Daniel 3:16-29

16 ¹Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

17 If this be so, ²our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^[a]

18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was ³filled with fury, and the expression of his face ⁴was changed against ⁵Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.

20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army ⁶to bind ⁷Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

21 Then these men were ⁸bound in their cloaks, their tunics,^[b] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.

22 Because the king's order was ⁹urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up ¹⁰Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell ¹¹bound into the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was ¹²astonished and rose up ¹³in haste. He declared to his ¹⁴counselors, "Did we not cast three men ¹⁵bound into the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king."

25 He answered and said, "But I see four men unbound, ¹⁶walking in the midst of the fire, and they ¹⁷are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like ¹⁸a son of the gods."

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, ¹⁹"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the ²⁰Most High God, come out, and come here!" Then ²¹Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.

27 And the ²²satraps, the prefects, the governors, and ²³the king's counselors gathered together and saw that ²⁴the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their ²⁵cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.

28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, "Blessed be the God of ²⁶Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who ²⁷has sent his angel and ²⁸delivered his servants, who ²⁹trusted in him, and set aside^[c] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than ³⁰serve and worship any god except their own God.

29 Therefore ³¹I make a decree: Any ³²people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of ³³Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ³⁴shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way."

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Daniel 3:16-29 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 3

In this chapter an account is given of a golden image made by Nebuchadnezzar; its size; and where placed, Da 3:1, a summons to all his princes, governors, and officers, to attend the dedication of it, Da 3:2,3, a proclamation commanding men of all nations to fall down and worship it, at hearing the sound of music, Da 3:4-7, an accusation of the Jews to the king, particularly Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, for not worshipping it, Da 3:8-12, the king's sending for them in rage, and threatening to cast them into a fiery furnace if they continued to disobey his will, Da 3:13-15, their answer, which showed an inflexible resolution at all events not to comply with it, Da 3:16-18 the king's order to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual, and cast them into it, which was executed; the consequence of which was, they that cast them in were destroyed through the vehement heat of the furnace, but the three Jews were unhurt, Da 3:19-23. Nebuchadnezzar's amazement at the sight of four persons, instead of three; and these loose, walking in the midst of the fire without hurt; and one of them like the Son of God, which he observed to his counsellors, Da 3:24,25, upon which he called to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, to come out of the furnace, which they did in the presence of his princes, governors, and officers, having received not the least harm in their persons or clothes, Da 3:26,27 and then the king, praising the God of the Jews, published an edict that none should speak against him on pain of death; and restored the three men to their former dignity, Da 3:28-30.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 34

1. [See ver. 12 above]
2. [ver. 15]
3. [ver. 13; Esther 7:7]
4. [Daniel 2:49]
5. [See ver. 12 above]
6. [ver. 24, 25]
7. [See ver. 12 above]
8. [See ver. 20 above]
9. Daniel 2:15
10. [Daniel 1:7]
11. [See ver. 20 above]
12. Daniel 4:19
13. Daniel 2:25
14. Daniel 4:36; Daniel 6:7
15. ver. 20, 21, 23
16. [Isaiah 43:2]
17. [Daniel 6:23]
18. [ver. 28; Job 1:6]
19. [See ver. 22 above]
20. Daniel 4:2; Daniel 5:18, 21
21. [See ver. 22 above]
22. ver. 2
23. [See ver. 24 above]
24. [Hebrews 11:34]
25. ver. 21
26. [See ver. 22 above]
27. Daniel 6:22
28. [ver. 15, 17; Psalms 34:7]
29. [Psalms 25:2]
30. [Exodus 20:3]
31. See ver. 10
32. See ver. 4
33. [See ver. 22 above]
34. Daniel 2:5

Footnotes 3

[a]. Or If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, he will deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and out of your hand, O king.
[b]. The meaning of the Aramaic words rendered cloaks and tunics is uncertain; also verse 27
[c]. Aramaic and changed

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.