1Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
3:1-71Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar made a gold image sixty cubits high and nearly six cubits wide. [1]
2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
He told everyone to come to its dedication ceremony.
3Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
So everyone came.
4Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
Then an official cried out, saying:
5That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
When you hear the music,
fall down and worship the golden image.
6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Whoever fails to do so, will be cast into a fiery furnace.
7Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
So when the people heard the music, they fell down and worshiped the image.
3:8-278 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.
10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
But some people went to the king and said to him,
12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Some of the Jews,
specifically Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
refused to worship the golden image. [2]
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
When they arrived, the king said to them,
Do you refuse to worship the golden image?
15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
If so, I'll cast you into the fiery furnace.
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered in unison, saying,
We don't have to answer you.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Our God will protect us from the fiery furnace.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
But even if he doesn't, we won't worship your gods.
19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
This made the king even more angry.
He commanded the furnace be made seven times as hot.
20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
And he commanded his mighty men to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fiery furnace.
21Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace.
22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
But because the furnace was so hot, the men who cast them in were burned in the flames of the fire.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
The king said to his men,
Didn't we cast those three men into the fire?
His men answered, "Yes, we did."
25He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
The king said,
Then why do I see four men walking around in the fire without being burned?
And one of them looks like the Son of God! [3]
Then he walked over to the edge of the fiery furnace and said,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come here.
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the furnace.
Not a single hair was burned, neither were their coats.
They didn't even smell smokey.
3:28-30, Cf. 2:46-4928Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
The king said,
Blessed be the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent an angel to save them. [4]
29Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
From now on, whoever says anything bad about the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their house will become a dunghill.
Because their god is the best.
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
And the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Nebuchadnezzar built a statue of gold sixty cubits high and six cubits wide. Taking a cubit to be 46 cm and assuming the depth to also be six cubits, this would give a total volume of about 120 cubic meters (depending on the shape of the statue) -- which is about half as much gold as is in the United States Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Also, why would Nebuchadnezzar, who converted to Judaism in the last chapter, make a huge statue in this chapter? That's not a very Jewish thing to do.
But some noticed that Daniel's friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) didn't worship the gold statue. So they told Nebuchadnezzar about it, who commanded that they be thrown into a fiery furnace that was seven times as hot as usual. The furnace was so hot ("exceeding hot") that it burned to death the soldiers who threw in Daniel's friends.
The fact that Daniel isn't mentioned in this chapter suggests to some scholars that it may have been written before the rest of the Book of Daniel.
Daniel's three friends were cast into a fiery furnace, but were totally unaffected -- not even a hair was singed. And they were joined by the Son of God (Jesus?), himself! At least that's who Nebuchadnezzar thought it looked like.
Nebuchadnezzar converts again to Judaism (see 2:46-49 for his first conversion) and decrees that anyone who says anything against the Hebrew god "shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill."
