Daniel 2:8

8 The king answered and said, "{Certainly} I know that {you are trying to gain time} {because} you have seen {that this matter is firmly decreed by me},

Daniel 2:8 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 2:8

The king answered and said, I know of certainty
I see plainly and clearly what you are at, and am fully assured you mean nothing, but that ye would gain the time:
or buy F6, or redeem time, as in ( Ephesians 5:16 ) , prolong time, put off the answer to longer time; spin out time, as people do in buying and selling; or have it in their possession and power when to answer; and so by gaining time, or being master of it, might hope something would turn up to their advantage, and extricate them out of their present difficulties: because ye see the thing is gone from me;
the dream he could not remember; or because the decree was certain which he had determined concerning them; (See Gill on Daniel 2:5).


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (Nynbz Nwtna ande yd) "quod tempus vos emitis", Pagninus, Munster; "ementes", Montanus; "vos tempus redimere", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Daniel 2:8 In-Context

6 But if you tell me the dream and its explanation, you will receive gifts and rewards and great honor from me. Therefore, tell me the dream and its explanation."
7 They answered once more and said, "Let the king tell the dream to his servants and we will make the explanation known."
8 The king answered and said, "{Certainly} I know that {you are trying to gain time} {because} you have seen {that this matter is firmly decreed by me},
9 for if you [do] not make the dream known to me, {your verdict is fixed}, and you have conspired to say [a] lying and deceitful word to me until the {circumstances} will change. Therefore, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can tell me its explanation."
10 The {astrologers} answered the king and said, "There is not a man on earth that is able to reveal the word of the king; {in fact}, no great and powerful king has [ever] asked a thing like this of any magician or conjurer or {astrologer}.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Literally "From [a] certainty"
  • [b]. Literally "the time you are gaining"
  • [c]. Literally "all because of that"
  • [d]. Literally "that firm from me [is] the decree"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.