Daniel 10:16

16 Then one who looked like a man[a] touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak.

Daniel 10:16 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
English Standard Version (ESV)
16 And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, "O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength.
New Living Translation (NLT)
16 Then the one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing in front of me, “I am filled with anguish because of the vision I have seen, my lord, and I am very weak.
The Message Bible (MSG)
16 Then I was surprised by something like a human hand that touched my lips. I opened my mouth and started talking to the messenger: 'When I saw you, master, I was terror-stricken. My knees turned to water. I couldn't move.
American Standard Version (ASV)
16 And, behold, one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by reason of the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I retain no strength.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
16 Then someone who looked like a human touched my lips. I opened my mouth and began to talk. I said to the person standing in front of me, "Sir, because of this vision, pain has overwhelmed me, and I'm helpless.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
16 Suddenly one with human likeness touched my lips. I opened my mouth and said to the one standing in front of me, "My lord, because of the vision, I am overwhelmed and powerless.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
16 Then someone who looked like a man touched my lips. I opened my mouth. I began to speak to the one who was standing in front of me. I said, "My master, I'm greatly troubled because of the vision I've seen. And I'm helpless.

Daniel 10:16 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 10:16

And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men
Not the man clothed with linen, or Christ; but either the same angel, Gabriel, who appeared more manifestly to him in a human form; or another of the attendants of Christ, who also had the similitude of a man: touched my lips;
with his hand, as the Prophet Isaiah's were, by a seraph, with a live coal from the altar, ( Isaiah 6:7 ) , thereby restoring him to his speech, and giving him freedom and boldness to make use of it; and removing from him his impurity, and a sense of it, which occasioned his silence: then I opened my mouth, and spake
freely, and yet with all becoming modesty: and said unto him that stood before me, O lord;
the angel that appeared in the likeness of a man, and stood before the prophet, and touched his lips, whom he calls "lord"; not because of sovereignty and dominion over him, which belong to Christ, as the Creator of all things, and Head of the church; but for honour's sake, being a noble and exalted creature: by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me;
on sight of the glorious object represented to him in the vision, pains seized his body in all parts of it, sharp and pungent, like those of a woman in travail. Gussetius F25 interprets it of the knuckle bones, which turned in the pan of them, like the hinges of a door, of which the word is used, ( Proverbs 26:14 ) , and this through the tendons being loosed by the dissipation of the spirits; and this sense the Vulgate Latin version gives countenance to, my joints are dissolved;
the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, are, "my inward parts or bowels are turned in me: and I have retained no strength"; (See Gill on Daniel 10:8).


FOOTNOTES:

F25 Comment. Ebr. p. 713.

Daniel 10:16 In-Context

14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
15 While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless.
16 Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak.
17 How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”
18 Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Isaiah 6:7; Jeremiah 1:9; Daniel 8:15-18
  • 2. S Isaiah 21:3

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text; one manuscript of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint "Then something that looked like a human hand"
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