It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;
Darius. Grotefend has read it in the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis, as Darheush, i:e., Lord-king-a name applied to many of the Medo-Persian kings in common. Three of the name occur; Darius Hystaspis, B.C. 521, in whose reign the decree, originally issued by Cyrus, was carried into effect for rebuilding the temple (Ezra 4:5; Haggai 1:1); Darius Codomanus, 336 BC, whom Alexander overcame, called "the Persian" (Nehemiah 12:22) - an expression used after the rule of Macedon was set up (a striking undesigned proof of the genuineness and authenticity of Nehemiah); and Darius Cyaxares II, between Astyages and Cyrus (Eschylus, 'Persia,' 762, 763), who is the one here meant, the king under whom Cyrus, as the subordinate prince, took Babylon, 538 BC Darius seems to have been a common name of the kings of Medo Persia, just as Pharaoh was common to many kings of Egypt, and Caesar was the common name of many Roman emperors; so that he who is called Darius here, in pagan authors is called Cyaxares II.
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes - i:e., satraps; according to Xenophon, they were set over the conquered provinces (including Babylon) by Cyrus (Xenophon, 'Cyropaedia,'
viii., 6: 1). No doubt Cyrus acted under Darius, as in the capture of Babylon; so that Daniel rightly attributes the appointment to Darius (see my remark, Daniel 5:31). Darius being given up to sensuality (according to Xenophon), probably surrendered his authority mainly to his energetic son-in-law and nephew, Cyrus, so that his reign became merged in that of Cyrus, and so has come to be unnoticed altogether by Herodotus and Ctesias. This answers the objection to Scripture drawn from the silence as to Darius in these two last authors. Daniel's authority, as a contemporary of Darius, is far above that of authors living long subsequent to the times of which they write.