The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm:
Parallel translations
- WEB The king answered, I know of a certainty that you would gain time, because you 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.
- BSB The king replied, “I know for sure that you are stalling for time, because you see that my word is final.
- NASB The king replied, “I know for certain that you are trying to buy time, because you have perceived that the command from me is firm,
- NLT The king replied, “I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time because you know I am serious when I say,
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 king accuses them of stalling for time. He suspects their interpretations are mere guesswork.
Overview
Nebuchadnezzar reads their delay as an attempt to wait until circumstances change. His suspicion implies he already distrusts the reliability of their art. The scene strips away pretense, leaving the experts exposed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
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 2:8 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.