Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you.”
A stone was brought, and laid on the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting. No musical instruments were brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.
Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste to the den of lions. When he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?”
Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not hurt me; because as before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”
Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions mauled them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv16–24 The king, as we have said, frightened by the…
The king, as we have said, frightened by the denunciation of the nobles, condemns Daniel to death. And hence we gather the reward which kings deserve in reference to their pride, when they are compelled to submit with servility to their flatterers. How was Darius deceived by the cunning of his nobles! For he thought his authority would be strengthened, by putting the obedience of all men to this test of refusing all prayer to any god or man for a whole month. He thought he should become superior to both gods and men, if all his subjects really manifested obedience of this kind. We now see how obstinately the nobles rise against him, and denounce ultimate revolt, unless he obey them. We see that when kings take too much upon themselves, how they are exposed to infamy, and become the variest slaves of their own servants! This is common enough with earthly princes; those who possess their influence and favor applaud them in all things and even adore them; they offer every kind of flattery which can propitiate their favor; but, meanwhile, what freedom do their idols enjoy? They do not allow them any authority, nor any intercourse with the best and most faithful friends, while they are watched by their own guards. Lastly, if they are compared with the wretches who are confined in the closest dungeon, not one who is thrust down into the deepest pit, and watched by three or four guards, is not freer than kings themselves! But, as I have said, this is God’s most just vengeance; since, when they cannot contain themselves in the ordinary rank and station of men, but wish to penetrate the clouds and become on a level with God, they necessarily become a laughingstock. Hence they become slaves of all their attendants, and dare not utter anything with freedom, and are without friends, and are afraid to summon their subjects to their presence, and to intrust either one or another with their wishes. Thus slaves rule the kingdoms of the world, because kings assume superiority to mortals. King Darius is an instance of this when he sent for Daniel, and commanded him to be thrown into the den of lions; his nobles force this from him, and he unwillingly obeys them. But we should notice the reason. He had lately forgotten his own mortality, he had desired to deprive the Almighty of his sway, and as it were to drag him down from heaven! For if God remains in heaven, men must pray to him; but Darius forbade any one from even daring to utter a prayer; hence as far as he could he deprived the Almighty of his power. Now he is compelled to obey his own subjects, although they exercise an almost disgraceful tyranny over him.
Daniel now adds — the king said this to him, Thy God, whom thou servest, or worshipest, faithfully, he will deliver thee! This word may be read in the optative mood, as we have said. There is no doubt that Darius really wished this; but it may mean, Thy God whom thou worshipest will deliver thee — as if he had said, “Already I am not my own master, I am here tossed about by the blast of a tempest; my nobles compel me to this deed against my will; I, therefore, now resign thee and thy life to God, because it is not in my power to deliver thee;” as if this excuse lightened his own crime by transferring to God the power of preserving Daniel. This reason causes some to praise the piety of King Darius; but as I confess his clemency and humanity to be manifest in this speech, so it is clear that he had not a grain of piety when he thus wished to adorn himself in the spoils of deity! For although the superstitious do not seriously fear God, yet they are restrained by some dread of him; but he here wished to reduce the whole divinity to nothing. What sort of piety was this? The clemency of Darius may therefore be praised, but his sacrilegious pride can by no means be excused. Then why did he act so humanely towards Daniel? Because he had found him a faithful servant, and the regard which rendered him merciful arose from this peculiarity. He would not have manifested the same disposition towards others. If a hundred or a thousand Jews had been dragged before his tribunal, he would carelessly have condemned them all because they had disobeyed the edict! Hence he was obstinately impious and cruel. He spared Daniel for his own private advantage, and thus embraced him with his favor; but in praising his humanity, we do not perceive any sign of piety in him. But he says, the God whom thou worshipest, he will deliver thee, because, he had formerly known Daniel’s prophecy concerning the destruction of the Chaldean monarchy; hence he is convinced, how Israel’s God is conscious of all things, and rules everything by his will; yet, in the meantime, he neither worships him nor suffers others to do so; for as far as he could he had excluded God from his own rights. In thus attributing to God the power of delivering him, he does not act cordially; and hence his impiety is the more detestable, when he deprives God of his rights while he confesses him to be the true and only one endued with supreme power; and though he is but dust and ashes, yet he substitutes himself in his place! It now follows, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv20, 22, 23, 24 This declareth that Darius was not touched with the…
This declareth that Darius was not touched with the true knowledge of God, because he doubted of his power.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–24 Dan 6:16 Then the king commanded, and they brought…
Dan 6:16 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.
Ver. 16. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel.] Besides and against his conscience, Rex regendum se praebet impiis nebulonibus, the king yieldeth to the importunity of these wretched malignants, and condemneth an innocent. See Mat 27:24. This maketh Calvin conclude ne micam quidem pietatis fuisse in hoc rege, that there was no goodness at all in this king.
Read full note →
And cast him into the den of lions.] So little assurance of a continued felicity is there to any prince’s favourite; witness Joab, Abner, Haman, Callisthenes, Sejanus, Ruffinus, Eutropius, Stilico, Alvarez de Luna, who told those that admired his fortune and favour with the king of Castile, You do wrong to commend the building before it be finished.
Now the king spake and said unto Danial.] Many oppressing landlords, saith one, are like Darius, that prayed God to help Daniel, but yet sent him to the lions’ den. How many friends at a sneeze have we today? saith another. The most you can get from them is, God bless you, Christ help you.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16–24 The king commanded: he had a good mind to…
The king commanded: he had a good mind to do Daniel a kindness, but he could not stem the tide of his flatterers, who being crossed might machinate some mischief against him; having this plausible pretence for it, that they stood for the fundamental laws of the land, which the king endeavoured to null by his prerogative for the sake of one person, his pure vassal, being an alien, and of another religion, which was contrary to that which was by law established. Cast him into the den of lions: thus the best man in the kingdom becomes a sacrifice to the malice of the vilest men; the king consenting and commanding it against his conscience, but for reasons of state; being inexcusable for assuming the honour and worship of a god, exclusive to all other gods and worship; and, for all that he was convinced of the true God, would not worship him, nor suffer others to do it, under pain of death.
Thy God will deliver thee. No thanks to him. Why, then, did he cast the servant of God to the lions to try experiments upon him? No, to excuse himself, and to comfort Daniel; but to little purpose either.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v18 Here is, I. The melancholy night which the king…
Here is, I. The melancholy night which the king had, upon Daniel's account, Dan 6:18. He had said, indeed, that God would deliver him out of the danger, but at the same time he could not forgive himself for throwing him into the danger; and justly might God deprive him of a friend whom he had himself used so barbarously. He went to his palace, vexed at himself for what he had done, and calling himself unwise and unjust for not adhering to the law of God and nature with a non obstante - a negative to the law of the Medes and Persians. He ate no supper, but passed the night fasting; his heart was already full of grief and fear. He forbade the music; nothing is more unpleasing that songs sung to a heavy heart. He went to bed, but got no sleep, was full of tossings to and fro till the dawning of the day. Note, the best way to have a good night is to keep a good conscience, then we may lie down in peace.
II. The solicitous enquiry he made concerning Daniel the next morning, Dan 6:19, Dan 6:20. He was up early, very early; for how could he lie in bed when he could not sleep for dreaming of Daniel, nor lie awake quietly for thinking of him? And he was no sooner up than he went in haste to the den of lions, for he could not satisfy himself to send a servant (that would not sufficiently testify his affection for Daniel), nor had he patience to stay so long as till a servant would return. When he comes to the den, not without some hopes that God had graciously undone what he had wickedly done, he cries, with a lamentable voice, as one full of concern and trouble, O Daniel! art thou alive? He longs to know, yet trembles to ask the question, fearing to be answered with the roaring of the lions after more prey: O Daniel! servant of the living God, has thy God whom thou servest made it to appear that he is able to deliver thee from the lions? If he rightly understood himself when he called him the living God, he could not doubt of his ability to keep Daniel alive, for he that has life in himself quickens whom he will; but has he thought fit in this case to exert his power? What he doubted of we are sure of, that the servants of the living God have a Master who is well able to protect them and bear them out in his service.
Read full note →
III. The joyful news he meets with - that Daniel is alive, is safe, and well, and unhurt in the lions' den, Dan 6:21, Dan 6:22. Daniel knew the king's voice, though it was now a lamentable voice, and spoke to him with all the deference and respect that were due to him: O king! live for ever. He does not reproach him for his unkindness to him, and his easiness in yielding to the malice of his persecutors; but, to show that he has heartily forgiven him, he meets him with his good wishes. Note, We should not upbraid those with the diskindnesses they have done us who, we know, did them with reluctance, and are very ready to upbraid themselves with them. The account Daniel gives the king is very pleasant; it is triumphant. 1. God has preserved his life by a miracle. Darius had called him Daniel's god (thy God whom thou servest), to which Daniel does as it were echo back, Yea, he is my God, whom I own, and who owns me, for he has sent his angel. The same bright and glorious being that was seen in the form of the Son of God with the three children in the fiery furnace had visited Daniel, and, it is likely, in a visible appearance had enlightened the dark den, and kept Daniel company all night, and had shut the lions' mouths, that they had not in the least hurt him. The angel's presence made even the lions' den his strong-hold, his palace, his paradise; he had never had a better night in his life. See the power of God over the fiercest creatures, and believe his power to restrain the roaring lion that goes about continually seeking to devour from hurting those that are his. See the care God takes of his faithful worshippers, especially when he calls them out to suffer for him. If he keeps their souls from sin, comforts their souls with his peace, and receives their souls to himself, he does in effect stop the lions' mouths, that they cannot hurt them. See how ready the angels are to minister for the good of God's people, for they own themselves their fellow servants. 2. God has therein pleaded his cause. He was represented to the king as disaffected to him and his government. We do not find that he said any thing in his own vindication, but left it to God to clear up his integrity as the light; and he did it effectually, by working a miracle for his preservation. Daniel, in what he had done, had not offended either God or the king: Before him whom I prayed to innocency was found in me. He pretends not to a meritorious excellence, but the testimony of his conscience concerning his sincerity is his comfort - As also that before thee, O king! I have done no hurt, nor designed thee any affront.
IV. The discharge of Daniel from his confinement. His prosecutors cannot but own that the law is satisfied, though they are not, or, if it be altered, it is by a power superior to that of the Medes and Persians; and therefore no cause can be shown why Daniel should not be fetched out of the den (Dan 6:23): The king was exceedingly glad to find him alive, and gave orders immediately that they should take him out of the den, as Jeremiah out of the dungeon; and, when they searched, no manner of hurt was found upon him; he was nowhere crushed nor scarred, but was kept perfectly well, because he believed in his God. Note, Those who boldly and cheerfully trust in God to protect them in the way of their duty shall never be made ashamed of their confidence in him, but shall always find him a present help.
V. The committing of his prosecutors to the same prison, or place of execution rather, Dan 6:24. Darius is animated by this miracle wrought for Daniel, and now begins to take courage and act like himself. Those that would not suffer him to show mercy to Daniel shall, now that God has done it for him, be made to feel his resentments; and he will do justice for God who had shown mercy for him. Daniel's accusers, now that his innocency is cleared, and Heaven itself has become his compurgator, have the same punishment inflicted upon them which they designed against him, according to the law of retaliation made against false accusers, Deu 19:18, Deu 19:19. Such they were to be reckoned now that Daniel was proved innocent; for, though the fact was true, yet it was not a fault. They were cast into the den of lions, which perhaps was a punishment newly invented by themselves; however, it was what they maliciously designed for Daniel. Nec lex est justior ulla qum necis artifices arte perire su - No law can be more just than that which adjudges the devisers of barbarity to perish by it, Psa 7:15, Psa 7:16; Psa 9:15, Psa 9:16. And now Solomon's observation is verified (Pro 11:8), The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead. In this execution we may observe, 1. The king's severity, in ordering their wives and children to be thrown to the lions with them. How righteous are God's statutes above those of the nations! for God commanded that the children should not die for the fathers' crimes, Deu 24:16. Yet they were put to death in extraordinary cases, as those of Achan, and Saul, and Haman. 2. The lion's fierceness. They had the mastery of them immediately, and tore them to pieces before they came to the bottom of the den. This verified and magnified the miracle of their sparing Daniel; for hereby it appeared that it was not because they had not appetite, but because they had not leave. Mastiffs that are kept muzzled are the more fierce when the muzzle is taken off; so were these lions. And the Lord is known by those judgments which he executes.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–24 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the…
And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den,.... Not a heap of stones, but a single one, a very large one, sufficient to stop up the mouth of the den, that nothing might enter in at it, or be cast into it: this stone was brought by proper persons, and a sufficient number of them, according the order of the king, or his princes, or both; for what Jarchi says, of there being no stones in Babylon, only bricks, and of the angels bringing this stone out of the land of Israel, is all fabulous: but for what end it should be brought and laid is not easy to say; if it was laid here by the order of the princes, it could not surely be to keep any of his friends from going in to deliver him, for who would venture himself there? nor to keep Daniel in it, since it might be concluded, that, as soon as ever he was cast in, he would be seized upon by the lions and devoured at once; unless it can be thought, that these men saw, that when he was thrown in, the lions did not meddle with him; which they might attribute to their having been lately fed, and therefore, that he might be reserved till they were hungry, they did this: if it was by the order of the king, which is very likely, the reason might be, he believed, or at least hoped, that God would deliver him from the lions; but lest his enemies, seeing this, should throw in stones or arrows, and kill him, the mouth of the den was stopped, so Jarchi and Saadiah: no doubt but this was so ordered by the providence of God, as well as the sealing of it, that the miracle of the deliverance might appear the more manifest:
and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of the lords; that none might dare to remove it; so the stone that was laid at the door of Christ's sepulchre was sealed with a seal, Mat 27:66, the reason of sealing it follows,
Read full note →
that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel: the view the lords had in it was, that the king might not change the sentence passed on Daniel, or take any methods to deliver him; and the view the king had in it might be, that should he be saved from the lions, as he hoped he would, that no other sentence might pass upon him, or he be delivered to any other kind of death.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv20, 22 Able to deliver - What he doubted of, we…
Able to deliver - What he doubted of, we are sure of, that the servants of the living God, have a master who is able to deliver them and bear them out in his service.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24 Verse 16. Then the king commanded] With a heavy…
Verse 16. Then the king commanded] With a heavy heart he was obliged to warrant this murderous conspiracy. But when passing sentence his last words were affecting: "Thy God, whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee." He is thy God; thou servest him, not occasionally, but continually; therefore "he will deliver thee." Daniel had now the same kind of opportunity of showing his fidelity to God, as his three Hebrew companions before. The lions were not less terrible than the fiery furnace.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 21, 24 Dan 6:16. Then the king commanded, and they brought…
Dan 6:16. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, &c. — The king at last, though with great reluctance, and against his conscience, yields to the violence of Daniel’s enemies, and signs the warrant for his execution: and that venerable, grave man, who carried such a mixture of majesty and sweetness in his countenance, who had so often shown himself great upon the bench, and at the council-board, but was greater upon his knees; that had power with God and man, and had prevailed, is, purely for worshipping his God, brought, as if he had been one of the vilest malefactors, and thrown into the den of lions to be devoured by them. Thus the best man in the kingdom is made a sacrifice to the vilest! Who can think of it without the utmost compassion for the sufferer, and the utmost indignation against the malicious persecutors? Now the king spake unto Daniel — Partly, perhaps, to encourage him, but chiefly, it seems, to excuse himself for giving his consent to so palpable an act of injustice and cruelty, which he ought to have resisted, whatever had been the consequence; Thy God, whom thou servest continually — Here the king bears testimony to Daniel’s integrity and fidelity to his God, notwithstanding that it had influenced him to disobey the new law; he will deliver thee — So the Chaldee, the Greek, and Vulgate; but the Syriac and Arabic render the words optatively, May he deliver thee, which seems best, as it is not likely the king, after consenting to so wicked an act, should be inspired with a persuasion from God (and he could have it no other way) of Daniel’s deliverance. He might, indeed, have heard of the miraculous preservation of Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace, by the power of their God, in the days of Nebuchadnezzar; but he could have no assurance that a similar miracle would now be wrought by the same God. All, therefore, that his words were intended to express, seems to be only a wishful hope, but no certain persuasion.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv16–24 Then the king commanded ... - See the note…
Then the king commanded ... - See the note at Dan 6:7. Some recent discoveries among the ruins of Babylon have shown that the mode of punishment by throwing offenders against the laws to lions was actually practiced there, and these discoveries may be classed among the numerous instances in which modern investigations have tended to confirm the statements in the Bible. Three interesting figures illustrating this fact may be seen in the Pictorial Bible, vol. iii. p. 232. The first of those figures, from a block of stone, was found at Babylon near the great mass of ruin that is supposed to mark the site of the grand western palace. It represents a lion standing over the body of a prostrate man, extended on a pedestal which measures nine feet in length by three in breadth. The head has been lately knocked off; but when Mr. Rich saw it, the statue was in a perfect state, and he remarks that “the mouth had a circular aperture into which a man might introduce his fist.” The second is from an engraved gem, dug from the ruins of Babylon by Captain Mignan. It exhibits a man standing on two sphinxes, and engaged with two fierce animals, possibly intended for lions. The third is from a block of white marble found near the tomb of Daniel at Susa, and thus described by Sir Robert Ker Porter in his Travels (vol. ii. p. 416): “It does not exceed ten inches in width and depth, measures twenty in length, and is hollow within, as if to receive some deposit. Three of its sides are cut in bass-relief, two of them with similar representations of a man apparently naked, except a sash round his waist, and a sort of cap on his head. His hands are bound behind him. The corner of the stone forms the neck of the figure, so that its head forms one of its ends. Two lions in sitting postures appear on either side at the top, each having a paw on the head of the man.” See Pict. Bible, in loc.
Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God ... - What is here stated is in accordance with what is said in Dan 6:14, that the king sought earnestly to deliver Daniel from the punishment. He had entire confidence in him, and he expressed that to the last. As to the question of probability whether Darius, a pagan, would attempt to comfort Daniel with the hope that he would be delivered, and would express the belief that this would be done by that God whom he served, and in whose cause he was about to be exposed to peril, it may be remarked,
Read full note →
(1) That it was a common thing among the pagan to believe in the interposition of the gods in favor of the righteous, and particularly in favor of their worshippers. See Homer, passim. Hence, it was that they called on them; that they committed themselves to them in battle and in peril; that they sought their aid by sacrifices and by prayers. No one can doubt that such a belief prevailed, and that the mind of Darius, in accordance with the prevalent custom, might be under its influence.
(2) Darius, undoubtedly, in accordance with the prevailing belief, regarded the God whom Daniel worshipped as a god, though not as exclusively the true God. He had the same kind of confidence in him that he had in any god worshipped by foreigners - and probably regarded him as the tutelary divinity of the land of Palestine, and of the Hebrew people. As he might consistently express this belief in reference to any foreign divinity, there is no improbability that he would in reference to the God worshipped by Daniel.
(3) He had the utmost confidence both in the integrity and the piety of Daniel; and as he believed that the gods interposed in human affairs, and as he saw in Daniel an eminent instance of devotedness to his God, he did not doubt that in such a case it might be hoped that he would save him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 22, 23, 24 Own ring, that none of his enemies might injure…
Own ring, that none of his enemies might injure Daniel. The nobles also affixed their seal, (Haydock) that the king might not liberate him. (Menochius) --- All this shews that aristocracy was mixed with the monarchical form of government. Nothing of importance is done without the nobles.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16–24 Thy God . . . will deliver thee--The heathen…
Thy God . . . will deliver thee--The heathen believed in the interposition of the gods at times in favor of their worshippers. Darius recognized Daniel's God as a god, but not the only true God. He had heard of the deliverance of the three youths in Dan 3:26-27 and hence augurs Daniel's deliverance. I am not my own master, and cannot deliver thee, however much I wish it. "Thy God will." Kings are the slaves of their flatterers. Men admire piety to God in others, however disregarding Him themselves.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24 16. Thy God… will deliver thee — As De…
16. Thy God… will deliver thee — As De Wette once wrote, “Darius shows superabundant faith here.” A Babylonian king to make such a speech as this must have had more faith in Jehovah than the followers of Daniel’s God then or now. (Compare note Dan_3:18). One ancient text in the same spirit adds this encouragement from the king: “Be of good cheer until the morning.” (See Introduction, II, 3.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–24 16. Now the king spake, &c.] The king answered,…
16. Now the king spake, &c.] The king answered, &c. The asyndetic construction is characteristic of the Aramaic portion of the book: Dan_3:19; Dan_3:24; Dan_3:26, Dan_5:7; Dan_5:13, Dan_6:20 (notice italics in A.V.), al.
he will deliver thee] Rather, may he (emph.) deliver thee! The king hopes, even against hope, that Daniel may by some means or other be spared his fate. Throughout the narrative Darius shews solicitude for Daniel (cf. Dan_6:14; Dan_6:18-20). He does not willingly consign him to death: he has been entrapped by his courtiers; and in acting as he has done, he has merely, like Herod (Mat_14:9), yielded to what he supposes to be the necessities of his position.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 20, 22 (16) They brought Daniel.—According to Eastern custom, the sentence…
(16) They brought Daniel.—According to Eastern custom, the sentence was generally executed on the day when it was pronounced. This explains why the king’s efforts to commute the sentence were prolonged till sunset (Dan_6:14). The lions were probably kept here for sporting purposes. The form of the den is unknown, but the etymology suggests a vaulted chamber.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and…
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. The Septuagint Version here is not so likely to represent the original text, as there are symptoms of displacement, "Then Darius the king called out and said to Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually three times a day, he will deliver thee out of the power of the lions; till the morning be of good cheer." The opening clause of the next verse in the Septuagint really represents the first clause of the verse before us, "And the king was grieved, and spake to cast Daniel into the den of lions." Theodotion and the Peshitta agree with the Massoretic text. The circumstances cannot fail to remind the reader of Herod with John the Baptist, and the still greater crime wrought by weakness Pilate and our Lord. Darius had failed to overbear the opposition of the legalists who had determined on Daniel"s death; he is obliged, therefore, to.give the order that the sentence be executed. In doing so he commends his friend to the God, or the gods, if we take the K"thib instead of the Q"ri. Darius probably knew nothing of Daniel"s religious beliefs, and therefore would be prone to imagine that he worshipped several gods, and to them he commends him. The addition of the Septuagint is picturesque, "Be of good cheer until the morning." Moreover, it fits in to what follows, and at the same time it is not of such a nature as that it should suggest itself to the ordinary interpolator.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv16, 20, 21, 24 Then the King commanded and they brought Daniel.
Dan_6:16-17
Then the King commanded and they brought Daniel.
Read full note →
The Example of Daniel
It is the property of pure religion to invest the man who possesses it with excellencies which bear no resemblance to the fashion of the world. His ambition rises beyond all human distinctions. Those endowments of mind and of character which arrested the admiration of Darius, and induced the smile of his complacency, awakened at the same time the direful spirit of envy in the breast of his courtiers, who could not endure to contemplate the rising glory of the man whom the king delighted to honour.
1. The text records the sentiments of an inspired prophet respecting the interference of human authority in the concerns of religion. Daniel honoured the King, but would not render to him the homage which interfered with the claims of God and the rights of conscience. Does it become Christians to evince less of fortitude and firm decision of soul?
2. In the temper and conduct of Daniel we may learn how all good men should act under the rod of oppression. To lawful authority obedience is due; but to yield submission to the will of a capricious tyrant, arrayed in the trappings of assumed and self-constituted authority, to a task dreadfully irksome to a reflecting mind. Absolute power cannot govern the region of the soul. If the Christian had power, he has no disposition to render evil for evil. His temper is that of meekness, and peace, and goodwill towards men. He, therefore, is not fitted to subvert establishments and to dethrone tyrants. His spirit gives him patience to endure, but inspires no feeling of resistance; and he prefers being made the victim rather than the agent of vengeance.
3. The case of the afflicted prophet reminds us how religious persecution defeats its object, by extending the cause which it is intended to repress. It was Daniels fortitude in subduing misfortunes, and his faith which conquered death, that made his religion popular.
4. The holy fortitude and triumph of the persecuted prophet, show that God affords support to his servants under the pressure of their heaviest trials. (Chap. 6:16, 28) (S. Curwen.)
The Den of Lions
The precedency given to Daniel did not suit the mind of the other presidents and princes for various reasons. They were still jealous of the power of this foreign worshipper of Jehovah, and doubtless they were well convinced that, so long as Daniel had the final authority over the treasury accounts, there would be small chance for them to enrich themselves at the expense of the kings exchequer. They therefore immediately formed a plot for Daniels overthrow. They perfectly understood that they could not sustain any ordinary charge against this man of blameless character and spotless integrity. So they resorted to craft. If Daniel was to be caught at all, it must be through his religious fidelity. The light that had shone so steadfastly and brilliantly in that great city for more than sixty years was not now to be hidden under a bushel. He disdained to condescend to unworthy compromises or cowardly evasions.
I. DANIEL DELIVERED TO THE LIONS. In the delivery of Daniel, to be cast into the den of lions, we are reminded at once of the similar fate which befell the three young princes, his early friends. Darius had been more boastful in the decree which made him god for thirty days, than had Nebuchadnezzar, who only ordered that his god should be worshipped by everybody; yet he had less power than his more modest predecessor. We cannot but reflect on the latent sarcasm involved in the boasted despotic power of earthly monarchs. Their power is always absolute to do evil, but limited to do good. Zedekiah could consent to the imprisonment of Jeremiah, but said he had not power to deliver him out of the hands of the nobles, his enemies. Herod had power to deliver John the Baptist to the executioner, but no power to save him from the result of his rash vow. Pilate seemed to have no power to save Jesus from his malicious enemies, but had power to deliver Him to the cross. And so we might further illustrate this power for evil, this impotence for good, when it is vested in the hands of the kings of the earth; but these cases will suffice. It was thus that Darius exercised his power and exhibited his powerlessness, when he ordered Daniel to be cast to the lions.
1. The kings speech.
Thy God, whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. Thus he shifted responsibility from his own hands upon the God of Daniel, whom he had denied. So perhaps Herod hoped that somehow John the Baptist might be delivered out of Herodias hands. So perhaps Pilate may have thought. Darius seemed not only to desire that God would deliver Daniel, but had a strong hope that he would. Perhaps Daniel had told him how, forty or fifty years before, God had delivered his three friends out of the fiery furnace; for Darius seemed to know a good deal of Daniel and his God. But this good-will, and even this gleam of faith in the power of God to deliver his servant, did not excuse his own evil act in delivering the innocent to death. If God does not interpose to frustrate our evil doings or overrule them for good, that does not make our sin the less, though it brings equal glory to God.
2. The double sealing of the den.--And a stone was brought and laid upon the month 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. This reminds us very much of what the rulers of the Jews did when Jesus was buried. Did these lords fear that somehow Daniel would come out of that den of lions? It would almost seem so. There is always a fear in the heart of those who fight against God that he will defeat them.
II. THE DISTRESS OF THE KING.
1. A troubled conscience.--The king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and his sleep went from him. It was well that he did so; though it had been better had he boldly delivered Daniel. How often, when we weakly yield to sin, and suffer the torture of an offended conscience, we try to compensate for our sin by some acts of self-denial. If the fasting was a sign of repentance, it was well; but if it was simply to ease the pain of conscience, and seek in that way to atone for the evil, it was a mere mockery. We are so often quick to sin and slow to repent; prompt in doing wrong, but dilatory in making reparation. We are not sorry that the king had a bad night of it. We have had bad nights ourselves, and know how he felt. On the other hand, we cannot but think how differently the night was spent, by Daniel. Peter slept quietly in his gaol while the angel was coming to deliver him; and Paul and Silas waked the prisons echoes with nightly song. Happy children and servants of God, who can be at peace, can sleep soundly or sing gleefully in lions den or prisons dungeon, while the monarch persecutors spend nights with tortured consciences in their splendid palaces!
2. A morning drive.--The king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste to the den of lions. He could not spend the whole night in his bed. With the first suggestion of dawn he was up and his chariot was ordered, and he drove in haste to the place where Daniel was quietly reposing with the lions and Gods angel. This indeed is a strange spectacle, for the monarch of the world thus to be attending upon a condemned servant of God. The spirit of God working in the conscience of Darius, compelled him to do the same thing; as once before the fear of Zedekiah brought him to the dungeon of Jeremiah, the imprisoned prophet. God knows how to bring down the head of the proud as well as how to lift up the humble. Happy we if we also may always repent in time.
3. The kings lamentable cry.--O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? The king was deeply distressed and in an agony of anxiety. He had admired Daniel, and had listened to the old prophets teaching concerning Jehovah. It all came back to him now; and he was both ready to publicly confess the excellency of the believers character, and the dignity and sovereignty of the believers God. In this lamentable cry there was both penitence and acknowledgment. What a splendid character he gave to Daniel: Servant of the living God, whom thou servest continually. He also confessed God in a wonderful way: The Living God. Thus he brushed aside all the pretensions of the idol gods, and gave honour to Jehovah. Daniels teachings had not been in vain.
III. DANIELSS TRIUMPH. That must have been a welcome sound to the kings ear, when the voice of Daniel answered back in clear, calm, and humbly triumphant tone, O king, live for ever. Human nature would have been inclined to have added. But no thanks to you.
1. Praise to God.--My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions mouths, that they have not hurt me. In this he takes pains to ascribe his deliverance to his God. Here is a strong emphasis upon the fact that the Living God is not to be confounded with the false gods of the heathen. He is a God of providence, who watches over his servants and keeps his promise with them.
2. A defence of his innocency.--Forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, I have done no hurt. Daniel does not boast of his goodness, but would set before the king that the favour of God to his servants in such a case is not regardless of the law of righteousness. Daniel had honoured God at a time when the world-power was denying and deriding him.
3. Daniel delivered out of the den.--Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel out of the den. Thus was Daniel delivered out of the den, and out of the hands of his enemies. His character was vindicated, and better still, his God was magnified and honoured.
IV. THE EDICT OF THE KING. God has never left the world without a witness for him; and now the last witness is being given to the nations by the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When this testimony is complete he will take to himself his great power, and finish the work in righteousness; he will set up his King upon the double throne of heaven and earth, and reign therein world without end. (G. F. Pentecost, D.D.)
The Den of Lions
Almost every bas-relief exhumed in recent years, has some figure of the lion. Dens of them were kept for the royal pleasure, or to be the swift executioners of the realm. Here, in this lesson, is a series of striking contrasts, between the King and his Jewish officer.
1. The one does wrong and hopes; the other does right and trusts. The deification of rulers was their general, as still the Russians regard the Tsar, and till lately, the Japanese the Mikado. The jewelled crown and sceptre were the signs of omnipotence. Darius had the ideas of his own time. In a way, he believed in his own divine nature. The flattery of courtiers was pleasing, and the imposing displays, in capital and campaign, helped to foster the self-delusion. It would never do for the Median lord to confess a mistake. We turn to look at that sincere, calm soul, whose love for his home wavered not through a life-time. A life of devotion was not to be abandoned because of any proclamation from men. Spiritual communion was as essential, after the famous behest, as before it was issued.
2. The one regards death as a sure agent, the other as under divine control. The love of life is an instinct. No one in his senses courts death. The taking of life is the last dread resort of the civil law. The unscrupulous ruler can rely on it to work his will. Daniel felt that if God had more for him to do in witnessing to the truth here, all the brute creation could not harm him. Death is not a certain victor when it suddenly confronts us.
3. The one decreed a universal religion; the other preached and practiced it daily. The safety of Daniel was proof enough to the king that the God of Daniel was no myth, but the living God. So he published an edict, demanding of all homage to Jehovah. But piety can never be the fruit of proclamation. In striking contrast with such, pretensions and wholesale religionism, there went forth, from the testing place, the plain lover of God, and preacher of righteousness, to take up his responsible duties as before, and to kneel in grateful acknowledgment of Jehovahs protection and furtherance. (De Witt S. Clark.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v24 SECT. XXI.—THE JUDGMENT IN BABYLON (Chap. Dan_6:24-28)
HOMILETICS
SECT. XXI.—THE JUDGMENT IN BABYLON (Chap. Dan_6:24-28)
Read full note →
The deliverance of Daniel was a signal display of the power of Jehovah and His presence with His people. Even the king, who seemed to have some idea that God might possibly interpose on His servant’s behalf, was probably taken by surprise; like the believers in Mary’s house when Peter, released in answer to their prayer, stood before the door. No sooner was Daniel taken up out of the den than judgment began on his enemies. “The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.” Sooner or later “judgment taketh hold of the wicked.” Conspicuous reward also awaited God’s faithful servant. The whole scene exhibits one of judgment, and affords a picture of another on a larger scale yet to come. We notice separately—
I. The judgment on Daniel’s enemies (Dan_6:24). That judgment was not long in following Daniel’s deliverance. According to the king’s command, they are immediately taken and cast into the den from which Daniel had been taken. Digging a pit for their friend, they fall into it themselves. Virtually guilty of murder, they suffer the murderer’s doom. Though hand joined in hand, they were not allowed to escape. Their rank and their number no screen from justice. Showing no mercy themselves, they receive none. Haman must be hung on his own gallows. The extension of the punishment to the wives and children, who were innocent, according to the custom of the time and people [148]. Great crimes sometimes made, by special command of God, to involve a man’s house and family as well as himself, even among the early Israelites (Num_16:27-33; Jos_7:24-25). Forbidden, however, by the law of Moses that children should suffer for the sins of fathers (Deu_24:16; 2Ki_14:6). Tradition relates, what is probable enough in itself, that these princes would not believe that any miracle had been wrought in Daniel’s favour, the lions having been abundantly fed before he was thrown in. To convince them of the contrary, “the lions brake all their bones before even they reached the bottom of the den.” Infidelity will believe in nothing supernatural till it finds itself in the hands of Him who says, “Consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver” (Psa_50:22).
[148] “Them, their children, and their wives.” Keil observes: By the accusers, we are not (with Hitzig) to think of the 120 satraps, together with the two chief presidents, but only of a small number of the special enemies of Daniel, who had concerned themselves with the matter. The condemning to death of the wives and children along with the men was in accordance with Persian custom, as is testified by Herodotus, 3:119, Amm. Marcell. 23:6, 81, and also with the custom of the Macedonians in the case of treason (Curtius, Dan_6:2), but was forbidden in the law of Moses (cf. Deu_24:16).
II. The royal decree (Dan_6:25-27). The deliverance of Daniel was followed by a decree similar to that of Nebuchadnezzar on the return of his reason. The decree was in honour of the true God, who had delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. He is declared to be the living God and steadfast for ever, the Ruler of a kingdom that shall not be destroyed, and the possessor of an everlasting dominion; a God that rescueth and delivereth, and who worketh signs and wonders in heaven and earth. Men were to tremble and fear before Him in every part of his realm, which at least implied that they were to treat His name, worship, and religion with reverence and respect. This exaltation of Jehovah one of the objects of this as well as the other miracles recorded in the book, tending, at the same time, to the welfare of the people in general, and to that of the Jews in particular, as well in providing full toleration for their religion during their dispersion, as in preparing the way for their restoration to their own land. The great object of all God’s dealings in providence that men may fear Him, that fear being at once their excellence and their happiness. Such the final issue of the judgments yet to be displayed. “Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest” (Rev_15:4). The deliverance of Daniel as a faithful servant of Jehovah proclaimed in the decree, as a testimony at once to His power and faithfulness, and an encouragement to all to make Him their trust in like manner, as the God that delivers and rescues those who serve and trust in Him. Thus Daniel himself was honoured through all the widely-extended realm of Persia. “Them that honour me I will honour.” So at last in reference to those who fear the Lord and think upon His name in a God-forgetting age. “They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not” (Mal_3:17-18).
III. Daniel’s prosperity and extended life (Dan_6:28). Externally Daniel had seen the last of his trials. He lived to see the end of the short reign of Darius—how much is uncertain—and a portion, at least, of the longer reign of Cyrus, his successor [149]. During the whole of that last period of his life he prospered. He continued probably in his high office as chief of the three great presidents of the empire. At the accession of Cyrus, his influence at court was such that Cyrus, doubtless as the result of it, issued the decree recorded in the end of 2 Chronicles and the beginning of Ezra, giving permission to the Jews to return to their own land and rebuild their Temple at Jerusalem. It is said that the aged minister pointed the king to the passage in Isaiah, where he is mentioned by name as the conqueror of Babylon and the chosen deliverer of Jehovah’s covenant people (Isa_44:28; Isa_45:1). The prosperity of Daniel to be noted in connection with the fiery trial which had tried him and the death which had threatened him. “This Daniel;” the same whom his enemies had nearly swallowed up; the same who had been faithful unto death, and had been only delivered from the mouths of the lions by a divine interposition. “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” The happiness of believers to be able to say with Paul, “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us” (2Co_1:10). Observe among the lessons of the passage—
[149] “In the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” בְּמַלְכּוּת (bemalcuth), “in the reign,” the word denoting both reign and kingdom. From the repetition of the word before Cyrus, observes Keil, it does not follow that Daniel separates the Persian kingdom from the Median; for מַלְכּוּת here does not mean kingdom, but dominion, i.e., reign. The succession of the reign of Cyrus the Persian to that of Darius the Median does not show the diversity of the two kingdoms, but only that the rulers of the kingdoms were of different races. From this verse, taken in connection with the last of the preceding chapter, it appears that the Chaldean kingdom, after its overthrow by the Medes and Persians, did not immediately pass into the hands of Cyrus; but that between the last of the Chaldean kings and the reign of Cyrus, Darius, descended from a Median family, a son of Ahasuerus (Dan_11:1), held the reins of government. This Darius and his reign are not distinctly noticed by profane historians; and hence modern critics have called in question his existence, and thence derived a supposed argument against the historical veracity of the whole narrative. The account given by Xenophon in his Cyropedia, differing somewhat from that of Herodotus, shows that this Darius the Mede is the same person whom he calls Cyaxares II. According to him, the Median king Astyages, son of Cyaxares I., gave his daughter Mandane in marriage to Cambyses, king of Persia, who was under the Median supremacy, of which marriage Cyrus was born. When Cyrus arrived at man’s estate, Astyages died and was succeeded by his son Cyaxares II., the brother of Mandane and uncle of Cyrus. When, after this, Crœsus, king of Lydia, concluded a treaty with the king of the Assyrians (Babylonians), with a view to the overthrow of the Medes and Persians, Cyrus received the command of the Medo-Persian army; and when, after a victorious battle, Cyaxares was unwilling to proceed farther, Cyrus carried forward the war by his permission, and destroyed the host of Crœsus and the Assyrians; at the report of which Cyaxares fell into a passion, and in a threatening letter to Cyrus, ordered the Medes to be recalled. These declaring their desire to remain with Cyrus, the latter entered on the war against Babylon independently of Cyaxares. Having driven the Babylonian king back upon his capital, he sent a message to Cyaxares, desiring him to come and decide regarding the vanquished and the continuance of the war. Cyaxares accordingly came to the camp, where Cyrus exhibited to him his power by reviewing his army before him, treated him kindly, and gave him a large share of the plunder. After this, the war against Babylon was carried on in such a way that Cyaxares, sitting on the Median throne, presided over the councils of war, while Cyrus, as general, had the conduct of it. After conquering Sardis and taking Crœsus prisoner, Cyrus returned to Babylon, and during a nocturnal festival of the Babylonians took the city, upon which the king of Babylon was slain. After the conquest of Babylon the army regarded Cyrus as king, and he began to conduct his affairs as if he were so. He went, however, to Media to present himself before Cyaxares, brought presents to him, and showed him that there was a house and palace ready for him in Babylon, where he might reside when he went thither. Cyrus now went to Persia and arranged that his father, Cambyses, should retain the sovereignty of it so long as he lived, and that then it should fall to him. He then returned to Media and married the daughter of Cyaxares, receiving with her the whole of Media as her dowry, Cyaxares having no son. He next went to Babylon, and placed satraps over the subjugated peoples; and so arranged that he spent the winter in Babylon, the spring in Susa, and the summer in Ecbatana. “This account given by Xenophon regarding Cyaxares,” says Keil, “so fully agrees with the narrative of Daniel regarding Darius the Mede, that, as Hitzig confesses, ‘the identity of the two is beyond a doubt.’ ”
1. The certainty of divine judgments. “Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.” Daniel’s enemies in fancied security after the king had affixed his seal to the stone over the mouth of the den. The night probably spent in pleasure and mutual congratulations. So on the slaughter of the Two Witnesses (Rev_11:7-11). But “the triumphing of the wicked is short.” The wicked sometimes punished in this world, that men may know there is a God that judgeth; only sometimes, that they may know there is a judgment to come.
2. The godly ultimately delivered out of trouble. Daniel delivered a second time from imminent death when no human power could rescue him. “In six troubles He shall deliver thee, and in seven no evil shall befall thee.” Trouble and deliverance the common experience in the way to the kingdom. “Thou knowest what persecutions I endured; but out of them all the Lord delivered me” (2Ti_3:10-11). “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation) ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev_2:10). The angel that redeemed Jacob from all evil, the Angel of the covenant, stands engaged to deliver the Israel of God from every evil work, and to preserve them to His heavenly kingdom (2Ti_4:18).
3. Events in providence made to promote the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom. “The Lord hath made all things for Himself.” The course of the world is but the course of divine providence, and divine providence is only God’s government of the world He has made, and His conducting it to the end for which He made it. In that providence He makes the wrath of man to praise Him, while the remainder of wrath He restrains. The decree of Darius a foreshadowing of the time when the kingdoms of the world shall become “the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev_11:15). All things made to tend to this ultimate consummation. This the Redeemer’s reward, as it is the result of His redeeming work. “He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.” Adequate power provided for the object. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.” What was done at Pentecost at the commencement of the Christian dispensation, only an earnest and pledge of what shall be done at its close. “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.”
4. The power and preciousness of divine grace. That grace seen in Daniel to be able to preserve the godly in a course of high-toned morality and religion during the course of a long life, in the midst of diversified temptations and in the most unfavourable circumstances. Daniel an example of Psa_92:12-15. “As perseverance is the one final touchstone of man, so these scattered notices combine in a grand outline of one, an alien, a captive, of that misused class (the eunuchs) who are proverbially the intriguers, favourites, pests of Oriental courts, who revenge on man their ill treatment at the hand of man; yet himself in uniform integrity, outliving envy, jealousy, dynasties; surviving in untarnished, uncorrupting greatness; the seventy years of the captivity; honoured during the forty-three years of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign; doing the king’s business under the insolent and sensual boy Belshazzar; owned by the conquering Medo-Persians; the stay, doubtless, and human protector of his people during those long years of exile.… Such undeviating integrity beyond the ordinary life of man, a worshipper of the one God in the most dissolute and degraded of the merchant cities of old, first minister in the first of the world-monarchies, was in itself a great fulfilment of the purpose of God in converting the chastisement of His people into the riches of the Gentiles.”—Pusey.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v16 Dan 6:16 - Dan 6:28.
Daniel
FAITH STOPPING THE MOUTHS OF LIONS
Read full note →
Dan 6:16 - Dan 6:28.
Daniel was verging on ninety when this great test of his faithfulness was presented to him. He had been honoured and trusted through all the changes in the kingdom, and, when the Medo-Persian conquest came, the new monarch naturally found in him, as a foreigner, a more reliable minister than in native officials. ‘Envy doth merit as its shade pursue,’ and the crafty trick by which his subordinates tried to procure his fall, was their answer to Darius’s scheme of making him prime minister. Our passage begins in the middle of the story, but the earlier part will come into consideration in the course of our remarks.
I. We note, first, the steadfast, silent confessor and the weak king.
Darius is a great deal more conspicuous in the narrative than Daniel. The victim of injustice is silent. He does not seem to have been called on to deny or defend the indictment. His deed was patent, and the breach of the law flagrant. He, too, was ‘like a sheep before the shearers,’ dumb. His silence meant, among other things, a quiet, patient, fixed resolve to bear all, and not to deny his God. Weak men bluster. Heroic endurance has generally little to say. Without resistance, or a word, the old man, an hour ago the foremost in the realm, is hauled off and flung into the pit or den. It is useless and needless to ask its form. The entrance was sealed with two seals, one the king’s, one the conspirators’, that neither party might steal a march on the other. Fellows in iniquity do not trust each other. So, down in the dark there, with the glittering eyeballs of the brutes round him, and their growls in his ears, the old man sits all night long, with peace in his heart, and looking up trustfully, through the hole in the roof, to his Protector’s stars, shining their silent message of cheer.
The passage dwells on the pitiable weakness and consequent unrest of the king. He had not yielded Daniel to his fate without a struggle, which the previous narrative describes in strong language. ‘Sore displeased,’ he ‘set his heart’ on delivering him, and ‘laboured’ to do so. The curious obstacle, limiting even his power, is a rare specimen of conservatism in its purest form. So wise were our ancestors, that nothing of theirs shall ever be touched. Infallible legislators can make immutable laws; the rest of us must be content to learn by blundering, and to grow by changing. The man who says, ‘I never alter my opinions,’ condemns himself as either too foolish or too proud to learn.
But probably, if the question had been about a law that was inconvenient to Darius himself, or to these advocates of the constitution as it has always been, some way of getting round it would have been found out. If the king had been bold enough to assert himself, he could have walked through the cobweb. But this is one of the miseries of yielding to evil counsels, that one step taken calls for another. ‘In for a penny, in for a pound.’ Therefore let us all take heed of small compliances, and be sure that we can never say about any doubtful course, ‘Thus far will I go, and no farther.’ Darius was his servants’ servant when once he had put his name to the arrogant decree. He did not know the incidence of his act, and we do not know that of ours; therefore let us take heed of the quality of actions and motives, since we are wholly incapable of estimating the sweep of their consequences.
Darius’s conduct to Daniel was like Herod’s to John the Baptist and Pilate’s to Jesus. In all the cases the judges were convinced of the victim’s innocence, and would have saved him; but fear of others biassed justice, and from selfish motives, they let fierce hatred have its way. Such judges are murderers. From all come the old lessons, never too threadbare to be dinned into the ears, especially of the young, that to be weak is, in a world so full of temptation, the same as to be wicked, and that he who has a sidelong eye to his supposed interest, will never see the path of duty plainly.
What a feeble excuse to his own conscience was Darius’s parting word to Daniel! ‘Thy God, whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee!’ And was flinging him to the lions the right way to treat a man who served God continually? Or, what right had Darius to expect that any god would interfere to stop the consequences of his act, which he thus himself condemned? We are often tempted to think, as he did, that a divine intervention will come in between our evil deeds and their natural results. We should be wiser if we did not do the things that, by our own confession, need God to avert their issues.
But that weak parting word witnessed to the impression made by the lifelong consistency of Daniel. He must be a good man who gets such a testimony from those who are harming him. The busy minister of state had done his political work so as to extort that tribute from one who had no sympathy with his religion. Do we do ours in that fashion? How many of our statesmen ‘serve God continually’ and obviously in their public life?
What a contrast between the night passed in the lions’ den and the palace! ‘Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage,’ and soft beds and luxurious delights of sense bring no ease to troubled consciences. Daniel is more at rest, though his ‘soul is among lions,’ than Darius in his palace. Peter sleeps soundly, though the coming morning is to be his last. Better to be the victim than the doer of injustice!
The verdict of nightly thoughts on daily acts is usually true, and if our deeds do not bear thinking of ‘on our beds,’ the sooner we cancel them by penitence and reversed conduct, the better. But weak men are often prone to swift and shallow regrets, which do not influence their future any more than a stone thrown into the sea makes a permanent gap. Why should Darius have waited for morning, if his penitence had moved him to a firm resolution to undo the evil done? He had better have sprung from his bed, and gone with his guards to open the den in the dark. Feeble lamentations are out of place when it is still time to act.
The hurried rush to the den in the morning twilight, and the ‘lamentable voice,’ so unlike royal impassiveness, indicate the agitation of an impulsive nature, accustomed to let the feeling of the moment sway it unchecked. Absolute power tends to make that type of man. The question thrown into the den seems to imply that its interior was not seen. If so, the half-belief in Daniel’s survival is remarkable. It indicates, as before, the impression of steadfast devoutness made by the old man’s life, and also a belief that his God was possibly a true and potent divinity.
Such a belief was quite natural, but it does not mean that Darius was prepared to accept Daniel’s God as his god. His religion was probably elastic and hospitable enough to admit that other nations might have other gods. But his thoughts about this ‘living God’ are a strange medley. He is not sure whether He is stronger than the royal lions, and he does not seem to feel that if a god delivers, his own act in surrendering a favoured servant of such a god looks very black. A half-belief blinds men to the opposition between their ways and God’s, and to the certain issue of their going in one direction and God in another. If Daniel be delivered, what will become of Darius? But, like most men, he is illogical, and that question does not seem to have occurred to him. Surely this man may sit for a portrait of a weak, passionate nature, in the feebleness of his resistance to evil, the half hopes that wrong would be kept from turning out so badly as it promised, the childish moanings over wickedness that might still have been mended, and the incapacity to take in the grave, personal consequences of his crime.
II. We next note the great deliverance.
The king does not see Daniel, and waits in sickening doubt whether any sound but the brutes’ snarl at the disturber of their feast will be heard. There must have been a sigh of relief when the calm accents were audible from the unseen depth. And what dignity, respect, faith, and innocence are in them! Even in such circumstances the usual form of reverential salutation to the king is remembered. That night’s work might have made a sullen rebel of Daniel, and small blame to him if he had had no very amiable feelings to Darius; but he had learned faithfulness in a good school, and no trace of returning evil for evil was in his words or tones.
The formal greeting was much more than a form, when it came up from among the lions. It heaped coals of fire on the king’s head, let us hope, and taught him, if he needed the lesson, that Daniel’s disobedience had not been disloyalty. The more religion compels us to disregard the authority and practices of others, the more scrupulously attentive should we be to demonstrate that we cherish all due regard to them, and wish them well. How simply, and as if he saw nothing in it to wonder at, he tells the fact of his deliverance! ‘My God has sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths.’ He had not been able to say, as the king did before the den was opened, ‘Thy God will deliver thee’; but he had gone down into it, knowing that He was able, and leaving himself in God’s care. So it was no surprise to him that he was safe. Thankfulness, but not astonishment, filled his heart. So faith takes God’s gifts, however great and beyond natural possibility they may be; for the greatest of them are less than the Love which faith knows to move all things, and whatsoever faith receives is just like Him.
Daniel did not say, as Darius did, that he served God continually, but he did declare his own innocency in God’s sight and unimpeachable fidelity to the king. His reference is probably mainly to his official conduct; but the characteristic tone of the Old Testament saint is audible, which ventured on professions of uprightness, accordant with an earlier stage of revelation and religious consciousness, but scarcely congruous with the deeper and more inward sense of sin produced by the full revelation in Christ. But if the tone of the latter part of Dan 6:22 is somewhat strange to us, the historian’s summary in Dan 6:23 gives the eternal truth of the matter: ‘No manner of hurt was found upon him, because he had trusted in his God.’ That is the basis of the reference in Heb 11:33: ‘Through faith . . . stopped the mouths of lions.’
Simple trust in God brings His angel to our help, and the deliverance, which is ultimately to be ascribed to His hand muzzling the gaping beasts of prey, may also be ascribed to the faith which sets His hand in motion. The true cause is God, but the indispensable condition without which God will not act, and with which He cannot but act, is our trust. Therefore all the great things which it is said to do are due, not to anything in it, but wholly to that of which it lays hold. A foot or two of lead pipe is worth little, but if it is the channel through which water flows into a city, it is priceless.
Faith may or may not bring external deliverances, such as it brought to Daniel; but the good cheer which this story brings us does not depend on these. When Paul lay in Rome, shortly before his martyrdom, the experience of Daniel was in his mind, as he thankfully wrote to Timothy, ‘I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.’ He adds a hope which contrasts strangely, at first sight, with the clear expectation of a speedy and violent death, expressed a moment or two before {‘I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is come’} when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver me from every evil work’; but he had learned that it was possible to pass through the evil and yet to be delivered from it, and that a man might be thrown to the lions and devoured by them, and yet be truly shielded from all harm from them. So he adds, ‘And will save me unto His heavenly kingdom,’ thereby teaching us that the true deliverance is that which carries us into, or something nearer towards, the eternal home. Thus understood, the miracle of Daniel’s deliverance is continually repeated to all who partake of Daniel’s faith, ‘Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation . . . thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder.’
The savage vengeance on the conspirators and the proclamation of Darius must be left untouched. The one is a ghastly example of retributive judgment, in which, as sometimes is the case even now, men fall into the pit they have digged for others, and it shows the barbarous cruelty of that gorgeous civilisation. The other is an example of how far a man may go in perceiving and acknowledging the truth without its influencing his heart. The decree enforces recognition of Daniel’s God, in language which even prophets do not surpass; but it is all lip-reverence, as evanescent as superficial. It takes more than a fright caused by a miracle to make a man a true servant of the living God.
The final verse of the passage implies Daniel’s restoration to rank, and gives a beautiful, simple picture of the old man’s closing days, which had begun so long before, in such a different world as Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, and closed in Cyrus’s, enriched with all that should accompany old age-honour, obedience, troops of friends. ‘When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v22 (See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
angel
(See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v18 Daniel’s Remarkable Deliverance
Daniel’s Remarkable Deliverance
v. 18. Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting, unable to sleep or eat for worry about the fate of Daniel; neither were instruments of music brought before him, rather, "neither were concubines brought to him"; and his sleep went from him, he was in genuine distress, decidedly ill at ease on account of the course into which he had been drawn.
Read full note →
v. 19. Then the king arose very early in the morning, with the dawn, as soon as it became light, and went in haste unto the den of lions, the royal zoological gardens being located conveniently near.
v. 20. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice, which testified to the sorrow possessing his heart, unto Daniel; and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, whom he was ready to acknowledge as such in accordance with Daniel’s confession, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, with constant, unflagging devotion, able to deliver thee from the lions?
v. 21. Then said Daniel unto the king, calmly answering the king from his position down in the pit, O king, live forever!
v. 22. My God hath sent His angel, who may even have been visible to the eye of Daniel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths that they have not hurt me, forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me, God had declared him not guilty by preserving him so wonderfully; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt, that is, by transgressing the edict of the king he had not become guilty of rebellion against the person of the king, as the king’s personal interest in his case also demonstrated.
v. 23. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, on account of the miraculous deliverance which Daniel had experienced, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den, through an opening which made it convenient for him to be removed. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, not so much as a scratch from the paw of one of the ravening beasts, because he believed in his God, and this firm confidence was rewarded by the Lord in this manner.
v. 24. And the king, who now realized that the enemies of Daniel had used him as their instrument in trying to vent their jealous spite, 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, according to the custom of the country, and since they were guilty of the same wickedness as the men; and the lions had the mastery of them, fell upon them and overwhelmed them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den, they were reduced to a pulp before their bodies reached the bottom of the pit.
v. 25. Then King Darius, still under the influence of the miraculous deliverance which he had witnessed, wrote unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth, in issuing a solemn proclamation, Peace be multiplied unto you.
v. 26. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom, as far as his kingly power extended, men tremble and fear, in reverent awe, before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God and steadfast forever, eternal and unchanging, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end, outlasting all earthly kingdoms.
v. 27. He delivereth and rescueth, literally, "He is a Deliverer and Rescuer," and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, such as are outside the laws of nature, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions, who would ordinarily have torn him to pieces in the twinkling of an eye.
v. 28. So this Daniel, the same one of whom the princes had spoken so contemptuously, prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus, the Persian, for the Persian monarchy followed shortly after the Median. The miracles which the Lord performs in the interest of His children are intended to serve, among other things, for the unbelievers, so that they also may realize that the God of Israel, the God of the Christians, is the true, living God, the only Savior and Redeemer.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24 they brought in Daniel
they brought in Daniel
"his soldiers went and got Daniel"
Read full note →
lions' den
This may refer to a room or pit where lions were kept. See how you translated this in Daniel 6:7.
May your God ... rescue you
The king is expressing his desire for God to save Daniel.
rescue you
"save you from the lions"
translationWords
king
servant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16–21 6:16 Caught in the officials’ trap, the king had…
6:16 Caught in the officials’ trap, the king had to carry out the law, but he respected Daniel’s integrity in worshiping his God (cp. 3:15; 6:20).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.