And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first
He had been appointed one of the principal officers of state by Belshazzar, Daniel 5:29. The office to which he was now advanced seems to have been of the same sort with that conferred on Joseph by Pharaoh, Genesis 41:41. Grotius thinks these eparchs were like the præfecti prætorio in the latter part of the Roman empire. That the princes might give accounts unto them Might lay before them the state of the public accounts. They doubtless also received appeals from the princes, or complaints against them, in case of mal-administration. And the king should have no damage That he might not sustain any loss in his revenue, and that the power he delegated to the princes might not be abused to the oppression of the subjects; for by that a king, whether he thinks so or not, receives real damage; both as it alienates the affections of his people from him, and provokes the displeasure of God against him. Daniel was preferred, because an excellent spirit was in him Besides that spirit of uncommon wisdom and sagacity which was in Daniel, he had great experience in public affairs, it being now sixty-five years since he was first advanced by Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2:48. It is no wonder, therefore, that Darius should have thoughts of putting the chief management of the whole empire into his hands.