Daniel 6:1-12

Daniel’s Integrity and His Entrapment by His Enemies

1 {It pleased Darius}, and he set up one hundred and twenty satraps over the kingdom, that they were {throughout the whole kingdom},
2 and over them [were] three administrators, [of] whom Daniel [was] one, [so] that these satraps were giving account to them, and the king would not be suffering loss.
3 Then Daniel {began distinguishing himself} above the administrators and the satraps {because} an exceptional spirit [was] in him, and [so] the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom.
4 Then the [other] administrators and satraps {began to seek} to find [a] pretext against Daniel {in connection with the kingdom}, but they were not able to find any pretext and {corruption} {because} he was trustworthy, and no negligence or {corruption} {could be found in him}.
5 Then these men {said}, "We will not find any pretext against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God."
6 So the administrators and the satraps conspired {with respect to} the king and so they said to him, "Darius, O king, live {forever}!
7 All of [the] administrators of the kingdom, and the prefects, the satraps, the counselors and the governors took counsel [and have] agreed to establish an edict of the king and to enforce a decree that {whoever} will seek a prayer from any god or human except from you [for] up to thirty days will be thrown into {the lion pit}.
8 Now, O king, establish the edict and you must sign the document [so] that [it] cannot be changed, according to [the] law of [the] Medes and Persians which cannot be revoked."
9 {So} the king, Darius, signed the writing and the interdict.
10 Now {when} Daniel realized that the document was signed, he went to his house ({now he had windows in his upper room that were open} toward Jerusalem), and three times {daily} he knelt on his knees and prayed and [gave] praise before his God, {just as} he had been doing {previously}.
11 Then these men came as a group and they found Daniel praying and pleading for mercy before his God.
12 Then they approached {and spoke with the king} concerning the edict of the king, "{Did you not sign an edict} that any person who would seek [anything] from any God or human within thirty days except from you, O king, would be thrown into {the lion pit}?" The king answered and said, "The matter [as you have just stated] is certain according to [the] law of [the] Medes and Persians which cannot be revoked."

Daniel 6:1-12 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.

Footnotes 27

  • [a]. Literally "It was pleasant before Darius"
  • [b]. Literally "in all the kingdom"
  • [c]. Literally "was distinguishing himself"
  • [d]. Literally "all of because that"
  • [e]. Literally "were seeking"
  • [f]. Literally "from the side of the kingdom"
  • [g]. Literally "being corrupt"
  • [h]. Literally "all because that"
  • [i]. Aramaic "any"
  • [j]. Literally "being corrupt"
  • [k]. Literally "not could be found"
  • [l]. Literally "[were] saying"
  • [m]. Or "basis for accusation"
  • [n]. Literally "on/upon"
  • [o]. Literally "to eternity"
  • [p]. Literally "all that"
  • [q]. Literally "pit of lions"
  • [r]. Literally "Like to before this"
  • [s]. Or "the writing that is the interdict"
  • [t]. Literally "as that"
  • [u]. Literally "and windows were open to him in his upper room"
  • [v]. Literally "in the day"
  • [w]. Literally "all because that"
  • [x]. Literally "from before this"
  • [y]. Literally "and saying before the king"
  • [z]. Literally "Not an edict you signed?"
  • [aa]. Literally "pit of lions"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.