Examining The Scripture CXXI: In The Reign of Darius, No Cyrus, eh, Darius

You would think that after reading Daniel 1 through 6 you would be able to determine which king that Daniel was serving under and historically you would be able to date Daniel's age in relation to that king. You would think. Turns out this assumption may not work.

We read in Daniel 6 and we see that Daniel is a veteran administrator in Persia and is most likely in his late seventies to early eighties: 75-85 years old. Most likely...So most of the images of him with a youthful appearance in the den of lions are fabrications of artist's imaginations. I believe this is also the case with images we see of people like Samson who is often portrayed as a Jewish Arnold Schwarzenegger, and also the older portraits of Jesus who is often portrayed as a frail, pale and somewhat effeminate white man. I do not believe any of these portrayals are accurate. If Samson looked like Arnold, some of his feats of strength wouldn't be that much of as surprise (like the fight with the lion). If Jesus was as frail as he was portrayed, it is unlikely His human body would've ever survived the horrendous scourging, the march up to Golgotha bearing his cross beam and the actual excruciation of the Crucifixion.

So let us jump back to Daniel 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim (puppet king), king of Judah 605 B.C., Daniel would’ve been a youth of approximately 10-20 years of age or a young teenager as it would’ve been easier to indoctrinate the young. Jump forward to Daniel 6 and the initial phase of Darius’ rule (which might just be another name for Cyrus the Great; Cyrus and Darius being titles like “Caesar”)...unfortunately we're not sure. If we look directly at the conjunction or connector in (v. 28) it says, “Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius AND in the reign of Cyrus the Persian”. That would explain Daniel 1:21’s “And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus” as opposed to Chapter 6’s Darius. Perhaps Darius is Cyrus' successor? There is clearly confusion here of the exact title and exact date.

The latest the date could’ve been 539 B.C. When Cyrus the Great took control. The date window puts Daniel 6 around or previous to those dates. If Daniel was around 15 in 605 B.C. then by this date he would’ve been around 80 years old and elderly when thrown into the lion’s den (Longmen, Garland 117). This dating is extremely difficult because of the criticism disputes over “who” exactly Darius the Mede/Cyrus really was (Brubaker et al 794). I have tried through commentary consensus to find two concurrent assessments. The closest I found were: The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel-Malachi which stated Daniel would’ve been near 80 and Walvoord’s dispensational take on Daniel placed him in his late 70’s to early 80’s depending on Daniel’s exact age at the time of exile.

During new leadership as we can often see today in the changeover between presidential administrations there is often a reorganization or restructuring of hierarchies or administrative personnel. So it is in our day and age, so it was in the case in Daniel 6. Darius (the Mede) appointed 120 satraps (administrative governors) over the kingdom and they would be in charge of the whole kingdom. Over this 120 there were to be three commissioners of whom Daniel was one. This was so that these satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer loss. What we really see in this chapter is Gods ability to prosper His people even during times of trial and dislocation as in the case of Daniel

Brubaker, Malcolm, and William Williams. "On The Edge of Night." They Spoke from God: A Survey of the Old Testament. Springfield: Logion Press/Gospel Pub. House, 2003. 793-795. Print.

Longman, Tremper, and David Garland. "Daniel." Daniel-Malachi (Expositor's Bible Commentary, The). New Rev ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009. 116-119. Print.

Walvoord, John. "Introduction." Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1989. 11. Print.