Daniel 2:8
in Daniel 2The king replied, “I know for sure that you are stalling for time, because you see that my word is final.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye would gain time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
KJV
The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
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This verse in Daniel 2
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThat ye would gain the time - The king means either that they wished to prolong the time that he might recollect it, or get indifferent about it; or that they might invent something in the place of it; or make their escape to save their lives, after having packed up their valuables. See Dan 2:9.
This site's exposition
we will shew the interpretation of it
on Daniel 2:7-9
The wise men repeat their request nearly word for word, and the repetition itself is the giveaway the king seizes on, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, since the thing is gone from him, not forgotten but withheld by the same God who will shortly restore it to Daniel. Barnes reads the king's suspicion as shrewd rather than merely cruel, a ruler who has met professional flattery before and will not be delayed by it. The decree the king threatens is not yet spoken here, but the standoff that produces it is fully drawn.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
While the demand in these words was high-handed and insane, the accusation was very true: You want to learn what the dream was, he is saying, so as to hatch in common some false interpretation and trick me as usual, using the lapse in time …
Therefore, so that the Chaldeans, who had plotted in some way, would not deceive the king with words of deceit, Nebuchadnezzar, who was sorely pricked, said to them, "'I myself know, in truth, that you are buying time, because you see that the matter has departed from me. And so if you do not report to me the dream, I know that you have contrived to say a false and twisted word before me until the matter is forgotten.'
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The king answered and said, I know of certainty,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time - Margin, “buy.” The Chaldee word זבנין zâbenı̂yn (from זבן zeban) means, to get for oneself, buy, gain, procure. Greek, ἐξαγοράζετε exagorazete - “that ye redeem time;” and so the Vulgate - quod tempus redimitis. The idea is, that they saw that they could not comply with his requisition, and that their asking him Dan 2:7 to state the dream was only a pretext for delay, in the hope that in the interval some device might be hit on by them to appease him, or to avert his threatened indignation. It would be natural to suppose that they might hope that on reflection he would become more calm, and that, although they “might” not be able to recal the dream and explain it, yet it would be seen to be unreasonable to expect or demand it. The king seems to have supposed that some such thoughts were passing through their minds, and he charges on them such a project. The argument of the king seems to have been something like this: “They who can explain a dream correctly can as well tell what it is as what its interpretation is, for the one is as much the result of Divine influence as the other; and if men can hope for Divine help in the one case, why not in the other? As you cannot, therefore, recal the dream, it is plain that you cannot interpret it; and your only object in demanding to know it is, that you may ward off as long as possible the execution of the threatened sentence, and, if practicable, escape it altogether.” It is not improbable that what they said was more than the simple request recorded in Dan 2:7. […]
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָנֵ֤ה | ʾaneh | [was] replying | H6032 → | 30 times |
| מַלְכָּא֙ | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| וְאָמַ֔ר | veamar | and [was] saying | H560 → | 71 times |
| מִן־ | min- | according to | H4481 → | 109 times |
| יַצִּיב֙ | yatziv | certain | H3330 → | 5 times |
| יָדַ֣ע | yada' | [am] knowing | H3046 → | 47 times |
| אֲנָ֔ה | ʾanah | I | H576 → | 16 times |
| דִּ֥י | di | that | H1768 → | 345 times |
| עִדָּנָ֖א | ʾidana' | <the> time | H5732 → | 13 times |
| אַנְתּ֣וּן | ʾantun | you | H608 → | |
| זָבְנִ֑ין | zavenin | [are] gaining | H2084 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | as to | ||
| קֳבֵל֙ | kovel | because | H6903 → | 29 times |
| דִּ֣י | di | that | H1768 → | 345 times |
| חֲזֵית֔וֹן | chazeiton | you have seen | H2370 → | 31 times |
| דִּ֥י | di | that | H1768 → | 345 times |
| אַזְדָּ֖א | ʾazda' | [is] assured | H230 → | |
| מִנִּ֥י | mini | from me | H4481 → | 109 times |
| מִלְּתָֽא׃ | mileta' | word the | H4406 → | 24 times |
עָנֵ֤ה[was] replying
ʾanehH6032 →30 times
מַלְכָּא֙king the
malka'H4430 →180 times
וְאָמַ֔רand [was] saying
veamarH560 →71 times
מִן־according to
min-H4481 →109 times
יַצִּיב֙certain
yatzivH3330 →5 times
יָדַ֣ע[am] knowing
yada'H3046 →47 times
אֲנָ֔הI
ʾanahH576 →16 times
דִּ֥יthat
diH1768 →345 times
עִדָּנָ֖א<the> time
ʾidana'H5732 →13 times
אַנְתּ֣וּןyou
ʾantunH608 →
זָבְנִ֑ין[are] gaining
zaveninH2084 →
כָּל־as to
kol-
קֳבֵל֙because
kovelH6903 →29 times
דִּ֣יthat
diH1768 →345 times
חֲזֵית֔וֹןyou have seen
chazeitonH2370 →31 times
דִּ֥יthat
diH1768 →345 times
אַזְדָּ֖א[is] assured
ʾazda'H230 →
מִנִּ֥יfrom me
miniH4481 →109 times
מִלְּתָֽא׃word the
mileta'H4406 →24 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
Ephesians 5:16redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
it leads to
- Colossians 4:5
Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time.
- Amos 5:13
Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.
- John 12:35
Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the…
- Ecclesiastes 12:1
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
- Colossians 4:5
Through
Colossians 4:5Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time.
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:15–17
Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
- James 3:13
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:12
Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.
- James 3:17
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
- Ephesians 5:15–17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Daniel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Daniel; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 2.3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 2:8-9.