ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Daniel 6

Dan. 6:1–28 The events of ch. 6 recall the events of ch. 3. However, while ch. 3 took place in the Babylonian royal court, ch. 6 takes place in the court of the Medo-Persians who had conquered Babylon. Daniel refuses to treat King Darius as the gods’ chief representative. When God delivers Daniel from the lions, Darius learns to respect Daniel’s God.

Dan. 6:1–3 satraps. See note on 3:2. The three high officials oversaw the satraps’ work. As one of these three, Daniel received the reward promised by Belshazzar. Daniel did such an excellent job in this role that Darius planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

Dan. 6:4–15 The other officials in the Medo-Persian court are jealous of Daniel’s success. They conspire to get the king to issue an edict that Daniel cannot obey.

Dan. 6:6–7 Darius likely viewed this law as a way to unite the kingdom by identifying himself as the sole mediator between the people and the gods.

Dan. 6:8 the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked. This does not mean that Medo-Persian kings never changed their mind, but to do so would be an embarrassment.

Dan. 6:10 Daniel continued his practice of prostrating himself three times daily toward Jerusalem. This must have made it easy for his enemies to gather the evidence necessary to convict him.

Dan. 6:16–18 The mouth of the den was covered with a stone, which was then sealed with the signet rings of the king and his lords. Humanly speaking, Daniel was left all alone. Yet Darius’s last words to Daniel pointed to a higher source of help: “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”

Dan. 6:19–23 At break of day, Darius hurried to the lions’ den. He discovered that Daniel had spent a comfortable night even though surrounded by wild animals, while Darius himself had been unable to sleep (v. 18) though surrounded by royal luxury. Because Daniel trusted in his God and was found blameless before him, God sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions so that they were unable to hurt him.

Dan. 6:24 After Daniel’s release, those who had schemed against him were thrown to the same lions. Anyone who made a false accusation would be punished by receiving the same fate they had sought for their victim. The sentence was also carried out on the families of the guilty men: their children, and their wives.

Dan. 6:25–27 Darius, like Nebuchadnezzar, confesses the awesome power and protection of Daniel’s God: he is the living God . . . his kingdom shall never be destroyed.

Dan. 6:28 This closing comment reminds the reader that most of Daniel’s life was spent in exile. Yet God protected him right up to the time of King Cyrus, when Daniel’s prayers for Jerusalem finally began to be answered. Cyrus was God’s chosen instrument to return the Jews from exile. He issued a decree that they could return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem.