Page 166 - Daniel

It is significant that Daniel’s enemies anticipated that this would be his
response. Quite confidently, they assembled to witness his prayers and to
have a basis for charging Daniel before the king. By prearrangement,
they gathered in a place where they could observe and hear him. What a
testimony Daniel had that even his enemies knew he would be faithful to

God although it would cost him his life. Baldwin notes that the
repetition of the word “agreement” (see comments on v. 6) shows the
“deliberate intent” of the conspirators. 27

DANIEL ACCUSED BEFORE DARIUS (6:12–15)

6:12–15 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning
the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone
who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to
you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered
and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and

Persians, which cannot be revoked.” Then they answered and said
before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no
attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes
his petition three times a day.” Then the king, when he heard these
words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he
labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 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.”

The conspirators crowded once again into the king’s courtroom to
present their evidence against Daniel. This record is probably an
abbreviated summary of the conversation. The accusers began by asking
whether the decree had been signed. The king assured them that it had
been officially executed and was now the unchangeable law of the land.

With this assurance, they then proceeded to accuse Daniel, introducing
him not as a president in an honored position, but as simply “one of the
exiles from Judah.” They accused Daniel of disregarding the king and his
decree, and doing so three times a day as he offered prayer to his God.

Their confidence in making this accusation was probably bolstered by