Passage
Then they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, doesn’t respect you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
Daniel 6:13 (WEB)
Nearby Context
Daniel 6:11 Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.
Daniel 6:12 Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king’s decree: “Haven’t you signed a decree that every man who makes a petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered, “This thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.”
Daniel 6:13 Then they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, doesn’t respect you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
Daniel 6:14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was very displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the going down of the sun to rescue him.
Daniel 6:15 Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.”
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "answered", "said", "before", "king", "daniel", "children", "captivity", and "judah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "answered" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Then they came near and spoke before..." into verse 14's "Then the king when he heard these...", so "answered" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Daniel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "answered" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.