Daniel Chapter 3
In Chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar builds a massive, golden statue and orders his officials to bow down to it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse, and are cast into a fiery furnace as punishment, but God sends an angel to save them.
Annotated Commentary with Links
In Chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar builds a mighty statue and forces all of his officials to bow down and worship it, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow down. In a rage, Nebuchadnezzar orders the three men thrown into a fiery furnace. Instead of burning, the men are saved by an Angel and Nebuchadnezzar is reminded of the power of God.
| 1Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and its width six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. | Using a cubit of 18 inches, the statue would measure 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. This is a very narrow and tall statue with strange proportions. |
| 2Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. | |
| 3Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. | |
| 4Then the herald cried aloud, “To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages, | |
| 5that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flat, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up; | |
| 6and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall the same hour be case into the middle of a burning fiery furnace.” | |
| 7Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kids of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. | |
| 8Therefor at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews. | The Chaldeans are a group of diviners who advise the king. Daniel, an exiled Jew, is in charge of the Chaldeans. (Daniel Chapter 1) |
| 9They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, “O king, live for ever! | |
| 10You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image; |
