Daniel 7:15
in Daniel 7I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit, and the visions in my mind alarmed me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.
KJV
I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.
⋯
This verse in Daniel 7
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I Daniel was grieved in my spirit - That is, I was troubled; or my heart was made heavy and sad. This was probably in part because he did not fully understand the meaning of the vision, and partly on account of the fearful and momentous nature of what was indicated by it. So the apostle John Rev 5:4 says, “And I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book.” In the midst of my body - Margin, as in the Chaldee, sheath.
This site's exposition
grieved in my spirit
on Daniel 7:15-18
Daniel is grieved in his spirit at what he has seen and asks one of those standing by for the interpretation, and the answer is given in miniature before the fuller unpacking that follows: the four beasts are four kings, but the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom and possess it for ever, even for ever and ever. Henry reads the doubled for ever as the vision's own answer to the beasts' apparent permanence, kingdoms that looked unshakable in their hour proving temporary against a kingdom given to God's people that does not. The saints here are read across the tradition as either Israel specifically or the whole company of the redeemed, a question the exposition leaves open as the text itself leaves it, without a house verdict.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
But if so great a power is shown to have followed and to be still following the dispensation of His suffering, how great shall that be which shall follow His glorious advent! For He shall come on the clouds as the Son of man, so Daniel foretold, and His angels shall come with Him. These are the words: [quotes Daniel 7:9-28]
Quite understandably, given what things he had seen. He is the first and only one to see the Father and the Son as in a vision.… When the advent of our Lord was soon drawing near, quite appropriately marvelous visions also appeared.
But now the powerful beast is not one nation, but it is of many tongues and it gathers to itself from many races of men and prepares an army in a line of battle, and all are called Romans, though all are not from one country. So that the prophet was rightly amazed and foreseeing what was to come, he did not name from what country the beast was from, but he was amazed, saying, "My spirit shuddered in my being, I Daniel, and the visions of my head confused me.
A commentator
Hippolytus of RomeHippolytus Exegetical Fragments - Of the visions of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar · Written before 235.
proposed
1. In speaking of a "lioness from the sea," he meant the rising of the kingdom of Babylon, and that this was the "golden head of the image." And in speaking of its "eagle wings," be meant that king Nebuchadnezzar was exalted and that his glory was lifted up against God. Then he says "its wings were plucked off," i.e., that his glory was destroyed; for he was driven out of his kingdom. And the words, "A man's heart was given it, and it was made stand upon the feet of a man," mean that he came to himself again, and recognised that he was but a man, and gave the glory to God. Then after the lioness he sees a second beast, "like a bear," which signified the Persians. For after the Babylonians the Persians obtained the power. And in saying that "it had three ribs in its mouth," he pointed to the three nations, Persians, Medes, and Babylonians, which were expressed in the image by the silver after the gold. Then comes the third beast, "a leopard," which means the Greeks; for after the Persians, Alexander of Macedon had the power, when Darius was overthrown, which was also indicated by the brass in the image. And in saying that the beast "had four wings of a fowl, and four heads," he showed most clearly how the kingdom of Alexander was parted into four divisions. For in speaking of four heads, he meant the four kings that arose out of it. For Alexander, when dying, divided his kingdom into four parts. Then he says, "The fourth beast (was) dreadful and terrible: it had iron teeth, and claws of brass." Who, then, are meant by this but the Romans, whose kingdom, the kingdom that still stands, is expressed by the iron? "for," says he, "its legs are of iron." 2. After this, then, what remains, beloved, but the toes of the feet of the image, in which "part shall be of iron and part of clay mixed together? […]
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): I Daniel was grieved in my spirit, in the midst of my body. The word here used for the body properly signifies a sheath or scabbard, for the body is no more to the soul; that is the weapon; it is that which we are principally to take care of.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body,....
Belshazzar's name here is, in the original, spelt differently from what it used to be; before it was Bel-she-azar--Bel is he that treasures up riches.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I Daniel was grieved, etc. - The words in the original are uncommonly emphatic. My spirit was grieved, or sickened, בגו נדנה bego nidneh, within its sheath or scabbard. Which I think proves, 1. That the human spirit is different from the body. 2. That it has a proper subsistence independently of the body, which is only its sheath for a certain time. 3. That the spirit may exist independently of its body, as the sword does independently of its sheath.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And He gave him dominion And to that man He gave dominion over the nations, for the heathens he likens to beasts, and Israel he likens to a man because they are humble and innocent.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶתְכְּרִיַּ֥ת | ʾetkeriyat | it was distressed | H3735 → | |
| רוּחִ֛י | ruchi | spirit my | H7308 → | 11 times |
| אֲנָ֥ה | ʾanah | I | H576 → | 16 times |
| דָנִיֵּ֖אל | daniyel | Daniel | H1841 → | 57 times |
| בְּג֣וֹא | bego' | in [the] midst of | H1459 → | 13 times |
| נִדְנֶ֑ה | nidneh | [the] sheath | H5085 → | |
| וְחֶזְוֵ֥י | vechezvei | and [the] visions of | H2376 → | 12 times |
| רֵאשִׁ֖י | reshi | head my | H7217 → | 14 times |
| יְבַהֲלֻנַּֽנִי׃ | yevahalunani | they alarmed me | H927 → | 11 times |
אֶתְכְּרִיַּ֥תit was distressed
ʾetkeriyatH3735 →
רוּחִ֛יspirit my
ruchiH7308 →11 times
אֲנָ֥הI
ʾanahH576 →16 times
דָנִיֵּ֖אלDaniel
daniyelH1841 →57 times
בְּג֣וֹאin [the] midst of
bego'H1459 →13 times
נִדְנֶ֑ה[the] sheath
nidnehH5085 →
וְחֶזְוֵ֥יand [the] visions of
vechezveiH2376 →12 times
רֵאשִׁ֖יhead my
reshiH7217 →14 times
יְבַהֲלֻנַּֽנִי׃they alarmed me
yevahalunaniH927 →11 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 7:28Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”
it leads to
- Luke 2:51
Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
- Luke 2:19
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
- Daniel 4:19
For a time, Daniel, who was also known as Belteshazzar, was perplexed, and his thoughts alarmed him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.” “My lord,”…
- Luke 2:51
Through
Daniel 7:1In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this…
it leads to
- Daniel 5:1
Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
- Jeremiah 23:28
Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.
- Joel 2:28
And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
- Daniel 1:17
To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. And Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.
- Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.
- Daniel 5:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies21
On this verse
On this chapter
- The Son of Man in 1 Enoch
- Angelology
- Antichrist (the Word and the Figure)
- Apocalyptic Literature
- The Beast and the False Prophet
- The Major Prophets
- Revelation, the Canon's Closing Scroll
- Fire
- Jesus: Titles & Roles
- John on Patmos, Revelation 1
- Rome
- The Fourth Man in the Fire: Daniel 3
- The Ascension: Acts 1:1-11 · Luke 24:50-53
- The Horn
- The Throne
- The Throne Room
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); Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 4.8.7-9; Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments - Of the visions of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 7:7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter XXXI and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
