Bible Strands
Daniel 6:26
I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion will never end.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Darius the Mede addresses every nation and language in his realm, issuing a royal edict immediately after Daniel's deliverance from the lions' den. The speaker is a pagan king compelled by what he has witnessed to name Daniel's God as the living God.
The words — שַׁלְטָן (šaltān, "dominion") and מַלְכוּתִי (malkūṯay, "my kingdom") form the pair that carries the verse's claim: the God of Daniel holds both sovereign rule and an unending kingdom, terms the king borrows from his own political vocabulary and redirects toward the divine.
The thread — The same formula of eternal dominion appears in Nebuchadnezzar's confession (Daniel 4:3, 34) and in the angel's declaration to Mary (Luke 1:33), where "His kingdom will have no end" echoes the Aramaic claim here.
Why it lands — A foreign king, acting under compulsion, issues a binding command that all men tremble before this God; the reader is placed in the position of the addressed subject, not the one who issues the decree.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
I 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.
Cross-references
- Daniel 4:34 But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
- Luke 1:33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”
- Daniel 4:3 How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation.
- Daniel 7:14 And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
- Psalms 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
- Psalms 29:10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
- Daniel 2:44 In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.
- Daniel 3:29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their houses reduced to rubble. For there is no other god who can deliver in this way.”
- Psalms 99:1 The LORD reigns; let the nations tremble! He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth quake!
- Ezra 6:8 I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered.