And on the four-and-twentieth day of the first month, I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel
Daniel's last and longest vision carries a precise stamp: a day, a month, and a riverbank in the land of exile. Those details show where Daniel stood, how he had lived for three weeks, and why God's message reached him there.
The chapter first tells us how Daniel had been living, then anchors what follows to a moment in the calendar and a spot on the map.
More details about time and place are added: "And in the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; then I lifted up my eyes, and looked," and so on (vv. 4, 5). At this date, then, and at this place, the vision of "a certain man" is granted to him.
Older translations call this river Hiddekel. The ESV gives the name we know today, and commentators explain why.
Scripture names this river in only one other place (Genesis 2:14). Most identify it with the Tigris, on grounds of both geography and word history. If that is right, Daniel would have had to cross it on his journeys from Babylon to Shushan (Daniel 8:2).
That one earlier mention matters. The same river runs through the Bible's opening pages, and now past the man who is about to hear how history ends.
Daniel's closing revelations of chapters 10 – 12 came to him "by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel" (10:4). That carries us back in thought to Eden. Genesis 2 is where we first read of this important river. These revelations are remarkable. They take us down to the time of the end, to the time when "many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2)... By the Spirit of God we can now grasp the revelations God gave Daniel by the rivers of Babylon. So we may take a calm path towards the end, waiting and watching for the coming of the Lord.
For an Israelite, the Tigris was not neutral ground.
In Genesis we find that there were four rivers. We know little or nothing of the first two. But it is clear that the last two, the Euphrates and Hiddekel or Tigris, were tied to some of the most painful passages in the later history of God's earthly people. The two most famous cities of the ancient world were built on them: Nineveh on the Tigris, and Babylon on the Euphrates... These two rivers came to stand for the powers that would ruin Israel and Judah. Rivers first connected with Paradise later represented the human powers God used to punish His guilty people.
By this time the exiles were free to go home.
Daniel had not taken advantage of the decree of Cyrus. It had gone out two years before, leaving the Israelites free to return to their own land, as prophecy had said. Daniel was still in the place of the Jews' captivity. But there is more. The Spirit of God draws attention to the state of the prophet's soul. He was not enjoying himself in a foreign land. He was mourning and fasting — and this in circumstances where he had everything at his command.
The three weeks of fasting were not a side note. They left Daniel ready for what came next.
Daniel is in a right condition of soul to receive communications from God. So he has a wonderful vision of a glorious angelic being, through whom God will make His mind known. He sees the angel not in some simple clothing put on to appear to man, but in his own angelic glory, showing his majesty, holiness and power as a divine messenger.
Commentators differ over who this messenger is. One writer sets the likeness to John's vision beside what the speaker says about himself.
At this date and at this place, the vision of a man comes to him... Who, then, was this heavenly visitor? Anyone can see at once the many resemblances to the one like the Son of Man whom John saw on Patmos. But there are differences too, and some of the most striking features John records are missing. So it is by no means certain that this is a divine person. Indeed, if the same speaker runs through the whole chapter, it could not be, since he speaks of being hindered in his mission by "the prince of Persia" for twenty-one days.
- The date — The vision comes on a named day of a named month. God sets prophecy about the far future inside dated, real history.
- The place — The great river Hiddekel is usually identified as the Tigris. Scripture names it in only one other place: Genesis 2:14, a river of Eden.
- The memory — That link carries the reader back to the garden. The revelations that follow run forward to the awakening of Daniel 12:2 — Eden at one end, the time of the end at the other.
- The man — Cyrus had set the exiles free to go home. Daniel stayed, mourning and fasting when he could have been feasting.
- The preparation — Daniel stood by the river in a right condition of soul, and that is why he could receive what God had to say.
and I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, and his loins were girded with pure gold of Uphaz;
Daniel is in grief before his God. He lifts his eyes and sees a man clothed in linen, wearing a belt of fine gold. Who is this figure? And what do the linen and the gold say about Him?
The description is too great for an ordinary messenger, and one reading takes the figure to be the Lord Himself, appearing in human form to a servant He feels for.
Besides these angels, another appears on the scene: "a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist." Verse 6 gives us a magnificent description of Him, and Daniel alone sees Him. He does not appear to have been a mere angel. He may have shown some features of angelic glory. But I take this to be One who often appears in both New and Old Testament history — the Lord of glory Himself. He appears now as a man — as One who had the deepest sympathy with His servant on the earth.
Commentators differ. The difference turns on what the speaker says about himself later in this chapter.
Who, then, was this heavenly visitor? We see at once many likenesses to the appearance of the one "like the Son of man," whom John saw on the island of Patmos. But there are also differences, and some of the most striking features that John records are missing. So it is by no means certain that this is a divine person. Indeed, if the same speaker talks all through this chapter, it could not be. He says that "the prince of Persia" hindered his mission for twenty-one days... Some have supposed that it is a divine person in verses 5-9, and an angel from verse 10. Nothing, however, depends on the interpretation, and the question may be left undecided.
The Hebrew word behind the clothing points to linen, and linen is white. Scripture puts that whiteness to use.
The Hebrew word 'bad' (which at root means separated into parts, or to be alone) means thread, and then linen. Linen is white, so it may often stand for purity... Further, in Ezekiel 9 and Daniel 10, we find it used for an angel appearing as a man.
Uphaz is a place name, and the record about it is thin.
Some place from which gold was brought. Jer. 10:9; Dan. 10:5; supposed, according to some ancient versions, to be the same as Ophir.
The metal and the belt each carry their own sense: one tells us what God is, the other what fits a servant to act.
Gold is the emblem of the perfect righteousness, the justice, of God. The belt is the sign of activity in service. It is also the sign of that self-control and power over ourselves which would make us fit to act, and by its very character to carry out this righteousness.
Where the belt sits matters. John's vision in Revelation places it higher, and the contrast with Daniel's verse is deliberate.
A belt worn across the chest instead of round the waist (Dan. 10:5) would suggest calm rest. The belt itself stands for righteousness and faithfulness, qualities that always marked the Lord in all His ways (Isa. 11:5).
Daniel was not looking for a vision. He was in grief, and God took note of it.
God also notices this, for the man clothed in linen says to him, "Fear not, Daniel," and so on (v. 12). Daniel's position was that of affliction in the presence of his God.
Daniel had no equal in moral quality. Yet this sight left him in ruins.
As to moral qualities, perhaps no one in the Old Testament surpasses Daniel. Yet in the presence of "a man ... with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz," he has to say that his beauty was turned in him into corruption (Daniel 10:5-8). However fine a man may be, when he comes into the presence of Him who is altogether lovely, he feels his most excellent qualities to be debased and impure.
- Sorrow first. Daniel's position was affliction in the presence of his God, and God noticed it.
- A man, seen alone. Daniel alone sees Him. Kelly takes Him for the Lord of glory, in deepest sympathy with His servant. Dennett says this is by no means certain, since the prince of Persia hindered the speaker for twenty-one days.
- Linen means purity. The Hebrew word means linen, and linen is white. Scripture uses it for purity, and for an angel appearing as a man.
- Gold means righteousness. Gold is the emblem of God's perfect justice. The belt marks activity in service — the power to carry that righteousness out.
- Belt at the waist. In Revelation the belt sits across the chest and suggests calm rest. Here it is at the waist, ready for action. And the man who saw it lost all his beauty in that presence.
and his body was like a chrysolite, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as torches of fire, and his arms and his feet as the look of burnished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
After three weeks of mourning and fasting, Daniel looked up by the great river and saw a man blazing with light. Who is he, and why does the sight of him leave the most faithful man of his day flat on the ground?
Some writers read this shining man as the Lord Himself, not a created messenger:
Verse 6 describes him magnificently, and Daniel alone sees him. He does not appear to have been a mere angel. He may have been seen with some features of angelic glory. But I take this to be One who often appears in both New and Old Testament history — the Lord of glory Himself. He appears now as a man, as One who had the deepest sympathy with His servant on the earth.
Commentators differ. Others compare this figure with the vision John saw on Patmos and hesitate:
Who, then, was this heavenly visitor? Many resemblances to the one "like a son of man," whom John saw on Patmos, stand out at once. But there are also differences, and some of the most striking features John records are missing. So it is by no means certain that this is a divine person. Indeed, if the same speaker continues through this chapter, it could not be. He says "the prince of Persia" hindered him in his mission for twenty-one days. Nothing depends on the interpretation, though, and the question may be left undecided.
The word behind "beryl" is tarshish. It shows up in some striking places:
There is no certainty as to what stone the word tarshish means. The Greek translation renders it by different words. Ezekiel 1:16 and 10:9 compare the wheels to its colour, but do not say what that colour was. Some suppose it was the golden topaz; others that it was the chrysolite. It was the first stone in the fourth row of the high priest's breastpiece. It also appears in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem.
The eyes and the gleaming limbs work as a pair. Writers explaining the same imagery elsewhere show how:
His eyes as "a flame of fire" refer to His moral intolerance of evil. He will search out sin and discover it, however hidden. Who or what can escape those eyes like a flame of fire? "His feet like burnished bronze." What His eyes discover, His feet shall tread upon. The feet of burnished bronze stand for unbending judgement, justice that never gives way.
The men beside Daniel were there, but the vision was not for them. Scripture shows the same thing happening elsewhere:
Horses and chariots filled the mountain. But the prophet's servant had to have his eye opened before he could see them. Daniel saw a glorious stranger and heard his voice like the voice of a multitude. But the men who stood with him saw nothing — only a terror fell on them.
Daniel's record is hard to fault. That is what makes his collapse worth watching:
In moral qualities there is perhaps no one in the Old Testament to excel Daniel. Yet in the presence of "a certain man… girded with fine gold of Uphaz," he has to say, "my radiant appearance was fearfully changed." However fine a man may be, he feels his most excellent qualities to be debased and impure when he comes before the One who is altogether lovely.
The vision does not end with Daniel face down in the dust. What happens next has a purpose:
Left alone with the angel, Daniel is overcome with fear. He falls to the ground and finds relief in deep sleep. In this position the hand of the angel touches him and sets him on his knees and the palms of his hands. The angel then speaks. He assures Daniel that he is greatly beloved, and makes him stand upright, though trembling. So Daniel stands free in the presence of this heavenly being, to hear what God has to say.
- Seen — a shining man by the river. Commentators differ on whether this is the Lord Himself or a messenger, and one writer says nothing depends on settling it.
- Searched — eyes like flaming torches find evil however well hidden; limbs like burnished bronze tread down what the eyes find.
- Selective — the glory was real, but only Daniel saw it; his companions felt terror and ran.
- Stripped — the finest man of his day lost his strength and his radiance in that presence. Next to perfection, even excellence feels impure.
- Steadied — a hand set him on his knees, a word called him beloved, and the angel raised him upright for one purpose: to hear what God had to say.