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Daniel 6:5

in Daniel 6

Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel, unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

KJV

Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

This verse in Daniel 6

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER SIX · Written before 420.

Verse 5. "Therefore those men said: 'We will not find any pretext against Daniel, except perhaps in the law of his God.'" Blessed indeed is a life so led that even enemies can find no cause for accusation, except perhaps in matter pertaining to God's law.

This site's exposition

sought to find occasion against Daniel

on Daniel 6:4-5

The presidents and princes search Daniel's public record for an occasion and find none, neither error nor fault, a verdict the text states plainly before the conspirators state their own conclusion in verse 5: they will not find occasion against this Daniel except against him concerning the law of his God. Henry reads this as one of Scripture's clearest tributes to a man's integrity, an enemy search that comes up empty being a harder compliment than any friend could pay, and the conspirators' own words concede it. The plot that follows is therefore built on Daniel's virtue rather than any vice, using his faithfulness as the very lever against him.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Hippolytus of Rome

Commentary on Daniel 3.20.1-2 · Written before 235.

proposed

For then how many were they who pretended to be friends with Daniel, who wickedly hated him in heart? They falsely-sent gifts with other intentions and they ordered to give befitting gifts, wishing to test his sincerity, in order to have for the king a future pretext against him that they might appeal to the king that he was obliging himself to the king's possessions, and he in this way be killed as a plotter. And so at all times they resourcefully sought a cause against him. And not finding anything they later deliberated together, saying, "We have not found a pretext against Daniel except in the laws of his God." [Daniel 6:5]

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

It is observable that, when Daniel's enemies could find no occasion against him concerning the kingdom, they had so much sense of justice left that they did not suborn witnesses against him to accuse him of crimes he was innocent of, and to swear treason upon him, wherein they shame many that were called Jews and are called Christians.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Commentary on Chapter VI 2. Daniel was first - Belshazzar's promise to Daniel was, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom, chap. v, 7, 16, 29. The first was general of the army, the second president of the palace, the third of the land and provinces.
Then said these men,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

It is the highest testimony to a godly man's walk, when his most watchful enemies can find no ground of censure save in that he walks according to the law of God even where it opposes the ways of the world.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

We shall not find any occasion ... - We shall not find any pretext or any cause by which he may be humbled and degraded. They were satisfied of his integrity, and they saw it was vain to hope to accomplish their purposes by any attack on his moral character, or any charge against him in respect to the manner in which he had discharged the duties of his office.

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • אֱ֠דַיִןthen

    ʾedayinH11657 times

  • גֻּבְרַיָּ֤אmen the

    guvraiya'H140021 times

  • אִלֵּךְ֙these

    ʾilekhH47914 times

  • אָֽמְרִ֔ין[were] saying

    ʾamerinH56071 times

  • דִּ֣יthat

    diH1768345 times

  • לָ֧אnot

    la'H380982 times

  • נְהַשְׁכַּ֛חwe will find

    nehashkachH791218 times

  • לְדָנִיֵּ֥אלto Daniel

    ledaniyelH184157 times

  • דְּנָ֖הthis

    denahH183658 times

  • כָּל־any

    kol-H360682 times

  • עִלָּ֑אoccasion

    ʾila'H59313 times

  • לָהֵ֕ןexcept

    lahenH38617 times

  • הַשְׁכַּ֥חְנָֽהwe have found

    hashkachnahH791218 times

  • עֲל֖וֹהִיconcerning him

    alohiH5922104 times

  • בְּדָ֥תin [the] law of

    bedatH188214 times

  • אֱלָהֵֽהּ׃ סGod his

    ʾelahehH42695 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 Samuel 24:17

    and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 5:44

      But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

    • 1 Samuel 26:21

      Then Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will never harm you again, because today you considered my life precious. I have played the fool and have committed a grave…

    • Genesis 38:26

      Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.

    • Romans 12:20–21

      On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

  • Through

    Esther 3:8

    Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey…

    it leads to

    • Ezra 4:12–15

      Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem. And they are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city, restoring its walls, and repairing…

    • Acts 16:20–21

      They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil

    • Jeremiah 50:17

      Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

    • Zechariah 7:14

      But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they…

Where this verse is studied

About Daniel

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 3.20.1-2; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.