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The Prophets · Old Testament

Daniel 6

Daniel 6: Daniel in the den of lions under Darius

General context

Darius sets a hundred and twenty princes over the kingdom and three presidents over them, with Daniel first; the king thinks to set him over the whole realm. The presidents and princes seek occasion against Daniel in kingdom matters and find none, since he is faithful, so they decide to attack him through the law of his God. They tell the king that all the officials have agreed on a decree that anyone who petitions any god or man except the king for thirty days shall be cast into the den of lions, and ask him to sign it under the unalterable law of the Medes and Persians. Darius signs. Daniel, knowing the writing is signed, goes home and prays three times a day at open windows toward Jerusalem as before. The men find him praying, remind the king of his decree, and name Daniel of the captivity of Judah as the offender. The king is displeased with himself and labours until sunset to deliver Daniel, but the men insist the law cannot change. Daniel is cast into the den; the king tells him his God will deliver him, seals the stone with his signet, and spends the night fasting and sleepless. At dawn he hurries to the den and asks whether Daniel's God has been able to deliver him. Daniel answers that God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths because innocency was found in him. Daniel is taken up unhurt; his accusers, with their children and wives, are cast in and broken by the lions. Darius writes to all peoples decreeing that men fear the God of Daniel, the living God who delivers. Daniel prospers under Darius and under Cyrus the Persian.

Cited passages: Daniel 6:1, Daniel 6:2, Daniel 6:3, Daniel 6:4, Daniel 6:5, Daniel 6:7, Daniel 6:8, Daniel 6:9, Daniel 6:10, Daniel 6:13, Daniel 6:14, Daniel 6:16, Daniel 6:17, Daniel 6:18, Daniel 6:20, Daniel 6:22, Daniel 6:23, Daniel 6:24, Daniel 6:26, Daniel 6:28

Daniel 6 (KJV)

1It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;

2And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.

3Then 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.

4Then 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.

5Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

6Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.

7All 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.

8Now, 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.

9Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.

10Now 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.

11Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

12Then 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.

13Then 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.

14Then 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.

15Then 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.

16Then 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.

17And 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.

18Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.

19Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

20And 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?

21Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.

22My 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.

23Then 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.

24And 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.

25Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

26I 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.

27He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

28So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

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Historical context

Darius is the king named at the end of chapter 5 as Darius the Median; this chapter adds that he governs under the law of the Medes and Persians and ends by naming Cyrus the Persian as a separate reign in which Daniel also prospers. The text does not explain how the two reigns relate. The conspirators claim that all the presidents consulted together, but Daniel, the first president, is not said to have been consulted; the claim is theirs. Daniel is again identified as one of the captivity of Judah. The narrator gives no age for Daniel here, though chapter 1 places his captivity under Nebuchadnezzar. The decree's thirty-day term and its penalty are the conspirators' proposal, signed by the king. The narrator, not Daniel, says his prayer toward Jerusalem was his former practice. The deliverance is described in Daniel's words as an angel shutting the lions' mouths; the narrator states only that no hurt was found on him. The punishment of the accusers extends to their children and wives, and the text records it without comment. The king's own grief and fasting are stated plainly.

Cited passages: Daniel 6:8, Daniel 6:28, Daniel 6:7, Daniel 6:2, Daniel 6:13, Daniel 6:10, Daniel 6:22, Daniel 6:23, Daniel 6:24, Daniel 6:18

Literary context

The chapter sets a trap built entirely from Daniel's virtue: the conspirators say outright that the only charge available is his God's law. The phrase that the law of the Medes and Persians altereth not is spoken three times, by the conspirators, by the king and by the conspirators again, and it closes on the king like the sealed stone he lays on the den. The narrator gives Darius a run of feelings no earlier king receives in one chapter: displeased with himself, labouring till sundown, fasting, sleepless, crying with a lamentable voice. His question at the den, whether Daniel's God is able to deliver, mirrors Nebuchadnezzar's challenge in chapter 3, now asked in hope. Daniel's reply pairs innocence before God with no hurt done to the king. The den that held Daniel receives his accusers, a reversal the narrator states in physical terms. Darius's letter to all peoples repeats the form of Nebuchadnezzar's in chapter 4, and its confession that God's kingdom shall not be destroyed echoes Daniel's own interpretation in chapter 2. The closing verse hands Daniel on to Cyrus, as chapter 1 did.

Cited passages: Daniel 6:5, Daniel 6:12, Daniel 6:15, Daniel 6:17, Daniel 6:20, Daniel 6:22, Daniel 6:24, Daniel 6:25, Daniel 6:26, Daniel 6:28, Daniel 3:15, Daniel 4:1, Daniel 2:44, Daniel 1:21

Key moments

  1. Daniel first of three presidents (Daniel 6:2). Darius places Daniel over the princes and considers him for the whole realm.
  2. No fault but his God's law (Daniel 6:5). The officials decide the only charge possible concerns Daniel's religion.
  3. Darius signs the decree (Daniel 6:9). The king signs the thirty-day ban on petitions to any god or man but himself.
  4. Prayer at open windows (Daniel 6:10). Daniel kneels three times a day toward Jerusalem as before.
  5. Cast into the den (Daniel 6:16). The king has Daniel thrown in and says his God will deliver him.
  6. The lions' mouths shut (Daniel 6:22). Daniel tells the king an angel shut the lions' mouths.
  7. Accusers thrown to the lions (Daniel 6:24). The accusers, their children and wives are cast in and killed.

For reflection

Daniel prays at his open windows exactly as before, neither hiding nor making a display. What does the phrase 'as he did aforetime' suggest about the kind of habit that holds when a law changes?

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