God’s Word Translation
Daniel 6:8
8Your Majesty, issue this decree, and sign it. According to the law of the Medes and Persians no one could change it or repeal it.”
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put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”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 these officials and satraps went to the king as a group. They said to him, “May King Darius live forever! 7All the officials, governors, satraps, advisers, and mayors agree that the king should make a statute and enforce a decree. The decree should state that for the next 30 days whoever asks for anything from any god or person except you, Your Majesty, will be thrown into a lions’ den. Your Majesty, issue this decree, and sign it. According to the law of the Medes and Persians no one could change it or repeal it.” 9So Darius signed the written decree. 10When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went to his house. An upper room in his house had windows that opened in the direction of Jerusalem. Three times each day he got down on his knees and prayed to his God. He had always praised God this way.
Read all of Daniel 6Daniel 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 thirteenth day of the first month the king’s scribes were summoned. All Haman’s orders were written to the king’s satraps, the governors of every province, and the officials of every people. They wrote to each province in its own script and to the people in each province in their own language. The orders were signed in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s ring.
- Esther 8:10Mordecai wrote in King Xerxes’ name and sealed the official documents with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent them by messengers who rode special horses bred for speed. ⌞He wrote⌟
- Isaiah 10:1How horrible it will be for those who make unjust laws and who make oppressive regulations.
- Daniel 6:12Then they went and spoke to the king about his decree. ⌞They asked,⌟ “Didn’t you sign a decree which stated that for 30 days whoever asks for anything from any god or person except you, Your Majesty, will be thrown into a lions’ den?” The king answered, “That’s true. According to the law of the Medes and Persians the decree can’t be repealed.”
- Esther 1:19If it pleases you, Your Majesty, issue a royal decree. It should be recorded in the decrees of the Persians and Medes, never to be repealed, that Vashti may never again appear in front of King Xerxes. Furthermore, Your Majesty, you should give her royal position to another woman who is more worthy than she.
- Esther 8:3Esther spoke again to the king. She fell down at his feet crying and begged him to have mercy and to undo the evil plot of Haman, who was from Agag, and his conspiracy against the Jews.
- Matthew 24:35The earth and the heavens will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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