Daniel 10:7

7 Forsooth I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; certainly the men that were with me saw not, but full great fearedfulness fell in on them, and they fled into an hid place. (And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; certainly the men who were with me did not see it, but a very great fearfulness fell in upon them, and they fled to a place where they could hid.)

Daniel 10:7 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 10:7

And I Daniel alone saw the vision
The object or person described; though he was not alone when he saw it, yet he alone saw it; the eyes of his body and mind being quicker than the rest, the Lord strengthening and enlightening both; for this was a peculiar and distinguishing favour granted to him: for the men that were with me saw not the vision;
at least not so clearly and distinctly as Daniel did; they might have some confused sight of an object that appeared very terrible; but, being struck with consternation, they had not presence of mind to look at it; and so could neither form nor retain scarce any idea of it: or their eyes might be held, and their sight clouded; or be stricken with a kind of blindness, or want of sight for a time, as the men of Sodom were; or the object was of such a nature, that without special illumination it could not be seen: the like happened to Elisha's young man, who saw not the chariots and horses of fire the prophet did, and to the men that were with the Apostle Paul, ( 2 Kings 6:17 ) ( Acts 9:7 ) , who these men were, that were with Daniel, is not material to know; whether they were his three companions, who had been cast into the fiery furnace; or the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, as Jarchi and Saadiah say from their Rabbins ^F18; neither of which are likely, since these, being good men and prophets, would doubtless have been favoured with the same vision: but rather they were the servants of Daniel, who waited upon him, he being now a great man in the Persian court; and these men being very likely Heathens, profane and unregenerate men, were not fit and prepared to see such a vision: but a great quaking fell upon them:
or "for", so Noldius; giving a reason why they saw not, because or the great fear and trembling upon them; either at the glimmering sight of this strange appearance, which they knew not what to make of; or rather at the sound of his voice, which was so very loud and terrible: so that they fled to hide themselves;
among the trees that grew upon the banks of the Tigris, as Adam among the trees of the garden; or in some wood or forest hard by; or in some caves and dens, which might be near at hand: this not only shows the confusion and consternation they were in, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, they fled with terror;
or through it,
as the Syriac version; but serves to confirm the truth of the vision, that it was not a mere fancy and imagination of Daniel.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 93. 2.

Daniel 10:7 In-Context

5 And I raised mine eyes, and I saw, and lo! one man was clothed with linen clothes, and his reins were girded with shining gold; (And I raised up my eyes, and I saw, and lo! a man who was clothed in linen clothes, and he had on his waist a belt made of the gold of Uphaz, or of Ophir;)

6 and his body was as chrysolyte, and his face was as the likeness of lightning, and his eyes were as a burning lamp, and his arms and those things that were beneath till to the feet were as the likeness of brass being white, and the voice of his words was as the voice of (a) multitude. (and his body was like chrysolyte, and his face was like the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were like a burning lamp, and his arms and those things that were beneath unto the feet were like the appearance of shining, or polished, bronze, and his voice was like the voice of a multitude.)

7 Forsooth I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; certainly the men that were with me saw not, but full great fearedfulness fell in on them, and they fled into an hid place. (And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; certainly the men who were with me did not see it, but a very great fearfulness fell in upon them, and they fled to a place where they could hid.)

8 But I was left alone, and I saw this great vision, and strength dwelled not in me; but also my likeness was changed in me, and I was stark (and I was made stiff, or rigid, like in a trance), and I had not in me anything of strengths.

9 And I heard the voice of his words, and I heard, and lay astonied on my face, and my face cleaved to the earth. (And I heard the sound of his words, and as I listened, I fell down on my face astonished, with my face to the ground.)