Daniel 3:6

6 "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be ¹cast into the midst of a ²furnace of blazing fire."

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Daniel 3:6 In-Context

4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed: "To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language,

5 that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.

6 "But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire."

7 Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

8 For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews.

Cross References

• 1. Dan 3:11, 15, 21; Daniel 6:7
• 2. Jeremiah 29:22; Ezekiel 22:18-22; Matthew 13:42, 50; Revelation 9:2; Revelation 14:11

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "in the same hour"