Daniel 6:19

At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

ASV

Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

YLT

Then doth the king rise in the early morning, at the light, and in haste to the den of lions he hath gone;

DBT

Then the king arose with the light at break of day, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

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Commentary voices

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Voices4

On this verse

Verse 19. "Then the king arose at the break of dawn and proceeded with haste to the pit of lions." The term "pit" (lacus) implies a really deep depression, or dry cistern, in which the lions were fed. And so he proceeded hastily to the pit at the break of dawn, believing that Daniel was alive. But in Latin the word lacus is applied to a body of fresh water, such as Lake Benacus and Lake Larius, and the rest of them. The Greeks call it limne, that is, "a body of standing water" (stagnum).

Jerome· St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER SIX, 420patristic

Related commentary

Then the king arose very early in the morning,....

John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed

Then the king arose very early in the morning ... - No one can doubt the probability of what is here said, if the previous account be true. His deep anxiety; his wakefulnight; the remorse which he endured, and his hope that Daniel would be after all preserved, all would prompt to an early visit to the place of his confinement, and to his earnestness in ascertaining whether he were still alive.

Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical

What he doubted of we are sure of, that the servants of the living God have a Master who is well able to protect them and bear them out in his service. The joyful news he meets with-that Daniel is alive, is safe, and well, and unhurt in the lions' den,

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

Voices on this verse

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Rabbinic commentary

How the Hebraic tradition has read this verse — and Marcus Brown’s own reading of it.

Cross-references

4 linked verses

The verses this one reaches4

1 Thessalonians 3:5
For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter had somehow tempted you and caused our labor to be in vain.
Mark 16:2
Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb.
Matthew 28:1
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
2 Corinthians 2:13
I had no peace in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Original language

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Around this verse

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

Featured studyFaith Under Fire — the Furnace and the Lions' DenThis study walks through this verse.

Daniel in the Lions' Den — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866) — public domain

Daniel — A Hebrew exile at Babylonian and Persian courts sees empires rise and fall, a Son of Man coming with clouds, and seventy weeks locating Messiah in time. The canon's densest apocalyptic text — and its most interpretively contested.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Daniel (traditional — Jesus cites ‘Daniel the prophet’ in Matt 24:15); critical scholarship dates composition to the 2nd c. BC Maccabean period (both positions surfaced)
Date: Traditional: 6th c. BC. Critical: c. 165 BC. Site default: traditional; critical view surfaced at depth 2

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Matthew 28:1
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
leads to
- Mark 16:1–8
  When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus.
- John 20:1–10
  Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
- Matthew 27:56
  Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
- Luke 23:56
  Then they returned to prepare spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment.
- Matthew 27:61
  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
Through
1 Thessalonians 3:5
For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter had somehow tempted you and caused our labor to be in…
leads to
- James 1:13–14
  When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
Through
Mark 16:2
Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb.
leads to
- John 20:1
  Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
Through
2 Corinthians 2:13
I had no peace in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.
leads to
- 2 Corinthians 7:5–6
  For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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