Did the Old Testament writers understand everything they wrote under inspiration?
No. Old Testament writers did not understand everything they wrote under inspiration. Daniel, writing end-time prophecy centuries before fulfillment, said he heard but did not understand what he was writing. He could grasp that terrible times were coming, yet he asked what the end of these things would be.
Les teaches that all Scripture is inspired of God, and Peter says prophecy did not come by the will of man. These holy men of God wrote as they were moved along by the Spirit. Even so, they did not necessarily understand everything they wrote. Daniel is the plain example: after writing a great book of end-time prophecy some 2,400 or 2,500 years before it happened, he said, "I heard, but I understood not." He realized what he had been writing, but he did not understand it. He could comprehend that terrible times were coming upon the planet, but he still asked, "O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?"
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
More Questions
Did the Old Testament prophets understand everything they prophesied?
Old Testament prophets received a glimpse of coming events but did not get the full picture.