Daniel 7 · Verse 9

Daniel 7:9

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

Daniel 7:9, King James Version

Daniel 7:9 in other translations

BSB	As I continued to watch, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
WEB	“I watched until thrones were placed, and one who was Ancient of Days sat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire.
ASV	I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire.
YLT	‘I was seeing till that thrones have been thrown down, and the Ancient of Days is seated, His garment as snow is white, and the hair of his head is as pure wool, His throne flames of fire, its wheels burning fire.
DARBY	I beheld till thrones were set, and the Ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was flames of fire, and its wheels burning fire.
BBE	I went on looking till the seats of kings were placed, and one like a very old man took his seat: his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool; his seat was flames of fire and its wheels burning fire.
Webster	I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

What does Daniel 7:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

9. I beheld till--I continued looking till. thrones ... cast down--rather, "thrones were placed" [Vulgate and Luther], namely, for the saints and elect angels to whom "judgment is given" (Da 7:22), as assessors with the Judge. Compare Da 7:10, "thousand thousands ministered unto Him" (Mt 19:28; Lu 22:30; 1Co 6:2, 3; 1Ti 5:21; Re 2:26; 4:4). In English Version the thrones cast down are those of the previously mentioned kings who give place to Messiah. Ancient of days--"The everlasting Father" (Is 9:6). He is the Judge here, as THE Son does not judge in His own cause, and it is His cause which is the one at issue with Antichrist. sit--the attitude of a judge about to pass sentence. white--The judicial purity of the Judge, and of all things round Him, is hereby expressed (Re 1:14). wheels--as Oriental thrones move on wheels. Like the rapid flame, God's judgments are most swift in falling where He wills them (Eze 1:15, 16). The judgment here is not the last judgment, for then there will be no beast, and heaven and earth shall have passed away; but it is that on Antichrist (the last development of the fourth kingdom), typical of the last judgment: Christ coming to substitute the millennial kingdom of glory for that of the cross (Re 17:12-14; 19:15-21; 11:15).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 9 The thrones were cast down - דמיו might be translated erected, so the Vulgate, positi sunt, and so all the versions; but that ours is a proper translation, is sufficiently evident from Dan 3:6, Dan 3:16, Dan 3:20; Dan 6:17, etc.; where the original word can be used in no other sense than that of throwing or casting down. There is a reference here to preparations made for a general assize, or to the convocation of the sanhedrin, where the father of the consistory sat with his assessors on each side in the form of a semicircle, and the people stood before them. The Ancient of days - God Almighty; and this is the only place in the sacred writings where God the Father is represented in a human form.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Daniel 7:9-14

These verses are for the comfort and support of the people of God, in reference to the persecutions that would come upon them. Many New Testament predictions of the judgment to come, have plain allusion to this vision; especially Rev. 20:11,12. The Messiah is here called the Son of man; he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was found in fashion as a man, but he is the Son of God. The great event foretold in this passage, is Christ's glorious coming, to destroy every antichristian power, and to render his own kingdom universal upon earth. But ere the solemn time arrives, for manifesting the glory of God to all worlds in his dealings with his creatures, we may expect that the doom of each of us will be determined at the hour of our death; and before the end shall come, the Father will openly give to his incarnate Son, our Mediator and Judge, the inheritance of the nations as his willing subjects.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Daniel 7:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

חָזֵ֣הcha.ZehseeingH2370

הֲוֵ֗יתha.VeitI wasH1934

עַ֣ד'aduntilH5705

דִּ֤יdithatH1768

כָרְסָוָן֙kha.re.sa.VanthronesH3764

רְמִ֔יוre.Mivthey were placedH7412

וְעַתִּ֥יקve.'a.Tikand [one] ancient ofH6268

יוֹמִ֖יןyo.MindaysH3118

יְתִ֑בye.Tivhe satH3488

לְבוּשֵׁ֣הּ\׀le.vu.Shehclothing hisH3831

כִּתְלַ֣גkit.Laglike snowH8517

חִוָּ֗רchi.Var[was] whiteH2358

וּשְׂעַ֤רu.se.'Arand [the] hair ofH8177

רֵאשֵׁהּ֙re.Shehhead hisH7217

כַּעֲמַ֣רka.'a.Marlike woolH6015

נְקֵ֔אne.Ke'[was] pureH5343

כָּרְסְיֵהּ֙ka.re.se.Yehthrone hisH3764

שְׁבִיבִ֣יןshe.vi.Vin[was] flamesH7631

דִּי\־di-ofH1768

נ֔וּרNurfireH5135

גַּלְגִּלּ֖וֹהִיgal.gi.Lo.hiwheels itsH1535

נ֥וּרnur[were] fireH5135

דָּלִֽק\׃da.LikburningH1815

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Daniel 7:9

Revelation 1:14
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Mark 9:3
And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
Daniel 7:13
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Matthew 17:2
And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Daniel 7:22
Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Revelation 19:18-20:4
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. …
Micah 5:2
But thou, Beth–lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-8
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Ezekiel 10:2-7
And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight. Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory. And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. …
Ezekiel 1:13-21
As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. …
Habakkuk 1:12
Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
Daniel 2:44-45
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

till.
2:34,35,44,45; 1Co 15:24,25; Re 19:18-21; 20:1-4
the Ancient.
13,22; Ps 90:2; 102:24,25; Isa 9:6; Mic 5:2; Hab 1:12
whose.
Ps 45:8; 104:2; Mt 17:2; Mr 9:3; Php 3:9; 1Ti 6:16; 1Jo 1:5; Re 1:14
his throne.
Ac 2:30,33; 2Th 1:7,8; 2Pe 3:7-10
and his wheels.
Ps 104:3,4; Eze 1:13-21; 10:2-7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Daniel 7:8
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
Daniel 7:9
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
Daniel 7:10
A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

Read all of Daniel 7

Daniel 7:9 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Estuve mirando hasta que fueron puestas sillas: y un Anciano de grande edad se sentó, cuyo vestido era blanco como la nieve, y el pelo de su cabeza como lana limpia; su silla llama de fuego, sus ruedas fuego ardiente.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Je vis jusqu’à ce que les trônes furent placés, et que l’Ancien des jours s’assit. Son vêtement était blanc comme la neige, et les cheveux de sa tête, comme de la laine pure; son trône était des flammes de feu; les roues du trône, un feu brûlant.
German Elberfelder 1871	Ich schaute, bis Throne aufgestellt wurden und ein Alter an Tagen sich setzte: sein Gewand war weiß wie Schnee, und das Haar seines Hauptes wie reine Wolle; sein Thron Feuerflammen, dessen Räder ein loderndes Feuer.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Aspiciebam donec throni positi sunt, et antiquus dierum sedit. Vestimentum ejus candidum quasi nix, et capilli capitis ejus quasi lana munda: thronus ejus flammæ ignis: rotæ ejus ignis accensus.