Daniel 6:4

Daniel 6:4, in plain English

The other administrators and satraps try desperately to find something they can use against Daniel—corruption, negligence, something—but they find nothing because he's genuinely trustworthy and honest.

Why it's here

Here's where jealousy enters the picture. These officials see that Darius is planning to elevate Daniel above them, and they don't like it. Instead of accepting that Daniel has earned this position through integrity, they go looking for dirt. They investigate his conduct thoroughly, turning over stones, looking into his record. But there's nothing there. Daniel isn't just squeaky clean on the surface; he's genuinely trustworthy at his core.

Who's speaking

The narrator.

Where it sits in the story

This is crucial for understanding what comes next. These men realize they can't defeat Daniel on the battlefield of character or competence. So they'll have to attack him on the only front where he refuses to compromise: his faith. The plot is about to shift from personal jealousy to a spiritual test.

The scholarly reading

Despite exhaustive investigation, Daniel's enemies can find no legitimate grounds for accusation; his integrity and reliability are unimpeachable in matters of kingdom administration.

Language and setting

The legal terminology here—חַטְאָה (chattah, 'fault') and שְׁלוּ (shelu, 'negligence')—reflects the Aramaic legal traditions of the period. The investigators' frustration is palpable: they seek what scholars term a *causa* or grounds for prosecution, but Daniel's administrative record is spotless. This underscores that opposition to righteousness often cannot justify itself on rational grounds.

Voice

The narrator, describing the administrators' and satraps' investigative failure

Significance

The inability to condemn Daniel on legitimate grounds demonstrates that evil opposition to godliness frequently requires manufactured or spurious charges—a pattern seen in the persecution of Jesus and the early church, where legal pretexts mask religious hostility.

2and over them three administrators, including Daniel, to whom these satraps were accountable so that the king would not suffer loss.

3Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

4Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.

5Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

6So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said, “O King Darius, may you live forever!

Read all of Daniel 6 — Daniel prays with his windows open, knowing it means death. The lions are hungry. But there is someone in the den with him.