Daniel 6:14

“Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, etc.] Or “at it”f245; or “with him”; with Daniel, not so much for what he had done, but that he had not done it with more caution, or more privately, that it might not have been known: or rather, as we render it, “with himself”, that he should so rashly sign the decree, without considering the consequences of it; for he now found that he was circumvented by his princes, and that their design was not his honour and glory, but the destruction of Daniel: or the sense in general is, that what he heard was very disagreeable, afflictive, and distressing to him: and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; he resolved, if…”

“displeased with himself--for having suffered himself to be entrapped into such a hasty decree (Pro 29:20). On the one hand he was pressed by the immutability of the law, fear that the princes might conspire against him, and desire to consult for his own reputation, not to seem fickle; on the other, by regard for Daniel, and a desire to save him from the effects of his own rash decree. till . . . going down of . . . sun--The king took this time to deliberate, thinking that after sunset Daniel would be spared till morning, and that meanwhile some way of escape would turn up. But (Dan 6:15) the conspirators "assembled tumultuously" (literally) to prevent this delay in the execution, lest the…”

“Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself - That is, for having consented to such a decree without deliberation, or with so much haste - or for having consented to it at all. It is remarkable that it is not said that he was displeased with them for having proposed it; but it is clear that he saw that the guilt was his own for having given his assent to it, and that he had acted foolishly. There is no evidence as yet that he saw that the decree had been proposed for the purpose of securing the degradation and ruin of Daniel - though he ultimately perceived it Daniel 6:24; or if he did perceive it, there was no way of preventing the consequences from coming on…”

“Displeased with himself - For having made that foolish decree. To deliver him - To find out some way of delivering him. Daniel 6:20”

“6:14 The king had not thought through all the consequences of signing the law. • deeply troubled: Or very angry for being tricked. He did not want to execute his best servant.”

“was sore: The king now clearly perceived for what purpose the decree had been solicited; and was exceedingly displeased with himself that he had suffered himself to be so deluded. Dan 3:13; Mat 27:17-24; Mar 6:26; Luk 23:13-21; Joh 19:7-12 and he: He strove during the whole day, by every means, to evade or annul the edict; but the foolish constitution of his government (exactly the reverse of the happy rule for the conduct of our gracious monarch) did not allow them to pardon any person who had broken one of their decrees, however arbitrary and unreasonable. Sa2 3:28, Sa2 3:29 Daniel 6:15”