What Does Daniel 10:11 Mean?
And he said to me, Daniel, man greatly desired, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upon your standing place, for now I am sent to you. And as he spoke this word with me, I stood, trembling.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.THE KEY
Daniel (דָּנִיֵּאל, Daniyyel: “God is my judge”) is named a man of preciousness and told to stand on his standing, still trembling.
THE MEANING
You are addressed as precious before you understand what is being spoken. The Hebrew calls you to stand on your standing, while trembling remains in the scene. The messenger is sent to you; trembling does not cancel the address or your capacity to understand.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Trembling does not mean you are unworthy or unable to receive what is spoken: Daniel is called precious and stands while trembling.
THE ROOT
חֲמֻדוֹת
chamudot
GROWS FROM
חמד
ḥ-m-d
To desire, take delight in, or regard as precious.
“man greatly desired” in this verse is chamudot. The phrase calls Daniel a man of preciousness, holding belovedness together with desirability and delight. English “greatly beloved” gives the warmth but can hide this sense of being cherished as precious.
ALSO GROWS
chemdah: A desirable or precious thing.
חֶמְדָּה
It shares the root’s language of what is treasured, illuminating the value carried by “greatly beloved.”
machmad: A desirable or precious object.
מַחְמָד
This branch makes the root’s sense of preciousness concrete: Daniel is addressed as someone treasured.
עֲמֹד עַל־עָמְדֶךָ
ʿamod ʿal-ʿomdekha
GROWS FROM
עמד
ʿ-m-d
To stand, remain, or hold one’s position.
“stand upon your standing place” in this verse is ʿamod ʿal-ʿomdekha. The Hebrew repeats the same root in the command and the noun: literally, “stand upon your standing.” The KJV’s “upright” conveys the posture but hides the echo between standing and the position on which Daniel is told to stand.
ALSO GROWS
ʿamad: To stand or remain.
עָמַד
This is the verb behind the command to stand.
maʿamad: A standing, station, or position.
מַעֲמָד
This noun shows how the root can name the position as well as the act of standing.
שֻׁלַּחְתִּי
shullachti
GROWS FROM
שלח
sh-l-ḥ
To send forth or dispatch; in some uses, to release or let go.
The speaker describes himself as sent to Daniel, framing his arrival as a dispatch toward the one being addressed. The root also carries the sense of release, alongside its sense of sending forth.
ALSO GROWS
shalach: To send, send forth, or release.
שָׁלַח
This is the verb behind “I am now sent unto thee.”
shilluaḥ: A sending away or dismissal.
שִׁלּוּחַ
This branch keeps the root’s movement of sending and letting go visible beside the messenger’s arrival.
THE PATTERN
A word of revelation names the hearer as beloved and then calls them to receive what is spoken.
At the beginning of your pleas a word went out, and I have come to declare it to you, for you are greatly desired. Therefore discern the word, and discern the vision."While he was still speaking, look, a shining cloud cast its shade over them, and look, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight; hear him.THE THREAD
At the beginning of your pleas a word went out, and I have come to declare it to you, for you are greatly desired. Therefore discern the word, and discern the vision."Daniel 9:23 uses the same “greatly beloved” expression and follows it with “understand,” echoing this verse’s pairing of preciousness and understanding. The repeated Hebrew roots join being named as precious with being called to perceive.
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