Peace Be to You; Be Strong
15 When he had spoken these words to me, I set my face toward the ground and was mute. 16 Behold, one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth, and spoke and said to him who stood before me, “My lord, by reason of the vision my sorrows have overtaken me, and I retain no strength. 17 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? For as for me, immediately there remained no strength in me. There was no breath left in me.” 18 Then one like the appearance of a man touched me again, and he strengthened me. 19 He said, “Greatly beloved man, don’t be afraid. Peace be to you. Be strong. Yes, be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” 20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. 21 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 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.
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, and spoke and said to him who stood before me, “My lord, by reason of the vision my sorrows have overtaken me, and I retain no strength.
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.
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.
He said, “Greatly beloved man, don’t be afraid. Peace be to you. Be strong. Yes, be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”
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.
Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come.
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.
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