What Does Daniel 6:26 Mean?
I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and stand in awe before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, and stands into the ages. His governance shall not be ruined, and his rule shall be unto the end.
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.
King James wording
King James Version
I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.THE KEY
The decree of an empire declares that its own authority ends where the living God’s indestructible kingdom begins.
THE MEANING
Every human dominion stands beneath the living God, whose life and rule do not expire. The God before whom people tremble remains established through every age, and his kingdom cannot be destroyed. Even a decree from a throne names a power beyond its reach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The highest throne is the final authority. This verse reverses that claim: the throne itself names a dominion it cannot destroy.
THE ROOT
קַיָּם
qayyām
GROWS FROM
קום
q-w-m
To stand, rise, or be established.
“stands” in this verse is qayyām. The Aramaic word rendered “stedfast” carries the image of standing: God is not merely living but remains standing through every age. Daniel 2:44 uses the same root for a kingdom that “shall stand for ever,” joining the enduring God to the kingdom that cannot be toppled.
ALSO GROWS
təqūm: It shall stand.
תְּקוּם
Daniel 2:44 uses this form for the kingdom that endures, showing the same root beneath this verse’s claim that God remains established.
haqēm: To establish or raise up.
הֲקִים
This causative branch describes making something stand, adding the sense of permanence to “stedfast.”
שָׁלְטָן
šolṭān
GROWS FROM
שלט
sh-l-ṭ
To rule or exercise authority.
The Aramaic word centers on the power to rule, not only the territory being ruled. The verse names that authority as real, yet places its duration under a kingdom that cannot be destroyed.
ALSO GROWS
šālaṭ: To rule or have power.
שָׁלַט
The verb reveals dominion as an active capacity to govern, which the verse says continues to the end.
šallîṭ: A ruler or one with authority.
שָׁלִיט
This related word turns abstract dominion into the person exercising it, sharpening the contrast between human rulers and God’s enduring rule.
THE PATTERN
God’s kingdom is marked by authority that continues to stand as the ages pass.
Your governance is a governance of all ages, and your rule is in every generation and generation.And the seventh messenger blows the trumpet, and great voices sound in heaven, saying, The governance of the world becomes the governance of our Lord and of his Anointed One, and he reigns into the ages of the ages.THE THREAD
And dominion was given to him, and weight, and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations, and tongues should serve him. His dominion is a dominion of ages, which shall not be moved away, and his kingdom which shall not be destroyed.The same Aramaic word שָׁלְטָן (šolṭān, dominion or authority) appears in both verses. Daniel 7:14 repeats the pairing of dominion that does not pass away and a kingdom that cannot be destroyed, making the root itself the bridge between the declarations.
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