Whoso digs a pit shall fall therein: and he that sets a trap shall be taken therein.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 27:26 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 27
Quodvultdeus
AD 450
In the ninth vision Darius the Mede took the throne. He set up 120 satraps in his kingdom, commanded by three leaders, one of whom was Daniel, who had found favor in the king"s sight. Envious men, plotting a trick against the servant of God, convinced the king to command that for thirty days no prayer could be offered to a god or a person but only to the king, with the penalty that if someone transgressed the king"s order he would be thrown into the pit as food for the lions. Although he saw the posted decree, the prophet continued to pray to his Lord three times a day, as was his custom. They arrested him as a rebel and took him to the king, who, unable to save him from their envy, entrusted the prophet to his God, confessing that he only could save him from death, which is exactly what happened. In his distress, the king would not eat, taking neither food nor sleep, and at dawn he went in haste to see Daniel. Finding him alive and unhurt and glorifying the true God, he ordered Daniel to be taken from the pit and those who accused him to be thrown in instead, and they were immediately devoured in his presence. In these events also the prophecy was fulfilled: "One who digs a pit for his neighbor will fall into it. And one who lays a snare for his neighbor will perish in it." And our Lord Jesus, in whom all of these figures appeared, says by the mouth of the prophet, "They have dug a pit before me and have fallen in it themselves," and, "The Lord sent his mercy and his truth and has freed my life from the lions."
