Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Daniel 6:5
Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find [it] against him concerning the law of his God.
5. law ] dth, the same Persian word, which is found in Dan 2:9; Dan 2:13; Dan 2:15, and also in Dan 6:8; Dan 6:12; Dan 6:15, and constantly in Esther. Here, as in Ezr 7:12; Ezr 7:14; Ezr 7:21; Ezr 7:25-26, it denotes the Jewish law (Heb. trh).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
We shall not find any occasion … – We shall not find any pretext or any cause by which he may be humbled and degraded. They were satisfied of his integrity, and they saw it was vain to hope to accomplish their purposes by any attack on his moral character, or any charge against him in respect to the manner in which he had discharged the duties of his office.
Except we find it against him concerning the law of his God – Unless it be in respect to his religion; unless we can so construe his known conscientiousness in regard to his religion as to make that a proof of his unwillingness to obey the king. It occurred to them that such was his well-understood faithfulness in his religious duties, and his conscientiousness, that they might expect that, whatever should occur, he would be found true to his God, and that this might be a basis of calculation in any measure they might propose for his downfall. His habits seem to have been well understood, and his character was so fixed that they could proceed on this as a settled matter in their plans against him. The only question was, how to construe his conduct in this respect as criminal, or how to make the king listen to any accusation against him on this account, for his religious views were well known when he was appointed to office; the worship of the God of Daniel was not prohibited by the laws of the realm, and it would not be easy to procure a law directly and avowedly prohibiting that.
It is not probable that the king would have consented to pass such a law directly proposed – a law which would have been so likely to produce disturbance, and when no plausible ground could have been alleged for it. There was another method, however, which suggested itself to these crafty counselors – which was, while they did not seem to aim absolutely and directly to have that worship prohibited, to approach the king with a proposal that would be flattering to his vanity, and that, perhaps, might be suggested as a test question, showing the degree of esteem in which he was held in the empire, and the willingness of his subjects to obey him. By proposing a law that, for a limited period, no one should be allowed to present a petition of any kind to anyone except to the king himself, the object would be accomplished. A vain monarch could be prevailed on to pass such a law, and this could be represented to him as a measure not improper in order to test his subjects as to their willingness to show him respect and obedience; and at the same time it would be certain to effect the purpose against Daniel – for they had no doubt that he would adhere steadfastly to the principles of his religion, and to his well-known habits of worship. This plan was, therefore, crafty in the extreme, and was the highest tribute that could be paid to Daniel. It would be well if the religious character and the fixed habits of all who profess religion were so well understood that it was absolutely certain that no accusation could lie against them on any other ground, but that their adherence to their religious principles could be calculated on as a basis of action, whatever might be the consequences.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Dan 6:5
Except we find it against him concerning the law of him God.
Fruit in Old Age
This ancient story is as vital and beautiful as ever. Each deed of holy courage, each life of truth and purity, lives on in recorded or unrecorded influence. He works (immortal as He who inspired it), in one generation after another with the power of an endless life. Beautiful the thick blossomed trees of spring, but not to be compared for the beauty of usefulness with the fruit-weighted trees of autumn Beautiful the piety of youth with its sweet promises, but more beautiful the piety of aged men and women when, so many tempests outlived, they still bring forth fruit in old age. What fruit do we find m Daniels old age?
I. AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT. In him, and seen to be in him. For be a mans spirit excellent or the reverse, it cannot be hidden. It comes out. The churl, the cruel, the malignant man, may mask the spirit, and hypocritically appear what he is not. But such are often surprised into conduct in which the real bad spirit is revealed; or they weary of playing a part. The spirit of Daniel was the secret of his elevation by Darius. How it showed itself is not told. He was a man of rare sagacity, and of incorruptible integrity. He had a kingly soul, with a spirit that thrilled his very silences, looks, tones, with excellence. We are more as forces in the world, than speakers and toilers. The Spirit we are of is an essential part, the largest part of our influence. It is the eloquence of tone and look and silence–it is ourself. Let the spirit be right and the life will be.
II. FAITHFULNESS TO DUTY. Daniel had enemies. They plot against him. He was faithful to his earthly master, because in all faithful to his Master in heaven. The secret of his faithfulness was that very piety through which his foes sought to assail, and take his life from the earth. There still is the secret of well doing, and continuance in well-doing, whatever be the station.
III. PRAYERFULNESS. Busy had been Daniels life. But he was never too busy to pray thrice a day. From this habit, not even peril of death could daunt him. Daniel knew that the writing was signed, but it made no difference. For he knew also the helpful and sublime privilege of prayer. The baffled king sought by delay to save Daniel. It was in vain. The den probably was an underground cave. This method of punishment is attested by the discovery of statues and bas-reliefs among the ruins of Babylon. Daniel was willing to meet his fate. Prayer to God was the necessity of his life. Life might be surrendered rather than prayer. Life fruitful is ever life prayerful.
IV. TRUSTFULNESS. What a moment when the aged prophet was cast into the den! Daniel was calm. He trusted in God. From early youth, through manifold perils, Daniel had trusted in his God. He had never been put to confusion, nor would he be now. The angel Jehovah was with him. (G. T. Coster.)
The authority of conscience
Fault-finding is not a difficult science. A practised critic will find blemishes in the most beautiful works of men. The judges of a century ago who passed capital sentence on cases that were more than doubtful consoled themselves by the reflection that there was enough in every man to justify a hanging. So strong has been the sense of human guilt that it had been satisfied with nothing less than theories of total depravity. Many countries have sought for stainless statesmen, many masters for spotless servants, many Churches for immaculate ministers, but the supply has not been equal to the demand. And every fresh failure has only served to intensify the depth of the conviction that the best men have in them the principle of evil. And I go further and say that this conviction has forced itself on those who have not set themselves to find out the faults in others. Our failings, as a rule, are so obvious that the most charitable must acknowledge them. It does net need a jealous or envious eye to detect our flaws. And if this is true of our experience of private life, it is doubly so of public life. The fierce light that beats upon a throne, beats with no less fierceness upon the guiders of a throne. Their most private failings are magnified into public evils. It might also be said that a public man has no privacy. The more widely a man is known the larger is the circle of his critics. Daniel was a public man. He was one of the three presidents of Dariuss kingdom, and we are told the king thought to set him over the whole realm. It would not have been easy to play perfectly so exalted a part before the most friendly spectators. But they who watched Daniel were hostile in the worst degree. Theirs was no manly, open hostility, that thought his actions wrong, and opposed them because they thought so. Theirs was a mean, underhand, jealous and envious hostility, that could not bear to see virtue rewarded. And for them the sting was in the virtue. Daniel was faithful. His conduct would bear the severe scrutiny of his enemies. We do not suppose this to mean that Daniel was no sinner, but there was no open departure from righteousness and justice which could be made the basis of an impeachment. There remained one chance of striking a blow at the man they hated. Daniel was a religious man. His religion was a part of his life. They knew him well enough to know that on no consideration would he forsake or neglect his religion. We have here, I think, a very striking illustration of a very great truth that conscience derives its power over men as it is recognised by them to be a law of their God. The gospel of Christ appeals to the most savage and slavish of people, as well as to the most civilised, because it appeals to those great principles of our nature that distinguish us as mankind. And of all our common qualities, conscience is one of the most undeniable. With more or less distinctness it defines for every class of men certain broad lines of right and wrong. But it is evident that its power over us will depend on how we regard it. It may be to some a mere uncomfortable sensation that may be removed in time; the result of a passing feeling of sorrow for harm done or wrong tolerated. In such a ease it is not likely to speak with much force. But to others it is sacred with the monitions of God Himself. They have seen an inner law in all men, and have agreed that there was a great Lawgiver. They have heard an inner voice calling them to righteousness, and have felt there was somewhere a Source of righteousness. The history of the world is full of instances of the conduct that is the result of these two ways of regarding conscience. Its Pilates, even when to the reproaches of their consciences have been added superstitious fears, have washed their hands and declared themselves innocent of just blood it was in their power to save. But its Luthers, when they might have stood aloof and declared their innocence of declines and practices that had degraded the Church, felt compelled to suffer persecution with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. If the world has had its King Johns who could consent to make their kingdom tributary to the Pope, and hold their crown from his command, it has also had its William the Silents who for the sacred cause of liberty could endure all personal sacrifice that they might finally bequeath to their successors the inheritance of a free people, whose rights were assured, and whose consciences were respected. Again I say, obedience to conscience as to the law of God makes the hero. I plead that there is no way in which we can better serve our Master. Here, if in any way, is our best opportunity of serving our day and generation. We live at a time when, with shame be it said, in many trades custom has done its best to condone dishonesty: to patronise sham commodities has become general; many an honest living has beech ruined by unfair competition; cheapness of material has been secured by lavish expenditure of human suffering. There is very serious danger that our national conscience may become dull as our national sins become common. There is very serious danger lest good Christian people should act the part of Pilate through mistrust of their powers to stay the wrong. There is very serious danger lest we should become so accustomed to hear the voice of pain as to shut our ears to its cry and be absolutely dumb. We pass on to notice how the law of God is superior in authority to the law of man, and how the law of man only derives its validity and authority as it reflects and realises the law of God. Daniels enemies saw that it was possible to frame a law that Daniels conscience would not permit him to obey; and they knew that no matter what penalties were attached, if obedience to the law of man meant disobedience to the law of God, Daniel would be s law-breaker rather than be false to his religion. Now, how would the opinion of a certain class of people regard Daniel? They say the law is sacred: obedience to the law is imperative. They who go to Rome must do as Rome does. They must at least bow down to the house of Rimmon, even if it was only an outward formality. It is possible to act like a heathen and think like a Christian. God regards the heart–and to Him lip-service is insignificant, the worship of the heart is everything. Outward formality is nothing, inwardly reality is all. To them, then, Daniels action may have been brave and grand, but it was the action of a fanatic, not of a careful and prudent man. Christian manhood shrinks in horror from conformity even in appearance to the false. It may be the law of the country, but no country has a right to make the law. Nay, human law has its province: there are certain broad rules of morality that no one has a right to transgress. But human law has no right to interfere with mans religion: here he passes into a sacred realm; here his relationship is with God. Oh, that our characters may so bear the scrutiny of our enemies that our religion may be in their eyes our only fault? In a sense our lives are public ones. A godless world will eagerly pounce on any un-Christian conduct, and make it an occasion against us. (C.S.Horne, M.A.)
A Tribute from Enemies
I. THE VERY UNFAVORABLE SOIL IN WHICH A CHARACTER OF SINGULAR BEAUTY AND DEVOUT CONSECRATION MAY BE ROOTED AND GROW. What sort of a place was that court where Daniel was? Half shambles and half pigsty. Luxury, sensuality, lust, self-seeking, idolatry, ruthless cruelty were the environment of this man. In the middle of these there grew up this fair flower of a character, pure and stainless, by the acknowledgment of enemies, and in which not even accusers could find a speck or a spot. There are no circumstances in which a man must trove his garments spotted by the world. There were saints in Caesars household. It may sound a paradox, but it is a deep truth that unfavorable circumstances are the most favorable for the development of the Christian character. For that development comes, not by what we draw from the things around, but by what we draw from the things in which we are rooted, even God himself, in whom the roots find both anchorage and nutriment. The more we are thrown back on him, and the less we find food for our best selves in the things about us, the more likely is our religion to be robust, and thoroughgoing, and conscious ever of his presence. He that has vitality enough within him to keep hold of Jesus Christ has thereby power enough within him to turn enemies into friends, and unfavorable circumstances into helps instead of hindrances. Purity, and holiness, and communion with God do not depend on environment, but upon the inmost will of the man.
II. THE KEEN CRITICS THAT ALL GOOD MEN HAVE TO FACE. In this mans case their eyesight was meaded by the microscope of envy and malice.
However unobtrusive and quiet a Christian persons life may be, there will be some persons standing close by who, if not actually watching for his fall, are at least by no means indisposed to make the worst of a slip, and to rejoice over an inconsistency. We do not need to complain of that. There will always be a tendency to judge men who by any means profess that they are living by the highest law, with a judgment, that has very little charity in it. And it is perfectly right that it should be so. Be content to be tried by a high standard.
III. THE UNBLEMISHED RECORD. These men could find no fault. They were very poor judges of his religion, and they did not try to judge that; but they were very good judges of his conduct as Prime Minister, and they did judge that. The world is a very poor critic of my Christianity, but it is a very sufficient one of my conduct. If we call ourselves Christians, we are bound, by the very name, to live in such a fashion as that men shall have no doubt of the reality of our profession, and of the depth of our fellowship with Christ. And it is by our commom conduct men will judge us.
IV. OBEDIENT DISOBEDIENCE. The plot goes on the calculation that, whatever happens, this man may be trusted to do what his God tells him; no matter who tells him not to do it. Daniel brushes the preposterous law of the poor, shadowy Darius on one side, in order that he may keep the law of his God. If earthly authorities command what is clearly contrary to Gods law, a Christian is absolved from obedience, and cannot be loyal unless he is a rebel. Obedience to God needs always to be sustained. In our little lives, the motto, This did not I, because of the fear of the Lord, is absolutely essential to all noble Christian conduct. These people calculated upon Daniel, and they had a right to calculate upon him. Could the world calculate upon us? (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
The Example of Daniel
Daniel is presented to us as a man, as well as a prophet of God. In the Bible men are seen as they really are, and the changes which grace made in their natural characters, are easily traced. Through a long life, Daniels was a record of consistent, firm, unflinching fidelity. What was the clew? In four aspects we may view him
I. IN CHILDHOOD, There is intense personality of teaching in the example here presented. As he was a child of the captivity, so are we. We are heirs of another kingdom. That kingdom is to come; we are to be trained for it. Parents are to follow a higher standard than this world can give. As the Chaldean lore of Daniel was all sanctified by piety, you are to see that the wisdom which is from above is made prominent in the training of your child for God.
II. IN HIS YOUNG MANHOOD. In Daniels treatment of himself young people may learn a useful lesson. Self-indulgence emasculates moral as well as physical vigour. The purity of innocence retained is better than that which comes by repentance and pardon.
III. AS A MAN, FULLY OCCUPIED. He was a statesman, and scientist as well. No man in this city is as busy to-day as was he. Yet he found time to pray thrice a day. He took time, and so may you.
IV. IN THE DEN OF LIONS. It was his prayerful communion with God that now risked his spiritual life and fortified him against perils which otherwise would have destroyed him. The den of lions was, indeed, a historic reality. Yet it was no less a figure of the tribulations into which our Lord Jesus and all his followers are thrown. We are powerful if we are in communion with God, and powerless if we attempt to cope with Him alone. (Bishop W. C. Doane.)
Eminent Piety and Efficiency in Business not incompatible
Daniel is a man fitted to excite our admiration at whatever point in his remarkable career we regard him. Two things in the text invite our attention.
I. THE HONORABLE TESTIMONY BORNE BY HIS ENEMIES TO HIS EFFICIENCY IN OFFICE. By the death of Belshazzar, and the conquest of Babylon, Darius, the Mede, had added an extensive territory to his empire, teeming with a numerous population. Such an addition required a corresponding increase in the staff of officials requisite for its management. Darius, admiring the administrative talents of Daniel, and having unbounded confidence in his character, formed the purpose of making this Daniel prime minister over the whole empire. Hence arose a conspiracy among Daniels associates in office. They have become jealous of Daniel, and seek his downfall.
1. The enemies of Daniel had powerful motives to seek his downfall. Motives impure indeed, but powerful. The spirit of envy had seized them. It cost them something to tolerate the Jewish statesman as an equal, but they could not brook his being their superior. Promotion to him was degradation to them.
2. They had ample scope. When men are bent on doing mischief, they can generally succeed, even where the sphere is limited, and the chances comparatively few. Shortcomings in accounts, and cases of maladministration on the part of Daniel could not have escaped the quick eye of his two rivals. Errors of this kind would have served their purpose. But they found none occasion nor fault.
II. THE LAST RESORT OF HIS MALICIOUS ENEMIES. They basely plot for his ruin concerning his religion. The cowardly conspiracy, together with its terrible recoil on the conspirators, is fully developed in the remainder of the chapter. The enemies of Daniel are taken in their own trap, and are fallen into the pit their own hands have digged.
1. There was another chance, and that chance lay in the mans religion. Daniel was known to be eminently devout. Prayer was the element of his souls existence. Thorough honesty and honour might sufficiently explain the accuracy of Daniels accounts. But his religion was something beyond common honesty and honour. Without true religion, without a life of prayer, without a life of faith on the son of God, and obedience to his commands, without a life in which the moral nature shall have its share of attention, in which the soul shall get spiritual culture, and preparation for the future, your life, however satisfactory in other respects, is an incomplete thing, and if persisted in, will eventually prove a failure.
2. Daniels religion was reliable. His enemies and rivals knew this, and matured their plans accordingly. They saw in Daniel an honest and fearless professor of religion; a man of decision, the tone of whose piety was elevated, whose religious habits and exercises were fixed and punctual. They could make his frequent prayers to God a sure basis of calculation, in forming their schemes for his overthrow. Nor did they over-rate his constancy.
3. Eminent piety and thorough efficiency in business are not incompatible. Some have a notion that personal religion and proficiency in any trade or profession cannot go together. And, indeed, we do not always find piety and skill united. It need not be that the two are separated. And religion supplies the highest motives for the efficient discharge of all duties.
III. Religion not only places us under the power of mighty motives, IT ALSO SUPPLIES IN ITS HOLY EXERCISES THE BEST PREPARATION FOR MEETING THE CLAIMS OF OUR EARTHLY CALLING. There is a wear and tear of the system incessantly going on, in the pursuit of any trade or profession which demands occasional relief. The wheels of life want oiling. There is a fountain of strength free to all. Daniel knew its power. He found relief at the throne of grace, in his prayers and regular communings with God. Three times a day he retired and prayed. Here was the secret of his strength. Our religion, while it is spiritual, is practical.
IV. SUCH A COMBINATION REFLECTS HONOUR ON RELIGION, AND MATERIALLY AIDS ITS ADVANCE. Manifest discord between the religious profession and the common life, dishonours the name of Christ, creates doubt in the minds of men as to the power of His truth, fills their minds with a false and unfavourable impression of its general influence, and thus tends to strengthen those prejudices, already too strong, which prevent their forming a just estimate of a true Christian life. In this respect we have all to confess manifold deficiencies. Let us, however, remember and imitate Daniels conduct, and we may yet render the cause of Christ important service. Combine thorough effciency in business with all the exercises of piety, and you will in your own person demonstrate that the two things can co-exist. (David Jones, B.A.)
The True Believers Conflict with, and triumph over, the world
Human nature is the same in every age; the same alike in principle and in practice. It is no wonder that Daniels exaltation should prove a source of enmity, and that those who were placed in a lower point of dignity should seek occasion against him, that so they might accuse him to their common Master. Still there are many who watch for the failing of the righteous man.
I. WHAT THE BELIEVERS MAY EXPECT FROM THE WORLD. The world is very little altered since the days of Daniel. Occasion against the believer is sought with equal earnestness, though not perhaps, with equal openings. This enmity should not come out on the Christian as a strange and unexpected thing. It should enter into his reckoning.
II. WHAT THE WORLD WILL EXPECT FROM THEM. It is evident from the context what opinion had been formed concerning Daniels moral character, by those who had leagued together to compass his overthrow. We should take heed that we knowingly afford no vulnerable point, no exposed and unguarded quarter, on which we may be assailed by the envenomed arrows of the ungodly. Like Job, we should put on righteousness that it may clothe us. To this a great auxiliary is singleness of mind. The human mind is so constituted that man is always under the guidance and control of some one master-principle to which all Others are subordinate or subservient. To realise consistency of conduct we should seek unity of motive.
III. THE HAPPY CONSEQUENCES THAT MAY RESULT HERE, AND THAT WILL RESULT HEREAFTER. If actions be ours, consequences, even as to the present life, are in the hand of God alone. It is ours to purpose, but he fulfils. (T. Dale, A.M.)
The Incorruptible Courtier
There are two kinds of courage recognised among men. There is another kind of courage, often idolised, that seems a compound of rashness and foolhardiness, that delights in going anywhere and undertaking anything. There is another kind of courage which we call moral courage, which is of the highest and noblest character; a courage dependent wholly on the mental and not on the physical characteristics. Observe
1. The baseness of envy. Daniels character was, long ere this, fully established in Babylon. Darius had promoted him. We can easily imagine how distasteful such a promotion must have been to the Persian nobles. How hard do we find it to bear quietly the promotion of others. Let us tremble lest anything in the advancement or welfare of others excites a malign sentiment in our minds, lest we come to envy them that which, by the appointment of providence, has become theirs, and which they have a right honestly to keep and to enjoy:–the moment such a disposition arises in our minds, that moment are we Daniels persecutors, without the power.
2. Daniels Crime. In what way his ruin was to be accomplished does not as yet seem clear to those who have resolved on that view. Possibly they were not as incorruptible as he. Possibly they had consciences that allowed them to do what Daniels conscience forbade him to do. How very unpleasant it is to have an upright person near us when we want to do wrong! Very perplexing and annoying this Jew Daniel, a perpetual decalogue before them, telling them they have broken all its precepts. He must be removed. To get rid of him, however, will require considerable skill, nothing less than the invention of a new crime hitherto unheard of in the annals of idolatry.
3. The rash-resolve of a weak king. On the side of his self-importance the poor king was caught; He forgot the impiety of the request, and established the statute framed by Daniels enemies.
4. Daniels unmoved perserverance. All through his life he has been a man of prayer. Prayer is with him a necessity of his nature. Learn a lesson here. Religion must be all, or it is nothing. Every day of your life it will say to you, what Daniel s said to him, Without me ye can do nothing, and the religious life which in youth was your calm and deliberate choice, whose power and beauty you so imperfectly apprehended, will then become the necessity of your nature, the secret of your happiness, the source of your inspiration and the blessing of your house.
5. Darius the Mede had gone too far to retract. He is obliged to think now, after the act is done, instead of thinking beforehand, and he cannot sleep.
6. An interposition by miracle God had sent his angels and the mouths of the lions had been shut. How this was done we know not, nor can there be much profit, in our speculations on the matter. But it was done. If any of you ever resolve to serve God, never fear the lions den that may come. God will interpose in some marvellous way at the right time; a friend will be raised up that will be as an angel of God; troubles will disappear as soon as you meet them. God says, Them that honour me I will honour. (W. G. Barrett.)
The Character of Daniel
I. HIS CHARACTER.
1. His consistent integrity. For this we have the evidence of his enemies.
2. His habitual piety.
(1) His habits of prayer.
(2) His praying looking toward Jerusalem.
3. Daniels special confidence in God. Not professed with his lips, but calmly and touchingly exhibited in his actions.
II. GODS MYSTERIOUS DEALINGS WITH HIM.
1. They were deeply mysterious. God permits his enemies to succeed. So God often deals with the world; in his Church; with individual Christians; and with his own son he did so deal.
2. See Daniel delivered and Gods dealings explained. Consider the effects of this deliverance on Daniel; on the King; on the enemies of God; on the people and cause of God. Apt representation of Gods universal providence–all things shall terminate as He wills, and shall glorify Him-in the world at large; in the Church. Individuals continually perceive the blessed results of their afflictions, trials, darkness, and fears. How truly this was shown in the Son of God, need hardly be observed. Let the timid, the undecided, or the inconsistent, go and study the character of Daniel. Let them confess their faith as he did. (F. Close, M.A.)
Seeking Cause of Offence
It is the penalty of greatness that envy ever follows in its path. Nor is goodness any protection. In Daniel there was very much to abate envy. It was probably upon its becoming manifest that the King intended to raise Daniel to still higher honour, and to set him over the whole nation, that the anger of the satraps became too violent for restraint. They resented it, not because they were corrupt, and Daniels honesty kept them from enriching themselves, but more probably because they were ambitious, and deemed that it was a slight to the conquerors to give the highest office in the realm to one of a race vanquished by those whom they had now defeated. Daniel was a slave in their eyes, and was he now to rule over those who had beaten his masters? National antipathies are ever things difficult to control. And they have a good side; for patriotism is closely allied with them. These envious men sought their opportunity, first of all, in matters respecting the Kingdom. Eagerly they watched Daniels administration, and hoped to find something neglected, or some failure. There was no probability of their discovering corruption or partiality, but they did hope to find something that might have been managed more skilfully. And they sought in vain. They despaired of finding anything against him save concerning the law of his God. The word used for law is not the old Hebrew name Thorah, but a late word, used only here, and in Ezra and Esther. Of the Thorah of Moses these men knew nothing, but they had heard of Daniels religious practices, and they felt that dislike with which men commonly regard the rites and usages of other forms of worship. And one thing is very remarkable. They were convinced that Daniel so valued his prayers and devotions that he would endure any loss or punishment rather than discontinue them ever for a time. Doubtless they called him a fanatic, and despised him for being narrow-minded. But fanatic is a term often applied to men of strong convictions. The words assembled together would better be, came tumultuously. As if they would take the King by storm; moved with a fervid zeal to honour their beloved Darius. They had consulted among themselves, and had been moved to make this urgent demand by an outburst of feeling which had hurried their whole body to this tumultuous proceeding. They so wrought on the vanity of Darius that their request was granted. The outward semblance of the request was permission throughout a lunar month to acknowledge Darius as the sole deity to be invoked by prayer. The Persian kings claimed to be representatives of Pennized, and as such had a sort of right to divine honours. To Darius this deification of his person seemed not unreasonable.
1. Daniel does not go out of his way to show his determination to honour his God before his king. He simply persists quietly in a practice which he felt to be his duty. Come what would, he must honour God at any risk and st every cost.
2. Daniel prayed thrice a day. We might have expected prayer only at the morning and evening sacrifices. It has been objected that three times was a Parsee, not a Jewish custom. But see Psa 55:17; and for mid-day prayer, see Act 10:9. (Dean Payne-Smith.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Pliny said of old, it is the custom of courtiers to study how to make innocent men faulty, and Scripture and experience tell us that the most religious are accounted most dangerous to the government, and that debauchery is loyalty; and that flatterers ought to be the best favourites. Ezr 4:12-14; Neh 6:5-7; Est 3:8; Dan 3:12, and this text, are plain proofs of it, besides the experience of every age to this day. This was for the honour of Daniels integrity, and for a brand of infamy upon his malicious enemies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. It is the highest testimonyto a godly man’s walk, when his most watchful enemies can find noground of censure save in that he walks according to the law of Godeven where it opposes the ways of the world.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then said these men,…. To one another:
we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel; whom they speak of with great disdain and contempt, calling him this Daniel, this fellow, though in the highest post in the kingdom:
except we find it against him concerning the law of his God; about his religion; not that they thought he would be prevailed upon to break the law of his God in any respect; but they knew he was tenacious of the Jewish religion, and of all the laws, rites, and ceremonies of it; if therefore they could get an act passed, and signed by the king, which would any ways affect his religion, or any branch of it, or prohibit the performance of it for any time, they hoped to get an advantage of him, knowing that he would not on any consideration forsake or neglect that; which being said by his enemies was greatly to his honour.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Besides this, Daniel admonishes us by his own example to study to strive after integrity, and thus to deprive the malevolent and the wicked of all occasion against us, which they seek. We shall find no better defense against the envious and the slanderous than to conduct ourselves righteously and innocently. Whatever snares they may lay for us, they will never succeed, for our innocence will repel their malice like a shield. Meanwhile we see how Daniel escaped utter ruin, since they sought a pretext against him in something else, namely, his worship of God. Hence let us learn how we ought to esteem piety and an earnest desire for it of more value than life itself. Daniel was faithful and upright in his administration: he discharged his duty so as to close the mouth of his enemies and detractors. Thus, as I have said, integrity is the best of all protectors. Again, Daniel was in danger because he would not leave off the sincere worship of God and its outward profession. Hence we must bravely undergo all dangers whenever the worship of God is at stake. This temporary life ought not to be more precious to us than that most sacred of all things — the preservation of God’s honor unstained. We therefore see how we, by these means, are urged to the cultivation of integrity, since we cannot be more secure than when fortified by a good conscience, as Peter in his first epistle exhorts us to the same purpose, (1Pe 3:16.) Now, whatever we may fear, and whatever events await us, even if we become subject to a hundred deaths, we ought never to decline from the pure worship of God, since Daniel did not hesitate to submit to death and enter the lion’s den, because he openly professed the worship of Israel’s God. As these nobles entered into this barbarous and cruel counsel for oppressing Daniel under the pretense of religion, here, again, we gather the blindness and rashness of mankind when ambition and envy seize upon their minds. For it is a matter of no moment with them to come into collision with the Almighty, (284) for they do not approach Daniel as a fellow-creature, but they leap into an insane and sacrilegious contest when they wish to extinguish the worship of God and give way to their own indulgence. Thus, as I have said, we are admonished by this example how ambition is to be guarded against and avoided, and also the envy which arises from it. The nature of this charge — the worship of God — afterwards follows: —
(284) The French editions of 1562 and 1569, a Geneva , translate the idiomatic phrase, susque deque illis est , by ce leur est tout un ; “it is all one to them.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) This conspiracy was evidently the result of jealousy on the part of the other officers at the advancement of Daniel.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
DISCOURSE: 1131
CHARACTER OF DANIEL
Dan 6:5. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
AMONGST the numberless things which Solomon denounces as vanity and vexation of spirit, is this, that for every right work a man is envied of his neighbour [Note: Ecc 4:4.]. No consideration, either of the intrinsic excellency of virtue, or of the benefits resulting from it to the world, will abate the malignant workings of an envious mind. For many years had Daniel, as a minister of state, conferred great blessings on the Babylonish empire [Note: Dan 2:48-49.]. And now, after the conquest of Babylon, Darius, the Medo-Persian monarch, from a conviction of his pre-eminent attainments, had placed him next to himself in power and authority in his empire also. And such had been the wisdom and integrity of Daniel in the discharge of his high duties, that the persons most capable of discovering any fault in his administration, and most intent on making such a discovery, if any could be found, were incapable of alleging any one thing to his disadvantage. But were they grateful to him for his services? No: they were envious of his talents, his virtues, and his honours, and laboured with all their might to destroy him. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom: but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him [Note: ver. 4.]. This they were constrained to acknowledge, at the very time that they conspired to take away his life. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Here they not only acknowledge the astonishing excellence of his character, but they actually found upon it their hope of prevailing against him; since it was only by placing in direct opposition to each other the commands of God and the commands of man, that they could involve him in any thing which should furnish them with an occasion of complaint against him.
As for their envious malignity, I shall wave all further notice of it. It is the character of Daniel on which I would now fix your attention; a character the more remarkable, as being drawn, not by friends, but by foes; and not for the sake of commendation, but for the sake only of finding out the most successful method of directing their efforts for his destruction.
For the establishment of such a character as this, there must have been in Daniel a very rare assemblage of virtues; which, therefore, it will be proper for us distinctly to consider, in order that we may clearly understand the character itself, and be stirred up to seek, each of us for himself, the attainment of it. Let me,
I.
Open to you the constituent parts of this character
Here we behold, in combined and unintermitted exercise,
1.
Piety
[This, beyond a doubt, was at the root of all. And how deeply-rooted it was in him, his enemies themselves proclaimed, when they grounded upon that their hopes of prevailing against him; since, if his piety was not sufficient to bear him up under his present difficulties, their plot, so far at least as a violation of human laws was concerned, would be defeated.
And it is from this principle alone that any real good can flow. Nothing but piety can produce a perfect uniformity of conduct. The corruptions of human nature are too strong to be overcome by any thing but the grace of God. A man may indeed be a wise and experienced statesman, though he fail in the practice of religion and virtue. But no man can maintain, for a long course of years, and under every possible complication of difficulties, a conduct which shall not be open to some degree of censure, especially from those who watch and wait for his halting; unless he be assisted from on high, and be in the habit of walking as in the presence of the omniscient God. To this, then, I would call you in the first instance, since without it all human efforts will be in vain. Let your hearts be right with God. Come to him as sinners, in the name of his dear Son. Obtain from him a sense of acceptance with him, and a confidence in him as your reconciled God and Father. Beg of him to write his law upon your hearts, so that you may have an unerring standard, to which to refer every motion of your minds. Look to him for the assistance of his good Spirit under all difficulties; and make it your constant aim to please him. Then will you have within your own bosoms a compass, by which you may find your path in safety through this trackless wilderness; whilst your eye is directed to his law as your rule, and his glory as your end.]
2.
Wisdom
[In this he must have excelled in a very extraordinary degree; else he never could have conducted himself so unexceptionably as he did, for many years together, in circumstances so intricate and arduous as his. The Queen of Babylons account of him to King Belshazzar was, There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and, in the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him [Note: Dan 5:10-11.]. And Ezekiel, in the very life-time of Daniel, spake of him as eminently distinguished in this respect [Note: Eze 28:3.]. Indeed, this was the chief ground of the preference given to him by the King of Persia above all the native princes: He was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him [Note: ver. 3.].
In us, too, should this be found; nor can we without it hope to be held in estimation by any, except a few kind and partial friends. To those who are enemies of religion, we shall only give disgust, if our piety be not under the direction and control of wisdom. It is certain that many well-meaning people give very great offence by their injudicious proceedings; yes, and involve themselves, too, in many troubles, which they might, by a greater exercise of wisdom, have avoided. Our blessed Lord cautions us on this head: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine; lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you [Note: Mat 7:6.]. There may, indeed, be a carnal wisdom, to whose dictates we ought not to listen; for flesh and blood are but blind counsellors to confer with [Note: Gal 1:16.]: but there is a sound wisdom and discretion, which is highly commendable, and greatly conducive to good. Hence St. Paul says, Walk in wisdom towards them that are without [Note: Col 4:5.]. I cannot but recommend, therefore, to all who are possessed of piety, to take heed how they exercise it; lest, by their weaknesses and follies, they make religion itself to be accounted foolishness, and involve in one common reproach all who profess to serve their God. The resolution of David should be that of every one amongst us: I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way [Note: Psa 101:2.].]
3.
Consistency
[It is clear that Daniel attended to all his duties; as well those which concerned his intercourse with men, as those which had a more immediate reference to God. Happy would it be if the same care prevailed amongst the religious professors of our day! But, in too many instances, religious people set the two tables of the law in opposition to each other; as though a fulfilment of the one necessarily precluded an observance of the other. How common is it for young people to set at nought parental authority, under an idea that obedience to God must swallow up every other consideration. It must, doubtless, swallow up all regard for authority that is directly opposed to it; but many concessions may be made, and should be made too, in relation to matters which involve in them no moral guilt, no direct opposition to a divine command: and where the path of duty is clear, the greatest tenderness should be shewn to the feelings and prejudices of a parent, in the prosecution of it. Filial obedience stands, in Gods estimation, second only to that which we owe to him. There is frequently a great fault in servants also, who, from a pretended regard for God, neglect the duties of their station; and, instead of exercising a becoming respect for their masters, are petulant, and impatient of reproof, and ready on every occasion to answer again [Note: Here the case of Students was adverted to; and a conscientious observance of academic discipline, together with a diligent prosecution of their academic studies, was strongly enforced.]. In the conduct of superiors, too, there is often much to blame: for it is but too true, that religious duties, as they are called, often induce a carelessness in those which are personal and domestic. But all this gives just occasion of offence; and must be sedulously avoided by all who would maintain a consistent conduct, and adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.]
4.
Firmness
[On this the enemies of Daniel especially relied. They gave him credit for piety; and they believed that not even the terror of a den of lions would induce him to violate his conscience, and offend his God. In matters relating to the kingdom they could find no occasion against him: but, in what concerned the law of his God, they assured themselves that they should find the desired ground of accusation against him. In this they judged right. He not only would not withhold from God his accustomed sacrifices of prayer and praise, but he would not even appear to do so. He would not even shut his window; lest he should, though in appearance only, give them a ground of triumph over him. He therefore persisted, as before, to worship God in his accustomed way, and publicly to avow his determined adherence to the dictates of reason and religion.
In this he affords to us an admirable example. We must expect persecution from men, if we will live godly in Christ Jesus. No piety, no wisdom, no consistency, can disarm prejudice, or suppress the workings of envy. Rather, we must expect opposition in proportion as we make our light to shine before men. No one was ever so blameless as our blessed Lord; yet no one was ever persecuted with such general and unrelenting animosity. But our hearts must be fixed: we must be determined to sacrifice all that we have, not excepting even life itself, rather than dishonour God, or violate his commands. Persons in this respect should know beforehand where to find us, even in the path of duty: nor should the whole earth combined be able to turn us from it. This is the state to which we should all attain; and, under circumstances of whatever kind, we should have that reply upon our lips, Whether it be right to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.]
This character approving itself to every considerate mind, let me,
II.
Urge you all to the attainment of it
Let me invite you to consider,
1.
How it honours God
[Truly, such a conduct as Daniels never was seen on earth, except amongst the servants of Jehovah. Nothing but Gods grace can possibly produce it. But, wherever his grace operates, there, in proportion to the measure of that grace, this character is found. No one can ever behold such light as Daniel reflected, but he will be instantly constrained to glorify our Father which is in heaven. Man could as soon create a world, as form this new creation. Wherever it is found, that acknowledgment must be made: He that hath wrought us to the self-same thing, is God.]
2.
How it disarms prejudice
[A want of piety, or wisdom, or consistency, in a professor of religion, causes the way of truth to be evil spoken of, and God himself to be blasphemed. But a pious and consistent conduct wrests from the very enemies of God a confession, that the righteous is more excellent than his neighbour. Hence St. Paul, exhorting Titus to shew himself in all things a pattern of good works, adds, that he that is on the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you [Note: Tit 2:7-8.]. I well know that no blamelessness of conduct can conciliate the regards of an ungodly man; for, as long as he loves darkness rather than light, he must hate you: but you may at least hope to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men [Note: 1Pe 2:12; 1Pe 2:15.], and to make those ashamed who falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ [Note: 1Pe 3:16.].]
3.
How it tends to the welfare of your own soul
[Beyond all doubt your everlasting reward will be proportioned to your present attainments. As he that builds on the good foundation nothing but wood, hay, stubble, will suffer loss, and, if saved at all, be saved only so as by fire [Note: 1Co 3:12-15.]; so he that embraces in his mind, and illustrates in his life, the whole circle of his duties to God and man, will have an entrance ministered unto him abundantly into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ [Note: 2Pe 1:5-11.]. The more we have improved our talents, the richer will be the recompence of our fidelity. We may not in this world have such an interposition in our behalf as Daniel had in the den of lions; or see, as he did, the vengeance of God executed on our adversaries: but we shall have strength given us to sustain our trials, and a weight of glory awarded to us in proportion to them. Go forward, then, strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might: and hold fast your confidence firm unto the end: then your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord [Note: 1Co 15:58.]; for if you surfer with him, you shall also be glorified together [Note: Rom 8:17.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Dan 6:5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find [it] against him concerning the law of his God.
Ver. 5. Then said these men. ] But whatsoever they said, Daniel said, Ego sic vivam ut nemo eis credat, My life shall be a real refutation of their lies.
Against this Daniel.
Except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
“ Omnia eum liceant, nen licet esse pium ”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Daniel
A TRIBUTE FROM ENEMIES
Dan 6:5
Daniel was somewhere about ninety years old when he was cast to the lions. He had been for many years the real governor of the whole empire; and, of course, in such a position had incurred much hatred and jealousy. He was a foreigner and a worshipper of another God, and therefore was all the more unpopular, as a Brahmin would be in England if he were a Cabinet Minister. He was capable and honest, and therefore all the incompetent and all the knavish officials would recognise in him their natural enemy. So, hostile intrigues, which grow quickly in courts, especially in Eastern courts, sprung up round him, and his subordinates laid their heads together in order to ruin him. They say, in the words of my text, ‘We cannot find any holes to pick. There is only one way to put him into antagonism to the law, and that is by making a law which shall be in antagonism to God’s law.’ And so they scheme to have the mad regulation enacted, which, in the sequel of the story, we find was enforced.
These intriguers say, ‘We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.’
Now, then, if we look at that confession, wrung from the lips of malicious observers, we may, I think, get two or three lessons.
I. First, note the very unfavourable soil in which a character of singular beauty and devout consecration may be rooted and grow.
Ah, brother, if the ideal’s being realised depends on circumstances, it is a poor affair. It depends on you, and he that has vitality enough within him to keep hold of Jesus Christ, has thereby power enough within him to turn enemies into friends, and unfavourable circumstances into helps instead of hindrances. Your ship can sail wonderfully near to the wind if you trim the sails rightly, and keep a good, strong grip on the helm, and the blasts that blow all but in your face, may be made to carry you triumphantly into the haven of your desire. Remember Daniel, in that godless court reeking with lust and cruelty, and learn that purity and holiness and communion with God do not depend on environment, but upon the inmost will of the man.
II. Notice the keen critics that all good men have to face.
We do not need to complain of that. It is perfectly reasonable and perfectly right. There will always be a tendency to judge men, who by any means profess that they are living by the highest law, with a judgment that has very little charity in it. And it is perfectly right that it should be so. Christian people need to be trained to be indifferent to men’s opinions, but they also need to be reminded that they are bound, as the Apostle says, to ‘provide things honest in the sight of all men.’ It is a reasonable and right requirement that they should ‘have a good report of them that are without.’ Be content to be tried by a high standard, and do not wonder, and do not forget that there are keen eyes watching your conduct, in your home, in your relations to your friends, in your business, in your public life, which would weep no tears, but might gleam with malicious satisfaction, if they saw inconsistencies in you. Remember it, and shape your lives so that they may be disappointed.
If a minister falls into any kind of inconsistency or sin, if a professing Christian makes a bad failure in Manchester, what a talk there is, and what a pointing of fingers! We sometimes think it is hard; it is all right. It is just what should be meted out to us. Let us remember that unslumbering tribunal which sits in judgment upon all our professions, and is very ready to condemn, and very slow to acquit.
III. Notice, again, the unblemished record.
You remember the pregnant, quaint old saying, ‘If a Christian man is a shoeblack, he ought to be the best shoeblack in the parish.’ If we call ourselves Christians, we are bound, by the very name, to live in such a fashion as that men shall have no doubt of the reality of our profession and of the depth of our fellowship with Christ. It is by our common conduct that they judge us. And the ‘Christian Endeavourer’ needs to remember, whether he or she be old or young, that the best sign of the reality of the endeavour is the doing of common things with absolute rightness, because they are done wholly for Christ’s sake.
It is a sharp test, and I wonder how many of us would like to go out into the world, and say to all the irreligious people who know us, ‘Now come and tell me what the faults are that you have seen in me.’ There would be a considerable response to the invitation, and perhaps some of us would learn to know ourselves rather better than we have been able to do. ‘We shall not find any occasion in this Daniel’-I wonder if they would find it in that Daniel-’except we find it concerning the law of his God.’ There is a record for a man!
IV. Lastly, note obedient disobedience.
What did it matter to Daniel what was forbidden or commanded? He needed to pray to God, and nothing shall hinder him from doing that. And so, obediently disobedient, he brushes the preposterous law of the poor, shadowy Darius on one side, in order that he may keep the law of his God.
Now I do not need to remind you how obedience to God has in the past often had to be maintained by disobedience to law. I need not speak of martyrs, nor of the great principle laid down so clearly by the apostle Peter, ‘We ought to obey God rather than man.’ Nor need I remind you that if a man, for conscience sake, refuses to render active obedience to an unrighteous law, and unresistingly accepts the appointed penalty, he is not properly regarded as a law-breaker.
If earthly authorities command what is clearly contrary to God’s law, a Christian is absolved from obedience, and cannot be loyal unless he is a rebel. That is how our forefathers read constitutional obligations. That is how the noble men on the other side of the Atlantic, fifty years ago, read their constitutional obligations in reference to that devilish institution of slavery. And in the last resort-God forbid that we should need to act on the principle-Christian men are set free from allegiance when the authority over them commands what is contrary to the will and the law of God.
But all that does not touch us. But I will tell you what does touch us. Obedience to God needs always to be sustained-in some cases more markedly, in some cases less so-but always in some measure, by disobedience to the maxims and habits of most men round about us. If they say ‘Do this,’ and Jesus Christ says ‘Don’t,’ then they may talk as much as they like, but we are bound to turn a deaf ear to their exhortations and threats.
‘He is a slave that dare not be In the right with two or three,’
as that peaceful Quaker poet of America sings.
These people calculated upon Daniel, and they had a right to calculate upon him. Could the world calculate upon us, that we would rather go to the lions’ den than conform to what God and our consciences told us to be a sin? If not, we have not yet learned what it means to be a disciple. The commandment comes to us absolutely, as it came to the servants in the first miracle, ‘Whatsoever He saith unto you’-that, and that only-’whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
God. Chaldee. ‘elah. Same as Hebrew. ‘elohim. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Dan 6:5
Dan 6:5 ThenH116 saidH560 theseH479 men,H1400 We shall notH3809 findH7912 anyH3606 occasionH5931 against thisH1836 Daniel,H1841 exceptH3861 we findH7912 it againstH5922 him concerning the lawH1882 of his God.H426
Dan 6:5
Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
So they declare among themselves that they cannot defame Daniel legitimately, therefore they are going to hatch a scheme whereby they can use his faithfulness to God against him to entrap him. Daniel had a personal habit of praying to God at certain times of the day in front of his window in his house which faced Jerusalem. Obviously enough of the Darius’ leaders who desired Daniel’s demise knew this and planned to use it against him.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
1Sa 24:17, Est 3:8, Joh 19:6, Joh 19:7, Act 24:13-16, Act 24:20, Act 24:21
Reciprocal: Gen 47:16 – Give your cattle 1Sa 18:15 – wisely 1Sa 29:3 – found Neh 6:13 – that Psa 27:11 – mine enemies Psa 35:20 – but Psa 64:6 – search Jer 29:7 – seek Mat 26:60 – found none Mar 7:2 – they found Act 23:20 – as
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Dan 6:5, These envious men admitted among themselves that no charge could be cited in connection with any of the existing laws. The only chance was to do something that would bring him into conflict through liiB religion. To do so it was necessary to have some specific statute which they knew would interfere with bis religious practice; something that could be reported as an actual performance. To do this they took notice that one of his regular religious performances was to open the windows of his room that faced in the direction of Jerusalem, and there upon his knees three times daily to pray to God, That furnished them the subject for their wicked plot.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The accusers’ plan was similar to that of the Babylonian officials who had tried to topple Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (ch. 3). They knew that Daniel was a God-fearing man who did not worship pagan idols. So they set a trap for him believing that he would remain faithful to his faith. When Daniel had to choose between obeying his God or his government, his God came first (cf. Dan 6:10; Act 5:29).