Daniel 10:15
in Daniel 10While he was speaking these words to me, I set my face toward the ground and became speechless.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when he had spoken unto me according to these words, I set my face toward the ground, and was dumb.
KJV
And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.
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This verse in Daniel 10
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
and became speechless
on Daniel 10:15-17
Daniel sets his face toward the ground and becomes speechless, and “one with the likeness of a man” touches his lips before he can speak. He says, “I am overcome with anguish, and I have no strength,” and asks how a servant can speak with such a lord.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. This vision is dated in the third year of Cyrus, that is, of his reign after the conquest of Babylon, his third year since Daniel became acquainted with him and a subject to him. A general idea of this prophecy (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
) that he set his face towards the ground and became dumb; he was as a man astonished, who knew not what to say, struck dumb with admiration and fear, and was loth to enter into discourse with one so far above him; he kept silence, yea, even from good, till he had recollected himself a little.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And when he had spoken such words unto me,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I set my face toward the ground - He was standing upright, Dan 10:11, and he now bent his body in reverence, and looked down upon the ground. And became dumb - Found himself unable to speak.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And when he had spoken such words ... - Daniel was naturally overcome by the communication which had been made to him. The manner in which the prayer was answered seems to have been entirely different from what he had expected. The presence of a heavenly being; the majesty of his appearance; the assurance that he gave that he had come to answer his prayer; and the fact that he had important revelations to make respecting the future, overcame him, and he laid his face upon the ground in silence.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
for there is yet a vision to tell you what has not yet been told, and it will come in many days at an appointed time.
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. 2 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבְדַבְּר֣וֹ | uvedabero | and when spoke he | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| עִמִּ֔י | ʾimi | with me | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| כַּדְּבָרִ֖ים | kadevarim | according to the words | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הָאֵ֑לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| נָתַ֧תִּי | natati | I put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| פָנַ֛י | fanai | face my | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אַ֖רְצָה | ʾartzah | [the] ground towards | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְנֶאֱלָֽמְתִּי׃ | veneelameti | and I was dumb | H481 → |
וּבְדַבְּר֣וֹand when spoke he
uvedaberoH1696 →1141 times
עִמִּ֔יwith me
ʾimiH5973 →1050 times
כַּדְּבָרִ֖יםaccording to the words
kadevarimH1697 →1440 times
הָאֵ֑לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
נָתַ֧תִּיI put
natatiH5414 →2011 times
פָנַ֛יface my
fanaiH6440 →2123 times
אַ֖רְצָה[the] ground towards
ʾartzahH776 →2504 times
וְנֶאֱלָֽמְתִּי׃and I was dumb
veneelametiH481 →
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
Luke 1:20And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 3:26
I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.
- Ezekiel 24:27
On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that…
- Hebrews 6:18
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- 2 Timothy 2:13
if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
- Ezekiel 3:26
Through
Ezekiel 33:22Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 3:26–27
I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 1:3
the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD’s hand was upon him.
- Ezekiel 24:26–27
on that day a fugitive will come and tell you the news.
- Ezekiel 3:26–27
Through
Daniel 10:9I heard the sound of his words, and as I listened, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.
it leads to
- 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 8:18
Where this verse is studied
About Daniel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.