I, Daniel
This phrase establishes the personal nature of the narrative. Daniel, whose name means "God is my judge" in Hebrew, is a central figure in the book that bears his name. His personal involvement underscores the authenticity and gravity of the visions he receives. Daniel's role as a prophet and a statesman in Babylonian and Persian courts highlights his unique position to receive and interpret divine revelations.

was grieved in my spirit
The Hebrew word for "grieved" here conveys a deep emotional disturbance. Daniel's spirit, the innermost part of his being, is troubled by the visions he has seen. This reflects the profound impact of divine revelations on human emotions. The phrase suggests a spiritual and emotional burden, emphasizing the seriousness of the visions and their implications for the future.

and the visions in my mind
The term "visions" refers to supernatural revelations given by God. In the context of the Book of Daniel, these visions often contain symbolic imagery that requires interpretation. The "mind" here indicates the seat of understanding and perception. Daniel's experience of receiving visions in his mind suggests a divine communication that transcends ordinary human experience, requiring spiritual insight to comprehend.

alarmed me
The word "alarmed" indicates a state of fear or anxiety. Daniel's reaction to the visions is one of alarm, highlighting the unsettling nature of the revelations. This response is consistent with other biblical accounts where encounters with the divine or the supernatural evoke fear and awe. The alarm Daniel feels underscores the gravity of the prophetic message and the potential consequences for the people of God.

(15) Midst.--See margin. The body was regarded as the sheath of the soul.

Verses 15-18. - I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth, But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. The version of the Septuagint differs in some points from the Massoretic. In the fifteenth verse there is no reference to the spirit being in the body; it adds "of the night" after "visions," and changes "my head" into "my thoughts." The sixteenth verse presents no essential points of difference. In the seventeenth verse the differences are more considerable, "These great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall be destroyed from the earth." There seems a good deal to be said for the reading behind this version. The first variation, "kingdoms" instead of "kings," may be due to logic, but it has further "destroyed from" instead of "arising out of," which cannot have resulted from the Massoretic. The verb qoom, "to stand up," followed by rain, "from," is not elsewhere used in the sense which we find in the Massoretic here. When one is prone on the earth, as Saul before the revelation of the witch of Endor, "he stood up from the earth" (1 Samuel 28:23, Targum Jonathan) - word for word as here. When Abraham (Genesis 23:3, Targum Onkelos) arose from before his dead, we have a similar construction. In 2 Samuel 11:2, "David arose from his couch." This construction involves Change of position, either directly or implicitly. It is difficult to understand how the one reading arose from the other. The condensation of the sense as it appears in the Septuagint is not likely to be attained by a falsarius. In ver. 18 there is nothing calling for remark, save that the reduplication of "for ever and ever "is omitted. While Theodotion is nearer the Massoretic text, he too differs from it in some points - his rendering of nidnay by ἕξις. Schleusner thinks this probably a false reading for ἐκστάσις. However, in Judges 14:9 we have ἕξις used for "body." In the seventeenth verse we have "kingdoms" instead of "kings." The last clause agrees with the Massoretic, but there is subjoined αἱ ἀρθήσονται, "which shall be taken away" - an addition that suggests that some of the manuscripts before Theodotion had the same reading as that before the Septuagint translator. He renders yeqoomoon rain by ἀναστήσονται ἐπί, showing that at all events he had a different preposition. The reduplication of "for ever and ever" is omitted. The Peshitta ver. 15 has "in the midst of my couch" instead of "in the midst of my body." In the sixteenth verse it resolves the bystanders into "servants." In the seventeenth verse the preposition is not rain, but 'al. Jerome, instead of corpus, "body," has in his, "in these," - as if he had read b'idena instead of nidnay; he also in ver. 17 reads regna, not reges. The Mas-seretic text has some peculiarities. The first words afford one of the rare instances where we have the 'ithpael instead of the hithpael; it may be due to scribal correction. In the seventeenth verse 'inoon (K'thib) affords an instance of the frequent Syriasm in Daniel. The "Most High" is rendered by a plural adjective, עֶלְיונִין ('elyoneen); it is explained differently. Kranichfeld and Stuart regard it as pluralis excellentiae. Bevan and Behrmann regard it as a case of attraction, the latter giving as parallel instances, hence 'ayleem (Psalm 29:1) and benee nebeem. The difficulty remains that neither the pluralis excellentiae nor change of number is known in Aramaic. The fact that this strange form has produced no effect on any of the versions makes the reading suspicious. Professor Fuller sees in this word a proof of Babylonian influence, but he does not assign his reason, We now enter a new stage in the development of this vision. After the wonderful assize has ended, Daniel dreams that he is still standing among these innumerable multitudes, and, feeling that all these things are symbols, he is grieved because he cannot comprehend what is meant by them. So from one of those attendants who crowd the canvas of his vision he asks an explanation, or rather "the certainty," of this vision; he wishes to know whether it is s mere vision or of the nature of a revelation. This is a perfectly natural psychological condition in dreaming. In the act of dreaming we question ourselves whether we are dreaming or not; we may even ask one of the characters in our dream the question. The interpretation is interesting, but has been already, to some extent forestalled. A difficulty is seen by some commentators - how these four kingdoms could be said to arise, when one of them was nearing its fall. If we take the reading of the Septuagint, this difficulty is obviated. Saadia Gaon makes these four kings the nominative to the verb "receive" (wrongly translated in our Authorized Version, "take"), and maintains each of these empires shall hold the kingdom of Israel until the Messiah shall come. This view would necessitate grammatically that the Messiah should never come, but that the reign of these four world-empires should be prolonged into eternity. "The saints of the Most High," in the thought of Daniel would be, of necessity, the Jews; for we need not discuss the possibility of the angels being the holy ones implied here - they always have the kingdoms of the world under them - but we may see the Israel of faith in this figure. The believers in Christ are the true Israel, and the kingdom of heaven which Christ set up is thus promised to fill the earth. The Church is thus the true ultimate state. If we regard the Church as a society formed of those who are mutually attracted to each other. have a mutual love for each other, end have a common love to God, then all the history of the world is tending towards the establishment of such a society, universal as the world. National hatreds are much less acute now than they were. Despite the efforts to rouse class against class, there seems more sympathy between classes than there was. The final break-down of national and class oppositions, not necessarily by the abolition of either class or nation, will prepare the way for the Christ-commanded love which is the tie that unites the members of the true eternal Church of God.

Parallel Commentaries ...


I,
אֲנָ֥ה (’ă·nāh)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 576: I

Daniel,
דָנִיֵּ֖אל (ḏā·nî·yêl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1841: Daniel -- 'God is my judge', an Israelite leader in Babylon

was grieved
אֶתְכְּרִיַּ֥ת (’eṯ·kə·rî·yaṯ)
Verb - Hitpael - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3735: To be distressed

in
בְּג֣וֹא (bə·ḡō·w)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1459: Midst, middle

my spirit,
רוּחִ֛י (rū·ḥî)
Noun - common singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 7308: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

and the visions
וְחֶזְוֵ֥י (wə·ḥez·wê)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 2376: Vision, appearance

in my mind
רֵאשִׁ֖י (rê·šî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 7217: The head, the sum

alarmed me.
יְבַהֲלֻנַּֽנִי׃ (yə·ḇa·hă·lun·na·nî)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | first person common singular
Strong's 927: To terrify, hasten


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OT Prophets: Daniel 7:15 As for me Daniel my spirit was (Dan. Da Dn)