Daniel 6:1-9

Daniel is Thrown into a Lions’ Den

6:1 It seemed like a good idea to Darius ¹  to appoint over the kingdom 120 satraps ²  who would be in charge of the entire kingdom. 6:2 Over them would be three supervisors, one of whom was Daniel. These satraps were accountable ³  to them, so that the king’s interests might not incur damage. 6:3 Now this Daniel was distinguishing himself above the other supervisors and the satraps, for he had an extraordinary spirit. In fact, the king intended to appoint him over the entire kingdom. 6:4 Consequently the supervisors and satraps were trying to find ⁴  some pretext against Daniel in connection with administrative matters. ⁵  But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence, ⁶  because he was trustworthy and guilty of no negligence or corruption. ⁷  6:5 So these men concluded, ⁸  “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is ⁹  in connection with the law of his God.”

6:6 So these supervisors and satraps came by collusion ¹⁰  to the king and said ¹¹  to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 6:7 To all the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors it seemed like a good idea for a royal edict to be issued and an interdict to be enforced. For the next thirty days anyone who prays ¹²  to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions. 6:8 Now let the king issue a written interdict ¹³  so that it cannot be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed. ¹⁴  6:9 So King Darius issued the written interdict.

[6:1]  ¹ tn Aram “It was pleasing before Darius.”

[6:1]  ² tn This is a technical term for an official placed in charge of a region of the empire (cf. KJV, NLT “prince[s]”; NCV, TEV “governors”). These satraps were answerable to a supervisor, who in turn answered to Darius.

[6:2]  ³ tn Aram “giving an account.”

[6:4]  ⁴ tn Aram “looking to find.”

[6:4]  ⁵ tn Aram “from the side of the kingdom.”

[6:4]  ⁶ tn Aram “pretext and corruption.”

[6:4]  ⁷ tn Aram “no negligence or corruption was found in him.” The Greek version of Theodotion lacks the phrase “and no negligence or corruption was found in him.”

[6:5]  ⁸ tn Aram “were saying.”

[6:5]  ⁹ tn Aram “unless we find [it] against him.”

[6:6]  ¹⁰ tn The Aramaic verb רְגַשׁ (rÿgash) occurs three times in this chapter (vv. 7, 12, 16). Its meaning is widely disputed by commentators, and the versions vary considerably in how they render the word. The suggestion that it means “to come thronging” (BDB 1112 s.v.; cf. NAB) seems inappropriate, since it is unlikely that subordinates would enter a royal court in such a reckless fashion. The ancient versions struggled with the word and are not in agreement in their understanding of its meaning. In this chapter the word apparently means to act in agreement with other parties in the pursuit of a duplicitous goal, namely the entrapment of Daniel. Cf. NIV, NCV “went as a group”; NRSV “conspired and came to the king.”

[6:6]  ¹¹ tn Aram “thus they were saying.”

[6:7]  ¹² tn Aram “prays a prayer.”

[6:8]  ¹³ tn Aram “establish a written interdict and inscribe a written decree.”

[6:8]  ¹⁴ tn Or “removed.”