Daniel 10:4

Easy-to-Read Version

On the 24th day of the first month of the year, I was standing beside the great Tigris River.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,

Hebrew Names Version
In the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel,

King James Version
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;

English Standard Version
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris)

New American Standard Bible
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris,

New Century Version
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was standing beside the great Tigris River.

Amplified Bible
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was on the bank of the great river Hiddekel [which is the Tigris],

Geneva Bible (1587)
And in the foure and twentieth day of the first moneth, as I was by the side of that great riuer, euen Hiddekel,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris,

Berean Standard Bible
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,

Contemporary English Version
Then, on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was standing on the banks of the great Tigris River,

Complete Jewish Bible
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,

Darby Translation
And on the four-and-twentieth day of the first month, I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel:

George Lamsa Translation
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river Euphrates.

Good News Translation
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month of the year I was standing on the bank of the mighty Tigris River.

Lexham English Bible
And then on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I myself was on the bank of the great river; that is, the Tigris.

Literal Translation
And in the twenty fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Tigris,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Vpon the xxiiij. daye of the first moneth, I was by the greate floude, called Tigris:

American Standard Version
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel,

Bible in Basic English
And on the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was by the side of the great river;

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Tigris,

King James Version (1611)
And in the foure and twentieth day of the first moneth, as I was by the side of the great riuer, which is Hiddekel:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Upon the foure & twentith day of the first moneth, I was by the side of that great riuer, [euen] Hiddekel.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was near the great river, which is Tigris Eddekel.

English Revised Version
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel,

World English Bible
In the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe in the foure and twentithe dai of the firste monethe, Y was bisidis the greet flood, which is Tigris.

Update Bible Version
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel,

Webster's Bible Translation
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which [is] Hiddekel;

New English Translation
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was beside the great river, the Tigris.

New King James Version
Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is, the Tigris, [fn]

New Living Translation
On April 23, as I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River,

New Life Bible
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was standing by the side of the wide Tigris River.

New Revised Standard
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris),

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, - when, I, was by the side of the great river, the same, is Tigris,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, I was by the great river, which is the Tigris.

Revised Standard Version
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris,

Young's Literal Translation
`And in the twenty and fourth day of the first month, I have been by the side of the great river, that [is] Hiddekel:

THE MESSAGE
"On the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris. I looked up and to my surprise saw a man dressed in linen with a belt of pure gold around his waist. His body was hard and glistening, as if sculpted from a precious stone, his face radiant, his eyes bright and penetrating like torches, his arms and feet glistening like polished bronze, and his voice, deep and resonant, sounded like a huge choir of voices.

Contextual Overview

¹ During the third year that Cyrus was the king of Persia, these things were shown to Daniel. (Daniel's other name is Belteshazzar.) They are true, but very hard to understand. Daniel understood them because they were explained to him in a vision. ² At that time I, Daniel, was very sad for three weeks. ³ During those three weeks, I didn't eat any fancy food; I didn't eat any meat or drink any wine. I didn't put any oil on my head. I didn't do any of these things for three weeks. ⁴ On the 24th day of the first month of the year, I was standing beside the great Tigris River. ⁵ While I was standing there, I looked up and I saw a man standing in front of me. He was wearing linen clothes. He wore a belt made of pure gold around his waist. ⁶ His body was like a smooth, shiny stone. His face was bright like lightning. His eyes were like flames of fire. His arms and feet were shiny like polished brass. His voice was loud like a crowd of people. ⁷ I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision. The men with me didn't see the vision, but they were still afraid. They were so afraid that they ran away and hid. ⁸ So I was left alone. I was watching this vision, and it made me afraid. I lost my strength. My face turned white like a dead person's face, and I was helpless. ⁹ Then I heard the man in the vision talking. As I listened to his voice, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face on the ground.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

as: Daniel 8:2, Ezekiel 1:3

Hiddekel: Genesis 2:14

Reciprocal: Daniel 12:5 - of the river

Cross-References

Numbers 24:24
Ships will come from Cyprus. They will defeat Assyria and Eber, but those ships will also be destroyed."

Isaiah 23:1
This is a message about Tyre: Ships traveling from Cyprus heard this message: "Cry, you ships from Tarshish! Your harbor has been destroyed."

Isaiah 23:12
He said, "Daughter Sidon, you have been hurt badly, so you will no longer rejoice like a bride. Go ahead, go to Cyprus for help, but you will not find a place to rest there either."

Ezekiel 27:12
"‘Tarshish was one of your best customers. They traded silver, iron, tin, and lead for all the wonderful things you sold.

Ezekiel 27:25
The ships from Tarshish carried the things you sold. "‘Tyre, you are like one of those cargo ships. You are on the sea, loaded with many riches.

Daniel 11:30
Ships from Cyprus will come and fight against the northern king. He will see those ships coming and be afraid. Then he will turn back and take out his anger on the holy agreement. He will turn back and help those who stopped following the holy agreement.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And in the four and twentieth day of the first month,.... Of the third year of Cyrus, as Jacchiades; or rather of the Jewish year, the month Ab or Nisan, which answers to part of March and April; so that Daniel's fast began on the third day of the month, and lasted to the twenty fourth, in which time was the Jewish passover; and by this it seems it was not now kept; and perhaps in those times was not used to be observed by the Jews in a foreign land:

as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; the same with the Tigris, called by both names from the swiftness and rapidity of its motion, "hiddekel" signifying both sharp and swift; and tigris, in the Persian language, a dart; see Genesis 2:14. This is the same river the Targum of Jonathan on Genesis 2:14 calls Diglath; and is by Pliny e called Diglito, who observes that it has the name of Tigris from its swiftness; so he says the Medes call an arrow; likewise Curtius f takes notice of the same, and says that it is named Tigris from the celerity with which it flows; for in the Persian language they call a dart "tigris": so חד signifies in the Hebrew language "sharp" or "polished", as an arrow is; and קל, "swift", as an arrow flies, and both make Hiddekel: now this river was near Shushan, where Daniel resided; nay, Benjamin of Tudela g says, that the river Hiddekel divides the city of Shushan, over which is a bridge, on one side of which Jews dwelt, at the time he was there; unless he means that it cuts and divides the province of Elam in Persia, he had before been speaking of; and so Diodorus Siculus h says, that both Euphrates and Tigris pass through Media into Mesopotamia; wherefore it is no wonder to hear of Daniel by the side of the river Hiddekel or Tigris: here Daniel was, not in vision, but in person, having others with him, as appears from a following verse; by it he was walking, contemplating, praying, or conversing.

e Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 27. f Hist. l. 4. c. 9. g Itinerarium, p. 86. h Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 99.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And in the four and twentieth day of the first month - At the close of his season of fasting. Though he had not set apart this season of fasting with any view or expectation that it would be followed by such a result, yet there was a propriety that an occasion like this should be selected as that on which the communication which follows should be made to his mind, for

(a) his mind was in a prepared state by this extraordinary season of devotion for such a communication; and

(b) his attention during that period had been turned toward the condition of his people, and it was a fit opportunity to impart to him these extraordinary views of what would occur to them in future days.

It may be added, that we shall be more likely to receive Divine communications to our souls at the close of seasons of sincere and prolonged devotion than at other times, and that, though we may set apart such seasons for different purposes, the Spirit of God may take occasion from them to impart to us clear and elevated views of Divine truth, and of the Divine government. A man is in a better state to obtain such views, and is more likely to obtain them, in such circumstances than he is in others, and he who desires to understand God and his ways should wait upon him with intense and prolonged devotion. The “time” here specified is the “first month” - the month Nisan, answering to a part of our month April. This was the month in which the Passover was celebrated, and was a time, therefore, which a Jew would be likely to select as a season of extraordinary devotion. It was, for some reason, very common for the prophets to record “the very day” on which the visions which they saw appeared to them, or on which Divine communications were made to them. This was often of importance, because it served to determine the time when a prophecy was fulfilled.

I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel - That is, the Tigris. The Syriac renders it the Euphrates. The name in the Scriptures, however, denotes the Tigris. Why Daniel was there he does not say. He was often away from Babylon (compare the notes at Daniel 8:2), and he may have been now among some of his people who resided near the Tigris. Possibly he may at that time have ceased to reside at the court in Babylon, and have taken up his residence in some place on the Tigris. See the notes at Daniel 10:1.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Daniel 10:4. By the side of - Hiddekel — The same as the Tigris, the great river of Assyria; as the Euphrates of Syria, and the Nile of Egypt.