References (8)
Darius, the Medes, took over the kingdom. He was then 62 years old.
[Cyrus had begun his military campaign against Babylon in early October 539 BC when he won the battle of Opis, 80 km north of Babylon. On October 11, he advanced another 20 km and captured Sippar. The Euphrates River flows straight through Babylon. By digging several canals to a depression just north of Babylon, the water level of the Euphrates was reduced enough for the army to get under the wall. Just before dawn on October 13, the Persian army marched into Babylon. The Greek historian Herodotus describes how a religious festival was being celebrated and the people were busy dancing and celebrating at dawn when the Persian army captured the city. Had they been on their guard, it would have been easy to defend the city from the walls surrounding the river. Cyrus himself arrived in the city 17 days later and was proclaimed its liberator. Jeremiah had previously prophesied that the Babylonians would rule for 70 years, see Jer 25:12. Interestingly, it was in 609 BC that Nebuchadnezzar's father Nabopolassar burned the last Assyrian stronghold in Harran. A few years earlier, he had plundered and burned the Assyrian capital Nineveh, and the survivors had fled to Harran. He besieged the city for several years until it fell in 609 BC. There are thus exactly 70 years between 609 BC (when the Babylonians became world rulers) and 539 BC, when they lost power to the Medes and Persians.]
[Darius was introduced in the previous verse as "Darius the Mede." It is not historically confirmed who this Darius is. The name comes from Persian and literally means "hold fast to what is good" or "he owns" or "rich and royal." It can be a name or a title. The two likely suggestions are: King Cyrus himself or Gubaru, the general who helped Cyrus capture the city of Babylon and also served as its governor. It was not unusual for the king to have different names and titles in different parts of the empire. Just as the name Belshazzar in the previous chapter was unidentified until the end of the 19th century, there is hope that future archaeological finds may shed light on who this Darius was.]
Darius (Darejavesh) thought it would be a good idea to appoint 120 satraps (literally "protectors of the land") throughout the empire.
So the ministers and satraps came as a group (impatiently, united in conspiracy, storming in) to the king and said:
"King Darius, live forever!
Therefore, King Darius had a written decree issued (he signed the document with the decree).
Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, tribes, and languages throughout the world:
"With wishes for great peace (prosperity)!
Daniel was successful (promoted, honored, wealthy, and powerful) during the reign of Darius and (also) during the reign of Cyrus (Hebr. Koresh) of Persia.
[The text can be read in two ways. Either it describes how Darius and Cyrus are two contemporary leaders. In that case, Darius is the governor whom Cyrus appointed over the city of Babylon, and who historically could be a general named Gubaru, see . The Hebrew conjunction Vav is usually translated as "and," but can also be translated as "also." In that case, the second part becomes an explanation and clarification: "also, that is, during the reign of the Persian Cyrus." Dan then indicates that the Median Darius, see , is the same person as the Persian Cyrus. What complicates the interpretation is that the same people have different names in different regions, which also applies to Daniel and his friends, see . Hopefully, future archaeological finds mentioning Darius' name will help in the interpretation here.]
[Darius' first year of reign began in 539 BC when he took over Babylon, see . The events in this chapter take place twelve years after Dan.'s second vision, which is recounted in chapter 8. Daniel is now in his 80s.]
This happened during the first year of Darius' reign [around 539 BC]. He was the son of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) and a descendant of the Medes [an ethnic group within the Persian Empire].
In the first year of the reign of Darius (Darejavesh) the Mede [two years earlier, in 538 BC], I stood there to strengthen and protect him.
[The first verse of chapter 11 is related to and concludes the first part describing the circumstances surrounding the vision.]
