“But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?” “Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.” Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament. In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.” So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.””
Daniel 6:10-16 NLT
The English phrasing of the text is ironic. The idea is that when he heard what laws were passed, he reacted to them. In truth, it is the opposite. The text states that he did what he had always done. He did not behave in reaction to the law, but instead in response to God. This is to say that he did not let this law effect his behavior at all. This was the measured response that his jealous cohort of magistrates were hoping to use against him. They hoped that he would destroy himself against the higher power of the king’s decree. The manipulative authorities had used power against ego this way with Darius as well. They trapped his affections against his pride and bound him to it. They flaunted his powerlessness. Now they were doing the same to Daniel. They simply failed to account for Daniel’s God being involved with him. They didn’t understand that Daniel was taking pride in a rightful thing, or that he was interacting with a power beyond law and country. They miscalculated. Again, this would prove to be another opportunity for Daniel to show the truth about God amongst the gods. It was another opportunity for God to show a new nation who is truly king of kings and lord of lords.
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