Daniel 6:11-17

11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.
12 Then they 1came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, "O king! Did you not sign 2an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?" The king answered and said, "The thing stands fast, according to the law of 3the Medes and Persians, 4which cannot be revoked."
13 Then they answered and said before the king, 5"Daniel, who is one 6of the exiles 7from Judah, 8pays no attention to you, O king, or 9the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition 10three times a day."
14 Then 11the king, when he heard these words, 12was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.
15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, "Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no 13injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed."
16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared[a] to Daniel, "May 14your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!"
17 15And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, 16and the king sealed it 17with his own signet and with the signet of his 18lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.

Daniel 6:11-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 6

This chapter gives an account of Daniel's being cast into the den of lions, and the causes of it, and the steps leading to it; and also of his wonderful deliverance out of it, and what followed upon that. It first relates how Daniel was made by Darius first president of the princes of the kingdom, which drew their envy upon him, Da 6:1-4, and that these princes finding they could get no occasion against him, but in religion, proposed to the king to make a law forbidding prayer to any god for thirty days, which they got established, Da 6:5-9, and Daniel breaking this law, is accused by them to the king; and the penalty, casting into the den of lions, is insisted on to be executed, Da 6:10-13, which the king laboured to prevent, but in vain; and Daniel is cast to the lions, to the great grief of the king, Da 6:14-18, who visited the den the next morning, and to his great joy found Daniel alive, Da 6:19-23, upon which, by the law of retaliation, his accusers, their wives, and children, were cast into it, Da 6:24, and an edict was published by the king, commanding all in his dominions to fear and reverence the God of Daniel, Da 6:25-28.

Cross References 18

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Aramaic answered and said; also verse 20
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.