Daniel 6:8

Daniel 6:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
• New International Version (NIV)Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”

Context of Daniel 6:8

6So the officers and rulers agreed together what they would do. They went to the king and they said, ‘King Darius, live for ever! 7All the officers in the kingdom have decided on a good idea. All the rulers, the judges, the wise people, and the leaders in the different regions agree. We think that the king should make a strong law. For 30 days, people must pray only to you, the king. If they pray to any other person or god, you must punish them. Your servants must throw them into the cave where your lions live. You should write down this law and then you should write your name on it, as king. Then it will be a law of the Medes and the Persians which nobody can change.’ 9King Darius agreed. He wrote his name on this new law. 10Daniel heard that the king had written this new law. Then he went home. He went upstairs to his room where the windows opened in the direction of Jerusalem. He bent down on his knees and he prayed to God, and he thanked God. He did that three times every day, in the same way that he had always done before.

Daniel 6:8 word by word

כְּעַ֣ן מַלְכָּ֔א תְּקִ֥ים אֱסָרָ֖א וְתִרְשֻׁ֣ם כְּתָבָ֑א דִּ֣י לָ֧א לְהַשְׁנָיָ֛ה כְּדָת־מָדַ֥י וּפָרַ֖ס דִּי־לָ֥א תֶעְדֵּֽא׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Nowכְּעַןke‛an · nowH3705
• O kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4430
• establishקוּםqûm · to stand: riseH6966
• the decreeאֱסָר'ĕsâr · injunctionH633
• and signרְשַׁםresham · to signH7560
• the writingכְּתָבkethâb · inscriptionH3792
• that it be notלָאlâ' lâh · notH3809
• changedשְׁנָאshenâ' · to changeH8133
• according to the lawדָּתdâth · lawH1882
• of the Medesמָדַיmâday · MedeH4076
• and Persiansפָּרַסpâras · PersiaH6540
• which alterethעֲדָה‛ădâ' ‛ădâh · to pass on/over/awayH5709

Cross-references for Daniel 6:8

• Esther 3:12On the 13th day of the first month, Haman asked the king's secretaries to come to him. They wrote Haman's commands in letters to the king's rulers and officers in every region. They wrote the letters in the languages that people spoke in the different regions. Haman used the authority of King Xerxes and he marked the letters with the king's special ring.
• Esther 8:10Mordecai used King Xerxes' authority to write the letters. He made a mark on the letters with the king's special ring. Men who rode on the king's fastest horses quickly took the letters everywhere in the kingdom.
• Isaiah 10:1It will be very bad for people who make cruel laws that are not fair.
• Daniel 6:12So they went to tell the king about this. They said, ‘Remember that you wrote a new law. You commanded that for 30 days, nobody must pray to any god or person, except to you, the king. If anyone prays to someone else, your servants must throw them into the cave where your lions live.’ The king answered them, ‘It is true. It is a law of the Medes and the Persians and nobody can change it.’
• Esther 1:19So we suggest this, if you agree as king. You should give a royal command. It should become one of the laws of Persia and Media, so that nobody can change it. This law must say that Vashti must never see you again. Then you should find a woman who deserves to be queen more than Vashti.
• Esther 8:3Then Esther went again to speak to the king. She threw herself down at his feet and she wept. She wanted him to stop Haman's evil idea to kill all the Jews.
• Matthew 24:35One day, the earth and the sky will have an end. But my words will be there for ever.’

Commentaries on Daniel 6:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8According to the law of the Medes and Persians - I do not think that this is to be understood so as to imply that whatever laws or ordinances the Medes or Persians once enacted, they never changed them. This would argue extreme folly in legislators in any country. Nothing more appears to be meant than that the decree should be enacted, written, and registered, according to the legal forms among the Medes and Persians; and this one to be made absolute for…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Now, O king, establish the decree - Ordain, enact, confirm it. And sign the writing - An act necessary to make it the law of the realm. That it be not changed - That, having the sign-manual of the sovereign, it might be so confirmed that it could not be changed. With that sign it became so established, it seems, that even the sovereign himself could not change it. According to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not - Margin, Passeth. Which…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-10Verses 6-10 To forbid prayer for thirty days, is, for so long, to rob God of all the tribute he has from man, and to rob man of all the comfort he has in God. Does not every man's heart direct him, when in want or distress, to call upon God? We could not live a day without God; and can men live thirty days without prayer? Yet it is to be feared that those who, without any decree forbidding them, present no hearty, serious petitions to God for more than…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8cannot be changed … cannot be repealed: Compare Esther 1:19. Human laws do not last forever, but God's law does (Psalms 93:5; 119:152). This devotion to established laws was a key feature of the Persian Empire. Over time, the large number of laws made the government so complex that it could no longer work well.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. decree--or, "interdict." that it be not changed--(Es 1:19; 8:8). This immutability of the king's commands was peculiar to the Medes and Persians: it was due to their regarding him infallible as the representative of Ormuzd; it was not so among the Babylonians. Medes and Persians--The order of the names is an undesigned mark of genuineness. Cyrus the Persian reigned subordinate to Darius the Mede as to dignity, though exercising more real power. After…Read the comment

Topics related to Daniel 6:8

• Babylon
• Civil Service
• Conspiracy
• Diplomacy
• Faith
• Indictments
• King
• Malice
• Persia
• Politics
• Religion
• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Medes
• Persians
• Mede, Medes, Media
• Persia, Persians
• Arise
• Lay
• Media
• Signet
• Temptation
• Aramaic; Aramaic Language

Commentaries on Daniel 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings