Daniel 6:5 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. It is the penalty of greatness that envy ever follows in its path. Nor is goodness any protection. In Daniel there was very much to abate envy. It was probably upon its becoming manifest that the King intended to raise Daniel to still higher honour, and to "set him over the whole nation," that the anger of the satraps became too violent for restraint. They resented it, not because they were corrupt, and Daniel's honesty kept them from enriching themselves, but more probably because they were ambitious, and deemed that it was a slight to the conquerors to give the highest office in the realm to one of a race vanquished by those whom they had now defeated. Daniel was a slave in their eyes, and was he now to rule over those who had beaten his masters? National antipathies are ever things difficult to control. And they have a good side; for patriotism is closely allied with them. These envious men sought their opportunity, first of all, in matters respecting the Kingdom. Eagerly they watched Daniel's administration, and hoped to find something neglected, or some failure. There was no probability of their discovering corruption or partiality, but they did hope to find something that might have been managed more skilfully. And they sought in vain. They despaired of finding anything against him save "concerning the law of his God." The word used for law is not the old Hebrew name Thorah, but a late word, used only here, and in Ezra and Esther. Of the Thorah of Moses these men knew nothing, but they had heard of Daniel's religious practices, and they felt that dislike with which men commonly regard the rites and usages of other forms of worship. And one thing is very. remarkable. They were convinced that Daniel so valued his prayers and devotions that he would endure any loss or punishment rather than discontinue them ever for a time. Doubtless they called him a fanatic, and despised him for being narrow-minded. But fanatic is a term often applied to men of strong convictions. The words "assembled together" would better be, "came tumultuously." As if they would take the King by storm; moved with a fervid zeal to honour their beloved Darius. They had consulted among themselves, and had been moved to make this urgent demand by an outburst of feeling which had hurried their whole body to this tumultuous proceeding. They so wrought on the vanity of Darius that their request was granted. The outward semblance of the request was permission throughout a lunar month to acknowledge Darius as the sole deity to be invoked by prayer. The Persian kings claimed to be representatives of Pennized, and as such had a sort of right to divine honours. To Darius this deification of his person seemed not unreasonable. 1. Daniel does not go out of his way to show his determination to honour his God before his king. He simply persists quietly in a practice which he felt to be his duty. Come what would, he must honour God at any risk and st every cost. 2. Daniel prayed thrice a day. We might have expected prayer only at the morning and evening sacrifices. It has been objected that three times was a Parsee, not a Jewish custom. But see Psalm 55:17; and for mid-day prayer, see Acts 10:9. (Dean Payne-Smith.) Parallel Verses 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. |
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