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Daniel 3
New English Translation

Daniel’s Friends Are Tested

3 [a] King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden[b] statue made.[c] It was 90 feet[d] tall and 9 feet[e] wide. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent out a summons to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates,[f] and all the other authorities of the province to attend the dedication of the statue that he[g] had erected. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial authorities assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected. They were standing in front of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.[h]

4 Then the herald[i] made a loud[j] proclamation: “To you, O peoples, nations, and language groups, the following command is given:[k] 5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,[l] trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must[m] bow down and pay homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has erected. 6 Whoever does not bow down and pay homage will immediately[n] be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire!” 7 Therefore when they all[o] heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes,[p] and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and language groups began bowing down and paying homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

8 Now[q] at that time certain[r] Chaldeans came forward and brought malicious accusations against[s] the Jews. 9 They said[t] to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever![u] 10 You have issued an edict, O king, that everyone must bow down and pay homage to the golden statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music. 11 And whoever does not bow down and pay homage must be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. 12 But there are Jewish men whom you appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—and these men[v] have not shown proper respect to you, O king. They don’t serve your gods and they don’t pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage[w] demanded that they bring[x] Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them[y] before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my gods and that you don’t pay homage to the golden statue that I erected? 15 Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?”[z] 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar,[aa] “We do not need to give you a reply[ab] concerning this. 17 If[ac] our God whom we are serving exists,[ad] he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well. 18 But if he does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed[ae] toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders[af] to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated. 20 He ordered strong[ag] soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 21 So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes,[ah] and were thrown into the furnace[ai] of blazing fire. 22 But since the king’s command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted[aj] Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed[ak] by the leaping flames.[al] 23 But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace[am] of blazing fire while still securely bound.[an]

God Delivers His Servants

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw[ao] into[ap] the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.” 25 He answered, “But I see four men, untied and walking around in the midst of the fire! No harm has come to them! And the appearance of the fourth is like that of a god!”[aq] 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He called out,[ar] “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!”

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged from the fire.[as] 27 Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically[at] unharmed by the fire.[au] The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!

28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,[av] “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel[aw] and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring[ax] the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than[ay] serve or pay homage to any god other than their God! 29 I hereby decree[az] that any people, nation, or language group that blasphemes[ba] the God of Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego will be dismembered and his home reduced to rubble! For there exists no other god who can deliver in this way.” 30 Then Nebuchadnezzar[bb] promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Footnotes

  1. Daniel 3:1 sn The LXX introduces this chapter with the following chronological note: “in the eighteenth year of.” Such a date would place these events at about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8). However, there seems to be no real basis for associating the events of Daniel 3 with this date.
  2. Daniel 3:1 sn There is no need to think of Nebuchadnezzar’s image as being solid gold. No doubt the sense is that it was overlaid with gold (cf. Isa 40:19; Jer 10:3-4), with the result that it presented a dazzling self-compliment to the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar’s achievements.
  3. Daniel 3:1 sn According to a number of patristic authors, the image represented a deification of Nebuchadnezzar himself. This is not clear from the biblical text, however.
  4. Daniel 3:1 tn Aram “60 cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 90 feet (27.4 m) high.
  5. Daniel 3:1 tn Aram “6 cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 9 feet (2.74 m) wide.sn The dimensions of the image (90 feet high and 9 feet wide) imply that it did not possess normal human proportions, unless a base for the image is included in the height dimension. The ancient world knew of other tall statues. For example, the Colossus of Rhodes—the huge statue of Helios which stood (ca. 280-224 b.c.) at the entrance to the harbor at Rhodes and was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world—was said to be 70 cubits (105 ft or 32 m) in height, which would make it even taller than Nebuchadnezzar’s image.
  6. Daniel 3:2 sn The specific duties of the seven types of officials listed here (cf. vv. 3, 27) are unclear. The Aramaic words that are used are transliterations of Akkadian or Persian technical terms whose exact meanings are uncertain. The translations given here follow suggestions set forth in BDB.
  7. Daniel 3:2 tn Aram “Nebuchadnezzar the king.” The proper name and title have been replaced by the relative pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  8. Daniel 3:3 tc The LXX and Theodotion lack the words “that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.”
  9. Daniel 3:4 tn According to BDB 1097 s.v. כָּרוֹז the Aramaic word used here is a Greek loanword, but other scholars have argued instead for a Persian derivation (HALOT 1902 s.v. *כָּרוֹז).
  10. Daniel 3:4 tn Aram “in strength.”
  11. Daniel 3:4 tn Aram “they are saying.”
  12. Daniel 3:5 sn The word zither (Aramaic קִיתָרוֹס [qitaros]), and the words for harp (Aramaic פְּסַנְתֵּרִין [pesanterin]) and pipes (Aramaic סוּמְפֹּנְיָה [sumponeyah]), are of Greek derivation. Though much has been made of this in terms of suggesting a date in the Hellenistic period for the writing of the book, it is not surprising that a few Greek cultural terms, all of them the names of musical instruments, should appear in this book. As a number of scholars have pointed out, the bigger surprise (if, in fact, the book is to be dated to the Hellenistic period) may be that there are so few Greek loanwords in Daniel.
  13. Daniel 3:5 tn The imperfect Aramaic verbs have here an injunctive nuance.
  14. Daniel 3:6 tn Aram “in that hour.”
  15. Daniel 3:7 tn Aram “all the peoples.”
  16. Daniel 3:7 tc Though not in the Aramaic text of BHS, this word appears in many medieval Hebrew mss, some LXX mss, and the Vulgate (cf. vv. 5, 10, 15).
  17. Daniel 3:8 tc This expression is absent in Theodotion.
  18. Daniel 3:8 tn Aram “men.”
  19. Daniel 3:8 tn Aram “ate the pieces of.” This is a rather vivid idiom for slander.
  20. Daniel 3:9 tn Aram “answered and said,” a common Aramaic idiom that occurs repeatedly in this chapter.
  21. Daniel 3:9 sn O king, live forever! is a comment of typical court courtesy that is not necessarily indicative of the real sentiments of the speaker. Ancient oriental court protocol could sometimes require a certain amount of hypocrisy.
  22. Daniel 3:12 sn Daniel’s absence from this scene has sparked the imagination of commentators, some of whom have suggested that perhaps he was unable to attend the dedication due to sickness or absence prompted by business. Hippolytus supposed that Daniel may have been watching from a distance.
  23. Daniel 3:13 tn Aram “in anger and wrath”; NASB “in rage and anger.” The expression is a hendiadys.
  24. Daniel 3:13 tn The Aramaic infinitive is active.
  25. Daniel 3:13 tn Aram “these men.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid undue repetition.
  26. Daniel 3:15 tn Aram “hand,” as also in v. 17.
  27. Daniel 3:16 tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the verse-dividing atnakh from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”
  28. Daniel 3:16 tn Aram “to return a word to you.”
  29. Daniel 3:17 tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.
  30. Daniel 3:17 tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (ʾitay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ʾitay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 41, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power, thus their statement is rhetorically adapted to the perspective of the person they are addressing.
  31. Daniel 3:19 tn Aram “the appearance of his face was altered”; cf. NLT “his face became distorted with rage”; NAB “[his] face became livid with utter rage.”
  32. Daniel 3:19 tn Aram “he answered and said.”
  33. Daniel 3:20 tn This is sometimes taken as a comparative: “[some of the] strongest.”
  34. Daniel 3:21 sn There is a great deal of uncertainty with regard to the specific nature of these items of clothing.
  35. Daniel 3:21 tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.
  36. Daniel 3:22 tn Aram “caused to go up.”
  37. Daniel 3:22 tn The Aramaic verb is active.
  38. Daniel 3:22 tn Aram “the flame of the fire” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NRSV “the raging flames.”
  39. Daniel 3:23 tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.
  40. Daniel 3:23 sn The deuterocanonical writings known as The Prayer of Azariah and The Song of the Three present at this point a confession and petition for God’s forgiveness and a celebration of God’s grace for the three Jewish youths in the fiery furnace. Though not found in the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel, these compositions do appear in the ancient Greek versions.
  41. Daniel 3:24 tn Aram “we threw…bound.”
  42. Daniel 3:24 tn Aram “into the midst of.”
  43. Daniel 3:25 sn The phrase like that of a god is in Aramaic “like that of a son of the gods.” Many patristic writers understood this phrase in a christological sense (i.e., “the Son of God”). But it should be remembered that these are words spoken by a pagan who is seeking to explain things from his own polytheistic frame of reference; for him the phrase “like a son of the gods” is equivalent to “like a divine being.” Despite the king’s description though, the fourth person probably was an angel who had come to deliver the three men, or was a theophany.
  44. Daniel 3:26 tn Aram “answered and said.”
  45. Daniel 3:26 tn Aram “from the midst of the fire.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.
  46. Daniel 3:27 tn Aram “in their bodies.”
  47. Daniel 3:27 tn Aram “the fire did not have power.”
  48. Daniel 3:28 tn Aram “answered and said.”
  49. Daniel 3:28 sn The king identifies the “son of the gods” (v. 25) as an angel. Comparable Hebrew expressions are used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible for the members of God’s angelic assembly (see Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:6). An angel later comes to rescue Daniel from the lions (Dan 6:22).
  50. Daniel 3:28 tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”
  51. Daniel 3:28 tn Aram “so that they might not.”
  52. Daniel 3:29 tn Aram “from me is placed an edict.”
  53. Daniel 3:29 tn Aram “speaks negligence.”
  54. Daniel 3:30 tn Aram “and the king.” The proper name has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
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Daniel 3
The Message

Four Men in the Furnace

3 1-3 King Nebuchadnezzar built a gold statue, ninety feet high and nine feet thick. He set it up on the Dura plain in the province of Babylon. He then ordered all the important leaders in the province, everybody who was anybody, to the dedication ceremony of the statue. They all came for the dedication, all the important people, and took their places before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

4-6 A herald then proclaimed in a loud voice: “Attention, everyone! Every race, color, and creed, listen! When you hear the band strike up—all the trumpets and trombones, the tubas and baritones, the drums and cymbals—fall to your knees and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Anyone who does not kneel and worship shall be thrown immediately into a roaring furnace.”

7 The band started to play, a huge band equipped with all the musical instruments of Babylon, and everyone—every race, color, and creed—fell to their knees and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

8-12 Just then, some Babylonian fortunetellers stepped up and accused the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “Long live the king! You gave strict orders, O king, that when the big band started playing, everyone had to fall to their knees and worship the gold statue, and whoever did not go to their knees and worship it had to be pitched into a roaring furnace. Well, there are some Jews here—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—whom you have placed in high positions in the province of Babylon. These men are ignoring you, O king. They don’t respect your gods and they won’t worship the gold statue you set up.”

13-15 Furious, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be brought in. When the men were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar asked, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t respect my gods and refuse to worship the gold statue that I have set up? I’m giving you a second chance—but from now on, when the big band strikes up you must go to your knees and worship the statue I have made. If you don’t worship it, you will be pitched into a roaring furnace, no questions asked. Who is the god who can rescue you from my power?”

16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

19-23 Nebuchadnezzar, his face purple with anger, cut off Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace fired up seven times hotter than usual. He ordered some strong men from the army to tie them up, hands and feet, and throw them into the roaring furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, bound hand and foot, fully dressed from head to toe, were pitched into the roaring fire. Because the king was in such a hurry and the furnace was so hot, flames from the furnace killed the men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to it, while the fire raged around Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

24 Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm and said, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound hand and foot, into the fire?”

“That’s right, O king,” they said.

25 “But look!” he said. “I see four men, walking around freely in the fire, completely unharmed! And the fourth man looks like a son of the gods!”

26 Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the roaring furnace and called in, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the High God, come out here!”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire.

27 All the important people, the government leaders and king’s counselors, gathered around to examine them and discovered that the fire hadn’t so much as touched the three men—not a hair singed, not a scorch mark on their clothes, not even the smell of fire on them!

28 Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him! They ignored the king’s orders and laid their bodies on the line rather than serve or worship any god but their own.

29 “Therefore I issue this decree: Anyone anywhere, of any race, color, or creed, who says anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and their houses torn down. There has never been a god who can pull off a rescue like this.”

30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

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