1 IT pleased Darius [ 62 Years old (Daniel 5:31). This Darius is kind of a mystery. He is not the same Darius the Persian King that comes after King Cyrus. some scholars think that he may be the uncle on the maternial side to King Cyrus. (Adam Clarke Clarkes Commentary Vol 4 pg 586-587. ) ] to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; [ This probably took him some time to get all of these selected and in place. ]

2 And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel [ At this time is getting up there in age, most likely around 90 years old. At this time Daniel has the highest position in the kingdom under Darius. ] was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. [ Or he totally trusts Daniel. ]

3 Then this Daniel was preferred [ He has gained favor with Darius. ] above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit [ Darius can feel the goodness of Daniels spirit. ] was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

4 ¶ Then the presidents [ The other two presidents - there were three in total. (verse 2) ] and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel [ They were jealous - and wanted to get him. They looked for anything that he might have done that is dishonest, against the king or the citizens. ] concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; [ Pretty good statement about Daniel - they looked as hard as they could and could find nothing wrong with his character. That would not happen today most of the time. ] forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. [ Pretty high praise coming from these wicked men. ]

5 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. [ The weakness that they perceive in Daniel is his greatest strength. They engineer a plan to entrap Daniel using the worship of his God. ]

6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.

7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, [ ONe that once it is decreed cannot be broken, it will be the law. ] and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God [ Or anyone who prays to God. This is where they thought that the weakness of Daniel was. ] or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

8 Now, O king, establish the decree, [ They appeal to the ego of King Darius and he signs it. ] and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. [ That was the law of the Medes and Persians, that once a law was given it could not be changed even by the King - it was so. ]

9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. [ They get a law passed stating that no one can pray to anyone other than Darius for the next 30 days. Notice that they have even alrady passed the punishment for disobedience. They are determined - there will be no leniency because he is Daniel and favored of Darius. ]

10 ¶ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, [ So that faith of Daniel is that he does not wait to see how he will react, he does not wonder should I pray or not? Nope he throws open his windows and starts to pray, for everyone to see. ] he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, [ An attitude of spiritual "facing". To face the templewhich is the temporal representation of the House of God, suggests that one has turned their heart to God, and the covenants made in the temple to be more like him. ] he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. [ Just as he had always done. There is nothing significant about him kneeling toward Jerusalem, other than it calls additional attention to just who his God is. ]

11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, [ He is not doing according to the decree. ] but maketh his petition three times a day.

14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, [ The King is not happy as he knows that he has been tricked, he has been set up by these other men. Darius appears to be a noble and a good man which now finds himself in a precarious position. As according to the law of the Medes and the Persians that if he does not follow thorough with the decree he will cease to be the ruler in Babylon. ] and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: [ The King spent all day and all afternoon trying to determine a way to deliver Daniel for the decree. ] and he laboured till the going down of the sun [ So he delays the action until it is the last minute that he can. Now he has no choice. ] to deliver him.

15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. [ This is the third time they have repeated this. They know the law and they are bound and determined to hold the Kiing to that Law. see verses 8, 12 and 15. ]

16 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, [ Or I know that you have been living according to the law which your God has given. ] he will deliver thee. [ As a result of you living that way I have faith that because you have done what you have done that your God will deliver you. Or at least I hope that he will or I am going to feel really bad. ]

17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, [ Darius even uses his seal on the door so that no one can accuse Darius of somehow getting Daniel out of the den, he does this with confidence that Daniel will be alright. ] and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.

18 ¶ Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: [ This act speaks pretty highly of the King. ] neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. [ It was along restless night. No sweet music in the background, just solemn raw emotion, and waiting. ]

19 Then the king arose very early [ As early as he could go he went to see if Daniel was okay. ] in the morning, and went in haste [ Went as quickly as he could to the lions den. ] unto the den of lions.

20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. [ Can you imagine what King Darius would have felt like to hear Daniels voice, and know that he was not mad at King Darius. ]

22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, [ Daniel does not find fault with Darius, he knows that it was the other presidents that had tricked him into the whole decree in the first place. NOthing worse than power hungry people. ] O king, have I done no hurt.

23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. [ It was more than just a belief in God, "His confidence waxed strong ion Gods presence" most likely. ]

24 ¶ And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. [ This is the heathen mindset, the one that comes from secret combinations. THat is if you do not destroy everyone that is close to them they will seek retribution later on. The rest of the story acording to some Jewish traditions. Flavius Josephus' Comments on Daniel. Flavius Josephus commented on the text of the OT to a considerable degree. In his comments on Daniel (_Antiquities of the Jews_, Book 10, Chapter 11) he includes a longer ending to chapter 2.

Whereupon the king, not being acquainted with their wicked design, nor suspecting that it was a contrivance of theirs against Daniel, said he was pleased with this decree of theirs, and he promised to confirm what they desired; he also published an edict to promulgate to the people that decree which the princes had made. Accordingly, all the rest took care not to transgress those injunctions, and rested in quiet; but Daniel had no regard to them, but, as he was wont, he stood and prayed to God in the sight of them all; but the princes having met with the occasion they so earnestly sought to find against Daniel, came presently to the king, and accused him, that Daniel was the only person that transgressed the decree, while not one of the rest durst pray to their gods. This discovery they made, not because of his impiety, but because they had watched him, and observed him out of envy; for supposing that Darius did thus out of a greater kindness to him than they expected, and that he was ready to grant him pardon for this contempt of his injunctions, and envying this very pardon to Daniel, they did not become more honorable to him, but desired he might be cast into the den of lions according to the law. So Darius, hoping that God would deliver him, and that he would undergo nothing that was terrible by the wild beasts, bid him bear this accident cheerfully. And when he was cast into the den, he put his seal to the stone that lay upon the mouth of the den, and went his way, but he passed all the night without food and without sleep, being in great distress for Daniel; but when it was day, he got up, and came to the den, and found the seal entire, which he had left the stone sealed withal; he also opened the seal, and. cried out, and called to Daniel, and asked him if he were alive. And as soon as he heard the king's voice, and said that he had suffered no harm, the king gave order that he should be drawn up out of the den. Now when his enemies saw that Daniel had suffered nothing which was terrible, they would not own that he was preserved by God, and by his providence; but they said that the lions had been filled full with food, and on that account it was, as they supposed, that the lions would not touch Daniel, nor come to him; and this they alleged to the king. But the king, out of an abhorrence of their wickedness, gave order that they should throw in a great deal of flesh to the lions; and when they had filled themselves, he gave further order that Daniel's enemies should be cast into the den, that he might learn whether the lions, now they were full, would touch them or not. And it appeared plain to Darius, after the princes had been cast to the wild beasts, that it was God who preserved Daniel for the lions spared none of them, but tore them all to pieces, as if they had been very hungry, and wanted food. I suppose therefore it was not their hunger, which had been a little before satisfied with abundance of flesh, but the wickedness of these men, that provoked them [to destroy the princes]; for if it so please God, that wickedness might, by even those irrational creatures, be esteemed a plain foundation for their punishment.

It is unlcear what the original source of this additional material is. It is likely it was at least a popular apocryphon among the Rabbi's, otherwise he wouldn't have included it. ]

25 ¶ Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.

27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

28 so this Daniel prospered [man did he - he served five kings Nebuchandnezzer, Evil-merodach, Belshazzar, Darius and Cyrus. a feat pretty unusual] in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.