Daniel 6:1-10

1 It pleased Darius, and he ordained sixscore dukes over the realm, that they should be in all his realm. (And it pleased Darius, and he ordained one hundred and twenty governors over the kingdom, and that they should be throughout all his kingdom.)
2 And over them he ordained three princes, of which Daniel was one; that the dukes should yield reason to them, and that the king should not suffer any dis-ease. (And over them he ordained three princes, of whom Daniel was one; so that the governors could report to them, and so that the king need not suffer any distress.)
3 Therefore Daniel overcame all the princes and dukes, for [the] more spirit of God was in him. Certainly the king thought to ordain him on all the realm. (And soon Daniel outshone the other princes, and the governors, for he had more God-given ability than any of the others. And the king decided to ordain him over all the kingdom.)
4 Wherefore (the) princes and dukes, either prefects, sought to find occasion to Daniel, of the side of the king; and they might find no cause and suspicion, for he was faithful, and no blame and suspicion was found in him. (And so the other princes, and the governors, or the prefects, sought to find occasion against Daniel, who stood at the king's side; but they could find no cause, or reason, for suspicion about him, for he was faithful, and so no blame or suspicion was found in him.)
5 Therefore those men said, We shall not find any occasion to this Daniel, no but in hap in the law of his God. (And so those men said, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except perhaps in regard to the Law of his God.)
6 Then the princes and dukes made false suggestion to the king, and spake thus to him, King Darius, live thou without end. (And then the princes and the governors made a sly suggestion to the king, and they said to him, King Darius, may thou live forever!)
7 All the princes of thy realm, and magistrates, and dukes, senators, and judges, have made a counsel, that a decree and commandment of the emperor go out, that each man that asketh any asking of whatever god and man, till to thirty days, no but of thee, thou king, he be sent into the pit of lions. (All the princes of thy kingdom, and the magistrates, and governors, and senators, and judges, have taken counsel, and agree that a decree and a command, or an order, of the emperor should go out, that for thirty days, anyone who asketh anything of any god or any man, except of thee, O king, that that person should be sent into the lions? pit.)
8 Now therefore, king, confirm thou the sentence, and write thou the decree, that this that is ordained of Medes and Persians be not changed, neither be it leaveful to any man to break. (And so now, O king, confirm thou the matter, and write thou the decree, that what is ordained by the Medes and the Persians be not changed, nor be it lawful for anyone to break it.)
9 Forsooth Darius, the king, setted forth, and confirmed the decree. (And so King Darius put forth, and confirmed the decree.)
10 And when Daniel had found (out) this thing, that is, (that) the law (was) ordained, he entered into his house; and the while the windows were open in his solar against Jerusalem, in three times in the day he bowed his knees, and worshipped, and acknowledged before his God, as he was wont to do before. (And when Daniel had learned about this, that is, that the law was ordained, he entered into his house; and at the windows in his solarium that were open toward Jerusalem, three times a day he bowed his knees, and worshipped, and acknowledged his God, as he was wont to do before the decree had been issued.)

Daniel 6:1-10 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.