Daniel 6:17 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 6:17
And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
as card. one · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
stone
אֶ֣בֶן'E.ven
H69
a stone · noun, common both genders singular absolute
brought
וְהֵיתָ֙יִת֙ve.hei.Ta.yit
H858
to arrive · conjunction + verb, hophal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
laid
וְשֻׂמַ֖תve.su.Mat
H7761
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
upon
עַל'al-
H5922
above · preposition
mouth
פֻּ֣םpum
H6433
the mouth (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular construct
den
גֻּבָּ֑אgu.Ba'
H1358
a pit (for wild animals) (as cut out) · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
king
מַלְכָּ֜אmal.Ka'
H4430
a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
sealed
וְחַתְמַ֨הּve.chat.Mah
H2857
to seal · conjunction + verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
signet
בְּעִזְקְתֵ֗הּbe.'iz.ke.Teh
H5824
a signet-ring (as engraved) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
signet
וּבְעִזְקָת֙u.ve.'iz.Kat
H5824
a signet-ring (as engraved) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
lords
רַבְרְבָנ֔וֹהִיrav.re.va.No.hi
H7261
a magnate · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
purpose
צְב֖וּtze.Vu
H6640
properly · noun, common both genders singular absolute
not
לָאla'-
H3809
not (the simple or abs. negation) · negative particle
changed
תִשְׁנֵ֥אtish.Ne'
H8133
to alter · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
Daniel
בְּדָנִיֵּֽאלbe.da.ni.Yel
H1841
Danijel · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Lamentations 3:53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
Acts 12:4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter…
Matthew 27:60-66 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.
Acts 16:23-24 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 6:11-17
Here is 1. Proof made of Daniel's praying to his God, notwithstanding the late edict to the contrary (Dan 6:11): These men assembled; the came tumultuously together, so the word is, the same that was used Dan 6:6, borrowed from Psa 2:1, Why do the heathen rage? They came together to visit Daniel, perhaps under pretence of business, at that time which they knew to be his usual hour of devotion; and, if they had not found him so engaged, they would have upbraided him with his faint-heartedness and distrust of his God, but (which they rather wished to do) they found him on his knees praying and making supplication before his God. For his love they are his adversaries; but, like his father David…
stone . . . sealed--typical of Christ's entombment under a seal (Mat 27:66). Divinely ordered, that the deliverance might be the more striking.
his own signet, and . . . of his lords--The concurrence of the lords was required for making laws. In this kingly power had fallen since it was in Nebuchadnezzar's hands. The Median king is a puppet in his lords' hands; they take the security of their own seal as well as his, that he should not release Daniel. The king's seal guaranteed Daniel from being killed by them, should he escape the lions.
Adam Clarke on Daniel 6:17
A stone was brought - All this precaution served the purposes of the Divine Providence. There could be no trick nor collusion here; if Daniel be preserved, it must be by the power of the Supreme God. The same precaution was taken by the Jews, in the case of the burial of our blessed Lord; and this very thing has served as one of the strongest proofs of the certainty of his resurrection and their unmixed wickedness.
John Gill on Daniel 6:17
And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den,.... Not a heap of stones, but a single one, a very large one, sufficient to stop up the mouth of the den, that nothing might enter in at it, or be cast into it: this stone was brought by proper persons, and a sufficient number of them, according the order of the king, or his princes, or both; for what Jarchi says, of there being no stones in Babylon, only bricks, and of the angels bringing this stone out of the land of Israel, is all fabulous: but for what end it should be brought and laid is not easy to say; if it was laid here by the order of the princes, it could not surely be to keep any of his friends from going in to deliver…
The Church Fathers
"And they brought a stone and set at the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his signet ring," [Daniel 6:17] that the matter may not be changed regarding Daniel. And this was a malicious deed, for the satraps were cautious, lest secretly the king command Daniel to be drawn out of the den and so they thought fit to seal the stone. In which manner also the chiefs of the Pharisees did to the Savior having sealed the stone with a guard. [Matthew 27:66]
Certainly it had been decided by Darius to save Daniel from the present danger with any possible means; therefore he sealed the entrance of the den with his own signet and invited the satraps to do the same. This had to be done for two reasons: first, in order that [the satraps] might not steal there without being seen and, after rolling off the lid, might kill him; second, in order that they might not spread among the people the rumor that some fraud had been used inside the den.
Verse 17. "A single stone was brought and placed over the opening of the pit, and the king sealed it with his ring..." He sealed with his ring the rock by which the opening of the pit was shut up, so that the enemies of Daniel might not make any attempt to harm him. For he had entrusted him to the power of God, and although not worried about lions, he was fearful of men. He also sealed it with the ring of his nobles, in order to avoid all ground for suspicion so far as they were concerned.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Daniel — God is my judge, or judge of God. (1.) David’s second son, “born unto him in Hebron, of Abigail the Carmelitess” (1 Chr. 3:1). He is called also Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3). (2.) One of the four great…
Darius — The holder or supporter, the name of several Persian kings. (1.) Darius the Mede (Dan. 11:1), “the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes” (9:1). On the death of Belshazzar the Chaldean he…
Den — A lair of wild beasts (Ps. 10:9; 104:22; Job 37:8); the hole of a venomous reptile (Isa. 11:8); a recess for secrecy “in dens and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11:38); a resort of thieves (Matt. 21:13;…
Medes, Media — (middle land). Media lay northwest of Persia proper, south and southwest of the Caspian Sea, east of Armenia and Assyria, west and northwest of the great salt desert of Iran. Its greatest length was…
Media — Heb. Madai, which is rendered in the Authorized Version (1) “Madai,” Gen. 10:2; (2) “Medes,” 2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; (3) “Media,” Esther 1:3; 10:2; Isa. 21:2; Dan. 8:20; (4) “Mede,” only in Dan. 11:1.…
Seal — Commonly a ring engraved with some device (Gen. 38:18, 25). Jezebel “wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal” (1 Kings 21:8). Seals are frequently mentioned in Jewish history…
Temptation — (1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God “tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., ‘did prove’] Abraham;” and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their…
Civil Service · CORRUPTION IN — CORRUPTION IN
Conspiracy · .Daniel — .Daniel
Daniel · .Courage and fi — .Courage and fi
Indictments · .Daniel, on the charge of — .Daniel, on the charge of
Daniel 6:17
17. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
17. Ed adductus fuit lapis unus et positus super os spelunc?: et obsignavit eum rex annulo suo et annulo procerum suorum, ne mutaretur placitum in Daniele. [304]
There is no doubt that God's counsel provided that the nobles should seal the stone with their own rings, and thus close the mouth of the cave, and render the miracle more illustrious. For when the king approached on the morrow, the rings were all entire, and the seals all unbroken. Thus the preservation of this servant o…
Daniel's offence against the law; his accusation, condemnation, and miraculous deliverance from the den of lions; and the punishment of his accusers.
The satraps did not wait long for Daniel's expected disregard of the king's prohibition. It was Daniel's custom, on bended knees, three times a day to offer prayer to his God in the upper chamber of his house, the window thereof being open towards Jerusalem. He continued this custom even after the issuing of the edict; for a discontinuance of it on account of that law would have been a denying of the faith and a sinning against God. On this his enemies had reckoned. They secretly watched him, and immediately reported his disregard of the king's…
his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles: The multiple sealing of the lions’ den made a covert rescue impossible. Neither the king nor the officials could open the den without breaking the other seals and thus informing the other parties.
Rashi on Daniel 6:16
that the king establishes What the king decrees and ratifies, no man can alter.
Lion · Used for the torture of criminals — Used for the torture of criminals
Persecution · Suffering of — Exemplified: Daniel — Suffering of — Exemplified: Daniel
Seal · .Lion’ s — .Lion’ s
Seals · Impressions of: Used for security — Impressions of: Used for security
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
