DARIUS (da-ri'us) or rather Darjavesh (Gr. Aapeioc, hence the Roman and modern form of the name; Old Persian Darayava'ush; daw-reh-yaw-vaysh'),the name under which three Medo-Persian kings are mentioned in the Old Testament.
The original form of the name, to which the Hebrew and Greek words are only approxima tions, has been read by Grotefend, in the cunei form inscriptions of Persepolis, as Darheush, or Dad eush (Ileeren's /deen, i p. 33o) (1) Darius the Mede. The first Darius is 'Darjavesh, the son of Achashverosh, of the seed of the Medes,' in the book of Dan. ix :t. Much difference of opinion has prevailed as to the person here intended ; but it appears from the passages in v :3o, 31; vi :28 that Darjavesh, the Mede, obtained the dominion over Babylon on the death of Belshazzar, who was the last Chaldean ruler (see BELShAZZAR), and that he was the immediate predecessor of Koresh (Cy rus) in the sovereignty. The historical juncture here defined belongs, therefore, to the period when the Nledo-Persian army, led by Cyrus, took Babylon (A. D. 538) ; and Darjavesh, the Mede, must denote the first king of a foreign dynasty who assumed the dominion over the Babylonian empire before Cyrus. These indications all con cur in the person of Cyaxares the Second, the son and successor of Astyages (see A n Ast:Exus) and the immediate predecessor of Cyrus.
I. A. Pinches, Hastings' Bib. Diet • coin r 'vents this opinion. Ile says: "The passage in Dan. v : 31, where he is described as having received the kingdom (Revised Version) leads one to ask whether, in spite of the title of king which is given to him (yi :6. 7, etc.), he may not have been really governor only In the Greek his torians and in the Bab. Chronicle the name of Darius the Mede does not occur, he who preceded Cyrus to Babylon, on the occasion of the siege and capture of that city. being Gobryas, who may thus be regarded as having 'received the kingdom for him ' Gobr•as. like Darius the Nlede appointed governors in Babylon. and seems also tt, have been in the attack which resulted in Bel ehazzar's death (Bab. Chronicle, Rev. col. i:t,
--). it will thus be seen that Cyrus gave great power to Gobryas, who was, in fact, his viceroy. Apparently, therefore, the later Jewish writers looked upon Gobryas as having as much author ity as Belshazzar, whom they regarded likewise as king, though he does not appear ever to have reigned. The confusion of the names of Darius the Mede and Gobryas of Gutium (he being gov ernor of that place, which is regarded as having included a part of Media), may have been due to the scribes, who, being more familiar with the Greek form of the name of Darius (the end of which, when carelessly pronounced, bears a cer tain resemblance to that of Gobryas in that lan guage) than with the Hebrew form Daryawesh, wrote one name for the other ; and there is also the possibility that one of Gobryas' names was Darius, which would account for the mistake." In this view J. F. McCurdy, Barnes' Bib. Diet.. concurs, saying it is impossible to make any other identification.
(2) Darius Hystaspis. The second 'Dar iavesh king of Persia, is mentioned in the book of Ezra (iv-vii.) in Haggai, and in Zechariah, as the king who, in the second year of his reign, effected the execution of those decrees of Cyrus which granted the Jews the liberty to rebuild the tem ple, the fulfillment of which had been obstructed by the malicious representations which their ene mies had made to the immediate successors of Cyrus. It is agreed that this prince was Darius Hystaspis, who succeeded the usurper Smerdis (B. C. 521) and reigned thirty-six years.
(3) Darius Nothus. The third, 'Darjavesh the Persian,' occurs in Neh. xii :22. in a passage which merely states that the succession of priests was registered up to his reign. It is commonly be lieved that this king was Darius Nothus, who came to the throne (B. C. 423), and reigned nine teen years.
Darius Codomannus is evidently the Persian king alluded to in t Mace. J. N.