Daniel 6 · The Lantern

The Plot against Daniel

It was pleasing before Darius, and he set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, that they should be throughout all the kingdom;

And so Darius, who was called Ahasuerus, received the kingdom and "appointed one-hundred-twenty satraps and appointed three governors over them, whom Daniel was one of, for the satraps to give account that the king may not be overburdened.

Verse 1. "It pleased Darius to appoint over his kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, that they might be throughout his whole kingdom; and over them there were three princes, of which Daniel was one." Josephus, of whom we made mention above, in writing an account of this passage, put it this way: Now Darius, who destroyed the empire of the Babylonians in cooperation with his…

We need to take notice that previously the Babylonians, that is, their princes, had used trickery in their jealousy of Daniel to destroy Daniel and his companions and had persuaded Nebuchadnezzar to build the golden statue and to order that it alone be worshiped by those under his authority.

and over them three administrators, of whom Daniel was one, that these satraps might give account to them, and the king would suffer no loss.

Then this Daniel was distinguishing himself above the administrators and the satraps, inasmuch as a surpassing spirit was in him; and the king intended to set him up over all the kingdom.

Then the administrators and the satraps were seeking to find an occasion against Daniel from the side of the kingdom; and they were not able to find any occasion or corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no error or corruption was found upon him.

Then these men said: We will not find any occasion against this Daniel, unless we find it against him in the law of his God.

Then these administrators and satraps came thronging to the king, and said thus to him: Darius the king, live forever!

All the administrators of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the ministers and the governors, have taken counsel to establish a royal statute and to make firm a ban: that anyone who makes a petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions.

Now, O king, establish the ban and inscribe the writing, so that it is not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not pass away.

Because of this, King Darius inscribed the writing and the ban.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

And Daniel, when he knew that the writing was inscribed, went to his house — and the windows of his upper room were open toward Jerusalem — and three times a day he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, just as he had been doing before this.

But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but do ye fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday). Neither pray as the hypocrites; but as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, thus pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.

And so in the monasteries of Palestine and Mesopotamia and all the East the services of the above-mentioned hours are ended each day with three psalms apiece, so that constant prayers may be offered to God at the appointed times, and yet, the spiritual duties being completed with due moderation, the necessary offices of work may not be in any way interfered with: for at these t…

When blessed Daniel in Babylon prayed, he opened the windows facing Jerusalem, not under the impression that God was confined there but from his knowledge that the divine manifestation occurred there.

Then these men came thronging and found Daniel making petition and pleading before his God.

Then they came near and spoke before the king about the ban of the king: Did you not inscribe a ban, that any man who makes a petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, would be thrown into the den of lions? The king answered and said: The word is certain, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not pass away.

Then they answered and said before the king: That Daniel, who is from the sons of the exile of Judah, has set no regard on you, O king, or on the ban that you inscribed; and three times a day he makes his petition.

And so why did the satraps accuse only Daniel? For always the three boys were also with him praying. For if they did not obey the prescription of Nebuchadnezzar, much more would they not obey the decree of Darius. But this is the reason.

And he prays "constantly" (deeds of virtue or fulfilling the commandments are included as part of prayer) who unites prayer with the deeds required and right deeds with prayer. For the only way we can accept the command to "pray constantly" as referring to a real possibility is by saying that the entire life of the saint taken as a whole is a single great prayer.

Verse 13. "Then they answered before the king and said, 'Daniel, who is of the captivity of Judah, has paid no heed to thy law...'" In order to magnify the dishonor involved in this contempt, they speak of the man who showed this contempt for the king's commands as a mere captive.

Then the king, when he heard the word, was greatly displeased over it, and he set his mind on Daniel to rescue him; and until the going in of the sun he was striving to deliver him.

Then these men came thronging to the king and said to the king: Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that any ban or statute that the king establishes is not to be changed.

But it was so that he may not be rescued by man, and his deliverance not be considered to be by the favor of the king, but rather that the work of God may be shown to be accomplished in him.

Verse 15. "But those men, understanding the king's intent, said to him: 'Be it known to thee, O king, that no law of the Medes and Persians, nor any decree which the king has enacted, is capable of alteration.'" Just as the king understood that the princes were making their accusation out of motives of envy, so also they for their part understood what the king's purpose was, na…

You do not have the authority to overturn what you have prescribed, the laws of Medes and Persians ordering that the laws passed by the previous king be fulfilled. Under pressure both from the compelling logic of the words and from the number of the accusers, the king surrendered blessed Daniel to the lions.

Then the king said, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions. The king answered and said to Daniel: Your God, whom you serve continually, he will rescue you.

For what shall we say? Was Daniel cast into the den of lions by those who feared God? Were Ananias and Azarias and Mishael shut up in a furnace of fire by those who observed the great and glorious worship of the Most High? Far from us be such a thought! Who, then, were they that did such things?

Then accordingly, Darius, not being able to further contradict the satraps, said for Daniel to be brought and they cast him into the den of lions. And the king, answering said to him, "Your God whom you serve perpetually, he himself will rescue you" urging him to be of good cheer.

Verse 16. "Then the king gave order, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the pit of lions. And the king said to Daniel: 'Thy God whom thou dost ever serve will Himself deliver thee.'" He gives way to the crowd and dares not to withhold from his plotting adversaries the death of his friend, and he commits to the power of God the purpose which he himself was unable to attai…

And one stone was brought and set on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his signet and with the signet of his great ones, so that the purpose concerning Daniel would not be changed.

"And they brought a stone and set at the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his signet ring," [Daniel 6:17] that the matter may not be changed regarding Daniel. And this was a malicious deed, for the satraps were cautious, lest secretly the king command Daniel to be drawn out of the den and so they thought fit to seal the stone.

Certainly it had been decided by Darius to save Daniel from the present danger with any possible means; therefore he sealed the entrance of the den with his own signet and invited the satraps to do the same.

Verse 17. "A single stone was brought and placed over the opening of the pit, and the king sealed it with his ring..." He sealed with his ring the rock by which the opening of the pit was shut up, so that the enemies of Daniel might not make any attempt to harm him. For he had entrusted him to the power of God, and although not worried about lions, he was fearful of men.

Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting, and no diversions were brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.

Accordingly after this happened, "The king departed to his house and he went to bed without supper and food was not brought to him and sleep left him." [Daniel 6:18] How much did the righteous man do, who feared God, so that the king was so grieved over him to not take sustenance!

Verse 18. "And the king departed to his own house, and went to bed without partaking of supper..." How sincere was the king's good will, when he would not touch food night or day or grant his eyelids sleep, but as long as the prophet was in danger he himself remained in a state of sympathetic suspense.

Each of these details testifies both to his humanity and to his cowardice: a mark of his humanity was his refusing to partake of food or let his eyes rest in sleep, instead staying awake in grief for the unjust punishment of Daniel; it was a mark of cowardice that he was not so affected as to counter the accusers and invoke his royal authority and power to save the wronged.

Then the king rose at dawn, at first light, and went in haste to the den of lions.

Accordingly, "Then he arose at first light and came to the den of lions in haste, and having called in a strong voice said, 'Daniel, slave of the living God, your God whom you serve perpetually, was he able to take you out from the mouth of the lions?'" [Daniel 6:19-20] And so why, having been disturbed, did the king cry this word, except that he had heard what happened to the…

Verse 19. "Then the king arose at the break of dawn and proceeded with haste to the pit of lions." The term "pit" (lacus) implies a really deep depression, or dry cistern, in which the lions were fed. And so he proceeded hastily to the pit at the break of dawn, believing that Daniel was alive.

"King Darius rose early at daybreak," that is, while it was still dark, around dawn, so that there was even need of lamps (the meaning of "at daybreak").

And as he came near to the den, to Daniel, he cried out with a grieved voice. The king answered and said to Daniel: Daniel, servant of the living God — your God, whom you serve continually, has he been able to rescue you from the lions?

Take heed, O man, because even at that time God rescued whom he wished to still live, so that the magnificent work of God may be shown and it may be preached in all the world until now. But whom he wishes to testify, he, having crowned them, takes them.

Verse 20. "And approaching the pit, he called out to Daniel with a tear-choked voice and addressed him." By his tears he showed his inner emotion, and forgetting his royal dignity, the conqueror ran to his captive, the master to his servant.

Each of these phrases shows the religious spirit of the king, who complimented Daniel on his piety: first, he calls him not his own servant but God's; next, he calls Daniel's God "living;" then, in praise of his piety, "whom you serve with constancy," that is, you were not prevented from worship under pressure of the law.

Then Daniel spoke with the king: O king, live forever!

My God sent his angel and shut the mouth of the lions, and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as innocence was found in me before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.

Then the king was exceedingly glad over him, and he said to bring Daniel up from the den. And Daniel was brought up from the den, and no harm at all was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Then accordingly when the angel appeared in the den, the wild beasts were tamed and the lions, wagging their tails at him, rejoiced as being subjected by a new Adam. They, licking the holy feet of Daniel, rolled around to taste the soles of his feet and they longed to accompany him.

The lesson that was read today invites you to the true faith, by setting before you the way in which you also must please God. It affirms that "without faith it is impossible to please him." For when will an individual resolve to serve God, unless he believes that "he is a giver of reward"?

"Stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire and escaped the edge of the sword." See how they were in death itself, Daniel encompassed by the lions, the three children abiding in the furnace, the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, in diverse temptations; and yet not even so did they despair. For this is faith.

And the king said, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they threw them into the den of lions — them, their sons and their wives. And they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions had power over them and broke all their bones in pieces.

Then, "the king spoke and they brought the men who accused Daniel and they themselves and their sons and their wives were cast into the den of lions, and they did not reach the bottom of the den before the lions mastered them, and they ground all their bones." [Daniel 6:24] And so they who have trusted in a human king and in wealth, they themselves dug a trench, and they fell i…

Daniel also was persecuted as Jesus was persecuted.… Daniel they cast into the pit of lions, and he was delivered and came up out of its midst uninjured; and Jesus they sent down into the pit of the abode of the dead, and he ascended, and death had not dominion over him.

Since a simple punishment was not sufficient for those culprits, in order to balance the offense they had brought against a righteous man, after being condemned to the same punishment, they were thrown to the beasts together with their wives and children.

Darius Honors God

Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations and tongues that dwell in all the earth: May your peace be multiplied.

From before me a decree is set, that in all the dominion of my kingdom they are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel — for he is the living God, enduring forever, and his kingdom is one that will not be ruined, and his dominion is to the end.

He rescues and delivers, and he does signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth — who rescued Daniel from the hand of the lions.

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

Daniel6

The Plot against Daniel

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

Darius Honors God