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Daniel and the Lion Sent to Rescue a Lion from Lions

The decree was sealed and the pit was full of lions. Then heaven sent a lion to rescue a lion from their mouths, and Daniel stood unbitten.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Secret Told to David
  2. The Men Who Would Drill Through the Sky
  3. The Window That Stayed Open
  4. Let a Lion Come and Rescue a Lion
  5. Seventy Mouths That Would Not Close
  6. The Song Finds Its Ending

Long before the pit was dug, a king in Jerusalem heard the lions.

The Secret Told to David

David sat over his harp in the night, and a secret was opened to him, for the Lord God does nothing without revealing His counsel to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). What he saw had not yet happened. A man not yet born knelt at an open window while an empire sharpened a law against him. Stone closed over a pit. Animal breath moved in the dark below the stone. David took all of it into a song, a plea to be hidden from the secret counsel of the wicked, and the song waited centuries for its story to arrive.

The Men Who Would Drill Through the Sky

The wicked have a problem, and the problem is altitude. If they could, they would drill straight through the rakia, the hammered dome of the sky, and carry their quarrel up to the throne itself. But the heights are guarded by smoke and devouring fire (Psalm 18:8), and no drill bites into heaven. Therefore they aim lower. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together (Psalm 2:2). Unable to wound God, they reach for the man who belongs to Him.

In the courts of Persia that man was Daniel. The presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors and the captains, every rank of power crowded into one room and agreed on one thing (Daniel 6:8). They could find no fault in him, so they made his faithfulness the crime. For thirty days, let no petition rise to any god or man except the king, on pain of the den of lions. They sealed it under the law of the Medes and Persians, the law that cannot be taken back. A trap dressed as governance, built around the habits of one man’s knees.

The Window That Stayed Open

Daniel heard that the writing was signed. He did not flee the city, and he did not shutter the house. He went up to his chamber, where the windows opened toward Jerusalem, and he knelt three times that day and prayed, exactly as he had always done (Daniel 6:11). When the watchers crowded in, they found him at it. He did not bargain with them. He called out to the Ribbono shel olam, the Master of the Universe, and asked refuge from the plot of evildoers, and he let them write down every word.

They ran to the king. Darius heard the report and was sick at his own signature. He set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and labored at it until the sun went down (Daniel 6:15), but the law he had sealed now sealed him. The stone rolled over the mouth of the pit, and the king went home to a night without food or sleep.

Let a Lion Come and Rescue a Lion

In heaven the case was already decided, and the sentence had the shape of a riddle. A lion is mightiest among beasts and recoils before none (Proverbs 30:30). The Holy One looked at the man standing in the pit, a lion of faith who had recoiled before nothing, not the decree, not the watchers, not the stone, and gave the order. Let a lion come and rescue a lion from the mouth of a lion.

Daniel was not lifted out of danger. The danger itself was sent to stand guard over him. The same claws, the same appetite, the same fearlessness, turned in another direction, so that the predator became the protection.

Seventy Mouths That Would Not Close

The pit was no cage with a single beast pacing in it. It held a multitude, a count to match the officers of the kingdom itself (Daniel 6:2), a force fit for an army. Seventy strong ones circled Daniel in the dark, and not one of them could consume him. Word of it leaked upward, and his enemies plotted to increase their numbers, certain the count was the flaw in their arithmetic. Daniel challenged them outright. Then God shot His arrows suddenly (Psalms 7:13), and the reversal was complete. The men who had built the law were thrown into the trap they had baited, and the lions overpowered them before their bodies reached the floor of the den (Daniel 6:25).

The Song Finds Its Ending

At dawn the king came hurrying to the pit and heard a living voice answer out of the stone (Daniel 6:21-22). The righteous man rejoices when he sees the reckoning; he bathes his feet in the blood of the wicked (Psalms 58:11). A hard image, and an earned one. The men devoured below had aimed at heaven through one man’s open window.

And in Jerusalem, centuries earlier, David’s song reached its last line and rested there. The righteous man will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him, and all the upright in heart will exult (Psalms 64:11). He had seen the pit before it was dug. He had also seen the morning after.

DanielDavidDivine ProtectionPrayerJudgment
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From the tradition

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The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Midrash Tehillim 64:1Midrash Tehillim

Our ancestors felt it too, and they wrestled with it in their stories and prayers. Midrash Tehillim 64, a fascinating passage that uses the story of Daniel in the lion's den to explore these themes of power, conspiracy, and ultimately, divine justice.

The midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) begins by quoting (Amos 3:7): "Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets." This sets the stage: God is involved, God knows, and God reveals. The midrash then connects this idea to David, the conqueror, suggesting that God informed David of Daniel's fate. It's all interconnected.

The text then takes a surprising turn, imagining the wicked as those who would "drill through the firmament" if they could, echoing (Psalm 18:8): "Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him." Since they can’t reach God directly, they plot below, as (Psalm 2:2) says, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together." Unable to challenge God on His own turf, they target those faithful to Him, like Daniel.

Here’s where the story of Daniel comes into sharper focus. Remember the plot against him? As we read in (Daniel 6:8-9), all the powerful figures – "the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains" – they all colluded, trying to trap him with a decree that would force him to choose between loyalty to the king and loyalty to God. They knew Daniel's unwavering devotion. They used it against him.

So, what did Daniel do? He knew the decree was signed, but as (Daniel 6:10-11) tells us, he went home, opened his windows toward Jerusalem, and prayed, just as he always had. He refused to hide his faith, even in the face of death. He trusted in God.

When they caught him, Daniel didn't panic. He prayed, acknowledging God as "Lord, the King of the Universe." He sought refuge from the "plot of evildoers." And when his enemies gleefully reported him to the king, as (Daniel 6:13-14) recounts, the king was "sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him." But the law was the law, and the king was bound to uphold it.

Now, here's where the midrash gets really interesting. It invokes (Proverbs 30:30): "A lion, mightiest among beasts, recoils before none." The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Let a lion come and rescue a lion from the mouth of a lion." The midrash sees Daniel as a 'lion' of faith, and God sends literal lions to rescue him! It’s a powerful image of divine intervention.

The story continues, elaborating on the miraculous nature of Daniel's survival. Seventy powerful men couldn't consume him, and when they plotted to increase their numbers, Daniel challenged them. The result? As (Psalms 7:13) says, "God shoots His arrows suddenly," and the wicked were devoured instead. It’s a complete reversal!

The midrash then explores the sheer number of lions involved, drawing from (Daniel 6:2) and imagining a vast, almost supernatural force protecting Daniel. It culminates in the triumph of justice, echoing (Psalms 58:11): "The righteous man will rejoice when he sees revenge; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked." A stark image, perhaps, but one that emphasizes the complete and utter victory of good over evil.

The midrash concludes with (Psalms 64:11): "The righteous man will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him, and all the upright in heart will exult." It's a powerful affirmation of faith, a reminder that even when faced with overwhelming odds, even when powerful forces conspire against us, we can find strength and solace in our relationship with God. Daniel's story isn't just a historical account; it’s a timeless message of hope and resilience. It reminds us that even in the darkest of times, divine justice will ultimately prevail.

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Midrash Tehillim 63:3Midrash Tehillim

King David certainly did. And his words, captured in Psalm 63, resonate across the ages, a evidence of a soul seeking connection with the Divine.

“My God, I seek You early,” David proclaims. It's a sentiment echoed in (Proverbs 8:17): "I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me." The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, uses this verse to examine the very nature of Divine love and connection. It's a two-way street, isn't it? "Whoever loves God," the Torah tells us, "God loves him back." David loved God, and so, God loved him in return. He sought God early, and so, God found him. A beautiful exchange.

What does it mean to truly seek God, especially in times of hardship? David continues in Psalm 63, "My soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) interprets this "dry and weary land" as Edom, often seen as a symbol of wickedness and spiritual barrenness. image for a moment: a parched land, devoid of life-giving water. The Midrash then makes a striking comparison. "A serpent has a friend, and a fiery serpent has a companion, but a thirsty person has no friend." Ouch. The idea being that even the most venomous creatures find companionship, but someone consumed by spiritual thirst, someone in that desolate state, is utterly alone.

Why? Because, the Midrash suggests, wickedness, like that barren land, offers no true sustenance. "This wicked one has no friend. Therefore, she is in a dry and desolate land."

And what about us? Where does that leave us, yearning for connection and meaning in a world that often feels… well, pretty dry? The Midrash suggests that our souls, too, can become weary, longing for the life-giving waters of the Torah. We thirst for those words, that guidance, that connection. And the Midrash warns us, "we cannot be left alone." We need that connection. We crave it.

But here’s the glimmer of hope, the promise that echoes through the ages. Even in the depths of thirst, even in the most desolate landscape, there is a source of water available. As (Isaiah 41:17) reminds us: "The poor and needy seek water, and there is none; their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them."

That promise – God will not forsake them – it’s a lifeline. It suggests that even when we feel utterly alone, parched and lost in a spiritual desert, the Divine is there, listening, ready to quench our deepest thirst. It’s an invitation to seek Him early, to cultivate that connection, and to trust that even in the driest of times, we will be found. What does seeking God early mean to you?

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