The structure of the first part of this verse is awkward in English, and the two occurrences of the phrase I heard the sound of his words may easily be reduced to one as in Good News Translation and translated simply “I heard his voice.”

Fell on my face in a deep sleep: literally “I had become entranced on my face, with my face to the ground.” In this context the “fall” is clearly unintentional and in contrast with 2.46 and 8.17, where it is voluntary. In fact, the verb “to fall” is not actually found in the original here, but most readers of the Hebrew would supply it. New Jerusalem Bible avoids it by saying “overcome by sleep, I lay prostrate on the ground.” Another way of saying it is “I fainted and lay unconscious with my face to the earth.” On the idea of the deep sleep, see comments at 8.18.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .