Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Daniel 6:24 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 24. 24And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The king's retaliatory execution includes wives and children and must not authorize collective guilt or cruelty.
The king throws accusers, wives, and children to the same lions
This verse is one part of that explanation in Daniel 6:24. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Daniel 6:19–28
Read Daniel 6:24 with 6:19–28. The king's retaliatory execution includes wives and children and must not authorize collective guilt or cruelty. The complete unit establishes this movement: The king throws the accusers, their wives, and their children to the lions in narrated collective punishment that must never become a norm.
Why This Verse Appears Here
6:19-23 completes “Daniel Is Found Alive”; the text now turns to “Imperial Retaliation Kills Whole Families.” This completes the present movement before the next larger development: Darius publishes a worldwide decree praising Daniel's living, enduring, rescuing God. Within that movement: The king's retaliatory execution includes wives and children and must not authorize collective guilt or cruelty.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast…”
In plain language: The king's retaliatory execution includes wives and children and must not authorize collective guilt or cruelty.
The king throws the accusers, their wives, and their children to the lions in narrated collective punishment that must never become a norm. The king's retaliatory execution includes wives and children and must not authorize collective guilt or cruelty.
Why it matters: This wording carries a material lexical, historical, theological, reception, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Daniel 6:24 does not stand alone from Daniel 6:19–28. The deaths of wives and children do not authorize collective punishment, revenge, or harm to an offender's family. Its verse-specific role is: The king's retaliatory execution includes wives and children and must not authorize collective guilt or cruelty.
What Remains True
Rescue of an innocent person should not become permission to victimize other innocent people. Daniel 6:24 keeps that truth tied to this claim: The king throws the accusers, their wives, and their children to the lions in narrated collective punishment that must never become a norm. In this unit: The king's retaliatory execution includes wives and children and must not authorize collective guilt or cruelty.
Teach It Back
Explain Daniel 6:24's role in 6:19–28. Name the ancient setting, quote or paraphrase “And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast…”, state one material uncertainty, and name one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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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 6:24 — Imperial Retaliation Kills Whole FamiliesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Daniel 6:24 must be read with this unit-level uncertainty: Interpreters may defend, explain, critique, or bracket the collective execution. This package names it as narrative violence and refuses to derive a norm from it.
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 6:24, 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, 6:24; 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 6:24
Open source ↗