Daniel 10:8

So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Daniel speaks in the first person during a solitary prophetic encounter, immediately following the flight of his companions who were overcome by terror while he remained to witness the manifestation.

The words — The Hebrew נִשְׁאַרְתִּי (nish'artî) means "I was left behind," and לְבַדִּי (lebadî) translates to "to myself alone," both anchoring the narrator's physical isolation as he continues to gaze at the great vision.

The thread — The pattern of prophetic isolation and bodily depletion recurs in Daniel 7:28 and Daniel 8:27, where the prophet records similar paleness and exhaustion, while Habakkuk 3:16 provides a parallel account of physical tremor and bone decay upon hearing divine speech.

Why it lands — The text states a complete loss of strength and facial pallor that precedes the reception of heavenly words, requiring readers to recognize human physical limitation as the actual condition for divine communication rather than an obstacle to it.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַאֲנִי֙va./'a.Niand/ I נִשְׁאַ֣רְתִּיnish.'Ar.tiI was left behind לְבַדִּ֔יle./va.D/ito/ alone/ me וָֽאֶרְאֶ֗הva./'er.'Ehand/ I saw אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַמַּרְאָ֤הha./mar.'Ahthe/ vision הַגְּדֹלָה֙ha./ge.do.Lah<the>/ great הַזֹּ֔אתha./Zot<the>/ this וְלֹ֥אve./Lo'and/ not נִשְׁאַר־nish.'ar-it remainedבִּ֖יb/iin/ meכֹּ֑חKochstrength וְהוֹדִ֗יve./ho.D/iand/ vigor/ my נֶהְפַּ֤ךְneh.Pakhit was changed עָלַי֙'a.La/ion/ me לְמַשְׁחִ֔יתle./mash.Chitinto/ destruction וְלֹ֥אve./Lo'and/ not עָצַ֖רְתִּי'a.Tzar.tiI retained כֹּֽחַ׃Ko.achstrength

King James Version

Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

Cross-references

Daniel 7:28 Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”
Daniel 8:27 I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.
Habakkuk 3:16 I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.
Matthew 17:6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.
Mark 9:6 For they were all so terrified that Peter did not know what else to say.
Revelation 1:17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
Genesis 32:24 So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Genesis 32:31 The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.
Daniel 8:7 I saw him approach the ram in a rage against him, and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him, and the goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and no one could deliver the ram from his power.
2 Corinthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows.