Daniel 6:9-19

9 And so King Darius signed the order.
10 When Daniel learned that the order had been signed, he went home. In an upstairs room of his house there were windows that faced toward Jerusalem. There, just as he had always done, he knelt down at the open windows and prayed to God three times a day.
11 When Daniel's enemies observed him praying to God,
12 all of them went together to the king to accuse Daniel. They said, "Your Majesty, you signed an order that for the next thirty days anyone who requested anything from any god or from any human being except you, would be thrown into a pit filled with lions." The king replied, "Yes, that is a strict order, a law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed."
13 Then they said to the king, "Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, does not respect Your Majesty or obey the order you issued. He prays regularly three times a day."
14 When the king heard this, he was upset and did his best to find some way to rescue Daniel. He kept trying until sunset.
15 Then Daniel's enemies came back to the king and said to him, "Your Majesty knows that according to the laws of the Medes and Persians no order which the king issues can be changed."
16 So the king gave orders for Daniel to be taken and thrown into the pit filled with lions. He said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve so loyally, rescue you." 1
17 A stone was put over the mouth of the pit, and the king placed his own royal seal and the seal of his noblemen on the stone, so that no one could rescue Daniel.
18 Then the king returned to the palace and spent a sleepless night, without food or any form of entertainment.
19 At dawn the king got up and hurried to the pit.

Daniel 6:9-19 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 1

  • 1. +26.16Bel 31-42.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.