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And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
Daniel 12:9 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He said, Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.
  • BSB “Go on your way, Daniel,” he replied, “for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.
  • NKJV And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
  • NASB And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words will be kept secret and sealed up until the end time.
  • NLT But he said, “Go now, Daniel, for what I have said is kept secret and sealed until the time of the end.

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

The man tells Daniel to go his way, because the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.

Overview

Rather than granting fuller explanation, the messenger directs Daniel to rest content, for the prophecy is sealed until 'the time of the end.' This sealing means the meaning is reserved, not lost, and will become clearer as God's purposes unfold. The New Testament presents this end-time understanding as opened in Christ, in whom the mysteries of God's plan are disclosed (cf. Revelation 22:10, where what was sealed is now unsealed).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • Dan 12:4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
  • Dan 8:26And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
  • Rev 10:4And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
  • Isa 29:11And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
  • Isa 8:16Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Daniel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Daniel 12:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DanielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 12:9 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.