Daniel 12:5
in Daniel 12Then I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing there, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then I, Daniel, looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on the brink of the river on this side, and the other on the brink of the river on that side.
KJV
Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
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This verse in Daniel 12
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Then I Daniel looked - My attention was attracted in a new direction. Hitherto, it would seem, it had been fixed on the angel, and on what he was saying. The angel now informed him that he had closed his communication, and Daniel was now attracted by a new heavenly vision. And, behold, there stood other two - Two other angels. The connection requires us to understand this of angels, though they are not expressly called so.
This site's exposition
there stood other two
on Daniel 12:5-7
Daniel sees two others standing at the river's opposite banks, and one asks the man clothed in linen how long it shall be to the end of these wonders. The answer comes as an oath, sworn by him that liveth for ever, that it shall be for a time, times, and an half, until the power of the holy people is fully scattered. The same phrase, a time, times and half a time, returns at Revelation 12:14 for the woman fled into the wilderness, and the commentators read Daniel's chapters and John's as speaking one language of an appointed limit even where neither names a shared date.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
That is, when that angel, who talked to me, left, and appeared to have entered the riverbed, to look for a place to ford. Suddenly two others appeared, standing on the opposite banks. Therefore the angel, while he proceeded in the riverbed and trod the …
Verses 5-6. "And I Daniel looked, and behold as it were two other persons were standing, one on this side upon the river-bank, and the other upon that side, on the other bank of the river. And I said to the man that was clothed in linen, that stood upon the waters of the river, 'How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?'" Daniel saw two angels standing on either side upon the bank of the river of Babylon.
After these things were spoken in this way, Daniel says, "And I saw, and behold, two other men were standing, one on the side of the bank of the river and one on the other side of the bank of the river and they answered to the man who stood above the water of the river and they said to him, 'When will be the end of the wondrous words which you have spoken?' And I heard the man who was clothed in linen, who was above the water of the river and he raised his right and his left hand to heaven and swore by him who lives for ever that in time and times and half of the time, when the dispersion is consummated, they will know all these things." [Daniel 12:5-7] And so who were the two men who were standing alongside the bank of the river except the law and the prophets? And who was the one who stood above the water except he himself, concerning whom they themselves heralded long ago, who was destined to be visibly testified by the Father at the Jordan in the end and to be shown to the people in openness by John, who carries the ink of a scribe and linen around his loins and being dressed with a multicolored tunic. These, seeing him, learned that to him was given all rule and authority, so that they understood exactly concerning him, when he is about to bring judgment to the world and when what was spoken by him shall be fulfilled. But he, wishing to persuade these according to every way, raised his right hand and his left hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Concerning this we may observe, 1. Who it was that asked the question. Daniel had had a vision of Christ in his glory, the man clothed in linen, ch. x.
), two angels that he had not seen before, one upon the bank of the river on one side and the other on the other side, that, the river being between them, they might not whisper to one another, but what they said might be heard. Christ stood on the waters of the river, (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Behold there stood other two - Probably two angels. We know no more of them, unless they be the same as those called saints, Dan 8:13 (note), which see. The river was most likely the Tigris.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְרָאִ֙יתִי֙ | veraiti | and I saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| דָנִיֵּ֔אל | daniyel | Daniel | H1840 → | 24 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֛ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| שְׁנַ֥יִם | shenayim | two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| אֲחֵרִ֖ים | ʾacherim | others | H312 → | |
| עֹמְדִ֑ים | ʾomedim | [were] standing | H5975 → | 521 times |
| אֶחָ֥ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| הֵ֙נָּה֙ | henah | here | H2008 → | |
| לִשְׂפַ֣ת | lisfat | to [the] bank of | H8193 → | 176 times |
| הַיְאֹ֔ר | hayor | the River | H2975 → | 65 times |
| וְאֶחָ֥ד | veechad | and one | H259 → | 971 times |
| הֵ֖נָּה | henah | here | H2008 → | |
| לִשְׂפַ֥ת | lisfat | to [the] bank of | H8193 → | 176 times |
| הַיְאֹֽר׃ | hayor | the River | H2975 → | 65 times |
וְרָאִ֙יתִי֙and I saw
veraitiH7200 →1300 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
דָנִיֵּ֔אלDaniel
daniyelH1840 →24 times
וְהִנֵּ֛הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
שְׁנַ֥יִםtwo
shenayimH8147 →768 times
אֲחֵרִ֖יםothers
ʾacherimH312 →
עֹמְדִ֑ים[were] standing
ʾomedimH5975 →521 times
אֶחָ֥דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
הֵ֙נָּה֙here
henahH2008 →
לִשְׂפַ֣תto [the] bank of
lisfatH8193 →176 times
הַיְאֹ֔רthe River
hayorH2975 →65 times
וְאֶחָ֥דand one
veechadH259 →971 times
הֵ֖נָּהhere
henahH2008 →
לִשְׂפַ֥תto [the] bank of
lisfatH8193 →176 times
הַיְאֹֽר׃the River
hayorH2975 →65 times
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
Daniel 10:10Suddenly, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 1:9
Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 1:17
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
- Daniel 8:18
While he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, helped me to my feet,
- Daniel 10:18
Again the one with the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me.
- Daniel 10:16
And suddenly one with the likeness of a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and said to the one standing before me, “My lord, because of the vision, I am overcome…
- Jeremiah 1:9
Through
Daniel 10:16And suddenly one with the likeness of a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and said to the one standing before me, “My lord, because of the vision, I am overcome…
it leads to
- Isaiah 6:7
And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”
- Daniel 8:15
While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.
- Daniel 8:27
I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.
- Isaiah 6:7
Where this verse is studied
About Daniel

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 12:5; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 4.56.1-5; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWELVE; John Calvin, Commentary on the Prophet Daniel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
