Daniel 3

Three Jews survive the furnace

The king builds a golden god

1King Nebuchadnezzar built a golden statue [1] 90 feet high and 9 feet wide. [2] He put it on the plains of Dura, [3] in Babylon province.

2When it came time to dedicate the statue, he ordered officials from all provinces to attend. He sent orders out to governors, commissioners, advisors, treasurers, judges, and every other leader in provinces throughout the empire. 3So all these officials came to the dedication of the statue and watched to see what would happen.

“Bow to the statue or die”

4Someone shouted an announcement to the crowd. “This is a royal command for everyone here—for people of all nations and languages. 5You will soon hear an ensemble of horns, flutes, small lyre harps, trigon triangular harps, full harps, and drums. When the music starts, bow low and honor [4] the statue. 6Anyone who refuses to bow will be immediately escorted into a blazing furnace.” [5]

7As soon as the crowd heard the music of the ensemble, all the people who were there bowed to King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue—no matter what country they came from or what language they spoke.

Locals criticize Jewish immigrants

8Some of the Babylonians used this occasion to criticize Jewish exiles living in the land. [6]

9They told King Nebuchadnezzar, “Long live the king. 10You issued a royal decree, ordering everyone to bow and worship the golden statue when they heard the music of the ensemble. 11You said that anyone who refuses will get thrown into a blazing furnace. 12Well, it just so happens that there are some Jewish officials you put in charge of the Babylon province who won’t do that. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego don’t care what you say. They don’t worship your gods, and they won’t bow to your golden statue.”

King orders Jews thrown in the furnace

13Nebuchadnezzar flipped his lid again, this time flying into a rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He had the men arrested and brought to him.

14The king asked the men, “So tell me, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don’t worship my gods, and you won’t bow to my golden statue? 15I want you to prepare yourself. You’re going to hear horns, flutes, small lyre harps, trigon triangular harps, full harps, and drums—the entire ensemble. When you hear this, drop and worship the statue I made. If you don’t, I will immediately throw you into a blazing furnace. Do you have a god who will save you from me?

16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego told the king, “You are the king. We don’t see any point in debating the matter with you and offering a defense. 17If our God can protect us from you and save our lives, then let him do it. 18But if he doesn’t, that won’t make any difference. Believe us when we tell you that under no circumstances will we worship Babylonian gods. And we won’t worship the golden statue either.” 19Nebuchadnezzar’s demeaner quickly changed from mean to meaner. He went livid on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace stoked to seven times hotter than usual. 20He ordered some of his strongest soldiers to tie up each of the men and throw them into the furnace.

21Soldiers tied up the men who remained fully dressed, from their underclothes to their head coverings. 22The king wanted this execution done immediately. So people working the furnace cranked up the blaze. The fire was so hot that it killed the soldiers who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the flames.

23The three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego plummeted into the raging fire.

The fourth Man

24Suddenly, King Nebuchadnezzar bolted out of his chair, shocked. He said to the officials with him, “There were only three of them, right?” The officials said, “Yes, king. That’s right.” 25Nebuchadnezzar said, “I see four. There are four men. They’re untied and just walking around in there. That fourth man doesn’t look human. He looks like a god.” [7]

26The king moved toward the door into the furnace and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! You three servants of the greatest God of all, come out of there! Come on out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the furnace.

27All the officials, governors, and royal advisors gathered around the men and saw that the fire had zero effect on them. Their hair wasn’t singed, their clothes weren’t burned, and they didn’t even smell like smoke.

29So I’m making a royal decree. Anyone who badmouths the God of these men will be torn from limb to limb and their houses destroyed. [8] There is no god anywhere who can do what this God just did today when he saved these men.”

30The king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to more important assignments in the province of Babylon.

Footnotes

Intro Notes for Daniel

13:1

The writer doesn’t say if the king intended it to be a statue of himself, Babylon’s god Bel, or a representation of the statue in his dream. A Greek historian from a century after Daniel, Herodotus (about 484-424 BC) described another statue of Bel made with 22 tons (800 talents in biblical measurement) of gold: “In the temple of Babylon there is a…great sitting figure of Bel, all of gold on a golden throne, supported on a base of gold.” Bel (known as Marduk to Assyrians) was the chief god of Babylon city and of the Babylonian Empire. In the dry climate of what is now Iraq, Bel was often associated with rain and thunderstorms.

23:1

The statue stood 27 meters tall and almost 3 meters wide. In ancient Hebrew measurement, it was 60 by 6 cubits. A typical two-story house stands about 20-25 feet tall (6-8 meters). The statue stood as tall as four two-story houses stacked on top of each other. The famous Rhodes Colossus, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, stood 10 cubits taller, to a height of 108 feet (33 meters).

33:0

Dura’s location is unknown. The word shows up just once in the Bible. Here, the description uses a word that can mean “plain” or “wide valley.” There are several ruins throughout the region that fit this description and that also have a broad pedestal large enough to support a massive statue.

43:5

The word can mean: honor, worship, or show deep respect.

53:6

Nebuchadnezzar seemed to prefer fear as a motivator. After his nightmare, he ordered dream interpreters to do the impossible or he would rip off their arms and legs (Daniel 2:5, see also verse 29 for a repeat offense). Here, before anyone hints of disobeying him, he threatens them with getting burned alive. The furnace may have been the one used to melt and mold the statue. Or it may have been one used to harden mud bricks for construction. One ancient kiln-furnace in Nippur, about 50 miles (80 km) south of Babylon, was shaped like a long tunnel. Heated by charcoal, the kiln could reach 1800 degrees F (982 degrees C). That’s the high end of a cremation chamber today. Nebuchadnezzar had his seal stamped on perhaps millions of fired bricks, many in storage at the British Museum.

63:8

This story, with locals criticizing Jews and tossing them into a fire, can send the mind wandering forward some 2,500 years to Auschwitz and other cremation centers during the Holocaust.

73:25

The Aramaic term can mean: divine, deity, god, son of the gods. Some have translated the term “Son of God,” as a hint that the fourth man may have been Jesus. Other scholars say that’s a bit of a stretch, and that the grammar of the sentence doesn’t support that.

83:29

True to his terrorizing form so far in the story, Nebuchadnezzar goes straight to the nukes. He demands obedience or the end of the world for each offender.