God’s Word for You
Daniel 6:1-2 Satraps
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Sunday, October 26, 2025
6:1 It seemed wise to Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2 with three administrators over them. One of them was Daniel. The satraps had to report to these three so that the king might not suffer loss.
When Darius took over in Babylon, the land was now going to be regarded as a part of Persia (Ezra 1:1; Esther 1:3; Daniel 10:1). But it still needed its own local government. Darius needed to have administrators and a way to collect taxes (to pay for that government), to keep the peace in the land, and a peace-keeping force of policemen or the local equivalent.
Critics usually take issue with these verses, which is one reason for us to notice them, although giving glory to God for preaching law and gospel to us in these verses will be our main theme.
The issue critics usually put forward is that Persia was typically divided into thirty or forty administrative districts headed by satraps. The districts might be called satrapies. Some critics point to Daniel’s number, “120 satraps,” and say, “Aha! There is an error in the book.”
We will refute the suspicion that Daniel has made an error with a few important reminders:
1, All Scripture is true and cannot be broken (John 10:35).
2, All Scripture is God-breathed (inspired) and is useful for our instruction, etc. (2 Timothy 3:16).
3, The book of Daniel is certainly a part of Holy Scripture, and is even quoted by Jesus using the author’s name (Matthew 24:15), although it is also under the usual group of the canonical books of the Bible, being a part of “Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44).
4, Daniel was written by the prophet himself, who lived in the years depicted in the book, as attested to by Jesus’ quotation—not by an anonymous writer two or three hundred years later, as critics assert. When there is a question about the interpretation of the Bible, we will take the Bible’s interpretation of itself, and most especially the words and judgment of Jesus Christ, above any critic.
5, Many criticisms of the Bible by experts and critics have been debunked later on by evidence from archaeology (such as the existence of the Hittites and other things). But archaeology does not prove the Bible, it only supports it. The Bible itself proves the truth of the Bible.
Daniel was not mistaken when he said that Darius appointed 120 satraps. Even if Nebuchadnezzar preferred twenty or thirty satraps, and if Cyrus and Xerxes later on used thirty or forty, that doesn’t mean that Darius the Mede kept himself to such a number. A man with less experience might have good reasons to divide his territory into smaller regions (therefore many more), or to use one satrap for the smaller towns and the countryside, and other satraps in the cities with duties only dealing with an individual city and its surrounding towns. This would easily account for Darius appointing three times the usual number of satraps.
Incidentally, “satrap” is a Greek word (σατράπης). In Aramaic, it is ahashdarpenaya, which reflects the Persian word (khshathapavan). This was a position that is something like a regional governor or administrator.
More importantly for us, in what way does this passage teach us law and gospel? It proclaims the law by illustrating one way that the secular government is free to administer human affairs under the Fourth Commandment. It is our duty before the world to show gratitude for our secular government and for the way that our leaders watch over us. We see that Daniel the prophet was actually made to serve in his government at this time in his old age; it is perfectly acceptable and pleasing to God for Christians to serve in the government if they are chosen to do so, or if they feel compelled by their gifts to make themselves available for such duties. It would not be wise for a pastor to do so, but Daniel was not a pastor, and was conscripted by Nebuchadnezzar for government duty before he became a prophet.
And so we see that this passage also proclaims the gospel by showing God’s concern for his people, making sure that there would be at least one man in place for a king to be instructed about the true word of God and the supremacy of God even over worldly governments. This chapter of Daniel certainly proclaims such an opportunity for instruction.
Praise God for all of his blessings, from the government on the one side (in this lifetime) and the gospel on the other side (for both this world and the next).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.