Daniel 6:1-6

1 Daryavesh decided to set over the kingdom 120 viceroys to rule throughout the entire kingdom,

2 with three chiefs over them, of whom Dani'el was one, so that these viceroys could be responsible to them and so that the king's interests would be safeguarded.

3 But because an extraordinary spirit was in this Dani'el, he so distinguished himself above the other chiefs and the viceroys that the king considered putting him in charge of the whole kingdom.

4 The other chiefs and the viceroys tried to find a cause for complaint against Dani'el in regard to how he performed his governing duties, but they could find nothing to complain about, no fault; on the contrary, because he was so faithful, not a single instance of negligence or faulty administration could be found.

5 Then these men said, "We're not going to find any cause for complaint against this Dani'el unless we can find something against him in regard to the law of his god."

6 So these chiefs and viceroys descended on the king and said to him, "King Daryavesh, live forever!

Daniel 6:1-6 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.