John Calvin Commentary Daniel 6:6-7

"Then these presidents and satraps assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counsellors and the governors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a strong interdict, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions." — Daniel 6:6-7 (ASV)

The nobles of the kingdom purposely strove to ruin the holy Prophet, either by casting him into the lion’s den to perish or by causing him to cease from the outward profession of worshipping God. They knew him to be so truly in earnest that he would not redeem his life by so great an act of impiety, and therefore they thought him doomed to death.

We perceive great cunning in them; but God, on the other hand, met them and aided His servant, as we shall see. Meanwhile, their malice was all the more detestable because they desired to destroy Daniel by this very pretext. Although they did not worship Israel’s God, they knew the Prophet’s mind to be pious and straightforward, and they had experienced the power of that God who was unknown to them.

They did not condemn Daniel, nor did they blame the religion he practiced; for, as I have said, their hatred of this man urged them to such cruelty that they rushed against the Almighty. They could not disguise from themselves the duty of worshipping God: they worshipped and adored unknown deities, yet they did not dare to condemn the worship of Israel’s God. We see how the devil ensnared them when they dared to charge this as a crime against the holy Prophet, though we do not know how their opinion was changed.

Some suppose this was done because Darius could not calmly endure the glory of his son-in-law. For since Darius was an old man and his relative in the prime of his life, he thought himself despised. Others think Darius was affected by secret rivalry, and that he allowed his nobles to approach him for the purpose of deceiving the miserable and doting old man, and thus to throw dust in his eyes.

But this conjecture does not seem to me sufficiently valid. Nor do I need to trouble myself much in this matter, because it might be that at the beginning of a new reign, they wished to congratulate the king and settled on something new and unusual, as we often see done by royal flatterers.

Therefore, the old man might have been deceived in this matter, since the monarchy was newly established. The king had previously ruled over none but Medes; now Chaldeans, Assyrians, and many other nations were added to his dominion. Such an addition might intoxicate him with vainglory, and his nobles might think this a plausible reason for offering him divine honors.

This single reason seems sufficient to me; I do not inquire further but embrace what is probable and obvious at first sight. I will defer the rest until tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as You governed Your servant Daniel when honors were flowing on all sides, and he was raised to the highest dignity, and You preserved him safely in his integrity and innocence amidst the universal licentiousness—Grant, I pray You, that we may learn to restrain ourselves within that moderation to which You restrict us. May we be content with our humble station and strive to prove ourselves innocent before You and before those with whom we have to deal, so that Your name may be glorified in us, and we may proceed under Your shelter against the malice of mankind. Whenever Satan besieges us on every side, and the wicked lay snares for us, and we are attacked by the fierceness of wild beasts, may we remain safe under Your protection. Even if we have to undergo a hundred deaths, may we learn to live and die to You, and may Your name be glorified in us, through Christ our Lord.—Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

WE said yesterday that the nobles who laid snares against Daniel were filled with great fury when they dared to dictate to the king the edict recorded by Daniel. It was an intolerable sacrilege thus to deprive all the deities of their honor; yet he signed the edict, as we shall afterwards see, and thus put to the test the obedience of his people, whom he had lately brought under the yoke with the help of his son-in-law.

There is no doubt of his wish to subdue the Chaldeans, who until that time had been masters; and we know how ferocity springs from the possession of authority. Since the Chaldeans had formerly reigned so far and wide, it was difficult to tame them and render them submissive, especially when they found themselves the slaves of those who had previously been their rivals.

We know how many contests there were between them and the Medes; and although they were subdued in war, their spirits were not yet in subjection. Therefore, Darius desired to prove their obedience, and this reason induced him to give his consent.

He does not purposely provoke the anger of the gods; but out of respect for men, he forgets the deities and substitutes himself in the place of the gods, as if it were in his power to attract the authority of heaven to himself! This, as I have said, was a grievous sacrilege.

If anyone could enter into the hearts of kings, he would find scarcely one in a hundred who does not despise everything divine. Although they confess that they enjoy their thrones by the grace of God, as we have previously remarked, yet they wish to be adored in His stead. We now see how easily flatterers persuade kings to do whatever appears likely to extol their magnificence.

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