Daniel Chapter 6 Vs. 1

 

Daniel and the Lions' Den

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; Dan. 6:1

to set over... This was a very large kingdom, and these men were set up to keep order in the land.

an hundred and... These princes are the “satraps” we had studied about previously. Each is a provincial administrator under the king. Daniel’s eminent appointment was to a post as “commissioner”, assisting the king as his vice-regent.

The edict of Darius

The Prominence of Daniel

Critics have long questioned the historicity of Daniel. They challenge Daniel’s reference to the accession of Darius (Dan. 6:1, 6:28; 9:1; called Darius the Mede in Dan. 5:31) because there is no historical evidence outside the Bible for his reign. However, several explanations are possible: (1) Darius may have been another name for Cyrus. Dan. 6:28 may be translated, “So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, even the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” It was common for ancient rulers to use different names in various parts of their realms. Thus Darius may have been a localized name for Cyrus.

(2) A second explanation is that Darius was appointed by Cyrus to rule over Babylon, a comparatively small portion of the vast Medo-Persian Empire. According to Dan. 9:1 Darius “was made ruler over the Babylonian Kingdom.” This suggests that he ruled by appointment, rather than by conquest and thus would have been subordinate to Cyrus, who appointed him. The historical situation leading to this appointment, based on the Nabonidus Chronicle, was that Babylon was conquered by Ugbaru, governor of Gutium, who entered the city of Babylon the night of Belshazzar’s feast. After Ugbaru conquered Babylon on October 12, 539 b.c., Cyrus entered the conquered city on October 29 of that same year. Ugbaru was then appointed by Cyrus to rule on his behalf in Babylon. Eight days after Cyrus’ arrival (Nov. 6) Ugbaru died. If Darius the Mede is another name for Ugbaru, as is entirely possible, the problem is solved. Since Darius was 62 years old when he took over Babylon (Dan. 5:31), his death a few weeks later would not be unusual.

(3) A third explanation is that Ugbaru, governor of Gutium, conquered Babylon, and that Gubaru, alias Darius, was the man Cyrus appointed to rule over Babylon.  

(4) Still others suggest Darius the Mede should be identified with Cambyses, Cyrus’ son, who ruled Persia 530-522 b.c. Any of these four views may be correct, but perhaps the second one is preferable.

One of Darius’ first responsibilities was to reorganize the newly conquered kingdom of Babylon. He appointed 120 satraps (cf. Dan. 3:2) to rule over the kingdom of Babylon, and put them under three administrators… one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were responsible to the three administrators (perhaps 40 satraps to each administrator) so that the king was greatly aided in his administrative responsibilities. Daniel was an exceptional administrator, partly because of his extensive experience under Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:48) for about 39 years. So the king planned to make Daniel responsible for the administration of the entire kingdom. This of course created friction between Daniel and the other administrators and 120 satraps.