This is a rich topic! Here is a thorough breakdown of how "mystery" and "secret" are used across the Old Testament in the King James Bible.
IMPORTANT NOTE: "Mystery" vs. "Secret" in the Old Testament
The word "mystery" (Greek: musterion) does not appear at all in the KJV Old Testament. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the equivalent concept is expressed through the word "secret" (Hebrew: sôd — meaning a private counsel or hidden thing). In the KJV, "secret" is mentioned in 21 books of the Bible, most often in Psalms (13 times) and Daniel (7 times).
THE LAW (Torah)
Genesis 49:6 — Jacob on his deathbed warns: "O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united." (God's counsel is not to be joined with violent conspirators.)
Deuteronomy 27:15 — "Cursed be the man that… putteth it in a secret place." (Hidden idolatry condemned.)
Deuteronomy 29:29 — "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." — This is the foundational Old Testament verse on divine secrets.
THE WISDOM BOOKS
Job 15:8 — "Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?"
Job 29:4 — "As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle." (Job recalls intimacy with God's counsel.)
Psalm 25:14 — "The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant."
Psalm 27:5 — "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me."
Psalm 91:1 — "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
Proverbs 3:32 — "For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous."
Proverbs 25:2 — "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter."
Ecclesiastes 12:14 — "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
THE PROPHETS
Isaiah 45:3 — "And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD… am the God of Israel."
Isaiah 45:19 — "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth… I the LORD speak righteousness."
Isaiah 48:16 — "I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I."
Jeremiah 23:24 — "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth?"
Ezekiel 28:3 — God addresses the prince of Tyre: "Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee."
Amos 3:7 — "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." — One of the most significant "secret" verses in the Old Testament. Nave's Topical Bible
DANIEL — The Most Concentrated Use (7 times)
Daniel is the richest Old Testament book on this theme, using the Aramaic word raza (secret/mystery) repeatedly:
Daniel 2:18 — "That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish."
Daniel 2:19 — "Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven."
Daniel 2:22 — "He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him."
Daniel 2:27 — "The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king."
Daniel 2:30 — "But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living."
Daniel 2:47 — "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret."
Daniel 4:9 — "O Belteshazzar… no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream."
SUMMARY TABLE
| Category |
Key Verses |
Theme |
| God's sovereign secrets |
Deuteronomy 29:29 |
Some things belong only to God |
| Intimacy with God |
Psalm 25:14; Proverbs 3:32 |
His secret is with the righteous |
| God sees all hidden things |
Jeremiah 23:24; Ecclesiastes 12:14 |
Nothing hidden from Him |
| God reveals to His prophets |
Amos 3:7 |
Secrets disclosed before judgment |
| Revealed through Daniel |
Daniel 2 (×7) |
God as the revealer of secrets |
| God speaks openly |
Isaiah 45:19; 48:16 |
He does not hide from His people |
The thread running through the entire Old Testament is this: God holds divine secrets, but He chooses to reveal them — to the righteous, to His prophets, and ultimately through Christ in the New Testament (Colossians 1:26).
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