Limitless Word
So 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.
Daniel 10:8 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV 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.
  • BSB So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
  • NKJV Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me; for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength.
  • NASB So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my complexion turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength.
  • NLT So I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision. My strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt very weak.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Left alone, Daniel is drained of all strength, his face turned pale by the glory before him. Encountering God's holiness exposes human frailty.

Overview

Like Isaiah crying 'Woe is me' before the throne, Daniel collapses under the weight of heavenly glory. The vision strips away every trace of his own vigor and dignity. This is the consistent biblical pattern: those who truly meet God are undone by His holiness, and only His grace can restore them, as the following verses show.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • Dan 7:28Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my face was changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
  • Hab 3:16I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place, because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us.
  • Dan 8:27I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I wondered at the vision, but no one understood it.
  • Mark 9:6For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.
  • Rev 1:17When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last,
  • Matt 17:6When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid.
  • Dan 8:7I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him; and there was no one who could deliver the ram out of his hand.
  • 2 Cor 12:7By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, that I should not be exalted excessively.
  • Gen 32:31The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.
  • Gen 32:24–25Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
  • 2 Cor 12:2–3I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I don’t know, or whether out of the body, I don’t know; God knows), such a one caught up into the third heaven.
  • John 16:32Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
  • Exod 3:3Moses said, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Daniel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Daniel 10:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DanielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.

How Daniel 10:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.