Daniel 9:20-21

Daniel 9:20-21

[20] And whiles I was speaking,  and praying,  and confessing  my sin  of my people  Israel,  and presenting  my supplication  before  the LORD  my God  for the holy  mountain  of my God;  [21] Yea, whiles I was speaking  in prayer,  even the man  Gabriel,  whom I had seen  in the vision  at the beginning,  being caused to fly  swiftly,  touched  me about the time  of the evening  oblation. 

What does Daniel 9:20-21 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Daniel again saw Gabriel, whom he had met previously ( Daniel 8:16). He was obviously an angel. The description "the man Gabriel" is a play on words and probably means "the servant, the strong one of the strong God." The Hebrew word ish (man) often appears as a description of a servant. [1]
"Note that the term ha"is ("the man") does not signify "man" in contradistinction to angels or other spiritual powers residing in heaven; that would have been "adam or "enos in Hebrew. It rather indicates that this mighty archangel had appeared in a humanlike form and had spoken to Daniel intelligibly as one man speaks to another [2]." [3]
Evidently Daniel had become weary because of his praying and fasting. The time of the evening offering was3:00 p.m. The Jews were not able to offer the regular morning and evening sacrifices after the Babylonians destroyed their temple. However, pious Jews such as Daniel still prayed at these customary times (cf. Daniel 6:10).