Now the king spake, &c. The king answered, &c. The asyndetic construction is characteristic of the Aramaic portion of the book: Daniel 3:19; Daniel 3:24; Daniel 3:26; Daniel 5:7; Daniel 5:13; Daniel 6:20 (notice italics in A.V.), al.

he will deliver thee Rather, may he (emph.) deliver thee! The king hopes, even against hope, that Daniel may by some means or other be spared his fate. Throughout the narrative Darius shews solicitude for Daniel (cf. Daniel 6:14; Daniel 6:18). He does not willingly consign him to death: he has been entrapped by his courtiers; and in acting as he has done, he has merely, like Herod (Matthew 14:9), yielded to what he supposes to be the necessities of his position.

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