Daniel 6

Daniel · Chapter 6

Daniel 6:9

1It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;2And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.3Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.4Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.5Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.6Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.7All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.8Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.9Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.10Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.11Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.12Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.13Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.14Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.15Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.16Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.17And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.18Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.19Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.20And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?21Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.22My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.23Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.24And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.25Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.26I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.27He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.28So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
9Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the interdict.

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

Darius's officials could find no fault in Daniel, so they set a trap about the law of his God (6:4-5). They urged the king to sign a decree banning any petition to God or man except the king for thirty days, under a law that could not be changed (6:7-8). This verse is the moment the trap closes: the king signs. Daniel 6:4Daniel 6:5Daniel 6:7Daniel 6:8Daniel 6:9

SpeakingThe narrator of the book. Chapters 1-6 tell of Daniel in the third person. Daniel overview

ToThe book is written for God's people in exile and after it. Daniel overview

Also involvedKing Darius signs the decree. Its real target is Daniel, whom the presidents and princes wanted to bring down. Daniel 6:4Daniel 6:5Daniel 6:9Daniel 6:13

Darius puts his name to the written ban his officials drafted. It forbids asking a petition of any God or man but the king for thirty days, on pain of the lions' den. The king's signature makes it binding under the law of the Medes and Persians, which could not be altered. Daniel 6:7Daniel 6:8Daniel 6:9Daniel 6:12Daniel 6:15Strong's H7560Strong's H0633

At the royal court of Darius, in the empire that had taken over Babylon. Daniel served there under Babylonian and then Persian kings. Daniel overviewDaniel 6:6

BABYLONIAMEDIABabylon 1SusaUlai

The eventsIn the reign of Darius, after Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in one night. Daniel went on to prosper into the reign of Cyrus. Daniel overviewDaniel 6:1Daniel 6:28

WrittenTraditional: written by Daniel in the 500s BC. Scholarly: many critical scholars date the book's final form to about 167-164 BC, while others hold to the 500s BC date. Daniel overview

HereThe signing sets up Daniel's test. Once the decree was signed, even the king could not undo it (6:14-15). Yet Daniel went home and prayed toward Jerusalem three times a day, as he had before (6:10). Daniel 6:9Daniel 6:10Daniel 6:14Daniel 6:15

In the whole of ScriptureDarius's unchangeable law could not stop God. God shut the lions' mouths, and Darius then decreed that all should fear the living God, whose kingdom shall not be destroyed. This shows the book's theme that the most High rules in the kingdom of men. Daniel 6:22Daniel 6:26Daniel 6:27Daniel overview

For readersDarius signed the decree at his officials' urging, and when he saw its result he "was sore displeased with himself" (6:14), like one "snared with the words of thy mouth" (Proverbs 6:2). Scripture warns, "Put not your trust in princes" (Psalms 146:3), for "It is better to trust in the LORD" (Psalms 118:9). Daniel 6:7Daniel 6:8Daniel 6:14Proverbs 6:2Psalms 146:3Psalms 118:9

  • decree (prohibition)אֱסָר
    Aramaic · e.sar · H0633

    The word means an interdict or decree of restriction. What Darius signed was a ban: it forbade petitions to anyone but the king, which is why Daniel's prayer counted as breaking it. Strong's H0633Daniel 6:7Daniel 6:13

  • signedרְשַׁם
    Aramaic · re.sham · H7560

    The word means to inscribe or sign. The officials asked the king to sign the writing "that it be not changed" (6:8), and the same signing is cited against Daniel in 6:12-13. Strong's H7560Daniel 6:8Daniel 6:12Daniel 6:13

Takeaway

At his officials' urging, Darius signed a law they had designed to trap a faithful man, and he could not take it back. The chapter shows that human decrees, however fixed, cannot overrule the living God. Daniel kept praying, and God delivered him. Daniel 6:7Daniel 6:9Daniel 6:10Daniel 6:15Daniel 6:22Daniel 6:26

Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.

The world around the text

About 605-536 BC. King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). Where Daniel lived and served for about seventy years. The capital of the Babylonian empire, on the Euphrates south of modern Baghdad, in the land the Bible calls Shinar and Chaldea.

Who ruled
  • King of BabylonNebuchadnezzar605-562 BC

    The king who besieged Jerusalem, carried Daniel and the temple vessels to Babylon, and later destroyed the city and temple. His own building inscriptions boast of the Babylon he built. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 24:12 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 25:1Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  • Last king of Babylon, and his son who ruled in his placeNabonidus and Belshazzar556-539 BC

    Nabonidus spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar could only offer Daniel the place of "third ruler in the kingdom": he was himself second. Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:7Daniel 5:29Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Verse Account of Nabonidus

  • Received the kingdom after Babylon fellDarius the MedianFrom 539 BC

    Daniel says he "took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" and set 120 princes over it. Records outside the Bible do not name him; he has been identified with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon, or with Cyrus himself. Daniel 5:31Daniel 6:1Daniel 9:1Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)

  • King of PersiaCyrus559-530 BC

    He united the Medes and Persians, took Babylon in 539 BC, and let the exiles go home to rebuild the temple, as Isaiah had named him beforehand. Daniel 1:21Daniel 6:28Daniel 10:1Ezra 1:1-4Isaiah 44:28-45:1Cyrus Cylinder

  • King of JudahJehoiakim609-598 BC

    Judah's king when Daniel was taken. Jeremiah warned him and his people that the land would serve Babylon seventy years. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 23:36-24:6Jeremiah 25:1-11

What was happening, 612 BC to 167 BC
  1. 612 BC
    WarNineveh falls

    Babylon and the Medes destroyed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as Nahum and Zephaniah had foretold. Babylon became the great power of the region. Nahum 3:7Zephaniah 2:13Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)

  2. 605 BC
    WarBattle of Carchemish

    Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates, in Jehoiakim's fourth year. The same year he came against Jerusalem and took the first captives, Daniel among them. Jeremiah 46:2Daniel 1:1-4Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  3. 597 BC
    WarJerusalem surrenders

    Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his nobles and craftsmen to Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel went into exile with them. 2 Kings 24:10-17Ezekiel 1:2Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  4. 586 BC
    WarJerusalem and the temple destroyed

    Babylon's army burned the temple and the city and broke down its walls. Daniel later prays over "the desolations of Jerusalem" and asks God to shine on his "sanctuary that is desolate." 2 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 52:12-14Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17

  5. c. 575 BC
    BuildingBabylon rebuilt in splendor

    Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great walls, palaces and the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate, and his inscriptions praise his own work. Compare his boast: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?" Daniel 4:30Nebuchadnezzar's East India House InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 1.178-183

  6. 562 BC
    RulersNebuchadnezzar dies

    His son Evil-merodach became king and released Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 2 Kings 25:27-30Jeremiah 52:31-34

  7. c. 553-543 BC
    RulersNabonidus leaves Babylon to Belshazzar

    King Nabonidus stayed at Tema in Arabia for about ten years, and the yearly New Year festival in Babylon was not held. Belshazzar governed in Babylon. Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Daniel 5:1Daniel 7:1

  8. 550 BC
    WarCyrus unites the Medes and Persians

    Cyrus of Persia defeated Astyages king of the Medes, joining the two peoples in one kingdom. Daniel's vision names the ram's two horns as "the kings of Media and Persia," the higher coming up last. Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:20Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.127-130

  9. October 539 BC
    WarBabylon falls to Cyrus

    Cyrus's army entered Babylon without a long siege. Herodotus says the people were feasting when the city was taken. Daniel records that "in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.191Cyrus Cylinder

  10. 538 BC
    God's peopleCyrus lets the exiles return

    In his first year over Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could go back and build the LORD's house in Jerusalem. Daniel "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Ezra 1:1-42 Chronicles 36:22-23Daniel 1:21Cyrus Cylinder

  11. c. 536 BC
    God's peopleThe temple's foundation is laid

    The returned exiles rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple. In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel was still in the east, mourning and praying. Ezra 3:1-11Daniel 10:1-3

  12. 334-331 BC
    WarAlexander the Great conquers Persia

    Alexander of Macedon crossed into Asia and overthrew the Persian empire within four years. Daniel 8:21 names the rough goat as "the king of Grecia" and its great horn as "the first king." Daniel 8:5-8Daniel 8:21Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1-3

  13. 323-301 BC
    WarAlexander's empire is divided

    Alexander died young, and after twenty years of war his generals divided his empire, chiefly into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:22 says "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8Daniel 8:22Daniel 11:4Diodorus Siculus, Library 18-20Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30

  14. 167 BC
    WarAntiochus IV defiles the temple

    The Greek king Antiochus IV banned Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering. 1 Maccabees calls it "the abomination of desolation." Two centuries later Jesus spoke of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" as still to come. 1 Maccabees 1:54-59Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4Matthew 24:15

The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records of these years (the Babylonian Chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Diodorus, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.

Original Aramaic words

This passage was written in Aramaic, the common language of the Babylonian and Persian empires, which the Jews of the exile also spoke. It uses the same alphabet as Hebrew.

EnglishAramaicSay itStrong'sMeaning
becauseקֳבֵ֖לko-VELH6903H
before

קֳבֵל (qe.vel) subst 1) front prep 2) in front of, before, because of, in view of, by reason of, because of this, therefore conj 3) because that, inasmuch as, although, according as, before adv 4) accordingly, then

thisדְּנָ֑הde-NAHH1836
this

דְּנָה (de.nah) demons pron 1) this, on account of this adv 2) therefore

king theמַלְכָּא֙mal-KA'H4430
king

מֶ֫לֶךְ (me.lekh) king Aramaic of me.lekh (מֶ֫לֶךְ "king" H4428) § 1) king

Dariusדָּֽרְיָ֔וֶשׁda-re-YA-veshH1868H
Darius

דָּֽרְיָ֫וֶשׁ (dar.ya.vesh) A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Ezr.4.5 Aramaic of dar.ya.vesh (דָּֽרְיָ֫וֶשׁ "Darius" H1867H) § Darius = "lord" 1) Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, king of the Chaldeans, who succeeded to the Babylonian kingdom on the death of Belshazzar; probably the same as "Astyages" the last king of the Medes (538 BC) (same as dar.ya.vesh (דָּֽרְיָ֫וֶשׁ "Darius" H1867) (1)) 2) Darius, the son of Hystaspes, the founder of the Perso-Arian dynasty (521 BC) (same as (2)) 3) Darius II or Darius III …

he signedרְשַׁ֥םre-SHAMH7560
to sign

רְשַׁם (re.sham) 1) to inscribe, sign 1a) (P'al) to inscribe, sign 1b) (P'al) 1b1) to be inscribed, be written 1b2) to be signed

writing theכְּתָבָ֖אke-ta-VA'H3792
inscription

כְּתָב (ke.tav) 1) a writing 1a) writing, inscription 1b) written decree, written requirement

and prohibition theוֶאֱסָרָֽא׃ve-'e-sa-RA'H0633
injunction

אֱסָר (e.sar) interdict, decree, decree of restriction Aramaic of e.sar (אִסָּר "injunction" H0632)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.