The new king, Darius, reorganizes the kingdom with Daniel in a prominent position.
In the previous chapter of Daniel, Belshazzar was king. He defied God and a mysterious hand appeared and wrote words on the wall that no one could understand. Belshazzar was very afraid and called on Daniel to interpret the writing. Daniel told the king that because he had not humbled his heart before God, the kingdom of Babylon would be taken from him and given to the Medes and the Persians. That very same night, Belshazzar was slain and Darius the Mede received his kingdom.
Now we will learn how Darius ruled the kingdom. First, it seemed good to Darius to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, that they would be in charge of the whole kingdom. A Satrap was simply a governor of a province, so Darius divided the kingdom into different provinces and appointed governors over them. Next, he put over them three commissioners (of whom Daniel was one), that these satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer loss.
So rather than trying to rule all of the kingdom himself, Darius split it up with 120 governors who reported to 3 commissioners, who then reported to him which greatly aided him in his responsibilities. The loss that he would suffer would be unpaid taxes. The satraps were necessary to ensure all of the taxes were collected and the commissioners were to hold the satraps accountable to ensure they were not skimming off the top. Daniel made sure that none of the satraps kept taxes for themselves, he was good at his job and kept the king from suffering any loss. Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom.
Daniel already had experience in managing a province under King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:48) which may be partly why he excelled in his responsibilities. Throughout Daniel’s life we have seen him choose to be obedient to God despite men trying to ruin him, and God continues to bless him and make him successful.
Daniel’s great success made the other rulers jealous, and the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs. Unsurprisingly, they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.”
Daniel was truthful and just and there were no accusations that they could bring against him. It seems that they were well aware of Daniel’s commitment to God since they plotted to ensnare him on the basis of his obedience to God.
Biblical Text
It seemed good to Darius to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, that they would be in charge of the whole kingdom, 2 and over them three commissioners (of whom Daniel was one), that these satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom. 4 Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.”
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