Daniel 10:11

11 He said to me, "Daniel, you are a man treasured [by God].^[a] Understand the words that I'm saying to you. Stand on your feet,^[b] for I have now been sent to you." After he said this to me, I stood trembling.

Daniel 10:11 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 10:11

And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved
Or, "a man of desires" ^F21; a most desirable man, lovely to God and men; the same epithet Gabriel gives him, ( Daniel 9:22 Daniel 9:23 ) , which confirms the sentiment, that it is he that touched Daniel, and is here speaking, distinct from the glorious Person before described: understand the words that I speak unto thee;
attend unto them, in order to understand them; and which he was sent to give him an understanding of, as in ( Daniel 8:16 ) , which is a further confirmation that this is Gabriel: and stand upright;
being upon his hands and knees, ( Daniel 10:10 ) , but now is bid to "stand on his standing" ^F23, or his station; upon his feet, in an erect posture, which was fittest for attention, and most decent and becoming a hearer and learner of the mind of God, from one of his messengers: and therefore, the more to excite him to such a posture, he adds, for unto thee am I now sent:
of God, and particularly to the prophet, and that after three weeks' fasting and mourning: this is another proof that not the glorious Person before described, but an angel of his, is meant, since he is said to be "sent" to Daniel: and when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling:
he got up and stood upon his feet, as the angel had bid him, but trembling and tottering, not yet recovered from his fainting fit; like a man that has been ill, and got upon his legs again, trembles and totters as he goes or stands: and also, though the angel was kind and serviceable to him, set him on his knees and hands, and spoke to him in a tender manner; yet the appearance of such a divine messenger had such an effect upon him, as we find such appearances used to have on good men.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (twdmx vya) "vir desideriorum", V. L.
F23 (Kdme-le dme) "sta super stare tuum", Montanus, Calvin; "sta in statione tua", Piscator; "super statione tua", Michaelis.

Daniel 10:11 In-Context

9 I heard the words he said, and when I heard them I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.

10 Suddenly, a hand touched me and raised me to my hands and knees.

11 He said to me, "Daniel, you are a man treasured [by God]. Understand the words that I'm saying to you. Stand on your feet, for I have now been sent to you." After he said this to me, I stood trembling.

12 "Don't be afraid, Daniel," he said to me, "for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers.

13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for 21 days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia.

Footnotes

• [a]. Dn 9:23; 10:19
• [b]. Dn 8:18