Daniel 6:24

6:24 The king gave another order, ¹  and those men who had maliciously accused ²  Daniel were brought and thrown ³  into the lions’ den – they, their children, and their wives. ⁴  They did not even reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

Daniel 6:16-17

6:16 So the king gave the order, ⁵  and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den ⁶  of lions. The king consoled ⁷  Daniel by saying, “Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!” 6:17 Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening ⁸  to the den. The king sealed ⁹  it with his signet ring and with those ¹⁰  of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel.

Daniel 6:20

6:20 As he approached the den, he called out to Daniel in a worried voice, ¹¹  “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God whom you continually serve able to rescue you from the lions?”

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¹ tn Aram “said.”

² tn Aram “had eaten the pieces of.” The Aramaic expression is ironic, in that the accusers who had figuratively “eaten the pieces of Daniel” are themselves literally devoured by the lions.

³ tn The Aramaic active impersonal verb is often used as a substitute for the passive.

⁴ tc The LXX specifies only the two overseers, together with their families, as those who were cast into the lions’ den.

⁵ tn Aram “said.” So also in vv. 24, 25.

⁶ sn The den was perhaps a pit below ground level which could be safely observed from above.

⁷ tn Aram “answered and said [to Daniel].”

⁸ tn Aram “mouth.”

⁹ sn The purpose of the den being sealed was to prevent unauthorized tampering with the opening of the den. Any disturbance of the seal would immediately alert the officials to improper activity of this sort.

¹⁰ tn Aram “the signet rings.”

¹¹ tn Aram “The king answered and said to Daniel.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is redundant in English.