In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.
English Standard Version (ESV)
What's easy to miss here is that Daniel wasn't just sad; he was actively "mourning" by fasting, a deliberate spiritual discipline, for an extended period. This wasn't a passive feeling but an intentional outpouring of his heart, likely driven by deep concern for his people and perhaps the confusing prophecies he'd received.
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.
English Standard Version (ESV)
After receiving a powerful prophecy about future kingdoms and the Messiah, Daniel spent three weeks in deep mourning and fasting, likely grieving for his people's sins and the ongoing challenges they faced in rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple. This extended period of prayer and affliction precedes a divine encounter where an angel appears to explain further visions and truths to him.
Daniel wasn't just sad; he was actively seeking God. His mourning was a deep dive into prayer.
When Daniel 'mourned,' it wasn't passive sadness. It was an active, deliberate act of afflicting himself through fasting from 'pleasant bread, flesh, and wine.' This wasn't about self-punishment, but about intensifying his focus on prayer and seeking God.
Think of it like this: when you're facing a huge challenge or deeply concerned about something, sometimes you need to set aside ordinary comforts to give yourself fully to what matters most. Daniel did that for three solid weeks. He was dedicating this time to a higher purpose: communicating with God about his people and the weighty prophecies he'd received.
Why such intense grief? Daniel's sorrow was deeply tied to the struggles and future of his people.
The context surrounding Daniel 10 suggests his mourning was a response to the immense difficulties his people faced. Even though Cyrus had given permission for the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, adversaries were actively obstructing their progress. Imagine the frustration and heartbreak Daniel must have felt, hearing about these setbacks from afar.
There's also a hint that his grief might have been connected to the prophecies he'd already received, particularly the vision of the seventy weeks. This vision revealed future sin and desolation for his people, a heavy burden to bear. Daniel's three weeks were a time of wrestling with God over these present and future concerns for Israel.
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Why specify 'three weeks of days'? It's a subtle but important distinction for understanding Daniel's timeline.
The phrase 'three weeks of days' might sound a bit redundant to us, but it was a clear way for Daniel to communicate the duration of his fast.
In Daniel's time, the concept of 'weeks of years' was already established (as seen in the previous chapter's prophecy of seventy weeks). To avoid any confusion and to emphasize that this was a period of literal days, the phrase 'weeks of days' was used. It firmly anchors this significant period of mourning and prayer in a specific, observable timeframe – three distinct, 7-day periods, totaling 21 days. This wasn't a vague sense of time; it was a concrete commitment.
Understand the original words
abal · Hebrew Verb
An act of deep sorrow, lamentation, or intercession, often associated with fasting or repentance, reflecting a serious spiritual state of heart before God.
lechem chamudot · Hebrew Noun phrase
The act of voluntarily abstaining from food or specific physical comforts to focus on prayer, seeking God’s presence, or expressing spiritual urgency and humility.
suk · Hebrew Verb
The use of oil on the body, a sign of comfort, celebration, or normalcy in the ancient Near East; abstaining from it was a sign of intense mourning or ascetic devotion.
Daniel's three weeks of mourning likely stemmed from news reaching him in Babylon about the struggles and opposition faced by his people in Jerusalem as they attempted to rebuild the Temple after Cyrus's decree. This period of intense prayer and fasting preceded a divine revelation.
c. 539 BC
Babylon Falls to Persia
Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire and ushering in the Persian era. This event marks a significant shift in geopolitical power.
538 BC
Cyrus's Edict Allowing Return
Cyrus issues a decree permitting exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple. This is a pivotal moment for the Jewish people, offering a path back to their homeland.
c. 537 BC
First Wave of Returnees
A significant number of Jews, led by figures like Zerubbabel, take advantage of Cyrus's decree and return to Jerusalem to begin rebuilding the Temple.
c. 536-516 BC— this verse
Temple Reconstruction Hindered
Opposition from surrounding peoples and internal difficulties cause significant delays and challenges in the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple, leading to discouragement among the exiles.
c. 516 BC
Temple Rebuilding Completed
After decades of setbacks, the Second Temple in Jerusalem is finally completed. However, the difficulties and disruptions faced during its construction weighed heavily on the people.
This passage describes Anna, a devout woman who, like Daniel, dedicated herself to fasting and prayer in the temple, showing a similar pattern of intense devotion and spiritual focus.
Acts 13:2Here, the church in Antioch is found ministering to the Lord and fasting, mirroring Daniel's practice of setting aside time for prayer and spiritual discipline in response to spiritual matters.
Nehemiah 1:4Nehemiah's deep sorrow and fasting for his people, detailed in this verse, parallels Daniel's mourning, highlighting a shared concern for the spiritual state and well-being of the Jewish people.
Ezra 10:6This passage describes Ezra mourning and fasting for the sin of intermarriage among the returned exiles, showing how grief over sin and a desire for repentance often led to seasons of fasting and prayer, as Daniel experienced.
jfbDaniel 10:2: "In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks."
- mourning—that is, afflicting myself by fasting from "pleasant bread, flesh and wine" (Da 10:3), as a sign of sorrow, not for its own sake. Compare Mt 9:14, "fast," answering to "mourn" (Da 10:15). Compare 1Co 8:8; 1Ti 4:3, which prove that "fasting" is not an indispensable Christian obligation; but merely an outward expression of sorrow, and separation from ordinary worldly enjoyments, in order to give one's self to prayer…
clarkeDaniel 10:2: "In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks."
I-- was mourning three full weeks - The weeks are most probably dated from the time of the termination of the last vision. Calmet proves this by several reasons.
What's easy to miss here is that Daniel wasn't just sad; he was actively "mourning" by fasting, a deliberate spiritual discipline, for an extended period. This wasn't a passive feeling but an intentional outpouring of his heart, likely driven by deep concern for his people and perhaps the confusing prophecies he'd received.
After receiving a powerful prophecy about future kingdoms and the Messiah, Daniel spent three weeks in deep mourning and fasting, likely grieving for his people's sins and the ongoing challenges they faced in rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple. This extended period of prayer and affliction precedes a divine encounter where an angel appears to explain further visions and truths to him.
After receiving a powerful prophecy about future kingdoms and the Messiah, Daniel spent three weeks in deep mourning and fasting, likely grieving for his people's sins and the ongoing challenges they faced in rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple. This extended period of prayer and affliction precedes a divine encounter where an angel appears to explain further visions and truths to him.
"In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks." — What's easy to miss here is that Daniel wasn't just sad; he was actively "mourning" by fasting, a deliberate spiritual discipline, for an extended period. This wasn't a passive feeling but an inten…
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Last reviewed October 2026