Daniel lived in Babylon, far from Jerusalem, and he served the king faithfully. But some people at court were jealous of him. So they used the law against him.
The Septuagint · The passive
Daniel in the Lions’ Den
The passive in every tense: was signed, is being watched, had been warned, was thrown, will not be harmed. The grammar of decrees and of things done to people, from the court of King Darius, set out by Sophia and precisely footnoted by Philo.
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PHILO
MARCOS
Lions. I know how this one goes.
The story
From the Septuagint
King Darius made Daniel one of the three chief ministers of his whole kingdom, because Daniel was wiser and more honest than all the others. The other ministers were jealous. They watched him, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with him, except that he prayed to his God three times a day.
So they went to the king. “O king,” they said, “make a law that for thirty days nobody may pray to any god or man except you. Anyone who disobeys will be thrown into the den of lions.” The king was flattered, and the decree was signed. By the laws of the Medes and Persians, a signed decree could not be changed.
Daniel knew that the decree had been signed. But he went home, opened his window towards Jerusalem, and prayed three times a day, as he had always done. He was seen by his enemies, and he was reported to the king.
The king was very upset, and he tried all day to save Daniel. But the law could not be changed. In the evening, Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den, and a stone was rolled over the entrance and sealed with the king’s own ring. The king couldn’t eat or sleep all night.
At dawn he ran to the den. “Daniel! Has your God been able to save you?” And Daniel answered: “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths. I have not been harmed.” Daniel was lifted out of the den, and no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
From the book of Daniel, chapter 6, as it is read in the Greek of the Septuagint.
Active and passive
SOPHIA
“The king signed the decree” is active: we are interested in the king. “The decree was signed” is passive: we are interested in the decree. The passive is be + past participle, and the tense is carried by be.
DEMETRIA
So “the decree was signed” is past simple, because of was.
Why use the passive?
PHILO
Because in a court like that one, nobody wanted to say who had done what. “It has been decided.” “A decree has been signed.” “He will be thrown to the lions.” By whom? Nobody says.
SOPHIA
Philo has seen the point exactly. We use the passive when the doer is unknown, obvious, unimportant, or when we don’t want to say. If we do want to say, we add by: He was reported by his enemies.
All the tenses
MARCOS
So everything has a passive? “Daniel is being watched. Daniel has been seen. Daniel will be thrown.”
SOPHIA
Everything that has an object. Present continuous: is being watched. Present perfect: has been seen. Past perfect: had been signed. Future: will be thrown. Modal: could not be changed.
Get: an informal passive
THE CLERK
My scroll got torn on the way here.
SOPHIA
Get + past participle is an informal passive, often for things that happen by accident or that are unwelcome: got torn, got lost, got caught. In the king’s decree, of course, you would never find it.
The last line
PHILO
My favourite sentence in the whole story is passive: “No wound was found on him.” Nobody found a wound, because there wasn’t one.
Sophia’s summary
| Form | Use | From the fable |
|---|---|---|
| was / were + pp | past simple passive | The decree was signed. |
| is / are being + pp | present continuous passive | Daniel is being watched. |
| has / have been + pp | present perfect passive | I have not been harmed. |
| had been + pp | past perfect passive | He knew the decree had been signed. |
| will be / modal + be + pp | future and modal passive | He will be thrown to the lions. It could not be changed. |
| by + doer | when we want to name the doer | He was reported by his enemies. |
Practice
Answer all the questions, then press “Check my answers”. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Choose the best form
Choose the form that fits best.
1. The decree ___ by the king.
2. Daniel knew that the decree ___.
3. “Anyone who disobeys ___ into the lions’ den.”
4. A signed decree could not ___.
5. Right now, Daniel ___ by his enemies.
6. “I have not ___,” said Daniel.
B · Complete the sentence
Make the sentence passive.
7. Someone rolled a stone over the entrance. → A stone over the entrance.
8. They have sealed the den. → The den .
9. The king will reward Daniel. → Daniel by the king.
10. His enemies reported Daniel. → Daniel by his enemies.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
11. “The lions were fed by the guards every evening.”
12. “Daniel was thrown into the den by.”
13. “No wound was found on him.”
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