Daniel 10:4

4 And [then] on [the] twenty-fourth day of the first month, I [myself] was on the bank of the great river; that is, [the] Tigris.

Daniel 10:4 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 10:4

And in the four and twentieth day of the first month
Of the third year of Cyrus, as Jacchiades; or rather of the Jewish year, the month Ab or Nisan, which answers to part of March and April; so that Daniel's fast began on the third day of the month, and lasted to the twenty fourth, in which time was the Jewish passover; and by this it seems it was not now kept; and perhaps in those times was not used to be observed by the Jews in a foreign land: as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;
the same with the Tigris, called by both names from the swiftness and rapidity of its motion, "hiddekel" signifying both sharp and swift; and tigris, in the Persian language, a dart; see ( Genesis 2:14 ) . This is the same river the Targum of Jonathan on ( Genesis 2:14 ) calls Diglath; and is by Pliny ^F5 called Diglito, who observes that it has the name of Tigris from its swiftness; so he says the Medes call an arrow; likewise Curtius ^F6 takes notice of the same, and says that it is named Tigris from the celerity with which it flows; for in the Persian language they call a dart "tigris": so (dx) signifies in the Hebrew language "sharp" or "polished", as an arrow is; and (lq) , "swift", as an arrow flies, and both make Hiddekel: now this river was near Shushan, where Daniel resided; nay, Benjamin of Tudela ^F7 says, that the river Hiddekel divides the city of Shushan, over which is a bridge, on one side of which Jews dwelt, at the time he was there; unless he means that it cuts and divides the province of Elam in Persia, he had before been speaking of; and so Diodorus Siculus ^F8 says, that both Euphrates and Tigris pass through Media into Mesopotamia; wherefore it is no wonder to hear of Daniel by the side of the river Hiddekel or Tigris: here Daniel was, not in vision, but in person, having others with him, as appears from a following verse; by it he was walking, contemplating, praying, or conversing.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 27.
F6 Hist. l. 4. c. 9.
F7 Itinerarium, p. 86.
F8 Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 99.

Daniel 10:4 In-Context

2 In those days, I, Daniel, I [myself] was [in] mourning {for three whole weeks}.

3 I had not eaten [any] choice food, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and {I did not use any ointment} {until the end of three whole weeks}.

4 And [then] on [the] twenty-fourth day of the first month, I [myself] was on the bank of the great river; that is, [the] Tigris.

5 And I lifted up my eyes and I saw, and there was a man, [and] he was dressed [in] linen, and his waist was girded with [the] gold of Uphaz.

6 Now his body [was] like turquoise, and his face [was] like [the] appearance of lightning, and his eyes [were] like torches of fire, and his arms and his legs [were] like [the] gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words [was] like [the] sound of a multitude.

Footnotes

• [a] This is an emphatic use of the first person personal pronoun