Daniel 6

Darius decided to appoint 120 satraps to govern the kingdom, spread out over the whole kingdom.

1It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;

NoteDarius: called "the Mede" earlier in the book. No king of that name is known from Persian records for this moment, and who the name is meant to point to is disputed. Satrap is a Persian word for the governor of a province of the empire; 120 of them is a large round number, and Persian records list far fewer. This section of the book (from 2:4 through the end of chapter 7) is written in Aramaic, the everyday language of the empire, rather than Hebrew.

2Over these he put three chief officials, and Daniel was one of them. The satraps had to report to these three, so that the king would not lose anything.

2And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.

NoteThe satraps' duties included collecting taxes and tribute for the crown, so "the king would not lose anything" means loss of revenue through theft or fraud.

3Daniel soon stood out above the other chief officials and the satraps, because he had an unusually fine spirit in him. So the king planned to put him in charge of the whole kingdom.

3Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

Note"Spirit" here is not a supernatural power but the cast of a person's mind and character; the phrase means something like an extraordinary temperament or ability.

4Then the other chief officials and the satraps tried to find something to charge Daniel with in his handling of government business. But they could find no charge and no corruption, because he was trustworthy. No carelessness or dishonesty could be found in him.

4Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

5So these men said, "We will never find anything to charge this Daniel with, unless we find it in connection with the law of his God."

5Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

Note"The law of his God" means the body of Jewish religious law, which required that worship and petition be directed to one God alone. The officials are betting that Daniel will not stop praying, whatever the king orders.

6So the chief officials and the satraps went as a group to the king and said to him, "King Darius, may you live forever!

6Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.

Note"May you live forever" was the standard opening when addressing a king in the ancient Near East, closer to "Your Majesty" than to a real wish about his lifespan.

7All the chief officials of the kingdom, the prefects, the satraps, the advisers, and the governors have agreed together that the king should put out an order and enforce a decree: for thirty days, anyone who asks a request of any god or man except you, O king, is to be thrown into the lions' den.

7All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

NotePrefects, satraps, advisers, governors: overlapping ranks of the imperial administration. The exact duties behind several of these Aramaic titles are no longer known; the piling up of them is meant to sound like the entire government speaking with one voice. Note also that "all the chief officials" is their own claim, Daniel is one of the three, and plainly was not consulted. A lions' den was a pit, covered at the top and entered from above; Assyrian and Persian kings kept captured lions for hunting and display.

8Now, O king, put out the decree and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, in keeping with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be canceled."

8Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

NoteUnder the law of the Medes and Persians, as this book and the book of Esther describe it, a decree once issued and sealed could not be repealed, even by the king who issued it. Outside sources do not confirm such a rule, but within the story it is the trap: the king cannot undo his own order. "Sign" means to stamp the document with the royal seal rather than to write a signature.

9So King Darius signed the written decree.

9Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.

10When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows of his upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had always done.

10Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

NoteJews away from home prayed facing Jerusalem, where the temple had stood before the Babylonians destroyed it; the practice was tied to Solomon's prayer at the temple's dedication, which asked that prayers offered toward that place be heard. Praying at three fixed times of day was a settled Jewish custom. The "upstairs room" is a chamber built on the flat roof of the house, a private space, but with open windows, visible from outside.

11Then these men came as a group and found Daniel praying and begging his God for help.

11Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

12So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree. "Did you not sign a decree that for thirty days anyone who asks a request of any god or man except you, O king, would be thrown into the lions' den?" The king answered, "That is correct. Under the law of the Medes and Persians the order stands and cannot be canceled."

12Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

13Then they said to the king, "Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the decree you signed. He still makes his request three times a day."

13Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

Note"One of the captives from Judah" identifies Daniel as one of the Judeans deported to Babylon after their kingdom was conquered. The officials use the label to remind the king that his favorite is a foreigner and a prisoner of war by origin.

14When the king heard this, he was deeply upset. He set his mind on saving Daniel, and he worked until sundown trying to rescue him.

14Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.

NoteThe king works "until sundown" because the day ended at sunset, and the sentence would fall due at the end of the day on which the offense was reported.

15Then these men came to the king as a group and said to him, "Understand, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians says no decree or order the king issues can be changed."

15Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.

16So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve all the time, rescue you."

16Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

NoteThe Aramaic can be read either as a wish, "may your God rescue you", or as a statement of confidence, "your God will rescue you." The King James translators took it the second way; the grammar allows both.

17A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing about Daniel's situation could be changed.

17And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.

NoteThe seal was soft clay pressed over the stone (or over a cord across it) and stamped with a ring carved with the owner's mark. Anyone opening the den would have to break the clay, and the break would show. Sealing it with both the king's ring and the nobles' rings meant neither side could interfere without the other knowing.

18Then the king went back to his palace and spent the night without eating. No entertainment was brought in for him, and he could not sleep.

18Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.

NoteGoing without food was the ordinary way of showing grief or distress, not a religious observance here. The word translated "entertainment" occurs nowhere else in the Bible and its meaning is genuinely unknown; proposals include musicians, dancers, concubines, food, and diversions generally. The King James guess was "instruments of musick."

19At the first light of morning the king got up and hurried to the lions' den.

19Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

20When he got to the den, he called out to Daniel in a voice full of pain. The king said to Daniel, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve all the time, been able to rescue you from the lions?"

20And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

21Then Daniel said to the king, "O king, may you live forever!

21Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.

22My God sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions, so they have not hurt me. That is because I was found innocent in his sight, and I have also done nothing wrong against you, O king."

22My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

Note"Angel" translates a word meaning simply "messenger", one sent to carry out an errand, whether human or heavenly.

23The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted out of the den. So Daniel was lifted out, and not a single wound was found on him, because he had trusted his God.

23Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.

24Then the king gave an order, and the men who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions' den, along with their children and their wives. Before they even reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

24And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.

Note"Accused" renders an Aramaic idiom that literally reads "ate the pieces of" him: that is, denounced him maliciously. Executing a condemned man's family along with him is a Persian practice reported by Greek historians of the period.

25Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and language groups living throughout the land: "May you have peace in full measure.

25Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

Note"Peoples, nations, and language groups" is a set formula in these chapters for the whole mixed population of the empire. The word behind "the land" can mean the earth as a whole or the extent of the empire; royal proclamations habitually claimed the larger sense. "May you have peace in full measure" is the standard greeting formula opening an official letter.

26I am issuing an order that in every part of my kingdom people are to tremble and be in awe before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he lasts forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will go on to the very end.

26I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.

Note"The living God" was a standing phrase distinguishing a god who acts and speaks from a carved image, which does neither.

27He saves and he rescues, and he does signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He is the one who rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."

27He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

28So Daniel did well during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

28So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

NoteCyrus the Persian took Babylon in 539 BC. The Aramaic here can equally be translated "in the reign of Darius, that is, in the reign of Cyrus the Persian", making the two names one ruler. The grammar allows either reading.