The Book of Daniel Chapter Six
by Cooper P Abrams III
Daniel in the Lion’s Den
Daniel 6:1-28
Chapters 1- 6 of the Book of Daniel are the historical section and are in chronological order. The Book begins with Daniel as a young man being brought into Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Judah and deported the Jews. This Chapter Six is last of the historic information as Daniel is now an old man. The events in this chapter take place shortly after the Medes and the Persians take Babylon under the general Darius the Mede. He is also named in ancient documents as Gubaru, and was appointed governor of Babylon by Cyrus the king of Persia.
It appears that Darius learned of Daniel’s interpretation of the hand writing on the wall (Dan. 5) and of his appointment by Belshazzar as the second ruler in the kingdom. He also learned of Daniel’s outstanding moral character, leadership abilities and his relationship with God. Darius shows himself a brilliant leader in that he appoints Daniel as the chief of three presidents who were over a hundred and twenty princes who would rule the kingdom. Verse 2 states Darius, who is called the king of Babylon, did this because these were honest men and would cause him “no damage” meaning “no lost.”
Daniel 6:3, states that Daniel had an excellent spirit about him and was preferred above the other presidents. Darius seeing Daniel’s excellent character thought to put him in charge over the whole “realm” which referred to all of Babylon. Daniel became the third ruler of Neo-Babylon which was a part of the Persian Empire ruled by the king Cyrus.
