Daniel 8:18

18 As he was speaking to me, I fell into a trance, face to the ground; then he touched me and set 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 and I heard a human voice by the Ulai, calling, "Gabriel, help this man understand the vision."
17 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I became frightened and fell prostrate. But he said to me, "Understand, O mortal, that the vision is for the time of the end."
18 As he was speaking to me, I fell into a trance, face to the ground; then he touched me and set me on my feet.
19 He said, "Listen, and I will tell you what will take place later in the period of wrath; for it refers to the appointed time of the end.
20 As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.