Daniel 6:26

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) Unto the end.—The language of this decree is remarkably Scriptural. This is due, no doubt, to the share which Daniel had in the composition of it. By the “end” is meant the end of all the heathen kingdoms which shall arise upon the earth, or, in other words, the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:25-28 If we live in the fear of God, and walk according to that rule, peace shall be upon us. The kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever, are the Lord's; but many are employed in making known his wonderful works to others, who themselves remain strangers to his saving grace. May we be doers, as well as believers of his word, least at the last we should be found to have deceived ourselves.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I make a decree - Compare Daniel 3:29.

That in every dominion of my kingdom - Every department or province. The entire kingdom or empire was made up of several kingdoms, as Media, Persia, Babylonia, etc. The meaning is, that he wished the God of Daniel to be honored and reverenced throughout the whole empire.

Men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel - That they honor and reverence him as God. There is no certain evidence that he meant that he should be honored as the only God; but the probability is, that he meant that he should be recognized as a God of great power and glory, and as worthy of universal reverence. How far this pagan monarch might still regard the other deities worshipped in the empire as gods, or how far his own heart might be disposed to honor the God of Daniel, there are no means of ascertaining. It was much, however, that so great a monarch should be led to make a proclamation acknowledging the God of Daniel as having a real existence, and as entitled to universal reverence.

For he is the living God - An appellation often given to God in the Scriptures, and probably learned by Darius from Daniel. It is not, however, absolutely certain that Darius would attach all the ideas to these phrases which Daniel did, or which we would. The attributes here ascribed to God are correct, and the views expressed are far beyond any that prevailed among the pagan; but still it would not be proper to suppose that Darius certainly had all the views of God which these words would convey to us now.

And stedfast for ever - That is, he is always the same. He ever lives; he has power overall; his kingdom is on an immovable foundation. He is not, in his government, to cease to exist, and to be succeeded by another who shall occupy his throne.

And his kingdom what shall not be destroyed ... - See the Daniel 4:3, note ; Daniel 4:34, note. The similarity between the language used here, and that employed by Nebuchadnezzar, shows that it was probably derived from the same source. It is to be presumed that both monarchs expressed the views which they had learned from Daniel.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26. Stronger than the decree (Da 3:29). That was negative; this, positive; not merely men must say "nothing amiss of," but must "fear before God."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; take heed how they speak evil of this great God, but own and honour him as such; whereof he gives the reason following.

He is the living God, & c. You would take Darius by these words to be a convert: how far this went with him, and how long it lasted, who knoweth? Surely if he were in earnest, he would forsake his idolatry, and set up the worship of the true God in his kingdom, that his subjects might turn from dumb idols, as inconsistent with the living God and his worship. Howbeit, it is clear that Darius had learnt this doctrine from Daniel, whom he heard and honoured, and was the more convinced of it by this miraculous deliverance of Daniel from the lions.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom,.... In every province of his large empire; this explains who are meant by all people, nations, &c. before mentioned; namely, such as were within his dominions; for to no other could his decree reach: this decree is very different from that he had made a few days before, forbidding any man to ask anything of any god or man for the space of a month; but now his order is,

that men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; that they would serve with fear and trembling, and reverence and adore the God that Daniel served and worshipped; and who manifestly appeared to be his God, and to be the true God, by his wonderful deliverance of him:

for he is the living God, and steadfast for ever; that has life in himself, and is the author and giver of life to others, and ever remains so, without any variation or shadow of turning; he is everlasting and unchangeable, permanent and immutable in his nature; steady and steadfast in his purposes and promises, in his conduct in the government of the world, and in the course of his providence:

and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end; unto the end of time; other kingdoms will he destroyed, but his will not; all other rule, dominion and authority will be at an end but his will continue for ever; his kingdom is an everlasting one: this doctrine Darius had learned from Daniel, as Nebuchadnezzar before had done; see Daniel 2:44.

Geneva Study Bible

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

(m) This does not prove that Darius worshipped God properly, or was converted: for then he would have destroyed all superstition and idolatry, and not only given God the chief place, but also have set him up, and caused him to be honoured according to his word. But this was a specific confession of God's power, unto which he was compelled by this wonderful miracle.

(n) Who not only has life in himself, but is the only fountain of life, and quickens all things, so that without him there is no life.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26. I make a decree] almost exactly as Daniel 3:29.

in every dominion] in all the dominion &c.

tremble and fear before] Cf. Daniel 5:19 (of the dread felt towards Nebuchadnezzar).

stedfast] or subsistent, enduring,—a common epithet of God in the Targums, and often representing the Heb. ‘living,’ as in the passages quoted on Daniel 6:20[267]. The combination, ‘living and enduring’ (חַי וְקַיָם), is also frequent in post-Biblical Jewish literature.

[267] Also regularly in the phrases, ‘(As) I live,’ ‘(As) Jehovah liveth,’ 1 Samuel 14:39; Ezekiel 5:2, &c.

and his kingdom &c.] Cf. Daniel 2:44, Daniel 4:3; Daniel 4:34 b; also Daniel 7:14; Daniel 7:27.

Daniel 6:26

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Daniel 6:25-27)

The consequences of this occurrence.

As Nebuchadnezzar, after the wonderful deliverance of Daniel's friends from the burning fiery furnace, issued an edict to all the nations of his kingdom forbidding them on pain of death from doing any injury to these men of God (Daniel 3:29), so now Darius, in consequence of this wonderful preservation of Daniel in the den of lions, gave forth an edict commanding all the nations of his whole kingdom to fear and reverence Daniel's God. But as Nebuchadnezzar by his edict, so also Darius, did not depart from the polytheistic standpoint. Darius acknowledged the God of Daniel, indeed, as the living God, whose kingdom and dominion were everlasting, but not as the only true God, and he commanded Him to be reverenced only as a God who does wonders in heaven and on earth, without prejudice to the honour of his own gods and of the gods of his subjects. Both of these kings, it is true, raised the God of Judea above all other gods, and praised the everlasting duration of His dominion (see Daniel 3:29, 32 [Daniel 4:2]f., and Daniel 3:31 [Daniel 3:28]ff., Daniel 6:27 [Daniel 6:26]f.), but they did not confess Him as the one only God. This edict, the, shows neither the conversion of Darius to the worship of the God of the Jews, nor does it show intolerance toward the gods of his subjects. On v. 26 (Daniel 6:25) cf. Daniel 3:31 (Daniel 4:1). As Nebuchadnezzar, so also Darius, regarded his kingdom as a world-kingdom. On 27a (Daniel 6:26) cf. Daniel 3:29. The reverence which all the nations were commanded to show to Daniel's God is described in the same words as is the fear and reverence which the might and greatness of Nebuchadnezzar inspired in all the nations that were subject to him (Daniel 5:19), which has led Hitzig justly to remark, that the words לאלההּ פּלחין להון (they must worship his God) are not used. God is described as living (cf. v. 21 [Daniel 6:20]) and eternal, with which is connected the praise of the everlasting duration of His dominion, and of His rule in heaven and on earth; cf. Daniel 2:44 and Daniel 3:33 (Daniel 4:3). The דּי after מלכוּתהּ is not a conjunction, but is the relative, and the expression briefly denotes that His kingdom is a kingdom which is not destroyed; cf. Daniel 4:31 (Daniel 4:34). סופא עד, to the end - not merely of all heathen kingdoms which arise on the earth, i.e., to their final destruction by the kingdom of the Messiah, Daniel 2:44 (Kranichfeld), for there is no thought of the Messiah, Daniel 2:44 (Kranichfeld), for there is no thought of the Messianic kingdom here at all, but to the end of all things, to eternity. In v. 28 (Daniel 6:27) this God is lauded as the deliverer and wonder-worker, because in the case of Daniel He had showed Himself as such; cf. Daniel 3:32 (Daniel 4:2). יד מן, from the hand, i.e., from the power of; cf. Psalm 22:21.