Search Tools

It pleased ° Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;

And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.

3

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

4

Then the presidents and princes sought ° to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

5

Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

6

Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.

7

All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

8

Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

9

Wherefore ° ° king Darius signed the writing and the decree.

10

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did ° aforetime. °

11

Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

12

Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

13

Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth ° not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

14

Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured ° till the going down of the sun to deliver him.

15

Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.

16

Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

17

And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.

18

Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep went from him.

19

Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

20

And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

21

Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.

22

My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as ° before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

23

Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.

24

And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused ° Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery ° of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.

25

Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

26

I ° make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble ° and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.

27

He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

28

So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Daniel 6:1

6:1 Darius. This Darius should not be confused with the later Persian emperor, Darius the Great. The Darius in Daniel was evidently one of the greatest generals in the armies of the emperor Cyrus, and was known in secular history as Gobryas. As conqueror of Babylon, he was given great responsibility over much of Babylonia.

Daniel 6:2

6:2 Daniel was first. Daniel had been a prominent and respected leader in Babylon for most of Nebuchadnezzar’s forty-year reign. Belshazzar was slain by the Chaldeans about twenty-two years later, and Darius had no doubt been informed about Daniel’s interpretation of the handwriting on the wall. He soon recognized Daniel’s unique abilities and rewarded him with a very high position. Daniel was probably over eighty years of age by this time.

Daniel 6:5

6:5 not find any occasion. What a testimony, and example, for believers. No wonder his contemporary Ezekiel (14:14) ranked him with Noah and Job as the most godly of men.

Daniel 6:8

6:8 which altereth not. See notes on Esther 1:19; 8:3. Also note Daniel 6:12,15.

Daniel 6:16

6:16 den of lions. Excavations among the ruins of Babylon uncovered this den, containing an inscription indicating that this was where “wild beasts” killed “men who anger the king.”

Daniel 6:22

6:22 his angel. Angels are ministering spirits to believers, and are very powerful and wise. Many of the Bible’s miracles, such as this, involve intervention by angels in the timing or rates of otherwise natural events and processes.

Daniel 6:26

6:26 the living God. Daniel had undoubtedly witnessed to Darius concerning the true God, but Darius had been manipulated by his advisers to forbid Daniel to pray to God. Now, however, Daniel’s faithfulness and faith unto death, if need be, had convinced Darius that God was real.

Daniel 6:27

6:27 hath delivered Daniel. A large basalt statue of a lion standing over a prone man was found on the palace grounds in Babylon in 1784, dating from the time of Darius’ reign there. However, the lion seemed not to be attacking the man, but protecting him. It has been suggested by some archaeologists that the statue was commissioned by Darius to commemorate Daniel’s deliverance in the lions’ den (note Daniel 6:26). The inscription originally on the statue had been hacked off, possibly by men who did not like its testimony.

Daniel 6:28

6:28 reign of Darius. These reigns were not successive reigns, but contemporaneous. Cyrus ruled the entire Medo-Persian empire, Darius only one of its provinces, Babylonia.

The Institute for Creation Research

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

ICR Menu