Darius the Mede

Biblical Account

At the end of Daniel 5, after the death of Belshazzar, the text records: "And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" (Daniel 5:31). This event is presented as the fulfillment of the interpretation of "PERES," one of the words written on the wall, which declared that the kingdom was given to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:28).

According to Daniel 6, Darius appointed 120 princes and set three presidents over them, and Daniel was one of these presidents. At the urging of officials who were jealous of Daniel, the king signed a decree forbidding anyone, for thirty days, to make a petition of any god or man except the king. Daniel, continuing as he had done before, opened his windows toward Jerusalem and prayed three times a day, and he was accused. The king labored to deliver him, but because "the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed" (Daniel 6:15), he finally had Daniel cast into the lions' den. The king fasted through the night and could not sleep; at dawn he went to the den and found Daniel alive. He then had Daniel's accusers thrown into the lions' den and issued a decree throughout his kingdom that people should fear the God of Daniel (Daniel 6:25–27). Chapter 6 closes with the statement, "So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian" (Daniel 6:28).

Daniel 9:1 calls him "Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes," and records that in the first year of his reign Daniel understood Jeremiah's prophecy of seventy years and prayed. Daniel 11:1 also mentions "the first year of Darius the Mede."

Significance Within Scripture

In the book of Daniel, Darius is portrayed as a Gentile king who is drawn into a plot to harm God's people but ultimately acknowledges the power of God. Together with the scenes in which Nebuchadnezzar praises God, this portrayal expresses the book's theme that God exercises sovereignty even under Gentile empires. The text does not, however, say that Darius abandoned other gods.

The New Testament does not mention Darius by name. The phrase "stopped the mouths of lions" (Hebrews 11:33), however, is widely understood as a reference to the lions' den episode during the reign of Darius (Hebrews 11:33–38).

Interpretation and Debate

Babylon fell to Cyrus of Persia in 539 BC. To date, however, no king called "Darius the Mede" from this period has been identified in sources outside the Bible. As a result, various views have been proposed regarding his identity.

• Views identifying him with a historical figure: These are held mainly by conservative scholars who emphasize the historicity of Scripture. Proposals include identifying him with Gubaru (Gobryas), the governor whom Cyrus installed over Babylon; with Cyaxares II, a Median king mentioned by the Greek historian Xenophon; or, by reading the conjunction in Daniel 6:28 as "even" (that is, "namely"), with Cyrus himself under another title.
• Views regarding him as a literary figure: Historical-critical scholars sometimes regard him as a composite figure shaped in part by memories of the later Persian king Darius I, among others. This view is often connected with a late dating of the book of Daniel.

The "Darius king of Persia" who appears in Ezra, Haggai, and Zechariah, though he bears the same name, reigned during the period when the temple was rebuilt and is distinguished from Darius the Mede. Likewise, Ahasuerus, the father named in Daniel 9:1, is generally regarded as a different person from the king in the book of Esther.

In the Korean Church

Darius is usually discussed in connection with the story of the lions' den, a Bible story widely taught to children in Sunday school and Vacation Bible School. Sermons emphasize the faith of Daniel, who, though he knew of the decree, prayed "as he did aforetime" (Daniel 6:10). In this context Darius is often portrayed as a king who was taken in by the schemes of his officials and could not revoke his own decree.