Danielchapter 3
30 verses · KJVDaniel book hub →
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Furnace, Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Key verse
He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
It stands in A fourth man walking in the fire, verses 24 to 27.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The king who heard about a head of gold builds an image entirely of gold, sixty cubits by six, on the plain of Dura, and orders every people to fall down at the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery and dulcimer. Three refuse, and answer the furnace with the highest note in the book: 'our God whom we serve is able to deliver us… but if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods.' The furnace, heated seven times hotter, kills the men who carry them, but Nebuchadnezzar rises astonished: 'Lo, I see four men loose… and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.' Not a hair singed.
Context
Prophecy · Daniel · Daniel overview
Where the chapter sits
Daniel 3 falls in Court narratives (chapters 1–6). The exile to Babylon; the king's dream of the statue (2); the fiery furnace (3); Nebuchadnezzar's madness and restoration (4); Belshazzar's feast (5); the lions' den (6).
The fiery furnace. ‘Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us … but if not.’
After it: Apocalyptic visions, chapters 7–12.
The whole shape of Daniel→The world behind this chapter
Daniel 3The history
The image is ninety feet tall and nine feet wide, a ratio far too thin for a human figure, which suggests a plated obelisk or a statue standing on a tall pedestal. Solid gold at that size is impossible; ancient monuments of this kind were wood or stone sheathed in gold leaf, exactly as Babylonian building inscriptions describe.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
The guest list is the real story. Satraps, governors, treasurers, judges, counselors, the whole provincial administration summoned to one field. This was a loyalty ceremony. Every officer in the empire bows at the same moment to the same object, and everyone watches everyone else do it.
The music matters too. The instrument list includes words borrowed from Greek, which some scholars treat as evidence for a later date; others point out that Greek mercenaries and traders were all over the Near East well before 600 BC, and Greek-made goods turn up in Babylonian levels. It is a genuine argument, and the chapter does not depend on how it lands.
The furnace was ordinary industrial equipment. Babylon was a brick city, mud brick sun-dried, glazed brick fired, and large kilns burned day and night. Assyrian and Babylonian texts record burning as a punishment, so nobody in that crowd thought the threat was theater.
What it meant to them
Every exile knew this pressure. Nobody was asking them to renounce their God. They were being asked to bow once, briefly, with everybody else, as a matter of civic loyalty, and to make a fuss about it was to look like a traitor rather than a believer.
The three men answer with the sentence the exile needed: our God is able to deliver us, and if He does not, we still will not bow. That separated faith from outcome. God rescued them in the fire, but their obedience was not a bet on rescue.
Sources cited
- D. J. Wiseman, Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon
- K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
- John Calvin, Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Daniel
The structure of this chapter
Places1
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. A golden image and music that commands worshipvv. 1-7
an image of gold: The image of gold stands sixty cubits by six on the plain of Dura, and the commentators set it beside chapter 2: the king who was told his golden head would pass has built a figure gold from head to foot, dream defied in metal. The state liturgy is drawn in full, the officials listed twice, the six instruments named and renamed, worship at the sound of music on pain of the furnace, and the repetitions are the satire, as the bench reads the chapter's style: idolatry as bureaucracy, faith commanded by orchestra. All the people fell down; the chapter's whole question is who did not.
Daniel 3:1
“Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold - The time when he did this is not mentioned; nor is it stated in whose honor, or for what design, this colossal image was erected. In the Greek and Arabic translationns, this is said to have occurred in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. This is not, however, in the original text, nor is it known on what authority it is asserted. Dean Prideaux (Consex. I.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Daniel 3:1
“Note, The worshippers of false gods are not wont to mind charges in setting up images and worshipping them; they lavish gold out of the bag for that purpose ( Isa. xlvi. 6 ), which shames our niggardliness in the worship of the true God. The vastness of it; it was threescore cubits high and six cubits broad.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Daniel 3:1
“But at the same time some pretense to piety was joined with it; for he pretended that he wished to worship God. Hence, also, what I formerly mentioned appears more clear, namely, -- King Nebuchadnezzar was not truly and heartily converted, but rather remained fixed in his own errors, when he was attributing glory to the God of Israel.”
John Calvin· Commentaries (1554)reformed
Daniel 3:2
“Sent to gather together the princes - It is not easy to show what these different offices were, as it is difficult to ascertain the meaning of the Chaldee words. Parkhurst analyzes them thus: - The Princes - אחשדרפניא achashdarpenaiya, from אחש Achash, great or eminent, and דר dar, “to go about freely,” and פנים panim, “the presence.” Satraps or privy counsellors who had free access to the presence of the king. The Governors - סגניא signaiya, lieutenants or viceroys, for סגן sagan, among the Hebrews, was the name of the high priest’s deputy.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Daniel 3:3
“Then the princes, the governors, and captains,....”
1 more voice on this verse
Daniel 3:3
“And they stood before the image - In the presence of the image. They were drawn up, doubtless, so as at the same time to have the best view of the statue, and to make the most imposing appearance.”
Daniel 3:4
“Then an herald cried aloud - Margin, as in Chaldee, “with might.” He made a loud proclamation. A “herald” here means a public crier. To you it is commanded - Margin, “they commanded.” Literally, “to you commanding” (plural); that is, the king has commanded. O people, nations, and languages - The empire of Babylon was made up of different nations, speaking quite different languages. The representatives of these nations were assembled on this occasion, and the command would extend to all. There was evidently no exception made in favor of the scruples of any, and the order would include the Hebrews as well as others. It should be observed, however, that no others but the Hebrews would have any scruples on the subject. They were all accustomed to worship idols, and the worship of one god did not prevent their doing homage also to another. It accorded with the prevailing views of idolaters that there were many gods; that there were tutelary divinities presiding over particular people; and that it was not im proper to render homage to the god of any people or country. Though, therefore, they might themselves worship other gods in their own countries, they would have no scruples about worshipping also the one that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. In this respect the Jews were an exception. They acknowledged but one God; they believed that all others were false gods, and it was a violation of the fundamental principles of their religion to render homage to any other.”
Daniel 3:5
“That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet - It would not be practicable to determine with precision what kind of instruments of music are denoted by the words used in this verse. They were, doubtless, in many respects different from those which are in use now, though they may have belonged to the same general class, and may have been constructed on substantially the same principles. A full inquiry into the kinds of musical instruments in use among the Hebrews may be found in the various treatises on the subject in Ugolin’s “Thesau Ant.”
Daniel 3:6
“And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth,.... Who refuses to worship it, or wilfully neglects it; which would be interpreted a contempt of it, and of the king's command: shall in the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; such as were used to burn stones in for lime, as Jarchi observes: the music was to draw, the furnace was to drive, men to this idolatrous worship; the one was to please and sooth the minds of men, and so allure them to such stupid service; the other to frighten them into obedience.”
2 more voices on this verse
Daniel 3:6
“Shall the same hour - This is the first place in the Old Testament where we find the division of time into hours. The Greeks say that Anaximander was the inventor. He had it probably from the Chaldeans, among whom this division was in use long before Anaximander was born. Be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace - This was an ancient mode of punishment among the Chaldeans, if we may credit the tradition that Abram was cast into such a fire by this idolatrous people because he would not worship their idols.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Daniel 3:6
“The literal image of Nebuchadnezzar is a typical prophecy of "the image of the beast," connected with mystical Babylon, in Re 13:14. The second mystical beast there causeth the earth, and them that dwell therein, to worship the first beast, and that as many as would not, should be killed (Re 13:12, 15). furnace--a common mode of punishment in Babylon (Jer 29:22).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Daniel 3:7
“All the people, the nations, and the languages fell down ... - All excepting the Jews. An express exception is made in regard to them in the following verses, and it does not appear that any of them were present on this occasion. It would seem that only the “officers” had been summoned to be present, and it is not improbable that all the rest of the Jewish nation absented themselves.”
B. But if not: three men who will not bow
1. (vv. 8-15)
Daniel 3:8
“Not probably in general, but as Da 3:12 states, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Why Daniel was not summoned does not appear. Probably he was in some distant part of the empire on state business, and the general summons (Da 3:2) had not time to reach him before the dedication.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Daniel 3:9
“They spake and said to Nebuchadnezzar,.... Having got access unto him, and within his hearing, they expressed themselves in the following manner: O king, live for ever; this they said to show their fidelity and hearty attachment to him, and their regard to his welfare, and the continuance of his life; and the rather to ingratiate themselves into his affections, and gain audience of him; See Gill on Dan 2:4.”
1 more voice on this verse
Daniel 3:9
“O king, live for ever - A customary form of address to a monarch, implying that long life was regarded as an eminent blessing. See the notes at Dan 2:4.”
Daniel 3:10
“Thou, O king, hast made a decree ... - See Dan 3:4-5. As the decree included “every man” who heard the sound of the music, it of course embraced the Jews, whatever religious scruples they might have. Whether their scruples, however, were known at the time is not certain; or whether they would have been regarded if known, is no more certain.”
Daniel 3:11
“And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth,.... The image; the above is the decree, this that follows the sanction of it: that he should be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace; See Gill on Dan 3:6.”
Daniel 3:13
“Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury - The word rendered “fury” means “wrath.” Everything that we learn of this monarch shows that he was a man of violent passions, and that he was easily excited, though he was susceptible also of deep impressions on religious subjects. There was much here to rouse his rage. His command to worship the image was positive. It extended to all who were summoned to its dedication. Their refusal was an act of positive disobedience, and it seemed necessary that the laws should be vindicated.”
1 more voice on this verse
Daniel 3:13
“But someone will say, "You are making sophistries." Be educated, O man, about the things which happen under Antiochus Epiphanes. While the seven brothers together with their mother were taken, they were struck with scourges and whips, but one of them answered the whips, and he said, "Why do you delay to ask and to learn?”
Hippolytus of Rome· written before 235· Commentary on Daniel 2.20.1-21.3patristic
Daniel 3:14
“Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, is it true,.... What I have heard of you, what you are charged with and accused of; surely it cannot be; so Aben Ezra and Saadiah interpret the word as we do, and all the Oriental versions: it is only used in this place: it is expressed by way of admiration, as Jacchiades observes; it being incredible to the king, what he could never believe, unless it appeared plain in his own eyes.”
1 more voice on this verse
Daniel 3:14
“Is it true--rather, as the Margin [THEODOTION], "Is it purposely that?" &c. Compare the Hebrew, Nu 35:20, 22. Notwithstanding his "fury," his past favor for them disposes him to give them the opportunity of excusing themselves on the ground that their disobedience had not been intentional; so he gives them another trial to see whether they would still worship the image.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
accused the Jews: Certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews: the Aramaic idiom is ate the pieces of, malicious accusation as devouring, a philological note Keil and the bench carry. The charge is exact and the stakes are stated by the king himself, with the taunt that frames the whole chapter: who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Nebuchadnezzar offers a second chance with the whole orchestra recited again, which the narrative's repetition makes faintly absurd, and the question he asks in scorn is the question the chapter exists to answer.
2. (vv. 16-18)
Daniel 3:16
“Note, Those that would avoid sin must not parley with temptation. When that which we are allured or affrighted to is manifestly evil the motion is rather to be rejected with indignation and abhorrence than reasoned with; stand not to pause about it, but say, as Christ has taught us, Get thee behind me, Satan.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Daniel 3:17
“If it be so--VATABLUS translates, "Assuredly." English Version agrees better with the original. The sense is, If it be our lot to be cast into the furnace, our God (quoted from De 6:4) is able to deliver us (a reply to Nebuchadnezzar's challenge, "Who is that God that shall deliver you?"); and He will deliver us (either from death, or in death, 2Ti 4:17, 18).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Daniel 3:17
“If it be so - Chaldee, איתי הן hên 'ı̂ythay - “so it is.” That is, “this is true, that the God whom we serve can save us.” The idea is not, as would seem in our translation, “if we are to be cast into the furnace,” but the mind is turned on the fact that the God whom they served could save them.”
Daniel 3:18
“But if not - That is, “if he should “not” deliver us; if it should “not” occur that he would protect us, and save us from that heated oven: whatever may be the result in regard to us, our determination is settled.” Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods ... - This answer is firm and noble. It showed that their minds were made up, and that it was with them a matter of “principle” not to worship false gods.”
1 more voice on this verse
Daniel 3:18
“And truly, all things considered, the saving of them from this sinful compliance was as great a miracle in the kingdom of grace as the saving of them out of the fiery furnace was in the kingdom of nature.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
we are not careful to answer thee: The three men's answer is the summit of confessing faith in the Old Testament: our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. Then the three words that have carried martyrs since: BUT IF NOT, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods. Faith is stated in both of its postures at once, certain of God's power, surrendered about God's plan, and obedient either way; the commentators from Henry onward mark that their obedience does not hang on their deliverance, which is what makes it worship rather than a wager.
C. The furnace heated seven times hottervv. 19-23
one seven times more: The king's face changes and the furnace is heated one seven times more than it was wont, fury doing physics no favors, since a hotter fire kills faster and the commentators note the order serves rage rather than punishment. The detail is court-precise: bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, the mightiest men of the army carrying them, and the flame slaying the executioners at the mouth, the chapter's proof before the miracle that this fire is real fire. The three fell down bound into the midst: the last the king's men see of them is men tied hand and foot in flame.
Daniel 3:20
“They were bound, that they might not struggle, or make any resistance, were bound in their clothes, for haste, or that they might be consumed the more slowly and gradually. But God's providence ordered it for the increase of the miracle, in that their clothes were not so much as singed.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Daniel 3:21
“Then these men were bound in their coats - They were seized just as they were. No time was given them for preparation; no change was made in their dress. In “autos-da-fe” of later times, it has been usual to array those who were to suffer in a peculiar dress, indicative of the fact that they were heretics, and that they deserved the flame. Here, however, the anger of the king was so great, that no delay was allowed for any such purpose, and they proceeded to execute the sentence upon them just as they were.”
Daniel 3:22
“Nebuchadnezzar himself was reserved for a further reckoning. There is a day coming when proud tyrants will be punished, not only for the cruelties they have been guilty of, but for employing those about them in their cruelties, and so exposing them to the judgments of God. The deliverance of these three faithful servants of God out of the furnace.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Daniel 3:23
“And these three men - fell down bound ... - That is, the flame did not loosen the cords by which they had been fastened. The fact that they were seen to fall into the furnace “bound,” made the miracle the more remarkable that they should be seen walking loose in the midst of the fire. In the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Latin Vulgate, there follow in this place sixty-eight verses, containing “The Song of the Three Holy Children.” This is not in the Chaldee, and its origin is unknown.”
2 more voices on this verse
Daniel 3:23
“The pain of damned sinners is more exquisite, and the smoke of their torment ascends for ever and ever, and those have no rest, no intermission, no cessation of their pains, who have worshipped the beast and his image ( Rev. xiv. 10, 11 ), whereas their pain would be soon over that were cast into this furnace for not worshipping this Babylonian beast and his image.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Daniel 3:23
“For the blessed Jeremiah in captivity was no less blessed, nor was Daniel, nor Ezra, nor the blessed Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, than if they had not fallen into captivity; for they were led into captivity in order to bring comfort to the people in their present circumstances, and to bring hope of escaping captivity. For it is the perfection of a virtuous man to sustain the fellowship of human nature with the courage of the mind, and to lead others to better things.”
Ambrose of Milan· written before 397· On Jacob and the Blessed Lifepatristic
D. A fourth man walking in the fire
1. (vv. 24-25)
Daniel 3:24
“Then, Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied - The word “astonied,” which occurs several times in our translation Ezr 9:3; Job 17:8; Job 18:20; Eze 4:17; Dan 3:24; Dan 4:19; Dan 5:9, is but another form for “astonished,” and expresses wonder or amazement. The reasons of the wonder here were that the men who were bound when cast into the furnace were seen alive, and walking unbound; that to them a fourth person was added, walking with them; and that the fourth had the appearance of a Divine personage.”
Daniel 3:25
“He answered and said, lo, I see four men loose,.... Not bound as the three were, when cast in; but quite at liberty in their hands and feet, and separate from one another.”
4 more voices on this verse
Daniel 3:25
If, then, neither Moses, nor Elias, nor Ezekiel, who had all many celestial visions, did see God; but if what they did see were similitudes of the splendour of the Lord, and prophecies of things to come; it is manifest that the Father is indeed invisible, of whom also the Lord said, "No man hath seen God at any time."
Irenaeus· written before 202· AGAINST HERESIES 4:20.11patristic
Daniel 3:25
“No doubt God here sent one of his angels, to support by his presence the minds of his saints, lest they should faint. ... A single angel was sent to these three men; Nebuchadnezzar calls him a son of God; not because he thought him to be Christ, but according to the common opinion among all people, that angels are sons of God, since a certain divinity is resplendent in them; and hence they call angels generally sons of God.”
Daniel 3:25
“Ps 34:7, 8; and the probably heathen centurion's exclamation (Mt 27:54). The Chaldeans believed in families of gods: Bel, the supreme god, accompanied by the goddess Mylitta, being the father of the gods; thus the expression he meant: one sprung from and sent by the gods. Really it was the "messenger of the covenant," who herein gave a prelude to His incarnation.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Daniel 3:25
“The Son of God - Probably he had heard David speak of him. Jesus Christ, the Angel of the covenant, did sometimes appear before his incarnation. Those who suffer for Christ, have his gracious presence with them in their sufferings, even in the fiery furnace, even in the valley of the shadow of death, and therefore need fear no evil.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Did not we cast three men bound: The king is astonied and rises up in haste with the chapter's arithmetic: did not we cast three men bound? Lo, I see FOUR men LOOSE, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. The reading this site teaches at full strength, with the older writers from the early church onward: the fourth man is the Son of God himself, the pre-incarnate Christ walking with his servants in the fire, the presence promised at Isa 43:2, when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, kept in person. The other readings are named with honor and never disparaged, the Aramaic phrase rendered literally a son of the gods, a heavenly being in a pagan king's mouth as Keil and much of the bench give it, and Calvin's created angel in his Commentary on the Prophet Daniel; what no reading removes is what the king saw, the bonds burned, the men free, and a fourth walking with them who did not go in.
2. (vv. 26-27)
Daniel 3:26
“Observe the respectful title that he gives them. When he was in the heat of his fury and rage against them it is probable that he called them rebels, and traitors, and all the ill names he could invent; but now he owns them for the servants of the most high God, a God who now appears able to deliver them out of his hand.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Daniel 3:27
“And the princes, governors, and captains - Notes, Dan 3:3. And the king’s counselors - Notes, Dan 3:24. Being gathered together, saw these men - There could be no mistake about the reality of the miracle. They came out as they were cast in. There could have been no trick, no art, no legerdemain, by which they could have been preserved and restored. If the facts occurred as they are stated here, then there can be no doubt that this was a real miracle.”
come forth, and come hither: The king calls them out as servants of the most high God, and only three come forth: the fourth is not summoned and does not exit, which the older writers note in passing awe. The inspection is official and total, princes, governors, captains and counsellors gathered as witnesses: the fire had no power on their bodies, not an hair singed, their coats unchanged, and the smell of fire had not passed on them. The only things burned were the ropes, as the bench observes: the furnace consumed exactly what bound them and nothing that was theirs.
E. The king's decree honoring the God who deliversvv. 28-30
who hath sent his angel: Nebuchadnezzar blesses the God who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and the older writers hear in his angel the Angel of the LORD of the patriarchs' deliverances, the reading that joins this verse to the Son-of-God cry of verse 25; the king's own theology is not the measure of what he saw, as the commentators note. The decree that follows protects the God it cannot yet confess exclusively, and the men who changed the king's word and yielded their bodies are promoted in the province they refused to bow in. The taunt of verse 15 has its answer on the king's own lips: there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
Daniel 3:28
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, etc. - Here is a noble testimony from a heathen. And what produced it? The intrepidly pious conduct of these three noble Jews. Had they been time-servers, the name of the true God had not been known in Babylon. What honor does the Lord put on them that are steadfast in the faith!”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Daniel 3:28
“Though he is not himself persuaded to own their God for his and to worship him, because, if he do so, he knows he must worship him only and renounce all others, and he calls him the God of Shadrach, not my God, yet he commends them for cleaving to him, and not serving nor worshipping any other God but their own.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Daniel 3:29
“Therefore I make a decree - Margin, “A decree is made by me.” Chaldee, “And from me a decree is laid down,” or enacted. This Chaldee word (טעם ṭe‛êm) means, properly, “taste, flavor;” then “judgment,” the power of “discerning” - apparently as of one who can judge of “wine,” etc., by the taste; then the sentence, the decree which is consequent on an act of judging - always retaining the idea that the determination or decree is based on a conception of the true merits of the case.”
Daniel 3:30
“Then the king promoted, etc. - He restored them to the offices which they held before the charge of disobedience and treason was brought against them. At the end of this verse the Septuagint add, “And he advanced them to be governors over all the Jews that were in his kingdom.” This may be the meaning of the latter verse. They were more likely to be set over the Jews than over the Chaldeans.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
This page carries no textual note on Daniel 3. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; John Calvin, Commentary on the Prophet Daniel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
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