It can be a helpful exercise to look at how a particular passage of Scripture is dealt with in children's story Bibles. There will be some interpretation necessary as biblical scenes are depicted visually. There will also be things added, omitted, and changed. Sometimes there will be downright errors – but these mistakes can sometimes help us notice important things in the story.
This article looks at five versions of the story: one is a stand-alone book, I'll Pray Anyway (1994) from the Me Too! Series. The other four are from Bible story books: The Beginner's Bible (1997), The Beginner's Bible, revised edition (2005), The Candle Bible for Toddlers (2006), and The Jesus Storybook Bible (2007).
Daniel:
According to the biblical text, Daniel would have been an old man in his eighties at the time of this episode, but this doesn't come out in these stories. I'll Pray Anyway depicts Daniel as definitely a young man; Jesus Storybook Bible has Daniel with a beard but still youngish looking; the other books tend to portray all the men as bearded but generic-looking.
Prayer:
All five versions emphasize prayer, and include a picture of Daniel praying on his knees (which is explicitly mentioned in verse 10). They all contain some reference to Daniel as a faithful servant of the king. I'll Pray Anyway connects this to his praying (which the biblical text does not do): “He needed God's help to do a good job.” Candle Bible has Daniel praying for deliverance in the lions' den, which the biblical text does not.
Enemies:
All five versions refer to Daniel's enemies, but Candle Bible only mentions them after the decree has been made. Three of the books have the enemies looking in on Daniel's prayer, either through a window (I'll Pray Anyway and Beginner's Bible II) or through a door which is ajar (Jesus Storybook Bible). The window works much better, as it communicates the tension in the biblical text between Daniel's praying as a private as well as a public activity. When Daniel's enemies confront Darius, Beginner's Bible II adds the words “Let's throw Daniel into the lions' den”, although such a suggestion is left unsaid in the biblical text.
Darius:
Jesus Storybook Bible mentions Darius' name at the start, but then calls him “the king”; Beginner's Bible II is the only book out of the five to use his name throughout: the other three books merely call him “the king”. All the books except for Candle Bible refer to Darius' sorrow at having to punish Daniel and mention him going to the lions' den early in the morning.
Lions:
Naturally, all five stories show Daniel in the lions' den. Beginner's Bible I and Beginner's Bible II show just one picture of Daniel with friendly lions, while the other three books show ʻbeforeʼ and ʻafterʼ pictures: Daniel amid snarling lions, and then Daniel with friendly lions. I'll Pray Anyway, Jesus Storybook Bible, and Beginner's Bible II all have King Darius looking into the den; Beginner's Bible II is unique in that it depicts an angel (verse 22) with Daniel.
The aftermath:
Not surprisingly, perhaps, none of these stories depict the enemies being punished (verse 24). Most have some version of Darius' decree: “King Darius ordered everyone to honor and respect God” (Beginner's Bible II), “From now on, everyone in my kingdom will pray to Daniel's wonderful God!” (I'll Pray Anyway), “Daniel's God is the true God. The God who Rescues! Pray to him instead!” (Jesus Storybook Bible). It's interesting that the last two have Darius urging people to pray to Daniel's God: this reflects the initial decree that Darius made, but it isn't in the biblical text.
The meaning:
Jesus Storybook Bible is the only version that draws an explicit theological meaning from the story: “But God had not left his people”. In fact, it is more theological than the biblical text! It goes on to make a connection to Jesus: “And the time was coming when God would send another brave Hero, like Daniel, who would love God and do what God said – whatever it cost him, even if it meant he would die.”
Conclusion:
This brief study has demonstrated how easy it is to add details to the biblical text. It highlights how so often the Bible does not include the details we are expecting. For example, this story does not say what Daniel prayed for in verse 11. Chapter 9, however, may give us an insight into the content of his prayer. There Daniel prays for mercy on behalf of his people, and asks God to restore temple worship in Jerusalem.