Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Daniel 6:29

Daniel 6:29 teaches that Daniel remains a top advisor (and perhaps even the top advisor as he was with Daryavesh HaMadi) to Koresh. It is most reasonable to assume that Daniel, as Eddie Jacobson did with Harry Truman, encouraged Koresh to permit us to return to Eretz Yisrael and rebuild the Beit HaMikdash.

Because he was cut down from his greatness in the days of Ahasuerus. As behold, Belshazzar had made three govern over his kingdom (one of whom was Daniel). And likewise Darius the Mede, as it is stated (Daniel 6:3), "And over them were three ministers, of which Daniel was one." And likewise Cyrus, as it is stated (Daniel 6:29), "And Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian." But when Ahasuerus governed, he cut him down from his greatness.

וירצהו מן הבור, “and they rushed him from the dungeon.” Tanchuma Miketz 3 applies to this the words of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi “out of a narrowly confined space into a spacious area; from darkness into bright light; from the disgrace suffered by the righteous to princedom.” All of this has been described by Solomon in Proverbs 30,32: with the words “if you have suffered disgrace you will be elevated.” We find that Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah were similarly elevated after first having suffered disgrace (compare Daniel 3,21-30 where these men are described as being thrown into a fiery furnace only to be saved from the fire miraculously. Subsequently they were elevated to high office). We find that Mordechai, after he had worn sackcloth and ashes to get the Jewish people to become penitents and to head off the evil decree of Haman (Esther 4,1 and 8,15), was subsequently elevated to be the Persian king’s first minister. Even Daniel, who was out of favour with King Darius, was thrown into a den of lions (Daniel 6,18) before being saved and subsequently raised to great influence at the court of said King. He had revealed the impending downfall of the Babylonian Empire to the Persians when he was able to decipher the meaning of the famous “writing on the wall” to King Belshazzar (Daniel 5,16). Joseph’s sudden elevation was similar and is described in Kohelet 4,14 as “from the prison house he emerged to reign,” and in the words of our sages in Shemot Rabbah 1,9, the words ועלה מן הארץ, which Pharaoh said worrying about a sudden rise to power by the Israelites (Exodus 1,10) were also inspired by the recollection of how a Jewish slave had suddenly risen to power in Egypt.”

And Daniel was there in greatness in Babylon until the first year of King Cyrus. According to the one who says that Hathach (Esther; 4:5, 6, 9, 10) is Daniel; and why was he called Hathach? Because he was cut off (חֲתָכוּהוּ) from his greatness; [according to his explanation] we must say that this is Cyrus I, who preceded Ahasuerus. But according to the one who says that all royal affairs were decided (נֶחְתָּכִים) by his orders, we must say that this Cyrus was Darius II, [who came] after Ahasuerus, and in the days of Darius the Mede, when they cast [Daniel] into the lions’ den, he was not demoted from his greatness, as it is said (6:29): “And this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” We learn that during the days of Cyrus I he was [still] in his greatness.