Welcome back to my study/review of The Book of Daniel. If you missed the previous parts of this study, you can find them HERE.
Daniel 6:15-18
15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”
16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
For thousands of years, religious leaders have prioritized telling this story to young children. The King does not figure out a way for Daniel to evade the law he was tricked into signing, and Daniel is tossed into a den of lions, with the idea that he would be eaten alive.
When we left off at the end of the last section, the King was trying to figure out how to exempt Daniel from the law he was tricked into signing. Here we find out that his efforts failed. We’ll pick back up where ewe left off, in The Pulpit Commentaries, at verse 15:
Then 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 or statute which the king establisheth maybe changed. The corresponding verse in the Septuagint is much shorter, “And he was not able to deliver him from them.” This verse in the Massoretic text has very much the appearance of a doublet mollified to fit a new position. The first clause has occurred already twice before in the sixth verse and the fifteenth. The last portion of the verse is a modification of what is stated in Daniel 6:9 and Daniel 6:13. The first clause is omitted by Theodotion, but inserted by the Peshitta. The probability is that this verse, in its Massoretic form, has been inserted to explain the opposition the king strove in vain to overcome.
As we see often in Daniel, there is a difference between the LXX and the MT, but the difference is not significant to the meaning of what is happening in the story. As I mentioned before, the men who contrived to have Daniel executed are playing a dangerous game. The King knows they manipulated him and the manipulation led to the death of someone the King liked. But they obviously deem the removal of Daniel to be worth the danger.
Continuing on to verse 16, from Ellicott’s Bible Commentary:
(16) They brought Daniel.—According to Eastern custom, the sentence was generally executed on the day when it was pronounced. This explains why the king’s efforts to commute the sentence were prolonged till sunset (Daniel 6:14). The lions were probably kept here for sporting purposes. The form of the den is unknown, but the etymology suggests a vaulted chamber.
(17) Sealed it.—This sealing both by the king and his nobles appears to have been due to the fear that the nobles had (Daniel 6:16) of the king’s attempting to rescue Daniel. The nobles also would be unable to put Daniel to death in the event of his escaping the fury of the lions.
If elements of these events remind you of the death and eventual resurrection of Jesus Christ, you are not alone. This story is one of many typological (at least as far as Christians see it) foreshadowings of Jesus from the Old Testament. (via davidschrock.com)
Twelve Ways Daniel and the Lions’ Den Foreshadows the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The Shadow The Substance 1 Daniel is a son of Judah, a royal son, whose superior wisdom and excellent spirit set him apart from his peers. (Daniel 1:3) Jesus is a son of Judah, a royal son, whose superior wisdom and excellent Spirit set him apart from his peers. (Matt. 1:1–17; Acts 10:38; Col. 2:3) 2 Daniel is presented as the chief ruler in Babylon . . . one whose appointment angers his contemporaries because of their envy of him. Jesus is the King of the Jews, one whose claim to the throne angers his contemporaries (the Chief Priests) because of envy. (Mark 15:10) 3 Daniel is willing “sacrifice,” not a hapless victim, of an evil plot to put him to death. (Daniel 6:10) Jesus is a willing sacrifice, not a hapless victim, of an evil plot to put him to death. (John 10:17-18; Hebrews 9:1–10:18) 4 Daniel is sentenced to death under a unjust Gentile law. (Daniel 6:6–9) Jesus is sentenced to a death under an unjust Gentile law. (Luke 23:40; Gal. 4:4) 5 The king, though desiring to free Daniel from his sentence, is powerless in the face of others. So he sentences an innocent man to death against his will (Daniel 6:14) Pilate, though “desiring” to free Daniel from his sentence, is powerless in the face of others. So he sentences an innocent man to death against his will. (Matt. 27:15–23) 6 Daniel’s prayer in the upper room leads to his arrest when his enemies come to spy on him. (Daniel 6:11–13) Jesus is arrested as he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, when his enemies come to arrest him. (Matt. 26:36–46; John 18:1-11) 7 Daniel is thrown into a den of lions to be devoured by these beasts. (Daniel 6:16) ** Daniel is saved in the den of lions because his Lord (the Son of Man in Daniel 7) was not spared. Jesus is surrounded by beasts and attacked by Lions. (Psalm 22:12–21) ** God saves his people from the Lion’s mouth because Jesus suffered at the Lions mouth. (Cf. 2 Timothy 4:17; 1 Peter 5:8) 8 Darius rolls the stone over the mouth of the pit and seals it with his ring. (Daniel 6:17) Joseph rolls a stone over the mouth of the tomb and Pilate seals it. (Matt. 27:60, 66) 9 Daniel is not just saved from death; he is vindicated by God shutting the lions’ mouth (Daniel 6:22). His salvation is a legal matter that breaks the penalty of the law. (Daniel 6:19–24) Jesus is saved from death (Heb. 5:5–10). His resurrection is a matter of legal vindication (Rom. 4:23–25; 1 Tim. 3:16). Jesus’s death breaks the power of the law (Col. 2:11–15). 10 When Daniel is raised from the pit, his enemies are thrown into the same place and devoured by the lions. (Daniel 6:24) Through his death and resurrection Jesus has disarmed and put to shame his enemies. (Colossians 2:13–15) 11 All the bones of Daniel’s enemies are broken into pieces, a fate that would have happened to Daniel, if God had not intervened. Thus Daniel’s bones, like a Passover lamb, were spared. (Daniel 6:24) Jesus is crucified and buried in the grave, but his bones are not broken. He is the true Passover Lamb. (John 19:36) 12 When Daniel was saved from the pit, it led to the praise and worship of God in Babylon, to everyone who heard the good news sent out by Darius. (Daniel 6:25–27) When Jesus was saved from the pit and raised from the dead, it led to the universal praise of God. (Philippians 2:5–11)
Some of those points are spoilers for some verses we will cover in the coming sections, but it seemed best to bring this all up here. Christianity utilizes typology in its reading of the Old Testament. Jesus even did so regarding himself.
Continuing on to verse 18, from TPC:
Then the king went to his palace. and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep went from him. In the Massoretic text one of the clauses, “Neither were instruments of music brought before him,” has caused great difficulty. The word daḥvan, translated “instruments of music,” is rendered by Furst, “dancing-girl; “Gesenius, “concubine; “Rosenmuller renders, “odours.” The Mediaeval Greek Version translates, “instruments of music.” Furst speaks with favour of the Syriac rendering, “food-tables.” Han‛ayl, the aphel of ‛eilal, has to be noted as a sign of antiquity. The version of the Septuagint is very wide from the Massoretic in the latter part of the verse, “Thus the king returned to his palace, and went to bed fasting, being grieved about Daniel.”£ It is evident that the Septuagint translator had before him deḥeel instead of doḥvan—nun in the script of Egyptian Aramaic is very like lamed in the later mode writing, as also yodh and vav. It is possible that the name “Daniel” was read han‛eel or, vies versa, as two of the letters are identical If we can accept the Septuagint reading, the difficulty of this mysterious daḥoun disappears. Another clause is added here in the Septuagint from verse 22 (23) Massoretic, though with variations. “Then the God of Daniel, taking thought for him (πρόνοιαν ποιούμενος αὐτοῦ) closed the mouths of the lions, that they did not hurt Daniel.” This statement is not inserted in Daniel’s answer to the king in the Septuagint, as it is in the Massoretic text. It would almost seem that our present text in both cases is a condensation of a more extended document. This view receives support from the rendering of Theodotion, “And the king departed to his house, and went to bed supperless, and viands were not brought to him, and his sleep went from him, and God closed the mouths of the lions, and they did not hurt Daniel.” It will be seen that the last clause here agrees with the concluding clause of the Septuagint. The mysterious word daḥvan is rendered here “food” (ἐδέσματα)—a version that is suspicious from the fact that it merely repeats, under another form, the statement that the king went to bed fasting. It is supported by the Peshitta and the Vulgate. This difference can scarcely be due to a various reading. Otherwise the Peshitta and the Vulgate agree with the Massoretic text. The king’s sorrow and humiliation could not be better pictured than it is here: even the feast of the palace had no pleasure for him, he was so grieved about Daniel. But we must also bear in mind that fasting had among the Jews, and, indeed, in the East generally, a relationship to prayer (see Esther 4:16, where fasting takes the place of prayer; see also Daniel 10:3). It means also repentance (Jonah 3:6-8). Darius, then, repented his hasty decree, and prayed for the deliverance of Daniel.
Inasmuch as we see a parallel between Daniel and Jesus, we also see a marked difference in the two stories. Pontius Pilate washes his hands of the crime he allows to happen. Darius spends the night in prayer and repentance. He is truly grieved over what has happened and his role in it.
We will see how that works out for him, and for those who tricked him, when we get to the next set of verses, next time.
