John Calvin Commentary Daniel 10:16-18

"And, behold, one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by reason of the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I retain no strength. 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. Then there touched me again one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me." — Daniel 10:16-18 (ASV)

Daniel here narrates how the angel who inflicted the wound also brought the remedy at the same time. Though he had been cast down by fear, yet the touch of the angel raised him up—not because there was any virtue in the mere touch, but because we know the use of symbols to be keenly encouraged by God, as we have previously observed.

Thus, the angel raised the Prophet not only by his voice but also by his touch. From this, we gather the oppressive nature of the terror from the difficulty with which he was roused from it. This ought to be referred to its own purpose, which was to stamp the prophecy with the mark of authority and openly to proclaim Daniel’s mission from God.

We are also aware how Satan transforms himself into an angel of light (Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:14). Therefore, God distinguishes this prediction by fixed marks from all the fallacies of Satan. Lastly, by all these circumstances, the Prophet shows God to be the author of the prophecy to be later uttered. The angel brought trustworthy credentials, by which he procured favor for himself and openly proved his mission to Daniel.

He says he appeared after the likeness of a man, or of the sons of man. He seems here to be speaking of another angel, but as we proceed, we shall perceive the angel to be the same as at first. He had formerly been called by the name of a man; now, to distinguish him from men and to prove him to be only human in form and not in nature, he says he bore the likeness of the sons of a man.

Some restrict this to Christ, but I fear this is too forced. When all points have been more accurately discussed, I have already anticipated the result, as most probably the same angel is designated here of whom Daniel has previously spoken. We have already stated him not to be Christ, because this interpretation is better suited to that Michael who has been already mentioned and will be again at the end of this chapter.

From this, it is more simple to understand it thus: the angel strengthened Daniel by touching his lips; and the angel, formerly called a man, was only one in appearance, wearing the human figure and image, yet not partaking of our nature.

For although God frequently sent His angels clothed in human bodies, He never created them men in the sense that Christ was made man, for this is the special difference between angels and Christ. We have formerly stated how Christ was depicted for us under this figure. And there is nothing surprising in this, because Christ assumed some form of human nature before He was manifested in flesh, and angels themselves have put on the human appearance.

He says afterwards, he opened his mouth and spoke. By these words, he explains more fully what we previously stated, for he was quite stupefied by terror and, to all appearance, was dead. Then he began to open his mouth and was animated to confidence. No wonder, then, if men fall down and faint away when God shows such signs of His glory; for when God puts forth His strength against us, what are we?

At His appearance alone the mountains melt; at His voice alone the whole earth is shaken (Psalms 104:32). How, then, can men, who are only dust and ashes, stand upright when God appears in His glory? Daniel, then, was prostrate but afterwards recovered his strength when God restored his courage. We ought to understand the certainty of our being compelled to vanish into nothing whenever God sets before us any sign of His power and majesty; yet He restores us again, shows Himself to be our Father, and bears witness of His favor towards us by both words and other signs. The language of this clause might seem superfluous—he opened his mouth, and spoke, and said—but by this repetition, he wished, as I have stated, to express plainly his own recovery of the use of speech after being refreshed by the angel’s touch.

He says he spoke to him who stood opposite. This phrase enables us to conclude that the angel sent here is the same as the previous one; this will appear more clearly from the end of the chapter and as we proceed with our subject. Then he says, O my Lord, in the vision my distresses are turned upon me, and I have not retained my strength. He here calls the angel “Lord,” after the Hebrew custom.

Paul’s assertion was true under the Law—there is but one Lord (1 Corinthians 8:6)—but the Hebrews use the word “Lord” interchangeably when they address anyone by a title of respect. It was no less customary with them than with us to use this phrase in special cases.

I confess it to be a weakness; but as it was a common form of expression, the Prophet uses no ceremony in calling angels lords. The angel, then, is called lord simply for the sake of respect, just as the title is applied to men who excel in dignity. Daniel continues, In the vision itself, that is, before you began to speak, I was buried in grief and deprived of strength.

How then, he says, am I able to speak now? You by your very appearance have depressed me; no wonder I was utterly dumb. And now if I open my mouth, I do not know what to say, as the fright which your presence occasioned me held all my senses completely spellbound.

We perceive the Prophet to be only partially erect, still being subject to some degree of fear, and therefore unable to utter freely the thoughts of his mind. Therefore he adds, And how shall the servant of this my Lord be able to speak with that my Lord? The demonstrative זה, zeh, seems to be used by way of amplifying, according to the phrase common enough in our day, with such a one. Daniel does not simply point out the angel’s presence but wishes to express his rare and singular excellence.

Dispute would be both superfluous and out of place should anyone assert the unlawfulness of ascribing such authority to the angel. For, according to my previous remark, the Prophet uses the common language of the times. He never intended to detract in any way from the monarchy of God.

He knew of the existence of only one God, and Christ to be the only prince of the Church; meanwhile, he freely permitted himself to follow the common and popular form of speech. And truly, we are too apt either to avoid or neglect religious ceremony in the use of words.

Although we maintain that the Prophet followed the customary forms of expression, he detracted nothing from God by transferring honor to the angel, as the Papists do when they manufacture innumerable patron saints and despoil Christ of His just honor. Daniel would not sanction this but treated the angel with honor, as he would any remarkable and illustrious mortal, according to my previous assertion.

He knew him to be an angel, but in his discourse with him, he did not give way to any empty scruples. As he saw him in the form of a man, he conversed with him as such; and with reference to the certainty of the prophecy, he was clearly persuaded of the angel’s mission as a heavenly instructor.

He next adds, Henceforth my strength did not remain within me, and my breath was no longer left in me. Some translate this in the future tense—it will not stand. And certainly the verb יגמד ignemed, “shall stand,” is in the future tense, but then the past tense follows when he says, no breath was left in me. Without doubt, this is merely a repetition of what we observed before, for Daniel was seized not only by fear but also by stupor at the sight of the angel.

From this, it appears how utterly destitute he was of both intellect and tongue, both to understand and to express himself in reply to the angel. This is the full sense of the words. He adds, secondly, he was strengthened by the touch of him who wore the likeness of a man; for he touched me, he says.

By these words, Daniel more clearly explains how he failed to recover his entire strength at the first touch but was roused by degrees and could only utter three or four words at first. We perceive, then, how impossible it is for those who are prostrated by God to collect all their strength at the first moment, and how they partially and gradually recover the powers they had lost.

Therefore, the necessity for a second touch arose, to enable Daniel to hear the angel speaking to him with a perfectly composed mind. And here again, he inspires us with faith in the prophecy, as he was by no means in an ecstasy while the angel was speaking about future events. If he had always lain prostrate, he could never have given his attention to the angel’s message, nor could he have discharged towards us the duty of prophet and teacher. Thus, God joined these two conditions—terror and a renewal of strength—to make it possible for Daniel to receive the angel’s teaching with calmness and to deliver faithfully to us what he had received from God through the hand of the angel. It follows: