Daniel 12:8
in Daniel 12I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?
KJV
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
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This verse in Daniel 12
Commentary
7 notes on this verse"And I heard, and understood not. And I said, 'O my lord, what shall happen after these things?'" The prophet wished to comprehend what he had seen, or rather, what he had heard, and he desired to understand the reality of the things to come. For he had heard of the various wars of kings, and of battles between them, and a detailed narrative of events; but he had not heard the names of the individual persons involved.
This site's exposition
I heard, but I understood not
on Daniel 12:8-9
Daniel hears the oath and does not understand it, and asks what shall be the end of these things, only to be told the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. His confessed incomprehension stands deliberately beside Revelation 22:10's opposite instruction to John, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand, a contrast the commentators note as marking two different moments in the same unfolding purpose. Daniel's not understanding here answers back to his own words at 8:27, I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it, tying the book's visions together under one honest human limit.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And I heard, but understood not,....
Daniel was a very intelligent man, and had been conversant in visions and prophecies, and yet here he was puzzled; he did not understand the meaning of the time, times, and the part of a time, at least not so clearly and with so much certainty as he wished.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
1Pe 1:10-12 refers mainly to Daniel: for it is he who foretells "the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow"; it is he who prophesies "not unto himself, but unto us"; it is he who "searched what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in him did signify."
I heard, but I understand not - Could not comprehend what the time, times, and half time should refer to. These make three years and a half of prophetic times answering to one thousand two hundred and sixty years.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And I heard, but I understood not - He understood not the full significance of the language employed - “a time, and times, and an half.” This would make it probable that there was something more intended than merely three years and a half as the period of the continuation of these troubles. Daniel saw, apparently from the manner of the angel, as well as from the terms which he used, that there was something mystical and unusual in those terms, and he says, therefore, that he could not understand their full import. Then said I, O my Lord - A term of civil address. The language is such as would be used by an inferior when respectfully addressing one of superior rank. It is not a term that is peculiarly appropriate to God, or that implies a Divine nature, but is here given to the angel as an appellation of respect, or as denoting one of superior rank. What shall be the end of these things? - Indicating great anxiety to know what was to be the termination of these wonders. The “end” had been often referred to in the communication of the angel, and now he had used an enigmatical expression as referring to it, and Daniel asks, with great emphasis, when the end was to be.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאֲנִ֥י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| שָׁמַ֖עְתִּי | shama'ti | I heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָבִ֑ין | ʾavin | I understood | H995 → | 170 times |
| וָאֹ֣מְרָ֔ה | vaomerah | and I said ! | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנִ֕י | ʾadoni | O lord my | H113 → | 333 times |
| מָ֥ה | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| אַחֲרִ֖ית | ʾacharit | [will be] [the] latter part of | H319 → | 61 times |
| אֵֽלֶּה׃ פ | ʾeleh | these [things] | H428 → | 746 times |
וַאֲנִ֥יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
שָׁמַ֖עְתִּיI heard
shama'tiH8085 →1159 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
אָבִ֑יןI understood
ʾavinH995 →170 times
וָאֹ֣מְרָ֔הand I said !
vaomerahH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנִ֕יO lord my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
מָ֥הwhat?
mahH4100 →752 times
אַחֲרִ֖ית[will be] [the] latter part of
ʾacharitH319 →61 times
אֵֽלֶּה׃ פthese [things]
ʾelehH428 →746 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 1:7Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.
it leads to
- Matthew 24:36
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:1–2
Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you.
- Mark 13:32
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
- Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
- Mark 10:40
But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
- Matthew 24:36
Through
John 12:16At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about…
it leads to
- John 2:22
After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
- John 2:22
Through
Luke 18:34But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
it leads to
- Luke 9:45
But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
- Luke 9:45
Through
1 Peter 1:11trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:13–14
Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
- Isaiah 52:13–14
Where this verse is studied
About Daniel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWELVE; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.