Daniel in the lions' den


Daniel in the lions' den tells of how the legendary Daniel is saved from lions by the God of Israel "because I was found blameless before him". It parallels and complements chapter 3, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: each begins with the jealousy of non-Jews towards successful Jews and an imperial edict requiring them to compromise their religion, and concludes with divine deliverance and a king who confesses the greatness of the God of the Jews and issues an edict of royal protection. The tales making up chapters 1–6 of Daniel are no earlier than the Hellenistic period and were probably originally independent, but were collected in the mid-2nd century BC and expanded shortly afterwards with the visions of the later chapters to produce the modern book.

Summary

is raised to high office by his royal master Darius the Mede. Daniel's jealous rivals trick Darius into issuing a decree that for thirty days no prayers should be addressed to any god or man but Darius himself; any who break this are to be thrown to the lions. Daniel continues to pray to the God of Israel, and the king, although deeply distressed, must condemn Daniel to death, for the edicts of the Medes and Persians cannot be altered. Hoping for Daniel's deliverance, he has him cast into the pit. At daybreak the king hurries to the place and cries out anxiously, asking if God had saved his friend. Daniel replies that his God had sent an angel to close the jaws of the lions, "because I was found blameless before him." The king commands that those who had conspired against Daniel should be thrown to the lions in his place with their wives and children, and that the whole world should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.

Composition and structure

It is generally accepted that the Book of Daniel originated as a collection of folktales among the Babylonian diaspora, the Jewish community living in Babylon and Mesopotamia, in the Persian and Hellenistic periods. Chapters 4–6, which includes the tale of Daniel in the lions' den, may belong to the earliest stage, as these differ quite markedly in the oldest texts. Although the entire book is traditionally ascribed to Daniel the seer, the tales of chapters 1–6, including the story of the lion's den, are the voice of an anonymous narrator. It is possible that the name of Daniel was chosen for the hero because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.
Chapters 2–7 are in Aramaic, and are in the clear form of a chiasm :
The story of Daniel in the lions' den in chapter 6 is paired with the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the "fiery furnace" in Daniel 3. The parallels include the jealousy of non-Jews, an imperial edict requiring Jews to compromise their religion on pain of death, and divine deliverance. Each story climaxes with the king confessing the greatness of the God of the Jews and issuing an edict of royal protection. In each case life is preserved through divine presence in the fire or the pit.
The structure of Daniel 6 itself is also in the form of a chiasm:

Rabbinic literature

According to Josippon, "the beasts in the den received Daniel as faithful dogs might receive their returning master, wagging their tails and licking him." The Midrash Tehillim says that "the mouth of the den was closed with a huge stone, which had rolled of itself from Palestine to Babylon for that purpose" and that "upon this stone sat an angel in the shape of a lion, so that Daniel's enemies might not harass him."

Artistic representations

In visual arts

Although Daniel is sometimes depicted as a young man in illustrations of the incident, James Montgomery Boice points out that he would have been over eighty years old at the time.
Painters who have depicted this incident include: