Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked ... - While he was engaged in devotion. What is here said would lead us to suppose that he had been occupied in deep thought and meditation, perhaps with his eyes fixed on the ground.
Behold, a certain man clothed in linen - One who had the form and appearance of a man.
The subsequent disclosures showed that he was an angel, but when angels have appeared on earth they have commonly assumed the human form. The margin is, “one.” So also is the Hebrew “one man.” From Daniel 12:6, it would seem that two other such beings appeared in the course of the vision, but either one only was manifest now to Daniel, or his attention was particularly directed to him. The name of this celestial messenger is not given, but all the circumstances of the case lead us to suppose that it was the same who had appeared to him on the banks of the Ulai Daniel 8:16, and the same who had made the revelation of the seventy weeks, Daniel 9:21, following. Linen was the common raiment of priests, because it was supposed to be more pure than wool, Exodus 28:42; Leviticus 6:10; Leviticus 16:4, Leviticus 16:23; 1 Samuel 2:18. It was also worn by prophets, Jeremiah 13:1, and is represented as the raiment of angels, Revelation 15:6. The nature of the raiment would suggest the idea at once that this person thus appearing was one sustaining a saintly character.
Whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz - With a girdle made of fine gold; that is, probably, it was made of something in which fine gold was interwoven, so as to give it the appearance of pure gold. It was customary in the East, as it is now, to wear a girdle around the loins. See the notes at Matthew 5:38-41. These girdles are often made of rich material, and are highly ornamented. Compare the notes at Revelation 1:13. Nothing is known of Uphaz, unless, as Gesenius supposes, the word is a corruption of Ophir, made by a change of a single letter - ז (z) for ר (r). Ophir was celebrated for its gold, but its situation is unknown. See the notes at Job 22:24.