fasting. Though he had not set apart this season of fasting with any view or expectation that it would be followed by such a result, yet there was a propriety that an occasion like this should be selected as that on which the communication which follows should be made to his mind, for(a) his mind was in a prepared state by this extraordinary season of devotion for such a communication; and(b) his attention... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 10:5

Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked ... - While he was engaged in devotion. What is here said would lead us to suppose that he had been occupied in deep thought and meditation, perhaps with his eyes fixed on the ground.Behold, a certain man clothed in linen - One who had the form and appearance of a man.The subsequent disclosures showed that he was an angel, but when angels have appeared on earth they have commonly assumed the human form. The margin is, “one.” So also is the Hebrew “one... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 10:6

His body also was like the beryl - There is a very striking resemblance between the description here given and that of the Saviour as he appeared to John in Patmos, Revelation 1:13-16. See the notes at that passage. It contains, however, no description of the appearance of the body. “Beryl” is “a mineral of great hardness, occurring in green and bluish-green six-sided prisms. It is identical with the emerald, except that the latter has a purer and richer color. “ - Dana, in Webster’s... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 10:7

And I Daniel alone saw the vision - That is, he only saw it distinctly. The others who were with him appear to have seen or heard something which alarmed them, and they fled. Who those men were, or why they were with him, he does not say. They may have been his own countrymen, engaged with him in the act of devotion, or they may have been Babylonians occupied in the public service; but whoever they were, or whatever was the reason why they were there, they became alarmed and fled. The case was... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 10:1

Daniel 10:1. In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia That is, the third after the death of Darius. Daniel must now have been above ninety years of age. It is reasonable to suppose that, being a youth when he was carried captive, he must have been at least twenty years of age; and that was seventy-three years before the date of this vision, which was the last Daniel saw, and it is not likely he himself survived it long. A thing was revealed unto Daniel A revelation of future things... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 10:2-3

Daniel 10:2-3. I Daniel was mourning The reason of Daniel’s fasting and mourning might be, either because many of the Jews, through slothfulness and indifference, still remained in the land of their captivity, though they had liberty to return to their own land, not knowing how to value the privileges offered them; or, as Usher thinks, because he had heard that the adversaries of the Jews had begun to obstruct the building of the temple. Calmet, however, is of opinion, that his sorrow arose... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 10:4

Daniel 10:4. In the four and twentieth day of the first month “Nisan, if the Jewish computation be admitted; that is, the month in which was the paschal solemnity. Hence commentators have observed, from this fact of the prophet, that the Jews did not observe their festivals except in their own country, and in the place which God had appointed; but if the Persian computation should be followed, which seems not improbable, as the prophet dates his vision from the third year of Cyrus the... read more

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