Daniel 6:16-28

6:16 So the king gave the order, ¹  and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den ²  of lions. The king consoled ³  Daniel by saying, “Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!” 6:17 Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening ⁴  to the den. The king sealed ⁵  it with his signet ring and with those ⁶  of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel. 6:18 Then the king departed to his palace. But he spent the night without eating, and no diversions ⁷  were brought to him. He was unable to sleep. ⁸ 

God Rescues Daniel from the Lions

6:19 In the morning, at the earliest sign of daylight, the king got up and rushed to the lions’ den. 6:20 As he approached the den, he called out to Daniel in a worried voice, ⁹  “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God whom you continually serve able to rescue you from the lions?”

6:21 Then Daniel spoke to ¹⁰  the king, “O king, live forever! 6:22 My God sent his angel and closed the lions’ mouths so that they have not harmed me, because I was found to be innocent before him. Nor have I done any harm to you, O king.”

6:23 Then the king was delighted and gave an order to haul Daniel up from the den. So Daniel was hauled up out of the den. He had no injury of any kind, because he had trusted in his God. 6:24 The king gave another order, ¹¹  and those men who had maliciously accused ¹²  Daniel were brought and thrown ¹³  into the lions’ den – they, their children, and their wives. ¹⁴  They did not even reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

6:25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and language groups who were living in all the land: “Peace and prosperity! ¹⁵  6:26 I have issued an edict that throughout all the dominion of my kingdom people are to revere and fear the God of Daniel.

“For he is the living God;

he endures forever.

His kingdom will not be destroyed;

his authority is forever. ¹⁶ 

6:27 He rescues and delivers

and performs signs and wonders

in the heavens and on the earth.

He has rescued Daniel from the power ¹⁷  of the lions!”

6:28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and ¹⁸  the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

[6:16]  ¹ tn Aram “said.” So also in vv. 24, 25.

[6:16]  ² sn The den was perhaps a pit below ground level which could be safely observed from above.

[6:16]  ³ tn Aram “answered and said [to Daniel].”

[6:17]  ⁴ tn Aram “mouth.”

[6:17]  ⁵ sn The purpose of the den being sealed was to prevent unauthorized tampering with the opening of the den. Any disturbance of the seal would immediately alert the officials to improper activity of this sort.

[6:17]  ⁶ tn Aram “the signet rings.”

[6:18]  ⁷ tn The meaning of Aramaic דַּחֲוָה (dakhavah) is a crux interpretum. Suggestions include “music,” “dancing girls,” “concubines,” “table,” “food” – all of which are uncertain. The translation employed here, suggested by earlier scholars, is deliberately vague. A number of recent English versions follow a similar approach with “entertainment” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On this word see further, HALOT 1849-50 s.v.; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 37.

[6:18]  ⁸ tn Aram “his sleep fled from him.”

[6:20]  ⁹ tn Aram “The king answered and said to Daniel.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is redundant in English.

[6:21]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “with.”

[6:24]  ¹¹ tn Aram “said.”

[6:24]  ¹² tn Aram “had eaten the pieces of.” The Aramaic expression is ironic, in that the accusers who had figuratively “eaten the pieces of Daniel” are themselves literally devoured by the lions.

[6:24]  ¹³ tn The Aramaic active impersonal verb is often used as a substitute for the passive.

[6:24]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX specifies only the two overseers, together with their families, as those who were cast into the lions’ den.

[6:25]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “May your peace be increased!”

[6:26]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “until the end.”

[6:27]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “hand.”

[6:28]  ¹⁸ tn Or perhaps “in the reign of Darius, even in the reign of Cyrus.” The identity of this Darius is disputed. Some take the name to be referring to Cyrus, understanding the following vav (ו, “and”) in an epexegetical sense (“even”). Others identify Darius with a governor of Babylon known from extra-biblical records as Gubaru, or with Cambyses, son of Cyrus. Many scholars maintain that the reference is historically inaccurate.