What Does Daniel 2:16 Mean in the King James?
Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
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
Daniel asks for the interval before he has the interpretation, making time itself part of how the answer comes into view.
THE MEANING
A difficult question can stand before you without an immediate answer. This verse gives the interval a place: time is asked for while the meaning is still to be shown. The gap between not seeing and understanding is part of the moment, not proof that no answer exists.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that needing time means there is no answer: Daniel asks for an interval while still offering to show the interpretation.
THE ROOT
זְמָן
zeman
GROWS FROM
ז־מ־ן
z-m-n
A set or appointed time; a season.
English “time” can sound like blank duration, but זְמָן (zeman, a set time or season) carries the sense of an interval with its own place. Daniel asks for that interval so the interpretation can be shown; the same word names life’s seasons and appointed occasions.
ALSO GROWS
zeman: A season or time for a purpose.
זְמַן
Ecclesiastes uses this same word for the time appointed to each matter, showing that Daniel’s request is for room within a season, not merely a delay.
bizmaneyhem: At their appointed times.
בִּזְמַנֵּיהֶם
Esther uses this form for the appointed times of Purim, another branch of the root that treats time as a fitting occasion.
THE PATTERN
Understanding is not demanded on the spot; it is asked for, given, and met within its proper time.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.THE THREAD
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:The Aramaic word זְמָן (zeman, a set time or season) in Daniel is the same word used for “time” in Ecclesiastes. That shared root opens Daniel’s request as an appeal for the fitting season in which the interpretation can be shown.
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