“Three full weeks,” or 21 days, of mourning and fasting was an unusually long period. It apparently ended on the “twenty-fourth day of the first month.” (Daniel 10:4) Hence, the period of Daniel’s fast included the Passover, observed on the 14th day of the first month, Nisan, and the following seven-day festival of unleavened bread.

9, 10. (a) Where was Daniel when a vision came to him? (b) Describe what Daniel saw in the vision.

⁹ Daniel is not disappointed. He goes on to tell us what happens next, saying: “While I myself happened to be on the bank of the great river, that is, Hiddekel, I also proceeded to raise my eyes and see, and here was a certain man clothed in linen, with his hips girded with gold of Uphaz.” (Daniel 10:4, 5) Hiddekel was one of the four rivers that had their source in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:10-14) In Old Persian, Hiddekel was known as the Tigra, from which came the Greek name Tigris. The region between it and the Euphrates came to be called Mesopotamia, meaning “Land Between Rivers.” This confirms that when Daniel received this vision, he was still in the land of Babylonia, though perhaps not in the city of Babylon.