Daniel 6:16
in Daniel 6So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.
KJV
Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.
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This verse in Daniel 6
Commentary
4 notes on this verseVerse 16. "Then the king gave order, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the pit of lions. And the king said to Daniel: 'Thy God whom thou dost ever serve will Himself deliver thee.'" He gives way to the crowd and dares not to withhold from his plotting adversaries the death of his friend, and he commits to the power of God the purpose which he himself was unable to attain.
This site's exposition
cast him into the den of lions
on Daniel 6:16-17
The king's own hope escapes him even as he gives the order, thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee, spoken to Daniel by the pagan king who has just condemned him, which the bench reads as testimony wrung out of Darius by Daniel's own long witness in his court. The stone laid on the den's mouth is sealed with the king's own signet and his lords', a double seal meant to make any rescue, human or otherwise, undeniable if it occurred. Several of the older writers set the sealed stone beside another sealed stone in the church's reading, a stone rolled to a tomb's mouth and later found rolled away, named as their reading and not argued as the text's own claim here.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He is sure that his God can deliver him, for he believes him to be an almighty God, and he has reason to think he will do it, having heard of his delivering Daniel's companions in a like case from the fiery furnace, and concluding him to be always faithful to those who approve themselves faithful to him.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thy God . . . will deliver thee--The heathen believed in the interposition of the gods at times in favor of their worshippers. Darius recognized Daniel's God as a god, but not the only true God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
when..heard the thing [as translated,] when he heard the thing.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֵּאדַ֜יִן | bedayin | <in> then | H116 → | 57 times |
| מַלְכָּ֣א | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| אֲמַ֗ר | ʾamar | he said | H560 → | 71 times |
| וְהַיְתִיו֙ | vehaytiv | and they brought | H858 → | 16 times |
| לְדָ֣נִיֵּ֔אל | ledaniyel | <obj.> Daniel | H1841 → | 57 times |
| וּרְמ֕וֹ | uremo | and they threw [him] | H7412 → | 12 times |
| לְגֻבָּ֖א | leguba' | to den the | H1358 → | 10 times |
| דִּ֣י | di | of | H1768 → | 345 times |
| אַרְיָוָתָ֑א | ʾaryavata' | lions the | H744 → | 10 times |
| עָנֵ֤ה | ʾaneh | [was] replying | H6032 → | 30 times |
| מַלְכָּא֙ | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| וְאָמַ֣ר | veamar | and [was] saying | H560 → | 71 times |
| לְדָנִיֵּ֔אל | ledaniyel | to Daniel | H1841 → | 57 times |
| אֱלָהָ֗ךְ | ʾelahakh | God your | H426 → | 95 times |
| דִּ֣י | di | whom | H1768 → | 345 times |
| אַ֤נְתְּ | ʾantah | you | H607 → | 15 times |
| פָּֽלַֽח־ | palach- | [are] paying reverence | H6399 → | 10 times |
| לֵהּ֙ | leh | to him | ||
| בִּתְדִירָ֔א | bitdira' | in <the> continuance | H8411 → | |
| ה֖וּא | hu' | he | H1932 → | 22 times |
| יְשֵׁיזְבִנָּֽךְ׃ | yesheizevinakh | may he deliver you | H7804 → | 9 times |
בֵּאדַ֜יִן<in> then
bedayinH116 →57 times
מַלְכָּ֣אking the
malka'H4430 →180 times
אֲמַ֗רhe said
ʾamarH560 →71 times
וְהַיְתִיו֙and they brought
vehaytivH858 →16 times
לְדָ֣נִיֵּ֔אל<obj.> Daniel
ledaniyelH1841 →57 times
וּרְמ֕וֹand they threw [him]
uremoH7412 →12 times
לְגֻבָּ֖אto den the
leguba'H1358 →10 times
דִּ֣יof
diH1768 →345 times
אַרְיָוָתָ֑אlions the
ʾaryavata'H744 →10 times
עָנֵ֤ה[was] replying
ʾanehH6032 →30 times
מַלְכָּא֙king the
malka'H4430 →180 times
וְאָמַ֣רand [was] saying
veamarH560 →71 times
לְדָנִיֵּ֔אלto Daniel
ledaniyelH1841 →57 times
אֱלָהָ֗ךְGod your
ʾelahakhH426 →95 times
דִּ֣יwhom
diH1768 →345 times
אַ֤נְתְּyou
ʾantahH607 →15 times
פָּֽלַֽח־[are] paying reverence
palach-H6399 →10 times
לֵהּ֙to him
leh
בִּתְדִירָ֔אin <the> continuance
bitdira'H8411 →
ה֖וּאhe
hu'H1932 →22 times
יְשֵׁיזְבִנָּֽךְ׃may he deliver you
yesheizevinakhH7804 →9 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 43:2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched;…
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Psalms 66:12
You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us into abundance.
- Psalms 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
- Daniel 3:25–27
“Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”
- Isaiah 41:10
Through
Job 5:19He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will…
- Psalms 91:3–10
Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague.
- Psalms 34:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Daniel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER SIX and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.