D
aniel 1 0 : 1 contains the book's last reference to Cyrus. It has already mentioned him twice: in the beginning (Dan. 1 :21) and in the middle of the book (Dan. 6:28) . The three last chapters "constitute a literary unit" 1 and occur in the same time span. We are in the third year of Cyrus (536/535), two years after chapter 9, which was dated in the first year of Darius, corresponding to the first year of Cyrus (see chapter 5).
The chapter begins on a stormy note. The first words proclaim a tsava gadol, a "great war" (verse 1 ) . Daniel is still serving at the court of Babylon, and significantly, the book still calls him by his charac
teristic service name, Belteshazzar (verse 1 ) . Just a year earlier he had witnessed the return of the exiles back to Jerusalem under the lead
ership of Sheshbazzar (Ezra 1 :8) . Daniel remained behind, however.
It was too late for him. The weight of his 90 years kept him in the land of exile. The prophet of burning hope and ardent prayer was un
able to participate in the fulfillment of his own prophecy (Dan. 9).
But his suffering involved more than mere nostalgia. In less than a year the deepest hopes of the prophet shattered. The vibrant chords of the song of Ezra have died out. Hostile silence greets the joyful cries of the returning exiles. Those left behind in the land hardly expected nor willed the return of the zealous refugees (Ezra 9: 1 , 2). Instead, they make every attempt to undermine the former exiles, employing discouragement, threats, accusatory letters to the
1 57
S e m i s o f G a n i e \
b1 To us (verse 8) a1 To you (verse 9) B 1 We . . . (verses 1 0- 1 4)
A1 Invocation of the Lord (verses 1 5- 1 9)
III. The Messiah of the seventy weeks (verses 20-27)
70 weeks determined on the people and on Jerusalem (verse 24) A1 Coming of the Messiah: at the end of 7 and 62 weeks (verse 25a)
B 1 Construction of the city (h r�)
A2 Death of the Messiah: after the 62 weeks (verse 26a) B2 Destruction of the city (1.i r�)
A3 Covenant: middle of the week (verse 27a) B3 Destruction of destructor (hr�)
' History tells us that Artaxerxes began his reign in 465 B.C.E., the year of his ascend
ing the throne (see "Artaxerxes," in Universal Larousse) . According to the Bible, however, the first year of his reign would have begun at the beginning of the next year, in Tishri (see Jer. 2 5 : 1 and Dan. 1 : 1 , 2; cf. 2 Kings 1 8: 1 , 9, 1 0; cf. Mishna Rosh Hashanah 1 . 1 ) . The sev
enth year of Artaxerxes would then extend from fall (Tishri) 458 to fall 457.
' See Jacques Doukhan, Drinking at the Sources (Mountain View, Calif: Pacific Press, 1981), p. 67.
1 See Jacques Doukhan, "The Seventy Weeks of Dan. 9: An Exegetical Study," 17, No. 1 (1 979): 1 2- 1 4.
' See Geza Vennes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls i11 English (New York: 1 997), p. 1 27.
5 See William Wickes, Two Treatises on the Accentuation of the Old Testament (New Yark:
1 970), parts I:32-35; II:4.
" See Doukhan, Drinking at the Sources, pp. 1 35, 1 36, n. 1 86.
7 For the distinction between the servant and Israel, see Isa. 49:5-7 and 53:4-6.
" Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 5. 6, 10.
'' Babylonian Talmud Gittin 56a, 56b, 57b.
'" Miqraoth Gdolotlz.
11 Doukhan, "The Seventy Weeks of Dan. 9," p. 2 1 .
" Note that the word "for" generally used in our English translations does not appear
m the Hebrew. In our literal translation from the Hebrew, the colon stands for the Masoretic disjunctive accent tiflza.
1 56
C H A P T f R
THE PRIEST
WITH EYES OF FIRE
D
aniel 1 0 : 1 contains the book's last reference to Cyrus. It has already mentioned him twice: in the beginning (Dan. 1 :21) and in the middle of the book (Dan. 6:28) . The three last chapters "constitute a literary unit" 1 and occur in the same time span. We are in the third year of Cyrus (536/535), two years after chapter 9, which was dated in the first year of Darius, corresponding to the first year of Cyrus (see chapter 5).
The chapter begins on a stormy note. The first words proclaim a tsava gadol, a "great war" (verse 1 ) . Daniel is still serving at the court of Babylon, and significantly, the book still calls him by his charac
teristic service name, Belteshazzar (verse 1 ) . Just a year earlier he had witnessed the return of the exiles back to Jerusalem under the lead
ership of Sheshbazzar (Ezra 1 :8) . Daniel remained behind, however.
It was too late for him. The weight of his 90 years kept him in the land of exile. The prophet of burning hope and ardent prayer was un
able to participate in the fulfillment of his own prophecy (Dan. 9).
But his suffering involved more than mere nostalgia. In less than a year the deepest hopes of the prophet shattered. The vibrant chords of the song of Ezra have died out. Hostile silence greets the joyful cries of the returning exiles. Those left behind in the land hardly expected nor willed the return of the zealous refugees (Ezra 9: 1 , 2). Instead, they make every attempt to undermine the former exiles, employing discouragement, threats, accusatory letters to the
1 57
S e c r e t s o ! D a n i e l
Persian authorities, and corrupting the officiating Temple priests (Ezra 4:4, 5) . Their efforts jeopardized the rebuilding of the Temple.
Hearts once ablaze with hope now bear the ashes of disillusionment.
The news finally reached Daniel. Desperately he fell to his knees:
"At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks" (Dan. 1 0:2). That same anguish he had had two years before, when he had turned to the ancient prophecies of Jeremiah, gripped him again.
In fact, chapter 10 follows the same progression as chapter 9, a the
matic correspondence brought out by the triadic structure of the two chapters. Both chapters begin with a despair that prophecy would not be fulfilled. In both Daniel acts out his grief in a gesture of contrition, and finally, in both cases, the angel Gabriel appears to explain.
I. Fasting on Passover
Daniel fasts for three weeks. Biblical tradition usually required only three days for the act of repentance (Ex. 1 9 : 1 0- 1 5 ; Esther 4: 1 6).
Such is the intensity of his prayer that Daniel multiplies it by seven.
Later Jewish tradition will retain the "three weeks" unit to com
memorate the various tragedies that befell the Jewish people, espe
cially the destruction of the Temple. This period of mourning, also called beyn lzametzarim (literally "between the straits," meaning "in distress") takes place from the seventeenth of Tammuz to the ninth of Av Guly-August) .2
Daniel's prayer and fast takes place, however, in the first month of the year, Nisan, that is, precisely during the time of Passover and of the unleavened bread. He seems to allude to that fact as he feels the need to specify that "no meat or wine touched my lips" (Dan.
1 0:2), which would have been expected in the ritual meals of Passover. Jewish commentators have wondered about this irregular
ity that makes Daniel transgress the commandments of eating the lamb and the four cups of wine. They justify Daniel's decision, how
ever, on the grounds that the interruption of the Temple's con
struction warranted such a response. We find a similar instance of a fast taking place on Passover in Esther 4: 1 6.
A vision comes to Daniel on the twenty-fourth of Nisan, im
mediately after the week of Passover concludes (from the night of
1 58
T h e P r i e s t W i t h l y e s o f f i r e the fourteenth to the twenty-first) . I t is certainly not an accident that the vision occurs against the background of Passover, which cele
brates the deliverance from Egypt and sets the mood for the Promised Land.
II. The Crushing Vision
And indeed the vision that catches Daniel reminds the reader of the one that surprised Joshua right after another Passover celebration Goshua 5: 10- 1 2) as he prepared to enter Canaan. Both Joshua and Daniel introduce their visions with the exact same words: "I looked up and there before me was a man" (Dan. 1 0:5; cf Joshua 5: 13). The
"man" of Joshua's vision identifies Himself as the "commander of the army," sar hatsava Goshua 5 : 1 4, 1 5), an expression that appears only here and in Daniel 8: 1 1 , where the reference is to the heavenly High Priest in the context of the Day of Atonement. While the expression sar hatsava ("the commander of the army") does not occur as such in Daniel 10, yet both words recur separately in its context. The word tsava (army) crops up in the introduction of the chapter (Dan. 1 0: 1) to provide the background and the perspective of the forthcoming revelation. And the word sar (prince) that designates the high priest in Daniel 8 here refers to Michael the fighting prince (Dan. 10: 13, 2 1 ) . Our text of Daniel 10 echoes then Daniel 8: 1 1 and Joshua 5: 14, 1 5 . The "man" of Daniel's vision, the supernatural warrior of Joshua's vision, and the heavenly high priest of Daniel 8 are the same
person. The vision confirms what the linguistic echoes suggest.
It is this High Priest that Daniel sees now in his magnificent ap
parel, complete with linen robe and gold belt (Dan. 1 0:5; cf Lev.
1 6:4, 23; Ex. 28:4, 5, 8) . This priest, however, looks different than any other priest. His whole being seems aflame. The passage com
pares His body to "chrysolite," tarshish, a precious stone coming from Tartessus, Spain, better known as topaz. The being's face shines like "lightning," and his arms and legs are "like the gleam of bur
nished bronze." The eyes flash like "flaming torches," and his voice projects "like the sound of a multitude."
Everything is in the superlative in an attempt to render the Priest's supernatural and extraordinary features. This kind of
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S e c r e t s o ! D a n i e l
Persian authorities, and corrupting the officiating Temple priests (Ezra 4:4, 5) . Their efforts jeopardized the rebuilding of the Temple.
Hearts once ablaze with hope now bear the ashes of disillusionment.
The news finally reached Daniel. Desperately he fell to his knees:
"At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks" (Dan. 1 0:2). That same anguish he had had two years before, when he had turned to the ancient prophecies of Jeremiah, gripped him again.
In fact, chapter 10 follows the same progression as chapter 9, a the
matic correspondence brought out by the triadic structure of the two chapters. Both chapters begin with a despair that prophecy would not be fulfilled. In both Daniel acts out his grief in a gesture of contrition, and finally, in both cases, the angel Gabriel appears to explain.
I. Fasting on Passover
Daniel fasts for three weeks. Biblical tradition usually required only three days for the act of repentance (Ex. 1 9 : 1 0- 1 5 ; Esther 4: 1 6).
Such is the intensity of his prayer that Daniel multiplies it by seven.
Later Jewish tradition will retain the "three weeks" unit to com
memorate the various tragedies that befell the Jewish people, espe
cially the destruction of the Temple. This period of mourning, also called beyn lzametzarim (literally "between the straits," meaning "in distress") takes place from the seventeenth of Tammuz to the ninth of Av Guly-August) .2
Daniel's prayer and fast takes place, however, in the first month of the year, Nisan, that is, precisely during the time of Passover and of the unleavened bread. He seems to allude to that fact as he feels the need to specify that "no meat or wine touched my lips" (Dan.
1 0:2), which would have been expected in the ritual meals of Passover. Jewish commentators have wondered about this irregular
ity that makes Daniel transgress the commandments of eating the lamb and the four cups of wine. They justify Daniel's decision, how
ever, on the grounds that the interruption of the Temple's con
struction warranted such a response. We find a similar instance of a fast taking place on Passover in Esther 4: 1 6.
A vision comes to Daniel on the twenty-fourth of Nisan, im
mediately after the week of Passover concludes (from the night of
1 58
T h e P r i e s t W i t h l y e s o f f i r e the fourteenth to the twenty-first) . I t is certainly not an accident that the vision occurs against the background of Passover, which cele
brates the deliverance from Egypt and sets the mood for the Promised Land.
II. The Crushing Vision
And indeed the vision that catches Daniel reminds the reader of the one that surprised Joshua right after another Passover celebration Goshua 5: 10- 1 2) as he prepared to enter Canaan. Both Joshua and Daniel introduce their visions with the exact same words: "I looked up and there before me was a man" (Dan. 1 0:5; cf Joshua 5: 13). The
"man" of Joshua's vision identifies Himself as the "commander of the army," sar hatsava Goshua 5 : 1 4, 1 5), an expression that appears only here and in Daniel 8: 1 1 , where the reference is to the heavenly High Priest in the context of the Day of Atonement. While the expression sar hatsava ("the commander of the army") does not occur as such in Daniel 10, yet both words recur separately in its context. The word tsava (army) crops up in the introduction of the chapter (Dan. 1 0: 1) to provide the background and the perspective of the forthcoming revelation. And the word sar (prince) that designates the high priest in Daniel 8 here refers to Michael the fighting prince (Dan. 10: 13, 2 1 ) . Our text of Daniel 10 echoes then Daniel 8: 1 1 and Joshua 5: 14, 1 5 . The "man" of Daniel's vision, the supernatural warrior of Joshua's vision, and the heavenly high priest of Daniel 8 are the same
person. The vision confirms what the linguistic echoes suggest.
It is this High Priest that Daniel sees now in his magnificent ap
parel, complete with linen robe and gold belt (Dan. 1 0:5; cf Lev.
1 6:4, 23; Ex. 28:4, 5, 8) . This priest, however, looks different than any other priest. His whole being seems aflame. The passage com
pares His body to "chrysolite," tarshish, a precious stone coming from Tartessus, Spain, better known as topaz. The being's face shines like "lightning," and his arms and legs are "like the gleam of bur
nished bronze." The eyes flash like "flaming torches," and his voice projects "like the sound of a multitude."
Everything is in the superlative in an attempt to render the Priest's supernatural and extraordinary features. This kind of
de-159
S e c r e t s o f D a n i e l
scription appears elsewhere in Scripture. The book of Ezekiel men
tions the same things: lightning (Eze. 1 : 1 4), chrysolite (verse 1 6), burnished bronze (verses 7, 27) , fire (verses 13, 27) , the voice like a multitude (verse 24) . Ezekiel interprets it as "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (verse 28) . This same being reap
pears in the book of Revelation, there also associated with the Passover feast3 and also wearing the same priestly garment, the po deres, 4 with the golden sash (Rev. 1 : 1 3) . There His eyes blaze like fire and His body resembles burnished bronze. Also His voice re
sounds like a multitude (verse 1 5) . In that context, the being identi
fies Himself as divine: "I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades" (verses 1 7, 1 8) . The language used here clearly refers to Jes us Christ, described in the above verses as
"firstborn from the dead" (verse 5), "the Alpha and the Omega"
(verse 8) . Moreover, Daniel's reaction, like that of Ezekiel and John, is one of terror (Dan. 1 0:9, 10; Eze. 1 :28; Rev. 1 : 1 7) . Such parallel imagery outside the book of Daniel indicates that he, like John and Ezekiel, sees a divine being and not just an angel. Even Gabriel does not inflict such terror (Dan. 9:2 1 ) .
The book of Daniel itself identifies the being as the "son o f man"
of Daniel 7: 1 3. Daniel 10:4 uses the ambiguous term "man" to de
scribe Him, a fact further confirmed by the book of Revelation, which explicitly identifies the being depicted in Daniel 10 as the
"son of man" of Daniel 7 (Rev. 1 : 1 3) . Thus the son of man of chap
ter 7, the Prince "High Priest" in chapter 8, and our fiery being in chapter 1 0 all represent the same God-man person who had so ter
rified Daniel, Ezekiel, and John.
Overwhelmed by his extraordinary vision, the prophet is too dis
turbed to even try to understand. Now the familiar angel Gabriel inter
venes to strengthen and comfort Daniel, and to help him understand.
III. The Comforting Vision
In verse 9 the vision switches from sight to sound as Gabriel gives Daniel "insight and understanding" (cf Dan. 8: 1 7-19; 9:21-23) . The messenger from above presents himself in the same terms as those
1 60
T h e P r i e s t W i t h f v e s o f f i r e used in chapter 9 . "Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them" (Dan. 10: 1 2) .
Daniel had barely begun his prayer when already his words were heard. His three weeks of praying and fasting were not even neces
sary. From the first day God had heard his prayer. Scripture does not record the words of such a lengthy prayer, as though to remind the reader of the little value words have before God. The Lord hears the prayer before it is even formulated, let alone embellished by words.
The content of prayer is more important than the form it takes. The words have no power per se. It reminds us of the story of a very pious man who, upon forgetting all his prayers, rushes to the rabbi and cries: "I have forgotten how to pray! What am I to do?" To which the rabbi answers: "Don't worry, just recite the alphabet and the angels will compose for you the most beautiful of prayers." A child's stuttering sometimes speaks louder than the elaborate and eloquent invocations of the great professionals of prayer. God's an
swer depends on neither the quantity nor the quality of words.
But yet another lesson lies hidden behind the angel's words.
During the 2 1 days that Daniel spent praying, Gabriel had been en
gaged in a struggle with "the prince of the Persian kingdom" (verse 1 3)-as though the spiritual struggle experienced by Daniel was somehow related to the conflict between the earthly kingdoms.
Daniel's prayer, which seemed to us so small and futile, had in fact cosmic repercussions. In a way Gabriel seems to contradict himself On the one hand, he implies that Daniel's prayer was wasted, while on the other he admits that it supported him for 2 1 days in his strug
gle with the prince of Persia.
The relation between these two truths seems contradictory and mysterious. The pious works of humanity are worth nothing in and of themselves, but God wills them to affect the course of history.
God has chosen to need humans. Only such downward movement of God, binding heaven to earth, allows hope and faith to subsist.
Life takes on meaning in spite of its absurdities and accidents. In spite of its contingency, existence remains in the divine hands. He will al
ways have the last word.
SOD·6 1 6 1
S e c r e t s o f D a n i e l
scription appears elsewhere in Scripture. The book of Ezekiel men
tions the same things: lightning (Eze. 1 : 1 4), chrysolite (verse 1 6), burnished bronze (verses 7, 27) , fire (verses 13, 27) , the voice like a multitude (verse 24) . Ezekiel interprets it as "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (verse 28) . This same being reap
pears in the book of Revelation, there also associated with the Passover feast3 and also wearing the same priestly garment, the po deres, 4 with the golden sash (Rev. 1 : 1 3) . There His eyes blaze like fire and His body resembles burnished bronze. Also His voice re
sounds like a multitude (verse 1 5) . In that context, the being identi
fies Himself as divine: "I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades" (verses 1 7, 1 8) . The language used here clearly refers to Jes us Christ, described in the above verses as
"firstborn from the dead" (verse 5), "the Alpha and the Omega"
(verse 8) . Moreover, Daniel's reaction, like that of Ezekiel and John, is one of terror (Dan. 1 0:9, 10; Eze. 1 :28; Rev. 1 : 1 7) . Such parallel imagery outside the book of Daniel indicates that he, like John and
(verse 8) . Moreover, Daniel's reaction, like that of Ezekiel and John, is one of terror (Dan. 1 0:9, 10; Eze. 1 :28; Rev. 1 : 1 7) . Such parallel imagery outside the book of Daniel indicates that he, like John and