^6:16So the king gave the order,³² and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den³³ of lions. The king consoled³⁴ Daniel by saying, “Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!” ^6:17Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening³⁵ to the den. The king sealed³⁶ it with his signet ring and with those³⁷ of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel. ^6:18Then the king departed to his palace. But he spent the night without eating, and no diversions³⁸ were brought to him. He was unable to sleep.³⁹

God Rescues Daniel from the Lions

^6:19In the morning, at the earliest sign of daylight, the king got up and rushed to the lions’ den. ^6:20As he approached the den, he called out to Daniel in a worried voice,⁴⁰ “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God whom you continually serve able to rescue you from the lions?”

^6:21Then Daniel spoke to⁴¹ the king, “O king, live forever! ^6:22My 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.”

^6:23Then 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.

Read in Logos

Daniel 6:16: Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”

Footnotes

32 Aram “said.” So also in vv. 24, 25.
33 The den was perhaps a pit below ground level which could be safely observed from above.
34 Aram “answered and said [to Daniel].”
35 Aram “mouth.”
36 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.
37 Aram “the signet rings.”
38 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., , , , , , ). On this word see further, ; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 37.
39 Aram “his sleep fled from him.”
40 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.
41 Aram “with.”