Daniel 3:25 BSB — MannaFest

Daniel 3:25

“Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.

KJV

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.

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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER THREE (420)

Verses 24-25. "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and hastily arose and said to his nobles: 'Did we not cast three men in shackles into the midst of the fire?'" After the princes have been punished, the king is rebuked, in order that he may glorify God while still alive. But he questions his nobles, by whose accusation and plot he had cast the three youths into the fiery furnace, so that when they reply that they had cast three youths into the furnace, he might announce and show forth to them (what had happened).

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

Irenaeus

AGAINST HERESIES 4:20.11 (202)

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."

The Reformation1 voice

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentary on Daniel, Lecture on Daniel 3:24-25 (1561)

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.

Added by hand 2026-08-25. The founder's Christophany ruling on Daniel 3:25 requires Calvin's created-angel reading to be named respectfully beside the fourth-man-as-Christ reading; the ingest carried no Calvin row on this verse. Text verbatim from the Myers translation at CCEL.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

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.

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

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.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

21 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
עָנֵ֣ה	'a.Neh	[he was] replying	H6032 →
וְאָמַ֗ר	ve.'a.Mar	and [he was] saying	H560 →
הָֽא־	ha'-	look!	H1888 →
אֲנָ֨ה	'a.Nah	I	H576 →
חָזֵ֜ה	cha.Zeh	[am] seeing	H2370 →
גֻּבְרִ֣ין	guv.Rin	men	H1400 →
אַרְבְּעָ֗ה	'ar.be.'Ah	four	H703 →
שְׁרַ֙יִן֙	she.Ra.yin	loosed	H8271 →
מַהְלְכִ֣ין	mah.le.Khin	[they are] walking	H1981 →
בְּגֽוֹא־	be.goy'-	in [the] midst of	H1459 →
נוּרָ֔א	nu.Ra'	fire the	H5135 →
וַחֲבָ֖ל	va.cha.Val	and hurt	H2257 →
לָא־	la'-	not	H3809 →
אִיתַ֣י	'i.Tai	there	H383 →
בְּה֑וֹן	be.Hon	[is] on them
וְרֵוֵהּ֙	ve.re.Veh	and appearance his	H7299 →
דִּ֣י	di	of	H1768 →
רְֽבִיעָאָ֔ה	re.vi.'a.ya'	fourth the	H7244 →
דָּמֵ֖ה	da.Meh	[is] like	H1821 →
לְבַר־	le.var-	<obj.> a son of	H1247 →
אֱלָהִֽין׃ ס	'e.la.Hin	[the] gods	H426 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched;…
leads to
- Isaiah 41:10
  Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Joshua 1:9
  Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Psalms 66:12
  You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us into abundance.
- Psalms 23:4
  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
- Daniel 3:25–27
  “Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”
Through
Mark 16:18
they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”
leads to
- Luke 10:19
  Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- James 5:14–15
  Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
- Acts 28:3–6
  Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand.

Featured studies on this passage

On Daniel 3:25

Christophany, MannaFest

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On Daniel 3:25

Daniel, the Study Guide

"The aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods," read across church history as a Christophany: the Son present in the furnace with His own, and the fire touching only the ropes.

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