CHAPTER VI _Darius the Median, who succeeded Belshazzar in the kingdom of_ _Babylon, having heard of Daniel's extraordinary wisdom and_ _understanding, constitutes him the chief of the three_ _presidents who were over the whole empire, and purposed also_ _to make him prime minister or viceroy_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:2. _THREE PRESIDENTS_] Each having _forty_ of these presidents accountable to him for their administration. _DANIEL_ WAS _FIRST_] As being established over that part where was the seat of government. He was confirmed in his offices by Darius.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:3. _THE KING THOUGHT TO SET HIM OVER THE WHOLE REALM_] Intended to make him _grand vizier_ or _emir ul amrim_. This partiality of the king made Daniel the object of the other presidents, and the grandees of the kingdom.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:4. _SOUGHT TO FIND OCCASION AGAINST DANIEL_] But they found no blemish in his administration, for he was _faithful to his king_: this was a _virtue_. But he was also _faithful to his God_: this they hoped to construe into a _crime_, and make it the cause of his ruin.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:7. _WHOSOEVER SHALL ASK A PETITION_] What pretense could they urge for so silly an ordinance? Probably to _flatter_ the ambition of the king, they pretend to make him _a god_ for _thirty_ days; so that the whole empire should make prayer and supplication to him, and pay him Divine hon... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:8. _ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS_] I do not think that this is to be understood so as to imply that whatever laws or ordinances the Medes or Persians once enacted, they never changed them. This would argue extreme folly in legislators in any country. Nothing more app... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:10. _NOW WHEN DANIEL KNEW THAT THE WRITING WAS SIGNED_] He saw _what_ was _designed_, and he knew _whom_ he _served_. _HIS WINDOWS BEING OPEN_] He would not shut them to conceal himself, but "kneeled down with his face turned toward Jerusalem, and prayed thrice each day, giving than... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:12. _SHALL BE CAST INTO THE DEN OF LIONS_] Either this was the royal _menagerie_, like that place in the _Tower_ of London, where wild beasts are kept for the king's pleasure, and the public amusement; or they were kept for the purpose of devouring certain criminals, which the laws mi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _THE KING - WAS SORE DISPLEASED WITH HIMSELF_] And well he might, when through his excessive folly he passed a law that, for its ostensible object, would have been a disgrace almost to an idiot. _AND SET_ HIS _HEART ON DANIEL_] He strove by every means to get the law annulled. He had no d... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _THEN THESE MEN ASSEMBLED_] Having got favourable answers, as we may presume, from many individuals, he called a _parliament_; but they now collectively joined to urge the _execution_ of the law, not its _repeal_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _THEN THE KING COMMANDED_] With a heavy heart he was obliged to warrant this murderous conspiracy. But when passing sentence his last words were affecting: "Thy God, whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee." He is _thy_ God; _thou_ _servest him_, not occasionally, but _continua... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _A STONE WAS BROUGHT_] All this _precaution_ served the purposes of the Divine Providence. There could be no trick nor collusion here; if Daniel be preserved, it must be by the power of the Supreme God. The same precaution was taken by the Jews, in the case of the _burial of our blessed Lo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _PASSED THE NIGHT FASTING_] He neither ate nor drank, had no music to solace, nor sweet odours burnt or brought before him, and he passed the night without sleep. All this points out his great sincerity; and when it is considered that Darius could not be less than _sixty-two_ or _sixty-thr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _THE KING AROSE VERY EARLY_] By the break of day.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:20. _HE CRIED WITH A LAMENTABLE VOICE_] His heart, full of grief, affected his speech. _SERVANT OF THE LIVING GOD_] The king was convinced that, unless his God saved him, his destruction was inevitable.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:22. _MY GOD HATH SENT HIS ANGEL_] Such a one as that who attended Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the fiery furnace, and blew aside the flames, so that they could not hurt them. _BEFORE HIM INNOCENCY WAS FOUND IN ME_] Because I was innocent God has preserved me; and now that I a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:23. _NO MANNER OF HURT WAS FOUND UPON HIM_] And why? _Because_ _he believed in his God_. How mighty is _faith_? It interests that power in the behalf of the believer by which the sea is dried up, the mountains removed, the dead raised to life, sin forgiven, the heart purified, Satan v... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:24. _THEY BROUGHT THOSE MEN_] It was perfectly just that they should suffer that death to which they had endeavoured to subject the innocent; but it was savage cruelty to destroy the _women_ and _children_ who had no part in the transgression.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:25. _THEN KING DARIUS WROTE_] And the substance of this _decree_, which was made by a heathen king, was to point out the _perfections_ of the _true God_, and the _fidelity_ of his devoted servant.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:26. _I MAKE A DECREE THAT - MEN TREMBLE AND FEAR BEFORE THE_ _GOD OF DANIEL_] As in the case of the _three_ Hebrews, Daniel 3:29. The true God was known by his servants, and by the deliverances he wrought for them. See his characters in this decree. 1. He is the _living God_, the Aut... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 6:28. _SO THIS DANIEL PROSPERED_] He had served _five_ kings: _Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-merodach, Belshazzar, Darius_, and _Cyrus_. Few courtiers have had so long a reign, served so many masters without flattering any, been more successful in their management of public affairs, been so usef... [ Continue Reading ]