Page 205 - Daniel

made known to me the interpretation of the things. ‘These four great
beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of
the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom
forever, forever and ever.’”

With the visions revealed, Daniel recorded his reaction and the
interpretation given him. Having such a vision in the middle of the night

must have been a terrifying experience; Daniel had seen a panorama of
tremendous events to come. Like Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2, Daniel,
although a prophet, is troubled by his lack of understanding of the
vision.

Daniel was grieved in his spirit and perplexed. By “my spirit” he
referred to his whole personality. The expression “my spirit within
me”—literally, “in the midst of the sheath”—compares the soul in the
body to a sword in its sheath. Keil notes that it is also found in Job 27:3,
in the writings of the rabbis (cf. Buxt. Lex. talm. s. v.), and also Pliny,
63
7:52. Daniel was extremely concerned about what he had seen.
In verse 16, Daniel became an actor in the scene by addressing a

question to a personage standing by, generally considered to be an
angel. When Daniel asked for the truth being revealed by this vision, the
interpreter made known its meaning. The fact that Daniel could not
himself interpret the vision increases the critical questions of those who
do not accept Daniel as a sixth-century prophetic book. But there is
nothing unusual about this situation. A similar account is found in
Genesis 28 when God speaks to Jacob in his vision. In Exodus 3, God

speaks to Moses out of the burning bush (although this event did not
involve a vision). Conversation with people seen in visions occurs in
Ezekiel’s vision of the new temple (Ezek. 40–48), and in the visions of
Zechariah (Zech. 1–6). Almost exact parallels can be found in the book
of Revelation where John is frequently given the interpretation of a
vision (cf. Rev. 20:1–15; 21:9). Daniel had the same experience in

chapters 8, 10, and 12.
Even when Daniel described and interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
in Daniel 2, the passage clearly states that “the mystery was revealed to
Daniel in a vision of the night” (2:19). In sharing the dream and

interpretation with the king, Daniel said, “this mystery has been