What does Daniel 7:16 mean?
Though he was given great skill (Daniel 1:17), Daniel was not omniscient. Sometimes, the meaning of God's messages were clear (Daniel 5:17). In other cases, such as this, he needed to ask for special assistance (Daniel 2:17–19; 8:15). This new vision (Daniel 7:1) made Daniel uneasy, so he asked one of the nearby angelic beings (Daniel 7:10) for an explanation. That means Daniel didn't wait until the dream was over—he took the opportunity to seek an answer immediately.Scripture does not identify this being. Many commentators suggest this was the angel named Gabriel. Gabriel seems to have been God's appointed messenger at crucial times in the Bible. Luke 1:11–13 reports that Gabriel announced the birth of John the Baptist to John's father Zechariah (cf. Luke 1:19). He announced to the virgin Mary that she would give birth to the Savior (Luke 1:26–33). Later in this book, Gabriel will be charged with explaining prophetic visions to Daniel (Daniel 8:16; 9:21).