Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Daniel · About this commentary
A Man Clothed in Linen
Daniel 10:4-9
4 In the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel, · WEB
By the Tigris an aged prophet sees a figure of fire and gold, and the description is the one the last book of Scripture gives to the risen Christ.
In the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel Daniel 10:4.
The Tigris, and the date is exact: the twenty-fourth of the first month, three days after Passover week would have ended Exodus 12:18. An old man is standing by a river in Babylonia on the days his people should have been feasting in a rebuilt temple.
I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man clothed in linen, whose waist was adorned with pure gold of Uphaz Daniel 10:5.
Linen and gold are priestly. The high priest ministered in linen, and on the Day of Atonement — the one day he entered the innermost place — he wore linen only Leviticus 16:4 Exodus 28:39–42. A figure clothed in linen with a golden band at the waist is dressed for the sanctuary's most solemn service, which is what the previous visions had been about Daniel 8:14.
His body also was like beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches. His arms and his feet were like burnished bronze. The voice of his words was like the voice of a multitude Daniel 10:6.
Six features, and the last book of Scripture reproduces them almost item for item in its opening vision of the risen Lord — one like a son of man, clothed with a robe to the feet and a golden band, eyes as a flame of fire, feet like burnished brass, a face like the sun, and a voice like many waters Revelation 1:13–16. Whatever the identity of the speaker later in this chapter, the figure Daniel sees here is described in the terms Scripture reserves for Christ himself; the same overwhelming glory had met Ezekiel and would strike Saul on a road Ezekiel 1:26–28 Acts 9:3–4.
I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me didn't see the vision, but a great quaking fell on them, and they fled to hide themselves Daniel 10:7.
He had companions, and they saw nothing — yet something reached them: a terror that emptied the riverbank. The detail is oddly convincing and has a parallel in the men who traveled with Saul, who heard a sound and saw no one Acts 9:7. The vision was for one man; its edges were felt by everybody present.
So I was left alone and saw this great vision. No strength remained in me; for my face grew deathly pale, and I retained no strength Daniel 10:8.
Alone, drained, the color gone out of him. The phrase repeats within the verse — no strength... no strength — and then he collapses into unconsciousness at the sound of the voice Daniel 10:9. This is the third time in the book that a revelation has put him on the ground Daniel 8:17–18 Daniel 8:27, and the reaction is what Scripture reports of everyone who sees this: John fell as a dead man Revelation 1:17. Nobody in the Bible meets the glory of God and feels equal to it — which is the necessary preface to the words that come next, because the first thing the figure does is touch him and tell him he is loved Daniel 10:10–11.
held with reason What this mark means