Daniel 6:4-13

6:4 Consequently the supervisors and satraps were trying to find ¹  some pretext against Daniel in connection with administrative matters. ²  But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence, ³  because he was trustworthy and guilty of no negligence or corruption. ⁴  6:5 So these men concluded, ⁵  “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is ⁶  in connection with the law of his God.”

6:6 So these supervisors and satraps came by collusion ⁷  to the king and said ⁸  to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 6:7 To 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 prays ⁹  to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions. 6:8 Now let the king issue a written interdict ¹⁰  so that it cannot be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed. ¹¹  6:9 So King Darius issued the written interdict.

6:10 When Daniel realized ¹²  that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows ¹³  in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem. ¹⁴  Three ¹⁵  times daily he was ¹⁶  kneeling ¹⁷  and offering prayers and thanks to his God just as he had been accustomed to do previously. 6:11 Then those officials who had gone to the king ¹⁸  came by collusion and found Daniel praying and asking for help before his God. 6:12 So they approached the king and said to him, ¹⁹  “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, ²⁰  according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.” 6:13 Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives ²¹  from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” ²² 

[6:4]  ¹ tn Aram “looking to find.”

[6:4]  ² tn Aram “from the side of the kingdom.”

[6:4]  ³ tn Aram “pretext and corruption.”

[6:4]  ⁴ tn Aram “no negligence or corruption was found in him.” The Greek version of Theodotion lacks the phrase “and no negligence or corruption was found in him.”

[6:5]  ⁵ tn Aram “were saying.”

[6:5]  ⁶ tn Aram “unless we find [it] against him.”

[6:6]  ⁷ tn The Aramaic verb רְגַשׁ (rÿgash) occurs three times in this chapter (vv. 7, 12, 16). Its meaning is widely disputed by commentators, and the versions vary considerably in how they render the word. The suggestion that it means “to come thronging” (BDB 1112 s.v.; cf. NAB) seems inappropriate, since it is unlikely that subordinates would enter a royal court in such a reckless fashion. The ancient versions struggled with the word and are not in agreement in their understanding of its meaning. In this chapter the word apparently means to act in agreement with other parties in the pursuit of a duplicitous goal, namely the entrapment of Daniel. Cf. NIV, NCV “went as a group”; NRSV “conspired and came to the king.”

[6:6]  ⁸ tn Aram “thus they were saying.”

[6:7]  ⁹ tn Aram “prays a prayer.”

[6:8]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “establish a written interdict and inscribe a written decree.”

[6:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “removed.”

[6:10]  ¹² tn Aram “knew.”

[6:10]  ¹³ sn 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 b. Berakhot 34b.

[6:10]  ¹⁴ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:10]  ¹⁵ sn 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.

[6:10]  ¹⁶ tc Read with several medieval Hebrew MSS and printed editions הֲוָה (havah) rather than the MT הוּא (hu’).

[6:10]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “kneeling on his knees” (so NASB).

[6:10]  sn No specific posture for offering prayers is prescribed in the OT. Kneeling, as here, and standing were both practiced.

[6:11]  ¹⁸ tn 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.

[6:12]  ¹⁹ tc The MT also has “about the edict of the king,” but this phrase is absent in the LXX and the Syriac. The present translation deletes the expression.

[6:12]  tn Aram “before the king.”

[6:12]  ²⁰ tn Aram “the word is true.”

[6:13]  ²¹ tn Aram “from the sons of the captivity [of].”

[6:13]  ²² tn Aram “prays his prayer.”