Daniel 6:16 Explained in Context

Selected verse

Verse 16. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

Daniel 6:16 opens this movement with “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…”.

The den is sealed, and the king spends a fasting night

This verse is one part of that explanation in Daniel 6:16-18. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.

Read It With

Daniel 6:16–18

Read Daniel 6:16 with 6:16–18. Daniel 6:16 opens this movement with “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…”. The complete unit establishes this movement: Daniel is placed in the den under a sealed stone, and the responsible king spends a sleepless fasting night.

Why This Verse Appears Here

6:10-15 completes “Known Prayer Continues and Accusers Spring the Trap”; the text now turns to “Den, Seal, and the King's Vigil.” This completes the present movement before the next larger development: At dawn the king calls to Daniel, who reports that an angel shut the lions' mouths. Within that movement: Daniel 6:16 opens this movement with “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…”.

Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation

“Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…”

In plain language: This wording opens this movement.

Daniel is placed in the den under a sealed stone, and the responsible king spends a sleepless fasting night. Daniel 6:16 opens this movement with “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…”.

Why it matters: This wording carries a material lexical, historical, theological, reception, or misuse boundary.

How certain? probable

What This Verse Is Not Saying

Daniel 6:16 does not stand alone from Daniel 6:16–18. Daniel's knowledge of the law does not authorize reckless provocation. Its verse-specific role is: opens this movement with “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…”.

What Remains True

Faithful continuity can resist unjust law without turning devotion into performance, while sympathetic leaders remain responsible for systems they authorize. Daniel 6:16-18 keeps that truth tied to this claim: Daniel is placed in the den under a sealed stone, and the responsible king spends a sleepless fasting night. In this unit: Daniel 6:16 opens this movement with “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…”.

Teach It Back

Explain Daniel 6:16's role in 6:16–18. Name the ancient setting, quote or paraphrase “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions…”, state one material uncertainty, and name one conclusion the verse does not authorize.

Explain the verse in context

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Continue in Context

Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.

Read Daniel 6:16-18 — Den, Seal, and the King's Vigil

Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? probable

Where care is needed

Daniel 6:16 must be read with this unit-level uncertainty: Readers differ over public protest versus unchanged private faithfulness. The phrase 'as he did aforetime' makes continuity the stronger reading.

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.

Exact location: Daniel 6:16-18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew aramaic text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Daniel

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew-Aramaic wording, morphology, language boundary, names, repeated roots, clauses, and lexical controls.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Dan.xml, 6:16-18; Hebrew 1:1–2:4a and 8:1–12:13, Aramaic 2:4b–7:28

Open source ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Daniel with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2006

Supports: Verse-level Hebrew-Aramaic, textual, historical, translation, chronology, angelic-language, and duration notes.

Exact location: NET Bible Daniel PDF, printed pp. 1655–1657, translation and translator notes on 6:16-18

Open source ↗

Open the complete thought-unit research record