Daniel 6:1

1 Darius thought it would be a good idea to choose one hundred twenty governors who would rule his kingdom.

Daniel 6:1 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 6:1

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and
twenty princes
This is the same Darius mentioned in the latter part of the preceding chapter; who, as soon as he took the kingdom of Babylon, divided it into a hundred and twenty provinces, as Jacchiades observes; as was the manner of the Medes and Persians. So Darius the son of Hystaspes divided the kingdom of Persia into twenty provinces, and set governors over each, according to Herodotus ^F18; to these hundred and twenty provinces seven more were afterwards added, through the victories of Cyrus and Cambyses, and Darius Itystaspes, ( Esther 1:1 ) . Josephus ^F19, through forgetfulness, makes these princes and provinces three hundred and sixty: which should be over the whole kingdom;
or, "in the whole kingdom" ^F20; in the several parts of it, and take care of all things relative to the civil government of it, both for the honour and advantage of the king, and the good of the subjects.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Thalia, sive l. 3. c. 89.
F19 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 11. sect. 4.
F20 (atwklm lkb) "in toto regno", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Cocceius; "toti regno", Junius & Tremellius.

Daniel 6:1 In-Context

1 Darius thought it would be a good idea to choose one hundred twenty governors who would rule his kingdom.

2 He chose three men as supervisors over those governors, and Daniel was one of the supervisors. The supervisors were to ensure that the governors did not try to cheat the king.

3 Daniel showed that he could do the work better than the other supervisors and governors, so the king planned to put Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom.

4 Because of this, the other supervisors and governors tried to find reasons to accuse Daniel about his work in the government. But they could not find anything wrong with him or any reason to accuse him, because he was trustworthy and not lazy or dishonest.

5 Finally these men said, "We will never find any reason to accuse Daniel unless it is about the law of his God."