Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 8:2

"And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai." — Daniel 8:2 (ASV)

And I saw in a vision - I looked as the vision appeared to me; or I saw certain things represented to me in a vision. For more on the word "vision," see the notes on Daniel 1:17. The meaning here seems to be that a vision appeared to Daniel, and he contemplated it earnestly to understand what it meant.

That I was at Shushan - As remarked in the introduction to this chapter, this might mean that he seemed to be there, or that the vision was represented to him as being there; but the most natural construction is to suppose that Daniel was actually there himself. He has not directly informed us why he was there—whether on public or personal business. However, from Daniel 8:27—Afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business—it seems most probable that he was then in the king's service. This supposition does not conflict with the statement in Daniel 5:10-11, where the queen mother, when the handwriting appeared on the palace wall, informs Belshazzar that there was a man in his kingdom in whom was the spirit of the holy gods, etc. From this, one might object that Daniel was unknown to the king at that time and could not have been in his employ. However, it could be that he was employed by the king as a government officer, yet his power to disclose the meaning of visions had been forgotten.

He may have been employed in public service, but his services to the king's father and his extraordinary skill in interpreting dreams and visions may not have immediately occurred to the frightened monarch and his courtiers. Shushan, or Susa, the chief town of Susiana, was the capital of Persia after the time of Cyrus, where the Persian kings had their principal residence (Nehemiah 1:1; Esther 1:2–5). It was situated on the Eulaeus or Choaspes, probably on the spot now occupied by the village Shus (Rennel, Geography of Herodotus; Kinneir, Memoir of the Persian Empire; K. Porter’s Travels, ii. 4, 11; Ritter, Erdkunde, Asien, 9:294; Pictorial Bible, in loc.).

At Shus there are extensive ruins, perhaps stretching twelve miles from one extremity to the other. Like other ruins in that country, they consist of hillocks of earth and rubbish, covered with broken pieces of brick and colored tile. At the foot of these mounds is the so-called tomb of Daniel, a small building erected on the spot where the remains of Daniel are believed in that region to rest. It is apparently modern, but only the belief that this was the site of the prophet’s tomb could have led to its being built where it stands (Malcolm, History of Persia, i, 255, 256). The city of Shus is now a gloomy wilderness, inhabited by lions, hyenas, and other beasts of prey (Kitto’s Cyclopedia, article “Shushan”).

Sir John Kinneir says that the dread of these animals compelled Mr. Monteith and himself to take shelter for the night within the walls that encompass Daniel’s tomb. Of that tomb, Sir John Malcolm says, “It is a small building, but sufficient to shelter some dervishes who watch the remains of the prophet and are supported by the alms of pious pilgrims who visit the holy tomb. The dervishes are now the only inhabitants of Susa; and every species of wild beast roams at large over the spot on which some of the proudest palaces ever raised by human art once stood” (Volume i, pages 255, 256). For a description of the ruins of Susa, see Pictorial Bible, in loc.

This city was about 450 Roman miles from Seleucia and, according to Pliny (6:27), was built in a square of about 120 stadia. It was the summer residence of the Persian kings (Cyropaedia 8.6.10), as they spent the spring in Ecbatana, and the autumn and winter in Babylon. See Lengerke, in loc. It was in this city that Alexander the Great married Stateira, daughter of Darius Codomanus. The name means 'lily' and was probably given to it because of its beauty (Lengerke). Rosenmuller supposes that the vision is represented as appearing to Daniel in this city because it would be the future capital of Persia, and because so much of the vision pertained to Persia. See Maurer, in loc.

In the palace - This word (בירה bı̂yrâh) means a fortress, a castle, or a fortified palace (Gesenius). See Nehemiah 1:1; Esther 1:5; Esther 2:5; Esther 8:14; Esther 9:6, 11-12. It seems to have been given to the city because it was a fortified place. The word applied not only to the palace proper, a royal residence, but to the whole adjacent city. It is not necessary to suppose that Daniel was in the palace proper, but only that he was in the city to which the name was given.

Which is in the province of Elam - See the notes on Isaiah 11:11. This province was bounded on the east by Persia Proper, on the west by Babylonia, on the north by Media, and on the south by the Persian Gulf. It was about half as large as Persia and not quite as large as England (Kitto’s Cyclopedia). It was probably conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. In the time of Belshazzar, it was subject to Babylonian dominion. Shushan had doubtless been the capital of the kingdom of Elam while it remained a separate kingdom. It continued as the capital of the province while under the Babylonian yoke, until Cyrus subdued it as part of the empire. It was then made one of the capitals of the united Medo-Persian empire. It was when Shushan was the capital of a province that Daniel visited it and saw the vision there. Possibly, he may have lived there subsequently and died there.

And I was by the river of Ulai - This river flowed by the city of Shushan, or Susa, and emptied into the united stream of the Tigris and Euphrates. Pliny (Natural History 6.81) calls it Eulaeus, but Greek writers generally describe it under the name of Choaspes (Herodotus 5.49; Strabo 15, page 728). It is now known by the name Kerah, called by the Turks Karasu. It passes west of the ruins of Shus (Susa) and enters the Shat-ul-Arab about twenty miles below Korna (Kinneir, Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire, pages 96, 97). See Kitto’s Cyclopedia, article “Ulai.”