What Does Daniel 6:23 Mean?

Then the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should lift Daniel up out of the pit. So Daniel came up out of the pit, and no harm was found upon him, because he leaned his weight upon his God.

Daniel 6:23 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.

THE KEY

Daniel’s “believed” carries the root of firmness: his trust holds while the den is real.

THE MEANING

The den is real, yet it does not get the final word over Daniel. His trust is reliance on God, and the absence of injury makes that reliance visible.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Trust is not a claim that danger does not exist: the den is real, and Daniel trusts God within its danger.

THE ROOT

הֵימִן

hemin

GROWS FROM

אמן

aman

To be firm or reliable; to support.

“leaned his weight upon” in this verse is hemin. The Aramaic word translated “believed” comes from ⁨אמן⁩ (aman), the root of firmness and reliability. English can make belief sound like an opinion; this root reveals trust as reliance, leaning your full weight on what is firm.

ALSO GROWS

emunah: Steadiness, trust, faithfulness.

אֱמוּנָה

This Hebrew branch shares the root and shows trust as a steady reliance, not merely an idea Daniel holds.

amen: Truly; firm, established.

אָמֵן

The familiar response carries the same root of firmness, linking Daniel’s trust with what is affirmed as reliable.

aman: To support, sustain, or confirm.

אָמַן

This verb makes the root’s image concrete: trust rests on support rather than on the absence of danger.

THE PATTERN

Trust can remain steady in danger, while deliverance reveals that danger has limits.

In God I praise his word; in God I lean my weight. I do not fear what flesh can do to me.

Psalm 56:4 · SDVTrust is voiced while threat remains present, so fear does not define the whole situation.

Who by trust wrestled down kingdoms, worked alignment, reached the promises, fenced the mouths of lions.

Hebrews 11:33 · SDVThe mouths of lions echo Daniel’s danger, while trust is associated with their power being restrained.

But the Lord stood beside me and strengthened me, so that through me the heralding might be carried to fullness, and all the nations might hear; and I was drawn out of the mouth of a lion.

2 Timothy 4:17 · SDVDeliverance from the lion’s mouth makes danger’s limit visible without denying that it was real.

THE THREAD

O love the LORD, all his faithful ones; the LORD keeps the steady ones, and repays in full the one who acts with a lifted head.

Psalm 31:23 · SDV

Daniel’s Aramaic “believed” and the Hebrew “faithful” here share the ⁨אמן⁩ (aman) root of firmness and reliability. English makes one sound like an act of belief and the other like a quality of character; the root reveals the same underlying steadiness.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us