Daniel 10:5
in Daniel 10I lifted up my eyes, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of Uphaz:
KJV
Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
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This verse in Daniel 10
Commentary
9 notes on this verseVerse 5. "And I lifted my eyes and saw." We must lift up our eyes if we are to be able to discern a mystical vision. "And behold, a person clothed in linen." Instead of "linen," as Aquila rendered it, Theodotion simply puts baddim, whereas the Septuagint renders it as byssus, and Symmachus as exaireta (choice vestments), that is, "distinguished clothing" (praecipua).
This site's exposition
the great river, which is Hiddekel
on Daniel 10:4-6
By the great river Hiddekel, the Tigris, a man clothed in linen appears, girded with gold, his body like beryl, his face as lightning, his eyes as lamps of fire, his arms and feet like polished brass, his voice like a multitude, a description the bench reads as the most exalted angelic appearance in the book. The commentators divide on his identity: many, Calvin and Keil among them, read him as Gabriel continuing the angelic ministry of chapters eight and nine, while others weigh the sheer glory of the description against a lesser messenger and hold the question open. The same vocabulary of eyes like fire and feet like burning brass returns for the glorified Christ at Rev 1:14-15, a parallel the older commentators note without claiming Daniel's man in linen and John's risen Lord are one and the same figure.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And I lifted," he says, "my eyes and I saw, and behold, one man clothed in linen." And so in the first vision he says, "Behold, the angel Gabriel came flying," [Daniel 9:21] Here however he does not speak in this way, but he sees the Lord himself, not yet perfectly man, but appearing in the shape of a man just as he says, "And behold, one man clothed in linen." [Daniel 10:5] For Christ being clothed with many cloaks of mystery, points out the manifold calling of gifts. Because the priestly cloak was equipped from different gifts in order to indicate that many nations await the advent of Christ, so that with many gifts we may be able to be equipped. "And his loins were girt in the gold of Ophaz." [Daniel 10:5] Ophaz from the Hebrew indicates, having been translated into Greek, "pure gold." And so purity was around his loins like his belt. For the Word is about to bear all of us around his own body with his own love, as a strong belt. For his own body was itself perfect and we are its members, and have been united in a perfect body and are embraced by his word.
[The Hebrew word] baddim means an intricately woven cloak, just as believers, whom Christ wears as a robe, are eminent in the weave of virtues. God puts on the faithful and girds them with the precious and pure gospel so that they might believe in …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
) that here touched him, and talked with him; that was Christ, but this seems to have been the angel Gabriel, whom Christ had once before ordered to instruct Daniel, ch. viii. That glorious appearance (as that of the God of glory to Abraham, Acts vii. 2 ) was to give authority and to gain attention to what the angel should say.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked,....
The encouragement that was given him to expect such a discovery of future events as should be satisfactory and useful both to others and to himself, and that he should be enabled both to understand the meaning of this discovery, though difficult, and to bear up under the lustre of it, though dazzling and dreadful,
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked ... - While he was engaged in devotion. What is here said would lead us to suppose that he had been occupied in deep thought and meditation, perhaps with his eyes fixed on the ground. Behold, a certain man clothed in linen - One who had the form and appearance of a man. The subsequent disclosures showed that he was an angel, but when angels have appeared on earth they have commonly assumed the human form.
Clothed in linen - The description is intended to point out the splendor of the garments. Gold of Uphaz - The same as Ophir.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֶשָּׂ֤א | vaesa' | and I lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֵינַי֙ | ʾeinai | eyes my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וָאֵ֔רֶא | vaere' | and I saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֥ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אִישׁ־ | ʾish- | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶחָ֖ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| לָב֣וּשׁ | lavush | clothed | H3847 → | 110 times |
| בַּדִּ֑ים | badim | linen<s> | H906 → | 23 times |
| וּמָתְנָ֥יו | umatenav | and loins his | H4975 → | |
| חֲגֻרִ֖ים | chagurim | [were] girded | H2296 → | |
| בְּכֶ֥תֶם | bekhetem | with [the] gold of | H3800 → | |
| אוּפָֽז׃ | ʾufaz | Uphaz | H210 → |
וָאֶשָּׂ֤אand I lifted up
vaesa'H5375 →656 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֵינַי֙eyes my
ʾeinaiH5869 →887 times
וָאֵ֔רֶאand I saw
vaere'H7200 →1300 times
וְהִנֵּ֥הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
אִישׁ־a man
ʾish-H376 →1663 times
אֶחָ֖דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
לָב֣וּשׁclothed
lavushH3847 →110 times
בַּדִּ֑יםlinen<s>
badimH906 →23 times
וּמָתְנָ֥יוand loins his
umatenavH4975 →
חֲגֻרִ֖ים[were] girded
chagurimH2296 →
בְּכֶ֥תֶםwith [the] gold of
bekhetemH3800 →
אוּפָֽז׃Uphaz
ʾufazH210 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 10:9Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
it leads to
- Psalms 115:4
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- 1 Kings 10:22
For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
- Isaiah 40:19
To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
- Psalms 115:4
Through
Ezekiel 9:2And I saw six men coming from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces north, each with a weapon of slaughter in his hand. With them was another man clothed in linen who…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 10:2
And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And…
- Leviticus 16:4
He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments. He must tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy garments, and he must bathe himself…
- Revelation 15:6
And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean and bright linen and girded with golden sashes around their chests.
- 2 Kings 15:35
Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD.
- Ezekiel 10:6–7
When the LORD commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.
- Ezekiel 10:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Daniel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ammonius of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON DANIEL 10:5; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 4.36.5-37.2; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TEN; John Calvin, Commentary on the Prophet Daniel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.