And Darius {o} the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

(o) Cyrus his son-in-law gave him this title of honour, even though Cyrus in effect had the dominion.

Wesley's Notes

5:31 Darius the Mede - This was he that with Cyrus besieged and took Babylon.

King James Translators' Notes

being...: Chaldee, he as the son of, etc

about: or, now

Scofield Reference Notes

[1] Darius the Median

The biblical order of the monarchs of Daniel's time, and of the period of the captivity and restoration of Judah, is as follows:

(1) Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 604-561) with whom the captivity of Judah and the "times of the Gentiles" See Scofield Note: "Lk 21:24", See Scofield Note: "Rev 16:19", began, and who established the first of the four world monarchies. Dan 2:37,38 7:4.

(2) Belshazzar (prob B.C. 556), the Bel-shar-uzzar of the inscriptions, grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, and son of the victorious general Nabonidus. Belshazzar seems to have reigned as viceroy.

(3) Darius the Mede Dan 5:31 6:1-27 9:1. Concerning this Darius secular history awaits further discoveries, as formerly in the case of Belshazzar. He has been conjectured to be identical with Gobryas, a Persian general. This Darius was "the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans" Dan 9:1 "Ahasuerus," more a title than a name, the equivalent of the modern "Majesty," is used in Scripture of at least four personages, and is Persian rather than Median. That Darius the Mede was the "son" (or grandson) of an Ahasuerus proves no more than that he was, probably, through the seed of his mother, of the seed royal not only of Media, but also of Persia. There is but one Darius in Daniel. (See Dan 9:1.)

(4) Cyrus, with whose rise to power came fully into existence the Medo-Persian, second of the world-empires Dan 2:39 7:5

In Daniel's vision of this empire in "the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar" Dan 8:1-4 the Median power of Darius is seen as the lesser of the two horns of the ram; the Persian power of Cyrus, under whom the Medo-Persian power was consolidated, as the "higher" horn which "came up last." Under Cyrus, who was prophetically named more than a century before his birth. Isa 44:28-45:4, the return to Palestine of the Jewish remnant began. Ezra 1:1-4. See Dan 11:2, marg. ref. See Scofield Note: Dan 11:2.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

31. Darius the Median-that is, Cyaxares II, the son and successor of Astyages, 569-536 B.C. Though Koresh, or Cyrus, was leader of the assault, yet all was done in the name of Darius; therefore, he alone is mentioned here; but Da 6:28 shows Daniel was not ignorant of Cyrus' share in the capture of Babylon. Isa 13:17; 21:2, confirm Daniel in making the Medes the leading nation in destroying Babylon. So also Jer 51:11, 28. Herodotus, on the other hand, omits mentioning Darius, as that king, being weak and sensual, gave up all the authority to his energetic nephew, Cyrus [Xenophon, Cyropædia, 1.5; 8.7].

threescore and two years old-This agrees with Xenophon [Cyropædia, 8.5,19], as to Cyaxares II.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:18-31 Daniel reads Belshazzar's doom. He had not taken warning by the judgments upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he had insulted God. Sinners are pleased with gods that neither see, nor hear, nor know; but they will be judged by One to whom all things are open. Daniel reads the sentence written on the wall. All this may well be applied to the doom of every sinner. At death, the sinner's days are numbered and finished; after death is the judgment, when he will be weighed in the balance, and found wanting; and after judgment the sinner will be cut asunder, and given as a prey to the devil and his angels. While these things were passing in the palace, it is considered that the army of Cyrus entered the city; and when Belshazzar was slain, a general submission followed. Soon will every impenitent sinner find the writing of God's word brought to pass upon him, whether he is weighed in the balance of the law as a self-righteous Pharisee, or in that of the gospel as a painted hypocrite.

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verses 30-31

Here is, 1. The death of the king. Reason enough he had to tremble, for he was just falling into the hands of the king of terrors, v. 30. In that night, when his heart was merry with wine, the besiegers broke into the city, aimed at the palace; there they found the king, and gave him his death's wound. He could not find any place so secret as to conceal him, or so strong as to protect him. Heathen writers speak of Cyrus's taking Babylon by surprise, with the assistance of two deserters that showed him the best way into the city. And it was foretold what a consternation it would be to the court, Jer. 51:11, 39. Note, Death comes as a snare upon those whose hearts are overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness. 2. The transferring of the kingdom into other hands. From the head of gold we now descend to the breast and arms of silver. Darius the Mede took the kingdom in partnership with, and by the consent of, Cyrus, who had conquered it, v. 31. They were partners in war and conquest, and so they were in dominion, ch. 6:28. Notice is taken of his age, that he was now sixty-two years old, for which reason Cyrus, who was his nephew, gave him the precedency. Some observe that being now sixty-two years old, in the last year of the captivity, he was born in the eighth year of it, and that was the year when Jeconiah was carried captive and all the nobles, etc. See 2 Ki. 24:13-15. Just at that time when the most fatal stroke was given was a prince born that in process of time should avenge Jerusalem upon Babylon, and heal the wound that was now given. Thus deep are the counsels of God concerning his people, thus kind are his designs towards them.