Daniel 10:17
in Daniel 10How can I, your servant, speak with you, my lord? Now I have no strength, nor is any breath left in me.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither was there breath left in me.
KJV
For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.
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This verse in Daniel 10
Commentary
10 notes on this verseLet no one think that the one who appeared to Daniel was the Lord because Daniel addressed him as "lord." For Daniel at the end of the vision said, "He stretched out his hand to the heaven and swore by the living God," confessing candidly …
This 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.
This site's exposition
How can I, your servant
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, following Maurer, set the weak servant against the great lord as the cause of Daniel's anguish. Theodoret warned against reading lord as a sign of God, since this man later swears by the living God. Adam Clarke says Daniel had no breath left.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 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
), like one half dead with the fright, he complains, "As for me, straightway there remained no strength in me to receive these displays of the divine glory and these discoveries of the divine will; nay, there is no breath left in me. " Such a deliquium did he suffer that he could not draw one breath after another, but panted and languished, and was in a manner breathless.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
How shall we that are dust and ashes speak to the Lord of glory? The blessed angel that was employed by Christ to converse with him gave him all the encouragement and comfort that could be. It should seem, it was not he whose glory he saw in vision (
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For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
this . . . this my lord--to avoid the tautology in English Version, join rather "this," with "servant," "How can this servant of my lord (that is, how can I who am so feeble) talk with this my lord (who is so majestic)?" Thus Daniel gives the reason why he is so overwhelmed with awe [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Neither is there breath - He could not breathe freely; he was almost suffocated with sorrow.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For how card the servant of this my lord - Acknowledging his humble and lowly condition and rank in the presence of an angel - a messenger now sent from heaven. Neither is there breath left in me - That is, he was utterly overcome and prostrate. He felt that he was incapable of speaking in the presence of one who tied descended from God.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֵ֣יךְ | veheikh | and how? | H1963 → | |
| יוּכַ֗ל | yukhal | is he able | H3201 → | |
| עֶ֤בֶד | ʾeved | [the] servant of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֲדֹנִי֙ | ʾadoni | lord my | H113 → | 333 times |
| זֶ֔ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| לְדַבֵּ֖ר | ledaber | to speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אֲדֹ֣נִי | ʾadoni | lord my | H113 → | 333 times |
| זֶ֑ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וַאֲנִ֤י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| מֵעַ֙תָּה֙ | meatah | from now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲמָד־ | yaamod- | it remains | H5975 → | 521 times |
| בִּ֣י | bi | in me | ||
| כֹ֔חַ | khoach | strength | H3581 → | 126 times |
| וּנְשָׁמָ֖ה | uneshamah | and breath | H5397 → | |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נִשְׁאֲרָה־ | nisharah- | it is left | H7604 → | 133 times |
| בִֽי׃ | vi | in me |
וְהֵ֣יךְand how?
veheikhH1963 →
יוּכַ֗לis he able
yukhalH3201 →
עֶ֤בֶד[the] servant of
ʾevedH5650 →799 times
אֲדֹנִי֙lord my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
זֶ֔הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
לְדַבֵּ֖רto speak
ledaberH1696 →1141 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
אֲדֹ֣נִיlord my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
זֶ֑הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
וַאֲנִ֤יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
מֵעַ֙תָּה֙from now
meatahH6258 →433 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲמָד־it remains
yaamod-H5975 →521 times
בִּ֣יin me
bi
כֹ֔חַstrength
khoachH3581 →126 times
וּנְשָׁמָ֖הand breath
uneshamahH5397 →
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נִשְׁאֲרָה־it is left
nisharah-H7604 →133 times
בִֽי׃in me
vi
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
John 1:18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:15
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- John 6:46
not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.
- Matthew 11:27
All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses…
- Luke 10:22
All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to…
- 1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
- Colossians 1:15
Through
Judges 6:22When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
it leads to
- Genesis 32:30
So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
- Exodus 33:20
But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”
- Deuteronomy 5:26
For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived?
- Genesis 32:30
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 10:16-17.