It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, who should be in all the kingdom;
Babylon has fallen, and a new empire now holds the city. The chapter opens with paperwork, not conquest: a king dividing his realm among 120 officials, with a man of God near the top.
A new power now rules Babylon, and its king reshapes the government he has taken over.
The Medo-Persian Empire now became the leading world power. Darius became king in Babylon. It appears that historians have difficulty in identifying this man. It may be that he was only a vassal king, under the rule of Cyrus king of Persia. In the Babylonian part of the new empire he arranged things as he saw fit. Again we find Daniel promoted to a place of great power. The hand of God was in it, though on the human side two things may have been in his favour. First, he was not a native of Babylon. Second, Darius would almost certainly have heard of the dramatic scene in the palace. It happened just before he captured the city that seemed impossible to take. So he would have heard of Daniel's superhuman understanding.
This kingdom also has a place in the vision of the great statue in chapter 2.
The empire that followed was an "inferior" one, represented by the breast and arms of silver. Daniel 2:31-39. This refers to the Medo-Persian kingdom. It was inferior because the nobles agreed together in the king's laws, and the king could not change them. The power had come down from gold.
A satrap was one of the princes who ruled the kingdom under the king. Setting up 120 of them starts everything that follows in the chapter.
The first three verses of this chapter lay the groundwork for what follows. They give the occasion for the actions that ended with Daniel thrown into the lions' den. On taking possession of the throne of Babylon, Darius reorganised the affairs of the kingdom... On the night before his city fell, Belshazzar had proclaimed Daniel the third ruler in the kingdom. Darius promoted him to the first place under himself. In doing this Darius was God's instrument for carrying out His purposes.
Darius kept in office a man who had already served Babylon's kings for decades.
His history in connection with Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus covers seventy years. His rise began when Nebuchadnezzar made him a judge (Dan. 2:49). Belshazzar made him prime minister (Dan. 5:29). Darius kept him in office and added the post of what I may call the king's accountant-general... This high position he received because he was so trusted.
Daniel's earlier rise under Nebuchadnezzar came a different way.
Daniel's promotion here did not come from any miracle worked by God, as it did under the mighty Nebuchadnezzar. He reached his high post on his recognised merit alone... His bitter enemies looked hard for a fault. They could find no ground for complaint and no fault, because he was faithful; no error or fault was found in him. What a testimony to a saint of God, set in a position so difficult because it was so high! I wish that all today filling much lower and far easier posts had a like testimony from those around them.
Daniel came to Babylon as a captive. The top job made him a target.
The opening verses give the occasion which called forth this wicked decree. Darius had appointed Daniel chief of the three presidents. The one hundred and twenty princes who ruled the kingdom had to give account to them. Daniel was a child of the captivity, and his rise to this high position aroused the jealousy of the Chaldean presidents and princes. Jealousy moved them, and out of malice they looked for some fault they could use to accuse him before the king.
One writer reads the chapter as a picture of something still to come.
Darius the Mede had to learn the power of God, his own weakness, and the faithfulness of Daniel the servant of God. God saved Daniel from the lions, and the whole empire heard the God of Daniel proclaimed as the living God. As a picture of what is coming, Darius stands for the last Gentile emperor, whom people will worship. Daniel stands for the godly Jews, whom God will save from the very jaws of destruction. His opponents stand for the future unbelieving accusers of God's people.
- Throne — The empire changed hands. Babylon's gold gave way to Medo-Persian silver, weaker because the king could not change his own laws.
- Servant — Belshazzar had made Daniel third in the kingdom. Darius made him first under himself, and God worked through that appointment.
- Merit — No miracle lifted him this time. He rose on a record his enemies searched and could not dent.
- Cost — A former captive at the top drew jealousy. Jealousy then went hunting for a charge.
- Purpose — A reshuffle of 120 satraps ends with the whole empire hearing about the living God.
and over these, three presidents -- of whom Daniel was one -- to whom these satraps should render account, and that the king should suffer no loss.
A new empire has taken over Babylon. Darius is organising his government, and he puts a Jewish exile at the very top of it. The verse looks like dry administrative detail. Yet it explains why the king trusted Daniel, and why the other officials turned on him.
Three high officials stood between the king and the 120 satraps who governed the provinces. For Daniel the post was the latest step in a career spanning several reigns.
His rise began when Nebuchadnezzar made him a judge (Dan. 2:49), Belshazzar made him prime minister (Dan. 5:29), and Darius kept him in office, with the added post of what I may call the king's accountant-general… He received this high position because he was so trusted.
The text credits Darius with the decision. Commentators look past the king to the hand that moved him.
Just before his city fell, Belshazzar had proclaimed Daniel the third ruler in the kingdom. Darius promoted him to first place under himself. In doing so, Darius was God's instrument for carrying out His purposes.
The whole system existed to protect the king's money. Accounts moved upward so that nothing leaked away. (Older translations read "that the king should have no damage.") Daniel met that aim: the king lost nothing through him.
Later in the book we find that there was nothing at all in Daniel's own administration that harmed the king. Everything the king put under Daniel's hand was perfectly safe; his enemies could find no charge against him on that account. There is something sadly wrong with us as Christians if this is not true of us.
One writer turns the point into a question for the reader.
Daniel was not only a man of excellent spirit, but a man of practical righteousness, for his accounts were all right. Are your accounts all right? His moral uprightness and integrity, in all matters of trust, increased his value in the eyes of King Darius, who "planned to set him over the whole kingdom."
Daniel's earlier rise under Nebuchadnezzar had happened another way.
Daniel's promotion here is not the result of any miracle from God, as it was under the mighty Nebuchadnezzar. He reached his high post on his recognised merit alone… What a testimony to a servant of God set in a position made difficult by being so high! I wish that all today who fill much lower and far easier posts had a like testimony from those around them.
Verse 2 is the fuse for the rest of the chapter. Putting a foreigner at the head of the native nobility was, to them, unbearable.
That a child of the captivity should rise to this high position stirred up the jealousy of the Chaldean presidents and princes. Moved by jealousy, they sought in malice to find some fault they could use to bring a charge against him before the king.
One writer names what lay under the jealousy.
Daniel was no unknown man, and he was hated both as a Jew and as a true worshipper of the God of heaven. His rise in the government stirred up even more envy and jealousy among the nobles, the princes, and the presidents he had been set over. A man of unshakeable faithfulness, who sought only God's approval, could not be loved by men with corrupt and greedy hearts.
His public work gave his enemies nothing to use. One writer draws out the lesson for anyone working under a government or employer that does not share their faith.
They concluded that the only possible complaint would have to come through the law of his God. That is a good lesson for the Christian. We should carry out our dealings with the world so faithfully that the world could only condemn us by intruding into the things of God and passing laws that we could obey only by disobeying God.
The warning runs the other way too.
How humiliating when people who make a high profession keep breaking down in the most ordinary affairs of home and business life! Few things discourage the heart more than what one so often hears: that so-called Christians are the most unsatisfactory people to deal with. They are bad masters, or bad servants, or bad tradesmen. They neglect their business, charge higher prices, and give worse value than those who profess nothing at all.
- Trusted. Daniel led the three officials set over 120 satraps. He held the post, the king's accountant-general, because the king trusted him.
- Safe. The system existed so the king would suffer no loss, and everything under Daniel's hand was safe.
- Earned. No miracle lifted him here. He reached the post on recognised merit, a testimony many in far easier posts lack.
- Resented. A captive holding first place stirred the jealousy of the native officials. They hated him as a Jew and as a worshipper of God.
- Unassailable. His public work was faultless. His enemies could only accuse him by intruding into the things of his God. That is the standard for every believer's dealings with the world.
Now this Daniel surpassed the presidents and the satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to appoint him over the whole realm.
Daniel serves in a foreign court, now under his third king. This verse gives the reason he rose above every other official — something in him — and tells us what the king planned to do next.
The phrase "an excellent spirit" points to something other than talent or eloquence. One writer weighs a man's spirit against the things he says, and points to it as something within any believer's reach:
An excellent spirit was in him. That is a very fine quality, friends. A man's spirit is worth far more than the things he says. I may say, by God's help, many a nice thing, and you may hear, enjoy, and then forget it. But if I have done anything nasty to you, you will never forget it. Oh, to be a Daniel in spirit! We shall never be prophets. We are not called by God in that way, but we can all cultivate an "excellent spirit."
Under the earlier king Nebuchadnezzar, God stepped in with miracles to lift Daniel up. Nothing like that happens here, and one writer sees weight in the difference:
Daniel's promotion here is not the result of any miracle from God, as it was under the earlier king Nebuchadnezzar. He reached his high post on his recognised merit alone... What a testimony to a saint of God placed in a position made difficult by its very height! I wish that all who fill much lower and far easier posts today had the same testimony from the people around them. Daniel's enemies had to admit that they could find no fault or error in him. Why is it that even the friends of Christians can hardly say as much about them? "A good testimony from those outside" matters far more than marked ability to preach or talk about the holy things of God.
Darius made the appointment. One writer looks behind the king's choice, and shows what the promotion stirred up:
Just before his city fell, Belshazzar had named Daniel the third ruler in the kingdom. Darius promoted him to the first place under himself, and in doing so the king was God's instrument for carrying out His purposes. Daniel was no unknown man; and he was hated both as a Jew and as a true worshipper of the God of heaven. His rise in the government stirred up still more envy and jealousy among the nobles, the princes, and the officials he now ranked above. Men with corrupt and greedy hearts could not love a man of unbreakable faithfulness who sought only God's approval.
Being set near the top of the world's system is not a safe place spiritually, and Daniel's steadiness is traced to where his eye was fixed:
He was a saint, and he was in a very difficult position. He had a high place in the world. The higher your place in this world, the more you come, in a sense, under its power. The more I receive from the world — in the everyday sense — the more I come under its power, unless I keep my eye fixed on the Lord, clearly and always. Daniel's eye was certainly on the Lord. So the Lord held him up, and shamed those who plotted his downfall.
His rivals went through his work as a ruler and found nothing. Where they turned next holds a lesson for every believer:
All these presidents and princes looked for some fault in the way Daniel ran the affairs of state. But he was faithful, so they could find no "error" and no "fault" in him. They decided that the only way to bring a charge against him was through the law of his God. That is a healthy lesson for the Christian. Our dealings with the world should be so faithful that the world could only condemn us by pushing into the things of God — by passing laws we could not keep without disobeying God.
The proving ground for an excellent spirit is not the palace but the invoice and the workday:
How humiliating when those who make a high profession are found constantly breaking down in the most commonplace affairs of domestic and commercial life! There are few things which more tend to discourage the heart than to hear — as, alas, one so often does — that Christians, so-called, are the most unsatisfactory persons to have any dealings with — that they are bad masters, or bad servants, or bad tradesmen — that they do not attend to their business, that they charge higher prices and give worse value than those who make no profession at all.
- Spirit within. What lifted Daniel was the spirit in him, not his gift. None of us will be prophets, but anyone can grow an excellent spirit.
- Standard outside. No miracle promoted him here. He rose on recognised merit. A good testimony from outsiders is worth more than the ability to talk well about holy things.
- Summit reached. Darius gave him the first place under himself, and God used the king's decision to carry out His own purposes.
- Suspicion stirred. Honesty near the top draws envy. Men with corrupt hearts could not love a man of unbreakable faithfulness.
- Safeguard kept. The higher your place in the world, the more its power presses on you. Daniel's eye stayed on the Lord, so his enemies found no handle in his public work.