6:16 Darius' parting words to Daniel are significant. We could render them, "Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you."225The idea is that Darius had tried to save Daniel and had failed. Now Yahweh must save him. We do not know, of course, if Darius knew about Yahweh's deliverance of Daniel's three friends. Again we see that God did not preserve His servant from difficulty but brought him though it safely, His normal way of dealing with His own.
"Observable in this assurance of Darius is the deep impression that Daniel's personal piety and faithfulness to God had made upon the king and that this impression had brought about Darius' own conviction that Daniel's God would come to his rescue in Daniel's extremity."226
6:17 The lions' den appears to have been a large pit in the ground with an opening above that a large stone sealed, probably to keep people from stumbling into it. Such pits were commonly used as cisterns to store water or as prisons.227Daniel had to be lifted up out of it (v. 23), and others when thrown into it fell down toward its bottom (v. 24). It may also have had a side entrance or drain since if it did not, rain could have filled the den and drowned the lions.228The king and his nobles sealed the stone that covered the opening to make sure no one would release Daniel (cf. the sealing of Jesus' tomb).
6:18 In contrast to Nebuchadnezzar, who showed no compassion for Daniel's three friends, Darius spent a fitful night without food, entertainment, or sleep. Normally prayer accompanied fasting among the Israelites. Darius may have prayed too, but the point of this description is that he felt extremely anxious over the welfare of his friend.
