Biblion Bible Commentary
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Peace Be to You; Be Strong
Daniel 10:15-21
15 When he had spoken these words to me, I set my face toward the ground and was mute. · WEB
Daniel is strengthened three times before he can hear the prophecy, and the messenger returns to a conflict in which he names only one ally.
When he had spoken these words to me, I set my face toward the ground and was mute Daniel 10:15.
He cannot speak. Told that he is greatly beloved and that his words were heard Daniel 10:11–12, the prophet is face down and silent — and the chapter takes six verses to get him upright enough to receive a prophecy. That patience is the point of the passage.
Behold, one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth Daniel 10:16.
A touch on the mouth, and speech comes back — as it did for Isaiah at the altar and Jeremiah at his call Isaiah 6:6–7 Jeremiah 1:9. What he says with it is an admission of total incapacity: by reason of the vision my sorrows have overtaken me, and I retain no strength... there was no breath left in me Daniel 10:16–17. Not false modesty. He is an old man who has been on the ground for some time and can feel his own limits.
Then one like the appearance of a man touched me again, and he strengthened me Daniel 10:18.
The second touch, and this one adds strength rather than speech. Three times in nine verses a hand is laid on him Daniel 10:10 Daniel 10:16 Daniel 10:18, each time restoring something the vision had taken. Heaven does not shout at the collapsed; it touches them, repeatedly, until they can stand.
Greatly beloved man, don't be afraid. Peace be to you. Be strong. Yes, be strong Daniel 10:19.
Five short sentences, and no new information in any of them. The title again, the command not to fear, a benediction of peace, and be strong twice — the words Joshua was given at his commission and the encouragement Scripture presses on the fainting Joshua 1:6–9 Isaiah 41:10 Ephesians 6:10. And they work: when he spoke to me, I was strengthened. The strength arrives with the words, which is why the words were spoken. Then Daniel's own reply, and it is the sentence of a man ready at last — let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.
Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come Daniel 10:20.
The messenger is going back into the conflict, and the next opponent is already named: the prince of Greece, the power the earlier visions had shown succeeding Persia Daniel 8:21 Daniel 11:2. The struggle does not end when an empire changes hands; it changes address.
But I will tell you that which is inscribed in the writing of truth. There is no one who holds with me against these but Michael your prince Daniel 10:21.
Two things to end the chapter. What follows is inscribed in the writing of truth — the prophecy of chapter eleven is read out of a record already written, which is the whole basis of this book's confidence about the future. And no one... but Michael your prince: the ally is one, and he is yours — the same prince who stands up for Daniel's people at the end of the story Daniel 12:1 Revelation 12:7. The comfort offered to a discouraged old man is not that the opposition is small. It is that the one who holds with him is enough.
held with reason What this mark means