DANIEL IN THE LIONS" DEN Darius the Mede appoints over his kingdom 120 satraps with three presidents over them, one of the latter being Daniel (Daniel 6:1). On account of the regard shewn to him by the king, the satraps and presidents, being moved with envy, seek an opportunity to ruin him (Daniel... [ Continue Reading ]
_an hundred and twenty_ SATRAPS] see on Daniel 3:2. No other notice of this organization has come down to us. The Persian empire was first organised into provinces under -satraps" by Darius Hystaspis (522 485 b.c.); and then the satrapies were only 20 in number (Herod. iii. 89 [264]). The statement,... [ Continue Reading ]
_three presidents_ Aram. _sârak_, prob. a form derived from the Pers. _sâr_, -head," -chief," -prince." In the O.T. it is found only in this chap. (Daniel 6:2_; Daniel 6:6_): in the Targums it stands often for the Heb. _shôṭçr_, -officer," as Exodus 5:6; Exodus 5:10; Deuteronomy 1:15; Deuteronomy 20... [ Continue Reading ]
_was preferred_ DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF, or (R.V.) WAS DISTINGUISHED. The root idea of the word is _to shine_, hence _to be illustrious_. It is common in Syriac in the sense of _praeclare se gessit_, representing for instance the Greek διαλάμπειν, εὐδοκιμεῖν, εὐδοξεῖν (Payne Smit [265] col. 2438). -Wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_sought to find occasion_, &c. They were evidently jealous that a man of alien race and creed should be exalted above themselves. _concerning_ AS TOUCHING (R.V.): lit. _from the side of_. The meaning of course is, any charge of disloyalty, or any remissness or neglect in the discharge of his public... [ Continue Reading ]
_law dâth_, the same Persian word, which is found in Daniel 2:9; Daniel 2:13; Daniel 2:15, and also in Daniel 6:8; Daniel 6:12; Daniel 6:15, and constantly in Esther. Here, as in Ezra 7:12; Ezra 7:14; Ezra 7:21;... [ Continue Reading ]
_assembled_together] CAME THRONGING (A.V. _marg._; R.V. _marg._ CAME TUMULTUOUSLY). The word occurs several times in the Aramaic of the Targums, where it corresponds to Heb. words signifying _to be in commotion_or _tumult_, as Psalms 46:6, -nations _were in tumult_," Ruth 1:9, -and all the inhabitan... [ Continue Reading ]
_All the presidents_ of course, with the exception of Daniel, who was one of them (Daniel 6:2). But the misrepresentation may be meant to be intentional, as though to lead the king to suppose that the proposal had Daniel's approval. _the governors, and the princes, the counsellers and the captains t... [ Continue Reading ]
_decree_ INTERDICT. _altereth not_ lit. _passeth not away_. On the unalterableness of the edicts of a Persian king, cf. Esther 1:19 (-let it be written among the laws of the Persians and Medes, that it _pass not away_"), Daniel 8:8 (a royal edict, properly signed and sealed, -may no man reverse").... [ Continue Reading ]
_decree_ INTERDICT.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and his windows_, &c. more exactly, and also more clearly, NOW HE HAD _in his_ ROOF-CHAMBER OPEN WINDOWS FRONTING _Jerusalem_. The clause is parenthetical, and describes the constant and habitual arrangement of Daniel's windows. ROOF-CHAMBER] usually rendered _upper chamber_, which however does not... [ Continue Reading ]
_assembled_ CAME THRONGING (Daniel 6:6), flocking tumultuously about Daniel's house.... [ Continue Reading ]
_before the king_ cf. Daniel 6:10; and see on Daniel 2:9. _decree_(twice)] INTERDICT. So Daniel 6:13. _altereth not_ lit. _passeth not away_(Daniel 6:8).... [ Continue Reading ]
_children of the_ EXILE _of Judah_ Daniel 2:25; Daniel 5:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_was sore displeased with himself_ WAS SORE DISPLEASED (R.V.): -with himself" is incorrect. The expression is the Aram. equivalent of the Heb. phrase found in Jonah 4:1; Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 13:8. _laboured_ rather, CONTINUED STRIVING; Theod. ἡγωνίσατο, Pesh. מתכתש הוא. The idea expressed by the... [ Continue Reading ]
_assembled_ CAME THRONGING or TUMULTUOUSLY, as Daniel 6:6. _Know, O king_, &c. The courtiers, in their violence against Daniel, address Darius, as in Daniel 6:12, abruptly and peremptorily, without any respectful words of introduction (Daniel 6:6). _decree_ INTERDICT.... [ Continue Reading ]
Now _the king spake_, &c. THE KING ANSWERED, &c. The asyndetic construction is characteristic of the Aramaic portion of the book: Daniel 3:19; Daniel 3:24; Daniel 3:26; Daniel 5:7; Daniel 5:13; Daniel 6:20 (notice italics in A.V.), _al._ he will deliver thee Rather, MAY HE (emph.) _deliver thee_! T... [ Continue Reading ]
_sealed it with his own signet_ seals were in common use alike among the Assyrians, Babylonians (cf. Hdt. i. 195, -every one has a seal"), and Persians; and numbers, especially from Babylonia and Assyria, have been brought to European museums during the past half century. The signet cylinder of Dari... [ Continue Reading ]
_instruments of musick_ The meaning of the word thus rendered is unknown. The root in Aram. and Heb. means _to thrust, overthrow_(Psalms 36:12; Psalms 118:13). In Arab. it means further _to spread, spread out_, and is also used specially in the sense _compressit feminam_. The ancient translators and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the king arose_ AT DAWN, AS SOON AS IT WAS LIGHT] lit. _at dawn, in the brightness_. The words used imply that day had fully broken. The first word (-dawn") stands in the Targ. for -morning" in Isaiah 48:8; and the second (-brightness"), in its Heb. form, in Isaiah 52:1. _in haste_(Daniel 3:2... [ Continue Reading ]
_when he came_ AS HE DREW NEAR. _with a lamentable voice_ or, _with a_ PAINED _voice_. The same expression (with an inappreciable difference of form) occurs in the Targ. (Ps.-Jon.) of Exodus 12:31, and in that of Esther 4:1. and _the king_, &c. THE KING ANSWERED _and said_. _the living God_ The sa... [ Continue Reading ]
_O king, live for ever_ cf. Daniel 6:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_sent his angel_ cf. Daniel 3:28. _shut_&c. cf. Hebrews 11:33 (ἔφραξαν; Theod. here ἐνέφραξεν). _before thee_ see on Daniel 6:10 _end_, and Daniel 2:9; and cf. Luke 15:18; Luke 15:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
_for him_ to be omitted (like -with himself" in Daniel 6:14). _because he believed_or (R.V.) TRUSTED _in his God_ cf. Hebrews 11:33.... [ Continue Reading ]
The king's vengeance on the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. _accused_ see on Daniel 3:8. _their children, and their wives_ according to the rough justice or, to our minds, injustice of antiquity: cf. Joshua 7:24-25; 2 Samuel 21:5-9; Esther 9:13-14; Hdt. iii. 119. Cf. Mozley's _Ruling Ideas... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto all_ THE _people_s, … _unto you_ verbally identical with Daniel 4:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
The edict of Darius, enjoining all his subjects to dread and fear the God of Daniel. Cf. the decree of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3:29, forbidding men anywhere to speak against Him; and his proclamation in Daniel 4:1-3; Daniel 4:37, declaring to mankind His doings. The thought and phraseology of the e... [ Continue Reading ]
_I make a decree_ almost exactly as Daniel 3:29. _in every dominion in_ ALL THE _dominion_&c. _tremble and fear before_ Cf. Daniel 5:19 (of the dread felt towards Nebuchadnezzar). _stedfast_ or _subsistent, enduring_, a common epithet of God in the Targums, and often representing the Heb. -living... [ Continue Reading ]
_He delivereth and rescueth_ And not Darius (Daniel 6:14): cf. Daniel 3:28-29. _signs and wonders_ Daniel 4:2-3. _from the power_ Aram. _from the hand_, as in Heb., Psalms 22:20 (21), Psalms 49:15 (16), &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
After this signal deliverance Daniel's gainsayers were silenced; and prosperity attended him through the rest of the reign of Darius, as well as in that of his successor Cyrus.... [ Continue Reading ]