For Teaching

Daniel 3: What the Passage Says

98 claims across 30 verses, in the order the chapter makes them.

Not a sermon outline. What Daniel 3 says, and what its hard words meant. The reading of it is yours.

The Chapter in a Sentence

King Nebuchadnezzar sets up a golden statue on the plain of Dura and orders everyone to bow to it at the sound of music, on pain of being thrown into a blazing furnace. Some Chaldeans accuse three Jewish officials, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, of refusing; the three tell the king they will not worship the statue whether or not their God rescues them. They are thrown into the overheated furnace, and the king sees four men walking unharmed in the fire. He calls them out, blesses their God, decrees punishment for anyone who speaks against that God, and promotes the three men.

Claim by Claim

3:1
- Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold.
- The image was sixty cubits in height.
- The image was six cubits in width.
- The king set the image up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
3:2
- Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble his officials.
- The officials summoned were the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces.
- They were summoned to come to the dedication of the image.
- Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up that image.
3:3
- The satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the image.
- Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up that image.
- They stood before the image Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
3:4
- A herald cried out with a loud voice.
- He addressed the peoples, the nations, and the languages.
- He told them that a command was given to them.
3:5
- The command was that when they heard the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, they were to act.
- The names of several of these instruments are uncertain in the original.
- At that sound they were to fall down and worship the golden image.
- Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up that image.
3:6
- Whoever does not fall down and worship is subject to the penalty.
- Such a person shall at that same moment be thrown into the middle of a burning fiery furnace.
3:7
- At that time all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, harp, and every kind of music.
- All the peoples, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshipped the golden image.
- Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up that image.
3:8
- At that time certain Chaldeans came forward.
- They brought a malicious accusation against the Jews.
3:9
- They spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar.
- They said to the king, May you live forever.
3:10
- They said the king had issued a decree.
- The decree was that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music must fall down and worship the golden image.
3:11
- They said the decree provided that whoever does not fall down and worship is to be thrown into the middle of a burning fiery furnace.
3:12
- There are certain Jews whom the king has appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon.
- These Jews are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
- The accusers said these men have paid no regard to the king.
- They said these men do not serve the king's gods.
- They said these men do not worship the golden image the king set up.
3:13
- Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
- These men were brought before the king.
3:14
- Nebuchadnezzar spoke to them.
- He asked them a question that can mean either 'Is it true?' or 'Is it deliberate?'
- He asked whether they do not serve his gods.
- He asked whether they do not worship the golden image he had set up.
3:15
- He said that if they are ready, at the moment they hear the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, they are to fall down and worship the image he made.
- He said that if they do so, it will be well.
- He said that if they do not worship, they will be thrown at that same moment into the middle of a burning fiery furnace.
- He asked who the god is that could deliver them out of his hands.
3:16
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king.
- They addressed him as Nebuchadnezzar.
- They said they had no need to answer him about this matter.
3:17
- They spoke a clause that can mean either 'if it be so' or 'if our God whom we serve exists'.
- They said the God whom they serve is able to deliver them from the burning fiery furnace.
- They said he will deliver them out of the king's hand.
3:18
- They said that if he does not deliver them, their position stands.
- They told the king to know this.
- They said they will not serve the king's gods.
- They said they will not worship the golden image the king set up.
3:19
- Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury.
- The expression of his face was changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
- He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was normally heated.
3:20
- He commanded mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
- He commanded them to throw the three into the burning fiery furnace.
3:21
- These men were bound while still wearing their clothing, including cloaks or trousers, tunics, caps, and their other garments.
- The exact identity of these garments is uncertain in the original.
- They were thrown into the middle of the burning fiery furnace.
3:22
- The king's command was urgent.
- The furnace was exceedingly hot.
- The flame of the fire killed the men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
3:23
- These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the middle of the burning fiery furnace.
3:24
- Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded.
- He rose up in haste.
- He asked his counselors whether they had not thrown three men bound into the middle of the fire.
- They answered the king that it was true.
3:25
- The king said he saw four men, unbound, walking in the middle of the fire.
- He said the men had no harm on them.
- He said the appearance of the fourth was like a divine being, the original permitting either 'a son of the gods' or 'a son of God'.
3:26
- Nebuchadnezzar came near to the opening of the burning fiery furnace.
- He called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego by name.
- He called them servants of the Most High God.
- He told them to come out and come here.
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the middle of the fire.
3:27
- The satraps, prefects, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together.
- They saw these men.
- The fire had no power over the bodies of these men.
- Not a hair of their heads was singed.
- Their garments were not altered.
- No smell of fire was on them.
3:28
- Nebuchadnezzar spoke.
- He said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
- He said that God sent his angel.
- He said that God delivered his servants who trusted in him.
- He said the men set aside the king's command.
- He said the men gave up their bodies.
- He said they did this so that they would not serve or worship any god except their own God.
3:29
- The king issued a decree.
- The decree covers any people, nation, or language that speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
- Such persons shall be cut in pieces.
- Their houses shall be made a refuse heap.
- The reason given is that there is no other god who can deliver in this way.
3:30
- The king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

3:1: A cubit was about eighteen inches, the length of a forearm, so the statue stood roughly ninety feet high and nine feet wide. That is a very narrow ratio for a human figure, and the measurement may include a base or pillar it stood on. The Aramaic word covers any upright image, whether of a god or of the king himself; the text does not say which. From 2:4 to the end of chapter 7 the book is written not in Hebrew but in Aramaic, the everyday language of the Babylonian and Persian empires.
3:2: The Aramaic titles here are a mixed set of Persian and Babylonian loanwords for imperial officials, and their exact ranks are no longer certain. The first, often translated "satrap," was the governor of a whole region of the empire; the rest descend through provincial and legal offices. The point of the long list is that the entire administration was summoned.
3:4: A herald was the official crier who announced royal orders aloud, since most people could not read and there were no other means of publishing a decree. "People of every nation and language" reflects the empire's practice of deporting and resettling conquered populations, so that a Babylonian crowd really did contain many nationalities.
3:5: Several of the Aramaic instrument names are borrowed from Greek, and their exact identification is disputed; the list mixes wind, string, and possibly ensemble terms. The last word in the Aramaic may name a bagpipe-like instrument or may mean "in concert, all together." The King James "sackbut," "psaltery" and "dulcimer" are sixteenth-century guesses at these same words.
3:6: The furnace was an industrial kiln of the kind used for firing brick and burning lime, big enough to walk into. It had an opening at the top for loading fuel and material and a door at ground level, which is why men "carry up" the prisoners in verse 22 while the king looks in at the entrance in verse 26.
3:8: In Daniel the word "Chaldean" is used two ways: for Babylonians as a people, and, as here, for a particular guild of trained scholars, diviners and astrologers attached to the court. The Aramaic phrase behind "brought charges against" is literally "ate the pieces of", an idiom for denouncing someone maliciously.
3:9: "May you live forever" was the fixed formula for opening a speech to a king, like "Your Majesty." It is court etiquette, not a wish for immortality.
3:12: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are the Babylonian names assigned to three young Judean exiles in chapter 1, whose Hebrew names were Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Renaming captives was a normal part of absorbing them into royal service.
3:16: In 1611 "careful" meant full of care, that is, anxious or worried. The line means we are not anxious about giving you an answer, or more plainly, we have no defense to offer and do not need one. It does not mean they answered carelessly.
3:17: The Aramaic of this sentence is genuinely ambiguous and has been read two ways. It can mean "if it turns out that way, the God we serve is able to rescue us," or "if the God we serve exists, he is able to rescue us," or the opening words can attach to what follows as "if our God is able, he will rescue us." Ancient and modern translators have divided over it.
3:19: "Seven times" is a set idiom for the utmost degree, not a measurement of temperature. The phrase about his face means his expression changed, the King James "the form of his visage" is simply the look on his face.
3:21: The Aramaic names for these garments are rare and their meanings uncertain; they appear to describe Persian court dress, a cloak or mantle, leg coverings or trousers, and a cap or turban. The King James "hosen" meant leggings and "hats" head coverings. The detail matters because clothing is highly flammable, which sets up verse 27.
3:22: "Carried up" reflects the shape of the furnace: the executioners had to climb to the loading opening at the top to drop the prisoners in, which put them directly over the flames.
3:24: "Astonied" is an older form of "astonished", meaning stunned or badly shaken, stronger than mild surprise.
3:25: The Aramaic phrase is "a son of the gods," or possibly "a son of God", the word for deity here is plural in form, and in this book's Aramaic that plural can mean either many gods or the single divine realm. "Son of" in Semitic idiom means "one belonging to the category of," so the phrase means a member of the heavenly beings, a divine figure. The King James "the Son of God" reflects a later Christian reading; a Babylonian king speaking here would mean a god or a supernatural being of some kind.
3:26: "Most High God" was a title used widely across the ancient Near East for the supreme deity of a pantheon, so it is a phrase a Babylonian king could naturally use, without meaning what an Israelite would mean by it.
3:27: The old King James says not a hair was "singed." Singed means burned just a little at the tips.
3:28: The word translated "angel" means simply "messenger", a being sent by God to act on his behalf. The rest of the verse says literally that they "gave over their bodies," that is, put their lives at the king's disposal rather than obey.
3:29: Dismemberment and the destruction of the offender's house were standard penalties in Babylonian and Persian royal decrees; the phrasing is a legal formula, and the King James "made a dunghill" means reduced to a rubbish or refuse heap. "Says anything against" translates a word meaning to speak carelessly or offensively, not necessarily blasphemy in a technical sense.
3:30: Promoted means the king gave them bigger and more important jobs.

Read Daniel 3