Daniel 6:18
in Daniel 6Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and sleep fled from him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep fled from him.
KJV
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
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This verse in Daniel 6
Commentary
9 notes on this verseVerse 18. "And the king departed to his own house, and went to bed without partaking of supper..." How sincere was the king's good will, when he would not touch food night or day or grant his eyelids sleep, but as long as the prophet was in danger he himself remained in a state of sympathetic suspense. But if a king who knew not God did such a thing for another man whose deliverance he desired, how much more ought we to implore God's mercy for our own sins with fastings and watchings.
This site's exposition
passed the night fasting
on Daniel 6:18-20
Darius passes the night fasting, without music, his sleep gone from him, a king's own vigil kept for a servant rather than for himself, and rises early to go in haste to the den, calling with a lamentable voice before he even knows the answer. His question to Daniel names God as the living God and asks whether he whom thou servest continually is able to deliver, the same confession the queen and Nebuchadnezzar each came to in their own words earlier in the book. Barnes reads Darius's night as the closest a pagan king in Daniel comes to genuine anguish over another man's fate rather than his own.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Each of these details testifies both to his humanity and to his cowardice: a mark of his humanity was his refusing to partake of food or let his eyes rest in sleep, instead staying awake in grief for the unjust punishment of Daniel; it was …
Accordingly after this happened, "The king departed to his house and he went to bed without supper and food was not brought to him and sleep left him." [Daniel 6:18] How much did the righteous man do, who feared God, so that the king was so grieved over him to not take sustenance! And the satraps made merry all night, thinking that they were taking a prize from Daniel, but the king being sleepless all night bewailed that such a man was unrighteously destroyed, and so he was cautious lest on account of him he himself also be endangered. For the events which happened to Nebuchadnezzar and what happened to Belshazzar did not escape his notice, the former was banished from his kingdom, the latter on account of drinking from the holy vessels was killed that same night.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then the king went to his palace,....
He ate no supper, but passed the night fasting; his heart was already full of grief and fear. He forbade the music; nothing is more unpleasing that songs sung to a heavy heart. He went to bed, but got no sleep, was full of tossings to and fro till the dawning of the day.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
He is sorry for the evil which he himself had caused, yet takes no steps to remedy it. There are many such halters between good and bad, who are ill at ease in their sins, yet go forward in them, and are drawn on by others.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Passed the night fasting - He neither ate nor drank, had no music to solace, nor sweet odors burnt or brought before him, and he passed the night without sleep. All this points out his great sincerity; and when it is considered that Darius could not be less than sixty-two or sixty-three years of age at this time, it shows more fully the depth of his concern.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting - Daniel was probably cast into the den soon after the going down of the sun, Dan 6:14. It was not unusual to have suppers then late at night, as it is now in many places. The great anxiety of the king, however, on account of what had occurred, prevented him from participating in the usual evening meal. As to the probability of what is here affirmed, no one can have any doubt who credits the previous statements. In the consciousness of wrong done to a worthy officer of the government; in the deep anxiety which he had to deliver him; in the excitement which must have existed against the cunning and wicked authors of the plot to deceive the king and to ruin Daniel; and in his solicitude and hope that after all Daniel might escape, there is a satisfactory reason for the facts stated that he had no desire for food; that instruments of music were not brought before him; and that he passed a sleepless night. Neither were instruments of music brought before him - It was usual among the ancients to have music at their meals. This custom prevailed among the Greeks and Romans, and doubtless was common in the Oriental world. It should be observed, however, that there is considerable variety in the interpretation of the word here rendered instruments of music - דחון dachăvân. The margin is table. The Latin Vulgate, “He slept supperless, neither was food brought before him.” The Greek renders it “food,” ἐδέσματα edesmata. So the Syriac. Bertholdt and Gesenius render it concubines, and Saadias dancing girls. Any of these significations would be appropriate; but it is impossible to determine which is the most correct. The word does not occur elsewhere in the Scriptures.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֱ֠דַיִן | ʾedayin | then | H116 → | 57 times |
| אֲזַ֨ל | ʾazal | he went | H236 → | 7 times |
| מַלְכָּ֤א | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| לְהֵֽיכְלֵהּ֙ | leheikheleh | to palace his | H1965 → | 13 times |
| וּבָ֣ת | uvat | and he passed [the] night | H956 → | |
| טְוָ֔ת | tevat | fasting | H2908 → | |
| וְדַחֲוָ֖ן | vedachavan | and thrusting [women] | H1761 → | |
| לָא־ | la'- | not | H3809 → | 82 times |
| הַנְעֵ֣ל | hanel | he brought in | H5954 → | 14 times |
| קָֽדָמ֑וֹהִי | kadamohi | before him | H6925 → | 42 times |
| וְשִׁנְתֵּ֖הּ | veshinteh | and sleep his | H8139 → | |
| נַדַּ֥ת | nadat | it fled | H5075 → | |
| עֲלֽוֹהִי׃ | alohi | on him | H5922 → | 104 times |
אֱ֠דַיִןthen
ʾedayinH116 →57 times
אֲזַ֨לhe went
ʾazalH236 →7 times
מַלְכָּ֤אking the
malka'H4430 →180 times
לְהֵֽיכְלֵהּ֙to palace his
leheikhelehH1965 →13 times
וּבָ֣תand he passed [the] night
uvatH956 →
טְוָ֔תfasting
tevatH2908 →
וְדַחֲוָ֖ןand thrusting [women]
vedachavanH1761 →
לָא־not
la'-H3809 →82 times
הַנְעֵ֣לhe brought in
hanelH5954 →14 times
קָֽדָמ֑וֹהִיbefore him
kadamohiH6925 →42 times
וְשִׁנְתֵּ֖הּand sleep his
veshintehH8139 →
נַדַּ֥תit fled
nadatH5075 →
עֲלֽוֹהִי׃on him
alohiH5922 →104 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
Esther 6:1That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.
it leads to
- Daniel 2:1
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.
- Isaiah 41:17
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- Romans 11:33
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Esther 5:8
If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, may the king and Haman come tomorrow to the…
- Esther 2:23
After the report had been investigated and verified, both officials were hanged on the gallows. And all this was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.
- Daniel 2:1
Through
Daniel 2:1In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.
it leads to
- Esther 6:1
That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Daniel 4:5
I had a dream, and it frightened me; while in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.
- Esther 6:1
Through
Psalms 77:4You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak.
it leads to
- Job 7:13–15
When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
- Job 7:13–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Daniel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Daniel; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 3.28.1-4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER SIX; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 6:18.