Daniel 6

BLIVRE · Chapter 6/12

¹Pareceu bem a Dario constituir sobre o reino cento vinte governadores que estivessem em todo o reino.

²E sobre eles três supervisores, dos quais Daniel era um, a quem estes governadores deviam prestar contas, para que o rei não sofresse dano.

³Então o mesmo Daniel era superior a estes governadores e supervisores, porque nele havia um espírito extraordinário; por isso o rei pensava em constituí-lo sobre todo o reino.

⁴Então os supervisores e governadores procuravam achar alguma acusação contra Daniel a respeito do reino; mas não conseguiram achar acusação ou falta alguma, porque ele era fiel, e nenhum erro nem falta foi achada nele.

⁵Então esses homens disseram: Não acharemos acusação alguma contra este Daniel, a não ser se a acharmos contra ele na lei de seu Deus.

⁶Então esses supervisores e governadores foram juntos ao rei, e lhe disseram assim: Ó rei Dario, vive para sempre!

⁷Todos os supervisores do reino, os prefeitos, governadores, conselheiros e capitães, concordaram em sugerir a promulgação de um decreto real, e estabelecer um estatuto forte, que qualquer um que, no intervalo de trinta dias, fizer alguma petição a qualquer deus ou humano, a não ser a ti, ó rei, seja lançado na cova dos leões.

⁸Agora, ó rei, confirma o decreto, e assina a escritura, para que não se mude, conforme à lei dos medos e dos persas, que não se pode revogar.

⁹Por esta causa o rei Dario assinou o decreto por escrito.

¹⁰E Daniel, quando soube que a escritura estava assinada, entrou em sua casa, e com as janelas de seu quarto abertas, voltadas para Jerusalém, punha-se de joelhos três vezes ao dia, e orava, e confessava diante de seu Deus, assim como costumava fazer antes.

¹¹Então aqueles homens se juntaram, e encontraram Daniel orando e suplicando diante de seu Deus.

¹²Então se aproximaram e falaram diante do rei acerca do decreto real: Por acaso não assinaste o decreto que todo aquele que pedir a qualquer deus ou humano no intervalo de trinta dias, a não ser a ti, ó rei, seja lançado na cova dos leões? O rei respondeu: Esta palavra é certa, conforme a lei dos medos e dos persas, que não se pode revogar.

¹³Então disseram diante do rei: Daniel, que é um dos cativos de Judá, não respeitou a ti, ó rei, nem ao decreto que assinaste; em vez disso três vezes ao dia ele faz sua oração.

¹⁴Quando o rei ouviu isso, pesou-lhe muito, e tentou pensar em como livrar Daniel; e até o pôr do sol trabalhou para livrá-lo.

¹⁵Então aqueles homens foram juntos ao rei, e disseram ao rei: Sabe, ó rei, que é a lei dos medos e dos persas, que nenhum decreto um ordenança que o rei estabeleceu pode ser mudada.

¹⁶Então o rei mandou trazerem a Daniel, e [o] lançaram na cova dos leões. E o rei falou a Daniel: O teu Deus, a quem tu serves continuamente, ele te livre.

¹⁷E foi trazida uma pedra, e foi posta sobre a abertura da cova, a qual o rei selou com seu anel, e com o anel de seus grandes, para que a sentença acerca de Daniel não fosse mudada.

¹⁸Então o rei foi a seu palácio, e passou a noite em jejum; não permitiu que lhe trouxessem instrumentos musicais diante de si, e ele perdeu o sono.

¹⁹Então o rei se levantou pela manhã cedo, e foi depressa à cova dos leões.

²⁰E chegando perto da cova, chamou a Daniel com voz triste; e o rei falou a Daniel: Daniel, servo do Deus vivente! O teus Deus, a quem tu continuamente serves, pôde te livrar dos leões?

²¹Então Daniel falou ao rei: Ó rei, vive para sempre!

²²Meu Deus enviou seu anjo, que fechou a boca dos leões, para que não me fizessem dano; porque diante dele se achou inocência em mim; e também contra ti, ó rei, não cometi delito algum.

²³Então o rei se alegrou muito por causa dele, e mandou tirar a Daniel da cova; assim Daniel foi tirado da cova, e nenhum dano se achou nele, pois havia confiado em seu Deus.

²⁴Então o rei mandou trazerem aqueles homens que tinham acusado a Daniel, e foram lançados na cova dos leões, eles, seus filhos, e suas mulheres; e nem sequer haviam chegado ao fundo da cova, quando os leões os tomaram, e quebraram todos os seus ossos.

²⁵Então o rei Dario escreveu a todos os povos, nações, e línguas, que moram em toda a terra: Paz vos seja multiplicada.

²⁶De minha parte é feito um decreto, que em todo o domínio de meu reino, [todos] tremam e temam a presença do Deus de Daniel; porque ele é o Deus vivente, que permanece para sempre; seu reino não se pode destruir, e seu domínio [dura] até o fim.

²⁷Ele resgata e livra, e faz sinais e maravilhas no céu e na terra; ele livrou a Daniel do poder dos leões.

²⁸E este Daniel foi próspero no reino de Dario, e no reinado de Ciro, o persa.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Envy among his colleagues leads to the creation of a manipulative law against Daniel, who continues praying openly to God even knowing about the decree. He is thrown into the lions' den, but God shuts the animals' mouths, and Daniel comes out unharmed.

Explanation

The trap set by Daniel's rivals cleverly exploits the inflexible law of the Medes and Persians, which once signed by the king could not be revoked even by himself (v.8,15) — a real historical detail about the legal rigidity of that empire. Daniel's choice to keep praying three times a day with his windows open toward Jerusalem, even knowing the risk (v.10), demonstrates a faithfulness that does not hide out of fear, but also does not seek unnecessary provocation — he simply continues his normal practice. The genuine anguish of King Darius himself, who fasts and spends the night in vigil for Daniel (v.18), shows the respect that Daniel's consistent integrity had earned even from a pagan ruler. The miraculous deliverance reinforces a central theme of the book: God protects those who remain faithful, even when it demands courage in the face of real danger.

Fun facts

The practice of praying three times a day facing Jerusalem, mentioned here, became a documented Jewish custom in other historical sources and is still practiced, in adapted forms, in Jewish tradition to this day.
The irrevocability of Medo-Persian laws, mentioned twice in this chapter, is confirmed by ancient historians as a real and rigid feature of that empire's legal system, distinct from other empires of the time.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Daniel 6:1Dividing the empire into 120 satrapies was a massive administrative undertaking, fitting the size of the Medo-Persian domain after Babylon’s fall recorded at the end of the previous chapter.
Daniel 6:2Placing Daniel among just three supervisors over 120 governors shows that, even now elderly and serving since Nebuchadnezzar’s time, he was still chosen for the new empire’s most trusted posts.
Daniel 6:3The king’s intention to promote Daniel above all the others is exactly the trigger that provokes the envy and conspiracy described in the following verses.
Daniel 6:4The thorough search for any administrative fault in Daniel, and the complete failure to find one, show, even before the religious accusation, that his integrity was recognized even by his own rivals.
Daniel 6:5Realizing they could only attack Daniel through his faith, not through incompetence or corruption, is an unwitting confession by his own enemies about his character.
Daniel 6:6The formal greeting before proposing the trap is the same courtesy formula used in other court scenes in the book, a way of opening the conversation before manipulating the king.
Daniel 6:7The idea that a law of the Medes and Persians, once signed, ‘altereth not,’ not even by the king himself, reflects something tradition attributed to Persian royal ideology — the conspirators use precisely this rule to trap Darius in a snare he himself can no longer escape.
Daniel 6:8Insisting on the irrevocability of Medo-Persian law is the cleverest part of the trap: the conspirators know that once signed, not even the king himself can undo the decree after realizing his mistake.
Daniel 6:9The king signs without noticing the trap, probably out of vanity: a decree requiring petitions to himself alone for thirty days sounds like tribute to his own authority, not a disguised threat against anyone in particular.
Daniel 6:10Praying three times a day facing Jerusalem, with the window open, describes a Jewish custom of praying at fixed hours facing toward the temple — even exiled hundreds of miles away, Daniel keeps this physical orientation as part of the habit.
Daniel 6:11The conspirators have to go to Daniel’s house to catch him in the act, which suggests his prayer routine was known and predictable, not hidden — he does not change the habit even knowing the risk.
Daniel 6:12The accusers make the king publicly confirm his own law before revealing who broke it, a tactic that closes off any way for him to reverse the decision afterward.
Daniel 6:13Reminding the king that Daniel is ‘of the children of the captivity of Judah’ reinforces his foreignness before the king, a subtle way of disqualifying him as an outsider, despite decades of loyal service to the empire.
Daniel 6:14The king spends the whole day trying to find a legal way out to save Daniel, revealing that he had been manipulated by his advisors and clearly saw the injustice of the very trap he had signed.
Daniel 6:15The conspirators come back to press the king before he can find a loophole, showing they were watchful and determined to make sure the sentence against Daniel was carried out.
Daniel 6:16The king’s words as Daniel is thrown into the den sound more like hope than certainty — he himself seems surprised to be expressing faith in someone else’s God in a situation he cannot control.
Daniel 6:17Sealing the stone over the den with the king’s own signet and the nobles’ signets was a legal security measure: anyone who tampered with the seal would be identified, an ancient way of guaranteeing that neither side could interfere with the sentence’s execution.
Daniel 6:18Fasting and refusing music through the night was typical mourning behavior in that culture — the king already acts as though he were holding a vigil for Daniel’s death, even without knowing the outcome for certain.
Daniel 6:19The king’s haste at first light, without ceremony, shows the anxiety of someone who spent the whole night awake waiting for the outcome.
Daniel 6:20Calling Daniel’s God ‘the living God’ before even knowing the outcome suggests the king was already inclined to believe in Him, perhaps influenced by the earlier chapters’ accounts of Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 6:21Daniel’s answer uses the very same formal greeting the conspirators had used to open their accusation — Daniel keeps court protocol even while coming straight out of a den of lions.
Daniel 6:22Daniel makes clear that his innocence holds both before God and before the king himself — he never disobeyed out of rebellion, only because he could not give up his daily prayer.
Daniel 6:23The text’s final explanation, ‘because he believed in his God,’ is one of the few times in the book that Daniel’s personal faith, not just God’s power, is cited as the direct reason for his deliverance.
Daniel 6:24Throwing into the den not only Daniel’s accusers but their families as well reflects a harsh custom common in the ancient world: punishing entire clans for the treachery of one member, not just the individual responsible.
Daniel 6:25The opening formula of Darius’s letter repeats almost exactly that of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4 — the same format of a royal decree addressed to all the peoples of the empire appears twice in the book.
Daniel 6:26Just like Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4, Darius issues a public decree acknowledging Daniel’s God, without necessarily abandoning his own gods, but declaring that this particular God deserves reverence throughout the empire.
Daniel 6:27The decree closes by citing the very miracle that had just happened as concrete proof of God’s power, not some abstract statement of faith.
Daniel 6:28Mentioning both reigns, Darius and Cyrus, closes the arc of Daniel’s career the same way chapter 1 had already signaled: he spans the entire transition from Babylonian to Persian rule without losing his position.