Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Daniel 6:26 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 26. 26I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Daniel 6:26 develops this movement with “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before…”.
Read It With
- Daniel 6:25–28
Read Daniel 6:26 with 6:25–28. Daniel 6:26 develops this movement with “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before…”. The complete unit establishes this movement: Darius commands fear before Daniel's living God, praises rescue, and the narrator carries Daniel's service into Cyrus's reign.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The final court decree summarizes God's superior kingdom and rescue, but its command remains imperial speech and the chronology prepares a deliberate narrative rewind. “Darius Praises the Living God” opens that larger movement. This completes the present movement before the next larger development: Chapter 7 turns back to Belshazzar's first year and shifts from third-person court tales to Daniel's first-person apocalyptic vision. Within that movement: Daniel 6:26 develops this movement with “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before…”.
Follow the Context
- Darius commands fear before Daniel's living God, praises rescue, and the narrator carries Daniel's service into Cyrus's reign.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before…”
In plain language: This wording develops this movement.
Darius commands fear before Daniel's living God, praises rescue, and the narrator carries Daniel's service into Cyrus's reign. Daniel 6:26 develops this movement with “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before…”.
Why it matters: This wording carries a material lexical, historical, theological, reception, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Daniel 6:26 does not stand alone from Daniel 6:25–28. The decree does not authorize governments to compel religious fear. Its verse-specific role is: develops this movement with “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before…”.
What Remains True
Stories of deliverance should direct attention beyond the beneficiary to the living source of justice and life, while coercive praise remains ethically limited. Daniel 6:25-28 keeps that truth tied to this claim: Darius commands fear before Daniel's living God, praises rescue, and the narrator carries Daniel's service into Cyrus's reign. In this unit: Daniel 6:26 develops this movement with “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before…”.
How It Can Shape Life
- Share testimony without demanding that listeners perform your religious response under state or institutional pressure. In Daniel 6:25-28, respond specifically to this movement: Darius commands fear before Daniel's living God, praises rescue, and the narrator carries Daniel's service into Cyrus's reign. For Daniel 6:26 specifically, keep this reviewed contribution in view: develops this movement with “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before…”. Read it inside 6:25–28; do not convert its wording into an unsupported modern identification.
Teach It Back
Explain Daniel 6:26's role in 6:25–28. Name the ancient setting, quote or paraphrase “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before…”, state one material uncertainty, and name one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Daniel 6:25-28 — Darius Praises the Living GodSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Daniel 6:26 must be read with this unit-level uncertainty: The relation of Darius and Cyrus in verse 28 can be read as two rulers or, less likely, apposition. Historical identification remains unresolved.
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 6:25-28, 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, 6:25-28; 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 6:25-28
Open source ↗