Daniel 8:18
King James Version (1769)
Other translations
| Verse | KJV | BSB | ASV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright. | 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, | Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright. |
In context
AI-assisted, sourcedDaniel has just seen the vision of the ram and the he goat, and the angel Gabriel is sent to explain it. As Gabriel begins speaking, Daniel falls into a deep sleep with his face to the ground. Gabriel touches him and stands him up so he can hear the meaning. Daniel 8:15Daniel 8:16Daniel 8:17Daniel 8:18Daniel 8:19
SpeakingDaniel tells this in the first person. The one speaking to him and touching him is Gabriel, sent to make him understand the vision. Daniel 8:15Daniel 8:16Daniel 8:17Daniel overview
ToThe book is written for God's people in exile and after it, and for later readers looking to the time of the end. Daniel overview
Also involvedDaniel himself. He is overcome while the angel speaks and is raised up to receive the explanation. Daniel 8:17Daniel 8:18Daniel 8:27
Daniel, already fallen on his face in fear, sinks into a heavy, senseless sleep while Gabriel talks. Gabriel touches him and makes him stand in his place. Then he explains the ram as the kings of Media and Persia and the goat as the king of Grecia. Daniel 8:17Daniel 8:18Daniel 8:20Daniel 8:21Strong's H7290Strong's H5975GStrong's H5977
In the vision Daniel was at Shushan, in the province of Elam, by the river Ulai. The voice that sent Gabriel came from between the banks of the Ulai. Daniel 8:2Daniel 8:16Daniel overview
The eventsThe vision came in the third year of King Belshazzar of Babylon. Daniel 8:1
WrittenTraditional: written by Daniel in the 500s BC. Scholarly: many critical scholars date the book's final form to about 167-164 BC, under Antiochus IV, while others keep the 500s BC date. Daniel overview
HereThe verse shows that Daniel could not take in the message by his own strength. The messenger had to raise him up before the explanation could be given. Daniel 8:18Daniel 8:19Daniel 8:27
In the whole of ScriptureA similar pattern comes in a later vision in Daniel 10. There Daniel loses all strength, and a hand touches him and sets him on his knees; later one like a man touches and strengthens him. Ezekiel too was set on his feet so he could hear the one who spoke. Daniel 10:8Daniel 10:10Daniel 10:18Ezekiel 2:2
For readersGod reveals secrets to those who seek him. Daniel sought the meaning but was too weak to receive it, so the messenger sent to him touched him and raised him up to hear. Daniel overviewDaniel 8:15Daniel 8:16Daniel 8:18Daniel 8:19
- deep sleepרָדַם
The word means to be in heavy sleep or to be unconscious, and here it is glossed "I was dazed." Daniel was not resting. He was overcome, much as he later "fainted, and was sick certain days." Strong's H7290Daniel 8:27Daniel 10:8
- touchedנָגַע
The word means to touch or reach. Touch comes again in Daniel's later vision: a hand sets him on his knees (10:10), his lips are touched so he can speak (10:16), and at last a touch strengthens him (10:18). Strong's H5060Daniel 10:10Daniel 10:16Daniel 10:18
- uprightעֹ֫מֶד
Behind "set me upright" is "he made me stand" plus a word meaning "standing place." Gabriel put Daniel back where he had stood, ready to listen. Strong's H5975GStrong's H5977Daniel 8:17
Takeaway
Daniel was helpless as the messenger spoke, and the messenger sent to make him understand raised him up to hear. His understanding came through the help he was given, not by his own strength, as Ezekiel too was set on his feet to hear. Daniel 8:16Daniel 8:18Daniel 8:19Ezekiel 2:2
Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.
The world around the text
About 605-536 BC. King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). Where Daniel lived and served for about seventy years. The capital of the Babylonian empire, on the Euphrates south of modern Baghdad, in the land the Bible calls Shinar and Chaldea.
Who ruled
- King of BabylonNebuchadnezzar605-562 BC
The king who besieged Jerusalem, carried Daniel and the temple vessels to Babylon, and later destroyed the city and temple. His own building inscriptions boast of the Babylon he built. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 24:12 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 25:1Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- Last king of Babylon, and his son who ruled in his placeNabonidus and Belshazzar556-539 BC
Nabonidus spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar could only offer Daniel the place of "third ruler in the kingdom": he was himself second. Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:7Daniel 5:29Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Verse Account of Nabonidus
- Received the kingdom after Babylon fellDarius the MedianFrom 539 BC
Daniel says he "took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" and set 120 princes over it. Records outside the Bible do not name him; he has been identified with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon, or with Cyrus himself. Daniel 5:31Daniel 6:1Daniel 9:1Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)
- King of PersiaCyrus559-530 BC
He united the Medes and Persians, took Babylon in 539 BC, and let the exiles go home to rebuild the temple, as Isaiah had named him beforehand. Daniel 1:21Daniel 6:28Daniel 10:1Ezra 1:1-4Isaiah 44:28-45:1Cyrus Cylinder
- King of JudahJehoiakim609-598 BC
Judah's king when Daniel was taken. Jeremiah warned him and his people that the land would serve Babylon seventy years. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 23:36-24:6Jeremiah 25:1-11
What was happening, 612 BC to 167 BC
- 612 BCWarNineveh falls
Babylon and the Medes destroyed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as Nahum and Zephaniah had foretold. Babylon became the great power of the region. Nahum 3:7Zephaniah 2:13Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)
- 605 BCWarBattle of Carchemish
Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates, in Jehoiakim's fourth year. The same year he came against Jerusalem and took the first captives, Daniel among them. Jeremiah 46:2Daniel 1:1-4Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 597 BCWarJerusalem surrenders
Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his nobles and craftsmen to Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel went into exile with them. 2 Kings 24:10-17Ezekiel 1:2Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 586 BCWarJerusalem and the temple destroyed
Babylon's army burned the temple and the city and broke down its walls. Daniel later prays over "the desolations of Jerusalem" and asks God to shine on his "sanctuary that is desolate." 2 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 52:12-14Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17
- c. 575 BCBuildingBabylon rebuilt in splendor
Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great walls, palaces and the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate, and his inscriptions praise his own work. Compare his boast: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?" Daniel 4:30Nebuchadnezzar's East India House InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 1.178-183
- 562 BCRulersNebuchadnezzar dies
His son Evil-merodach became king and released Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 2 Kings 25:27-30Jeremiah 52:31-34
- c. 553-543 BCRulersNabonidus leaves Babylon to Belshazzar
King Nabonidus stayed at Tema in Arabia for about ten years, and the yearly New Year festival in Babylon was not held. Belshazzar governed in Babylon. Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Daniel 5:1Daniel 7:1
- 550 BCWarCyrus unites the Medes and Persians
Cyrus of Persia defeated Astyages king of the Medes, joining the two peoples in one kingdom. Daniel's vision names the ram's two horns as "the kings of Media and Persia," the higher coming up last. Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:20Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.127-130
- October 539 BCWarBabylon falls to Cyrus
Cyrus's army entered Babylon without a long siege. Herodotus says the people were feasting when the city was taken. Daniel records that "in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.191Cyrus Cylinder
- 538 BCGod's peopleCyrus lets the exiles return
In his first year over Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could go back and build the LORD's house in Jerusalem. Daniel "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Ezra 1:1-42 Chronicles 36:22-23Daniel 1:21Cyrus Cylinder
- c. 536 BCGod's peopleThe temple's foundation is laid
The returned exiles rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple. In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel was still in the east, mourning and praying. Ezra 3:1-11Daniel 10:1-3
- 334-331 BCWarAlexander the Great conquers Persia
Alexander of Macedon crossed into Asia and overthrew the Persian empire within four years. Daniel 8:21 names the rough goat as "the king of Grecia" and its great horn as "the first king." Daniel 8:5-8Daniel 8:21Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1-3
- 323-301 BCWarAlexander's empire is divided
Alexander died young, and after twenty years of war his generals divided his empire, chiefly into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:22 says "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8Daniel 8:22Daniel 11:4Diodorus Siculus, Library 18-20Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30
- 167 BCWarAntiochus IV defiles the temple
The Greek king Antiochus IV banned Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering. 1 Maccabees calls it "the abomination of desolation." Two centuries later Jesus spoke of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" as still to come. 1 Maccabees 1:54-59Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4Matthew 24:15
The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records of these years (the Babylonian Chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Diodorus, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.
Original Hebrew words
| English | Hebrew | Say it | Strong's | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| and when spoke he | וּבְדַבְּר֣וֹ | u-ve-da-be-RO | H1696G | to speak: speakדָבַר (da.var) : speak/tell/command 1) to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing 1a) (Qal) to speak 1b) (Niphal) to speak with one another, talk 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to speak 1c2) to promise 1d) (Pual) to be spoken 1e) (Hithpael) to speak 1f) (Hiphil) to lead away, put to flight |
| with me | עִמִּ֔י | 'i-MI | H5973A | withעִם (im) 1) with 1a) with 1b) against 1c) toward 1d) as long as |
| I was dazed | נִרְדַּ֥מְתִּי | nir-DAM-ti | H7290 | to sleepרָדַם (ra.dam) (Niphal) to be asleep, be unconscious, be in heavy sleep, fall into heavy sleep, be fast asleep |
| on | עַל־ | 'al- | H5921A | uponעַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) … |
| face my | פָּנַ֖י | pa-NAI | H6440H | face: beforeפָּנֶה (pa.neh) : before/to/front 1) face 1a) face, faces 1b) presence, person 1c) face (of seraphim or cherubim) 1d) face (of animals) 1e) face, surface (of ground) 1f) as adv of loc/temp 1f1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before 1g) with prep 1g1) in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of |
| [the] ground towards | אָ֑רְצָה | 'A-re-tzah | H0776H | earth: soilאֲרַע (a.ra) : soil earth, world, ground Aramaic of e.rets (אֶ֫רֶץ ": soil" H0776H) |
| and he touched | וַיִּ֨גַּע־ | vai-YI-ga'- | H5060 | to touchנָגַע (na.ga) 1) to touch, reach, strike 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to touch 1a2) to strike 1a3) to reach, extend to 1a4) to be stricken 1a4a) stricken (participle) 1b) (Niphal) to be stricken, be defeated 1c) (Piel) to strike 1d) (Pual) to be stricken (by disease) 1e) (Hiphil) to cause to touch, reach, approach, arrive 1e1) to cause to touch, apply 1e2) to reach, extend, attain, arrive, come 1e3) to approach (of time) 1e4) to befall (of fate) |
| and he made stand me | וַיַּֽעֲמִידֵ֖נִי | vai-ya-'a-mi-DE-ni | H5975G | to stand: standעָמַד (a.mad) : stand/stop/establish 1) to stand, remain, endure, take one's stand 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to stand, take one's stand, be in a standing attitude, stand forth, take a stand, present oneself, attend upon, be or become servant of 1a2) to stand still, stop (moving or doing), cease 1a3) to tarry, delay, remain, continue, abide, endure, persist, be steadfast 1a4) to make a stand, hold one's ground 1a5) to stand upright, remain standing, stand up, rise, be erect, be upright 1a6) to arise, appear, come on the scene, stand forth, appear, rise up or against … |
| on | עַל־ | 'al- | H5921A | uponעַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) … |
| standing place my | עָמְדִֽי׃ | 'a-me-DI | H5977 | postעֹ֫מֶד (o.med) standing place |
Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.