alert, wise man, capable of serving effectively in innumerable capacities. To attack Daniel as a foreigner would have been useless, too. In truth, it would have worked against the accusers themselves. Darius himself was certainly no example of a local boy growing up to become a national leader. The only avenue left to those who were jealous of Daniel was to trap him in some way. They had to get him to do something that would be in violation of the king’s wishes or laws. The only plan they knew of