Daniel 8:18

18 As soon as he spoke, I fainted, my face in the dirt. But he picked me up and put me on my feet.

Daniel 8:18 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 8:18

Now as he was speaking with me
Addressing him in the above manner: I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground;
through fear he fell prostrate to the ground, and swooned away, which issued in a deep sleep; and so was unfit to attend to the explanation of the vision the angel was sent to give him; and which was not through indifference to it, or neglect of it; but through human weakness, his nature not being able to bear up under such circumstances, which struck him with such fear and dread: but he touched me, and set me upright;
he jogged him out of his sleep, and took him, and raised him up, and set him on his feet; or, "on his standing" F13; which Ben Melech explains, as he "was standing at first"; and so in a better posture to attend to what was about to be revealed unto him.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (ydme le) "super stare meum", Montanus, Gejerus; "super stationem meam", Michaelis.

Daniel 8:18 In-Context

16 "Then I heard a man's voice from over by the Ulai Canal calling out, 'Gabriel, tell this man what is going on. Explain the vision to him.'
17 He came up to me, but when he got close I became terrified and fell facedown on the ground.
18 As soon as he spoke, I fainted, my face in the dirt. But he picked me up and put me on my feet.
19 "And then he continued, 'I want to tell you what is going to happen as the judgment days of wrath wind down, for there is going to be an end to all this.
20 "'The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings of the Medes and Persians.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.