^6:7To 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 prays¹² to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions. ^6:8Now let the king issue a written interdict¹³ so that it cannot be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.¹⁴^6:9So King Darius issued the written interdict.

^6:10When Daniel realized¹⁵ that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows¹⁶ in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem.¹⁷ Three¹⁸ times daily he was¹⁹ kneeling²⁰ and offering prayers and thanks to his God just as he had been accustomed to do previously. ^6:11Then those officials who had gone to the king²¹ came by collusion and found Daniel praying and asking for help before his God. ^6:12So they approached the king and said to him,²² “Did you not issue an edict to the effect that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than to you, O king, would be thrown into a den of lions?” The king replied, “That is correct,²³ according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.” ^6:13Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives²⁴ from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.”²⁵

^6:14When the king heard this,²⁶ he was very upset and began thinking about²⁷ how he might rescue Daniel. Until late afternoon²⁸ he was struggling to find a way to rescue him. ^6:15Then those men came by collusion to the king and²⁹ said to him,³⁰ “Recall,³¹ O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or decree that the king issues can be changed.” ^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

12 Aram “prays a prayer.”
13 Aram “establish a written interdict and inscribe a written decree.”
14 Or “removed.”
15 Aram “knew.”
16 In later rabbinic thought this verse was sometimes cited as a proof text for the notion that one should pray only in a house with windows. See Berakhot 34b.
17 For the location of Jerusalem see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
18 This is apparently the only specific mention in the OT of prayer being regularly offered three times a day. The practice was probably not unique to Daniel, however.
19 Read with several medieval Hebrew and printed editions הֲוָה (havah) rather than the הוּא (hu’).
20 Aram “kneeling on his knees” (so ). No specific posture for offering prayers is prescribed in the OT. Kneeling, as here, and standing were both practiced.
21 Aram “those men”; the referent (the administrative officials who had earlier approached the king about the edict) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 The also has “about the edict of the king,” but this phrase is absent in the and the . The present translation deletes the expression. Aram “before the king.”
23 Aram “the word is true.”
24 Aram “from the sons of the captivity [of].”
25 Aram “prays his prayer.”
26 Aram “the word.”
27 Aram “placed his mind on.”
28 Aram “the entrances of the sun.”
29 Theodotion lacks the words “came by collusion to the king and.”
30 Aram “the king.”
31 Aram “know”; “Keep in mind”; “Recognize”; , “Remember.”
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.”