Daniel 3:6

6 Anyone who does not bow down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."

Daniel 3:6 Meaning and Commentary

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. This is the first time that mention is made of "hours" in the sacred Scriptures; it was very probably the invention of the Chaldeans or Babylonians; for Herodotus F13 says the Greeks received the twelve parts of the day from the Babylonians.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 109.

Daniel 3:6 In-Context

4 a herald announced in a loud voice, "People of all nations, races, and languages!
5 You will hear the sound of the trumpets, followed by the playing of oboes, lyres, zithers, and harps; and then all the other instruments will join in. As soon as the music starts, you are to bow down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
6 Anyone who does not bow down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."
7 And so, as soon as they heard the sound of the instruments, the people of all the nations, races, and languages bowed down and worshiped the gold statue which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
8 It was then that some Babylonians took the opportunity to denounce the Jews.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.