The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible Daniel 10:7
And I Daniel alone saw the vision…
The object or person
described; though he was not alone when he saw it, yet he alone saw it;
the eyes of his body and mind being quicker than the rest, the Lord
strengthening and enlightening both; for this was a peculiar and
distinguishing favour granted to him:
for the men that were with me saw not the vision;
at least not so
clearly and distinctly as Daniel did; they might have some confused
sight of an object that appeared very terrible; but, being struck with
consternation, they had not presence of mind to look at it; and so
could neither form nor retain scarce any idea of it: or their eyes
might be held, and their sight clouded; or be stricken with a kind of
blindness, or want of sight for a time, as the men of Sodom were; or
the object was of such a nature, that without special illumination it
could not be seen: the like happened to Elisha's young man, who saw not
the chariots and horses of fire the prophet did, and to the men that
were with the Apostle Paul, (2 Kings 6:17) (Acts 9:7) , who these men were, that
were with Daniel, is not material to know; whether they were his three
companions, who had been cast into the fiery furnace; or the Prophets
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, as Jarchi and Saadiah say from their
Rabbins F18; neither of which are likely, since these, being good men
and prophets, would doubtless have been favoured with the same vision:
but rather they were the servants of Daniel, who waited upon him, he
being now a great man in the Persian court; and these men being very
likely Heathens, profane and unregenerate men, were not fit and
prepared to see such a vision:
but a great quaking fell upon them:
or "for", so Noldius; giving a
reason why they saw not, because or the great fear and trembling upon
them; either at the glimmering sight of this strange appearance, which
they knew not what to make of; or rather at the sound of his voice,
which was so very loud and terrible:
so that they fled to hide themselves;
among the trees that grew upon
the banks of the Tigris, as Adam among the trees of the garden; or in
some wood or forest hard by; or in some caves and dens, which might be
near at hand: this not only shows the confusion and consternation they
were in, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it,
they fled with terror;
or
through it,
as the Syriac version; but serves to confirm the truth of
the vision, that it was not a mere fancy and imagination of Daniel.
FOOTNOTES:
F18 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 93. 2.
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