What Does Daniel 1:14 Mean in the King James?
So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
His yes begins as hearing and opens a ten-day trial where the request’s substance can show itself.
THE MEANING
The verse holds a living movement: a request is heard and given room, then its claim is tested over a defined span. The ten days let the result emerge through what can be seen instead of being assumed in advance. Listening and testing work together: reception opens a space where evidence becomes visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being heard does not mean a claim has already been proven; here agreement opens a measured test where its result can emerge.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁמַע
vayyishma
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear, listen, or heed.
The Hebrew verb is literally about hearing, while “consented” conveys what that hearing leads to. The response begins with receiving the request; agreement grows out of listening.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
This imperative carries listening into response, echoing how hearing the request leads to action here.
shemu’ah: A report or tidings, something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch makes hearing the point where something received becomes known, as the steward first receives their request.
וַיְנַסֵּם
vayenassem
GROWS FROM
נסה
To test, try, or prove.
“proved” in this verse is vayenassem. This verb describes a trial that gives the outcome time to appear rather than declaring it in advance. The ten days are a defined span in which the result becomes visible.
ALSO GROWS
nissah: He tested or tried.
נִסָּה
This verb form appears in Genesis 22:1, linking Daniel’s measured trial to another moment where what is present is disclosed through testing.
Massah: Testing or trial.
מַסָּה
The place name in Exodus 17:7 comes from this testing root, carrying the idea of a situation that reveals what is being tested.
THE PATTERN
Listening becomes discernment when hearing is followed by a test whose results can appear.
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.THE THREAD
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.The same Hebrew root נסה (nasah, test or prove) appears in Genesis 22:1, where the KJV renders it “tempt.” The shared root connects Daniel’s measured trial with Abraham’s proving moment: in both, the test discloses what is present.
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