Daniel 6:1

Daniel Is Thrown Into a Den of Lions

1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 royal rulers over his entire kingdom.

Daniel 6:1 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 6:1

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and
twenty princes
This is the same Darius mentioned in the latter part of the preceding chapter; who, as soon as he took the kingdom of Babylon, divided it into a hundred and twenty provinces, as Jacchiades observes; as was the manner of the Medes and Persians. So Darius the son of Hystaspes divided the kingdom of Persia into twenty provinces, and set governors over each, according to Herodotus ^F18; to these hundred and twenty provinces seven more were afterwards added, through the victories of Cyrus and Cambyses, and Darius Itystaspes, ( Esther 1:1 ) . Josephus ^F19, through forgetfulness, makes these princes and provinces three hundred and sixty: which should be over the whole kingdom;
or, "in the whole kingdom" ^F20; in the several parts of it, and take care of all things relative to the civil government of it, both for the honour and advantage of the king, and the good of the subjects.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F18 Thalia, sive l. 3. c. 89.
F19 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 11. sect. 4.
F20 (atwklm lkb) "in toto regno", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Cocceius; "toti regno", Junius & Tremellius.

Daniel 6:1 In-Context

1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 royal rulers over his entire kingdom.

2 He placed three leaders over them. One of the leaders was Daniel. The royal rulers were made accountable to the three leaders. Then the king wouldn't lose any of his wealth.

3 Daniel did a better job than the other two leaders or any of the royal rulers. He was an unusually good and able man. So the king planned to put him in charge of the whole kingdom.

4 But the other two leaders and the royal rulers heard about it. So they looked for a reason to bring charges against Daniel. They tried to find something wrong with the way he ran the government. But they weren't able to. They couldn't find any fault with his work. He could always be trusted. He never did anything wrong. And he always did what he was supposed to.

5 Finally those men said, "It's almost impossible for us to come up with a reason to bring charges against this man Daniel. If we do, it will have to be in connection with the law of his God."