Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?”
Parallel translations
- WEB I heard, but I didn’t understand: then I said, 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?
- BSB I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”
- NASB But as for me, I heard but did not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?”
- NLT I heard what he said, but I did not understand what he meant. So I asked, “How will all this finally end, my lord?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Daniel hears the answer but does not understand it, so he humbly asks what the outcome of these things will be.
Overview
Daniel models honest, reverent inquiry: he confesses his lack of comprehension rather than pretending to grasp the vision fully. His question about 'the issue' (the final outcome) shows a longing to understand God's ends, not idle curiosity. The episode reminds believers that even faithful saints receive partial revelation now, and that full understanding belongs to God's appointed time.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Acts 1:7He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
- Dan 10:14Now I have come to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for many days:
- Dan 12:6One said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
- Luke 18:34They understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they didn’t understand the things that were said.
- 1 Pet 1:11searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.
- John 12:16His disciples didn’t understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had done these things to him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 12:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.