Daniel 3:17
in Daniel 3If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.
KJV
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
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This verse in Daniel 3
Commentary
13 notes on this verseVerse 17. "For behold, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of burning fire and to free us from thy hands, O king!" Where he had imagined he was frightening mere youths, he perceives in them a nature of manly courage. Nor do they speak of deliverance as delayed to the distant future, but rather they promise themselves immediate succor, asserting, "For behold, our God whom we serve is the One who is able to free us both from the fearsome flames thou threatenest and from thy hands."
This site's exposition
we are not careful to answer thee
on Daniel 3:16-18
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
For the king set before them three matters through one word, like those who contend for three prizes in a contest, so that even in one matter, having laid a trap, he might trip these boys up. But they, wishing to be defeated in nothing, genuinely answered in three statements. For they set at naught the first matter of the king, showing that the idol which was worshiped by him was not worthy of any account. Secondly, they taught the king that it is necessary to fear and worship a certain king, saying, "There is a God whom we serve, he is able to deliver us from the burning furnace of fire." [Daniel 3:17] Then thirdly, wishing to demonstrate their faith, they said, "And if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden image which you set up." [Daniel 3:18] For in this, they fortified themselves through speech, lest, after they were cast into the furnace, they would also be incinerated and the Chaldeans would have boasted and deceived the king saying, "Do not be vexed, O king, you prevailed and you took the prize from them. For they, shrieking and burning in the fire, were saying, 'We beg you, Lord and king, we will do what is commanded by you, we will worship the image.'" Therefore after death believers, who did not wish to give a place of pretext to the devil, are called martyrs, according to every way they fortified themselves. For they who believe have carried up all authority and glory to God, because he is able to deliver us, but if not we would rather gladly die than to do what is prescribed by you, Nebuchadnezzar!
And so even then, in this way the three boys, who were disciples of faith in Babylon, answered the king saying, "We have no need to answer you concerning this matter." [Daniel 3:16] Daniel, having heard these words, approved. But again they said, "There is a God whom we serve, he is able to deliver us from the burning furnace of fire and from your hands, O king." [Daniel 3:17] The Blessed Daniel, being a prophet and foreseeing what is to come, approved as being true what was spoken by them. And the boys, so that they may exhibit to the king their unsurpassable faith, added saying, "And if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not serve the golden image which you set up." [Daniel 3:18] Whom again the blessed Daniel, having heard their voice a third time, and having been amazed, crowned them in faith as speaking beautiful truths.
You see the assurance of the words which were spoken through one mouth, so that in no word may they stumble. For after the king threatened them and said, "Why do you not serve my gods and not worship the golden image which I set up?" [Daniel 3:14] They answered, "We have no need to answer you concerning this matter," [Daniel 3:16] not regarding him worthy of a defense of such a statement. Then, after the king said, "You shall be cast into the burning furnace of fire, and what god is there who shall take you out of my hands?" [Daniel 3:15] They added to the word which was spoken by the king and said, "There is a God whom we serve, he is able to deliver us from the burning furnace of fire and from your hands, O king." After the king again said, "And so, now if you are prepared, when you should hear the sound of the trumpet, pipes and lyres, harp and psaltery and all the family of musical instruments, fall down and worship the golden image." [Daniel 3:15] They said to him, "Let it be known to you O king that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden image which you set up." [Daniel 3:18]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
It was this that enabled them to look with so much contempt upon death, death in pomp, death in all its terrors: they trusted in the living God, and by that faith chose rather to suffer than to sin; they therefore feared not the wrath of the king, but endured, because by faith they had an eye to him that is invisible ( Heb. xi.
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6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
If it be so,....
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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).
IF YOU read the second chapter of the Book of Daniel, you will think that Nebuchadnezzar was not far from the Kingdom of God. His dream had troubled him, but Daniel had explained it. Then the king made this confession to Daniel, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you could reveal this secret."
IF YOU read the second chapter of the Book of Daniel, you will think that Nebuchadnezzar was not far from the Kingdom of God. His dream had troubled him, but Daniel had explained it. Then the king made this confession to Daniel, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you could reveal this secret." He acknowledged that Jehovah, the God of the Jews, was the greatest of gods, and was a great interpreter of secrets, but in a short time we find this man setting up an idol and persecuting to the death those who would not worship it. He seems, indeed, to have turned the blessing into a curse, and made the image of his dream the pattern of the idol he set up for the nation to worship, thus making that through which God had graciously revealed His power and wisdom, the very instrument of his folly and vainglory. Man's proud heart is the same in all generations and the same thing happens even today. Have you not seen in your time men seriously impressed? They could not hold their own. They seemed stricken down by the force of the Truth of God and you felt almost sure that they would become, like Saul of Tarsus, true converts, and even Apostles of the faith. But after a while they forgot it, forgot it all, and became, at last, the most bitter and determined opponents of the Truth of God before which they seemed once to bow. Every minister who has a congregation of any considerable size must have met with such people. I remember one who, being at a Prayer Meeting where there was much wrestling power with God, was so overcome that he prayed aloud and seemed to cry with all his heart for mercy—and before he left, he said that he had found it. But the next day he declared that he would never go to such a meeting again—that he had been almost caught, but he would not trust himself in such society any more.
If it be so - Thou mayest cast us into the furnace; the terror of it has no effect on our minds to induce us to alter the resolution we have taken, nor shall the fire change our purpose. We serve a God who is able to deliver us. Should he not, we are equally determined; but we are satisfied that in some way or other he will deliver us out of thy hand. Thy power cannot affect us in the kingdom of our God to which we shall ascend from thy furnace, should he permit the fire to kindle upon us. “Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s,” is a maxim of Jesus Christ; but when Caesar arrogates to himself the things that are the Lord’s, then, and in such cases, his authority is to be resisted. God does not desire Caesar’s things; Caesar’s must not have the things of God.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֣ן | hen | if | H2006 → | 19 times |
| אִיתַ֗י | ʾitai | there | H383 → | 17 times |
| אֱלָהַ֙נָא֙ | ʾelahana' | [is] God our | H426 → | 95 times |
| דִּֽי־ | di- | whom | H1768 → | 345 times |
| אֲנַ֣חְנָא | ʾanachna' | we | H586 → | |
| פָֽלְחִ֔ין | falechin | [are] paying reverence | H6399 → | 10 times |
| יָכִ֖ל | yakhil | [is] being able | H3202 → | 11 times |
| לְשֵׁיזָבוּתַ֑נָא | lesheizavutana' | to deliver us | H7804 → | 9 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4481 → | 109 times |
| אַתּ֨וּן | ʾatun | [the] furnace of | H861 → | 10 times |
| נוּרָ֧א | nura' | fire the | H5135 → | 17 times |
| יָקִֽדְתָּ֛א | yakidta' | <the> burning | H3345 → | 8 times |
| וּמִן־ | umin- | and from | H4481 → | 109 times |
| יְדָ֥ךְ | yedakh | hand your | H3028 → | 17 times |
| מַלְכָּ֖א | malka' | king O | H4430 → | 180 times |
| יְשֵׁיזִֽב׃ | yesheiziv | he will deliver | H7804 → | 9 times |
הֵ֣ןif
henH2006 →19 times
אִיתַ֗יthere
ʾitaiH383 →17 times
אֱלָהַ֙נָא֙[is] God our
ʾelahana'H426 →95 times
דִּֽי־whom
di-H1768 →345 times
אֲנַ֣חְנָאwe
ʾanachna'H586 →
פָֽלְחִ֔ין[are] paying reverence
falechinH6399 →10 times
יָכִ֖ל[is] being able
yakhilH3202 →11 times
לְשֵׁיזָבוּתַ֑נָאto deliver us
lesheizavutana'H7804 →9 times
מִן־from
min-H4481 →109 times
אַתּ֨וּן[the] furnace of
ʾatunH861 →10 times
נוּרָ֧אfire the
nura'H5135 →17 times
יָקִֽדְתָּ֛א<the> burning
yakidta'H3345 →8 times
וּמִן־and from
umin-H4481 →109 times
יְדָ֥ךְhand your
yedakhH3028 →17 times
מַלְכָּ֖אking O
malka'H4430 →180 times
יְשֵׁיזִֽב׃he will deliver
yesheizivH7804 →9 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 8:31What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
it leads to
- Psalms 118:6
The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Jeremiah 1:19
They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 56:11
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- 1 John 4:4
You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
- Isaiah 54:17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the…
- Psalms 118:6
Through
Luke 1:37For no word from God will ever fail.”
it leads to
- Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
- Mark 10:27
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
- Matthew 19:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Daniel
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2217: “Three Names High on the Muster Roll” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 2.24.1-8; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 2.22.1-5; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 2.23.1-4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Daniel; John Calvin, Commentary on the Prophet Daniel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.