Welcome back to my study/review of The Book of Daniel. If you missed the previous parts of this study, you can find them HERE.
Daniel 3:16-23
16 Shadrach, 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, our 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. 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 filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, 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 to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.
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Many people are familiar with these verses thanks to the efforts of VeggieTales.
Here the circumstances and consequences are more serious. We’ll jump right in, looking at a note for verses 16-18 from The Pulpit Commentaries:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 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. 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. The Septuagint Version differs in several slight points from the Massoretic. “And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, we have no need to answer thee in regard to this command, for our God in the heavens is one Lord, whom we fear, who is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and will deliver us out of thy hands, and then it shall be manifest to thee that we neither serve thy gods, nor the golden image which thou hast set up do we worship.” In this version we see the sixteenth verse agrees with the Massoretic: in the next verses there are considerable differences. The Septuagint translator seems to have read some part of דתל (deḥal)instead of פלחין(paleḥeen). We cannot be certain that Κύριοςrepresents יהוה, here, from the fact that the mannerism of the translator expresses itself in a preference for rendering אלהים by Κύριος. The Septuagint has τῶν χειρῶν instead of τῆς χειρός. Not improbably the original was dual, but the dual had practically disappeared from Hellenistic Greek. There seems a reference to the creed of the Jew (Deuteronomy 6:4) and to Psalms 115:3; speaking of God as “God of heaven” occurs in the previous chapter, Psalms 115:18, and in verse 28 Daniel speaks of his God as “in the heaven.” However suitable, the first portion is yet to be put aside as an addition. The second portion of this differing clause occurs in Theodotion, and of it we shall shortly speak. There are several other less important differences over which we need not delay. Theodotion has, like the Septuagint, ἐν οὐρανοῖς,and like the Septuagint has the enclitic connection γὰρ, instead of the somewhat abrupt connection of the Massoretic, although the phrase, “in the heavens,” has thus the support of the two. The Peshitta Version has to some extent resulted from the abrupt beginning to the seventeenth verse as it appears in the Massoretic. The Peshitta renders the opening clause, “our Lord is merciful.” As in the Septuagint, so in the Peshitta, the word פִתְגַם (pith’gam)is taken as meaning “decree;” but miltha precedes it, which must be rendered, “matter of the decree.” Otherwise there is nothing worthy of notice in the Peshitta Version of these verses. Jerome begins the seventeenth verse with “ecce entre,” which is not so much a difference of reading from the Massoretic as a difference of rendering from the Authorized. It is clear that the Massoretic punctuation implies something awanting. הֵן in Biblical Aramaic means “if,” and איתי “it is,” that is, “if it be.” One feels inclined to think that, suppressed, there was some statement equivalent to “if it be his good pleasure,” thus manifesting a readiness to submit to God’s will. According to the Massoretic, what follows asserts merely the ability of Jehovah, “our God whom we worship,” to deliver his servants from the burning fiery furnace, and even from the hand of the great king himself; but there is no assertion that he will deliver them. The Septuagint Version presents a different aspect, as also Theodotion and the Peshitta. The mental attitude of the Massoretic is very different from the mood of later times. The versions, save Jerome, declare that God wilt deliver them out of the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. If they had received this assurance from God, there was in a sense less of witness-bearing to God than if they had not. The text of the Massoretic is here to be preferred. It is implied also in the meaning of the following verse. Even if God did not deliver them, still their determination is fixed—they will not worship the gods of the king, nor will they worship the golden image he has set up. It sometimes seems as if, even in our own day, we should be the better for the advent of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There is still a demand that the people of God worship the golden image in the shape of wealth. The ministers of God are, we are told, not to denounce the wrongs of the world, lest the rich be offended. Wealth is not the only form of the golden image which men may be called upon to worship; the breath of popular applause may call them to denounce employers of labour unjustly on penalty of being dismissed or held up to reprobation. It is not the side that is important, but the motive; the cause of the poor may be pleaded as unjustly as that of the rich.
First, I would remind the reader here that the note focuses on differences in interpretation between the MT and the LXX, but also that this note is written *prior* to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which shed some additional light since their discovery. We’re using older commentaries here because they’re free and online, but Daniel is definitely a book wherein I recommend reading newer scholarship, too.
It’s noteworthy to me that the three proclaimed first that their God was capable of delivering them. They did not assume their own deaths. However, they then said that even if they die, they won’t serve the idol. The way that they respond on this way seems particularly faith-filled to me.
In the previous section of verses, we discussed the possibility that Nebuchadnezzar may have seen through the scheming of the Chaldeans and wanted to give Daniel’s three friends an opportunity to avoid punishment. Here though, they not only leave him no choice, but they do so brazenly, so we might assume that the descriptions of his rage are genuine, and not a public show to meet what is expected of him. From Ellicott’s Bible Commentary:
(19) One seven times.—It is doubtful whether “seven” is used here as a round number or not. According to the Babylonian mythology, there were seven demons, named “Maskim,” who were the most formidable of the infernal powers. Perhaps the number “seven” has a reference to them, for the religious nature of the punishment favours the view that the overheating of the furnace was regarded as a religious act.
Than it was wont.—More correctly, than it was fitting. The improper heating of the furnace led to the death of the mighty men (Daniel 3:22).
(20) The most mighty men.—He selected these as being the most likely to be able to bear the unusual heat of the fire. Whether he had any expectation that some attempt at a rescue would be made does not appear. We may gather, however, that the army was present at this horrible tragedy.
(21) Their coats.—The dresses spoken of here correspond with what Herodotus tells us (i. 195) of the Babylonian costume. As far as can be determined from the etymology of the words, the “coat” was an under-clothing, which covered the whole body; the “hose” was some species of tunic—something “spread out” over the under-clothing; the “hat” (the only one of the three words of which no Hebrew root exists (see 1 Chronicles 15:27), was a sort of cloak, used probably for State occasions only.
As the note indicates, there may have been a religious significance to heating the furnace seven times what is usual. This type of subtext is why commentaries are usual in study. Another example of this type of thing is present in the Exodus of Egypt story, with the ten plagues being a victory of the God of Israel over the individual gods of Egypt. Continuing on, in TPC:
Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. The rendering of the Greek versions seems to have suffered from the interpolation of the Song of the Three Holy Children—the verses before us have been altered to prepare for the introduction of the song. The LXX. translates as follows: “Since the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace heated sevenfold more than it had previously been, the men who had been appointed, when they had bound them and brought them forward to the furnace, cast them in. Then the flame which blazed in the furnace came forth and slew the men who had bound those about Azarias, but they themselves were preserved.” Theodotion renders, “Since the word of the king was urgent, and the furnace was excessively heated, and these three men fell down bound into the burning fiery furnace, and they fell into the midst of the furnace. and walked about, singing praises to God, blessing the Lord.” There is nothing here, it may be noted, about those that bound the three friends being slain; there is also to be noted the addition, “walking about and singing praises to God and blessing the Lord.” The Peshitta also suffers, though to a less degree. The rendering with it is, “Therefore the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace blazed exceedingly, and slew the men who accused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the midst of the furnace of great fire.” Here a marvel is added, not those that threw the Hebrews into the fire were burnt, but their accusers. We must discuss separately the Song of the Three Holy Children. The furnace implied is one filled from above, but having a doorway at the side. The witnesses for the truth of monotheism and of the supreme Godhead of Jehovah were carried to the top of this furnace, and cast in amongst the fuel. We have nothing to do with how the miracle of their preservation was accomplished, we have only to do with the narrative as given. The fact that those who carried them and threw them in were killed gives proof positive of the fierceness of the heat. The fact stated in the twenty-third verse, that they fell into the midst of the furnace, excludes any supposition that they escaped by being sheltered from the fierceness of the heat. Separating the two portions of the apocryphal addition to this chapter, the song of Azarias from the united song of the three, we have a statement that “the angel of the Lord came down into the oven together with Azarias and his fellows, and smote the flame of the fire out of the oven, and made the midst as it had been a moist whistling wind; so that the fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them.”£ This abundance of detail as to the -method by which the miracle was wrought is evidence of a later time. We shall, however, leave the discussion of the date of this addition till later.
There is an interesting article on these events, from a modern Jewish perspective, that I will share below. (via chabad.org)
Four great Jewish princes occupied a prominent place in Nebuchadnezzar’s court in Babylon. They were Daniel, Chananya, Mishael and Azarya. They were descendants of the Jewish royal family and had been taken captive the first time Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem in the year 3319 (441 before the Common Era). They were quite young when they were torn away from their homes and brought to Nebuchadnezzar’s royal palace. Daniel was only fifteen years old at the time. Nebuchadnezzar well appreciated their abilities, and looked forward to making good use of them. They were to be raised in the spirit of the Babylonians, and according to the customs and manners of the nobility, so that in later years they would be able to occupy high positions at court.
These Jewish youths, however, remained true to their religion, observing the laws of Kashruth and all the other laws of the Torah. When they were presented to Nebuchadnezzar after having finished their “education,” they made such a strong impression on him, that he immediately appointed them to the highest positions in his mighty empire.
Daniel made an especially deep impression on the king, but we will not talk about him right now. We are going to tell you about the great miracles that happened to Daniel’s three friends, Chananya, Mishael and Azarya.
Nebuchadnezzar’s power became so great and boundless, that his haughtiness and pride grew to unheard of limits. He decided that all mankind must recognize him as a divine being, and must bow down to an idol that he would set up.
In the Vale of Duro, a large, empty place, Nebuchadnezzar set up a huge golden statue, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, that he had melted down from all the gold that he had robbed from Jerusalem. The terrible king chose this place, not only because of its size, but also because this was the place where the Jews were murdered wholesale, when they were brought to Babylon after the Destruction of the Beth Hamikdosh. Here, he had already once shown his “heroism” and now, again, he would demonstrate his unlimited power at the same spot.
On the king’s orders, all the ministers and courtiers of Nebuchadnezzar’s far-flung empire assembled at the place. The Jewish representatives, Chananya, Mishael and Azarya, were also present. Daniel was not at hand. The king had specially sent him on a mission to Alexandria, so as not to endanger his life, so great was the king’s affection for him.
The king’s decree was then announced: At a certain signal, accompanied by music, all present would have to fall on their faces before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Whosoever would disobey would be burned to death in a specially prepared furnace.
The signal was finally given, and the whole mass of people threw themselves to the ground in obeyance to the royal decree. That is, everyone excepting three men who remained standing, and they were, of course, Chananya, Mishael and Azarya.
A terrible anger seized the king. “How dare you disobey my orders!” he snarled. “How foolish of you to separate yourselves from the rest of my people. Who will protect you from my terrible punishment?”
“You are a powerful king,” they answered. “Our G‑d has given us over into your hands as a punishment for not keeping the Torah. We serve you devotedly, as king, but not as a god. We have only one G‑d and nothing can stop us worshipping Him alone.”
“Into the furnace with them, and burn them alive!” screamed the enraged Nebuchadnezzar.
The three faithful Jews were seized and thrown into the roaring furnace. At that moment the great miracle occurred! The Angel Gabriel came down from Heaven to protect the three pious Jews from the flames. On the outside, however; the heat of the furnace was so intense, that the idol-worshippers who had thrown these Jews into the furnace, were burned to death on the spot!
Nebuchadnezzar’s servants came running to the king in terror, and told him what had happened. The king himself ran to the furnace to witness the great wonder.
“I see four forms in the fire;” the king called out in dread and awe. “Chananya, Mishael and Azarya are walking in the midst of the fire, unharmed. Their clothes are not even singed. As for the fourth one? I have seen him once before when he brought death to Sennacherib’s complete army at the gates of Jerusalem. Only ten men remained, apart from Sennacherib, and I was one of them.”
Nebuchadnezzar called to Chananya, Mishael and Azarya to come out of the fire. There was a great sanctification of G‑d’s Holy Name when everyone saw the wonder that had saved the three pious Jews from certain death.
The king then addressed the other Jews present, who had moments earlier bowed down to the idol: “You ought to be ashamed of yourselves! You have such a powerful G‑d, and yet you are so weak as to bow down to my idol…”
The representatives of all the different nations who had witnessed G‑d’s great miracle could not recover from their solemn wonder: not even a hair of the three pious Jews was singed!
“Where did you learn such staunch devotion?” they asked in awe.
“We learned a lesson from the frogs of the second plague in Egypt,” they replied. “G‑d had commanded the frogs to enter the Egyptian ovens. These creatures did not earn reward or punishment, yet, even so, they obeyed G‑d’s command without hesitation. We Jews, whom G‑d has commanded so many times in the Holy Torah not to serve idols, are certainly duty-bound to go into fire, if necessary, to sanctify G‑d’s name.”
This great miracle made an unforgettable impression on the Jews themselves. They remained faithful to their religion, even in the idol-worshipping land of Babylon. They remained true to the one G‑d, till G‑d had mercy on them and delivered them from exile. He returned them to Eretz Yisrael where the Beth Hamikdosh was once more rebuilt in all its glory and holiness.
To this day we pray in the Selichoth Prayers with great devotion – “G‑d Who answered Chananya, Mishael and Azarya in the furnace, answer us also!”
We will say this prayer this month on the Fast of the “Tenth of Teveth, when, as on all Fast days, we will say Selichoth. And when we pray to G‑d to answer us as He answered Chananya, Mishael and Azarya, we will also be inspired by their courage and spirit of self-sacrifice.
The article is a bit of a spoiler, but I guessed that most people who study Daniel likely already knew the outcome of this event. For anyone curious about a term from the article:
Man reciting Slichot prayers at the Western Wall, 2008Another man with a shofar during the Slichot prayers, also at the Western Wall.
In the Sephardic tradition, recital of Selichot in preparation for the High Holidays begins on the second day of the Hebrew month of Elul. In the Ashkenazi tradition, in years where the first day of Rosh Hashanah begins on a Thursday or Saturday, selichot are recited from the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah. If, however, the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on a Monday or Tuesday, selichot are recited from the Saturday night more than a week before Rosh Hashanah to ensure that it is recited at least four times. This may be because originally the pious would fast for ten days during the season of repentance, and four days before Rosh Hashanah were added to compensate for the four of the Ten Days of Repentance on which fasting is forbidden – the two days of Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat Shuvah, and the day preceding Yom Kippur—and, while the fasts are observed by very few today, the Selichot that accompanied them have been retained. Alternatively, the Rosh Hashanah liturgy includes the Biblical phrase “you shall observe a burnt offering”, and like an offering which needs to be scrutinised for defects for four days, so too four days of self-searching are needed before the day of judgment.
In the Italian rite, selichot always begin on a Monday or Thursday shortly before Rosh Hashanah. If Rosh Hashanah falls on Monday, they begin the previous Monday. If Rosh Hashanah falls on a Tuesday, they begin on the Monday eight days before. If Rosh Hashana falls on Thursday, they begin the previous Thursday. If Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, they begin the Monday of that week.
Selichot refers to both the piyyutim that compose the service as well as to the service itself. In most Sephardic communities, selichot services are identical each day. However, some North African communities recited different selichot on Mondays, Thursdays and Shabbat, following the order in Siftei Renanot, while keeping the “standard” order on days without Torah Reading. In the Eastern Ashkenazic tradition, although the text and length of specific prayers varies from day to day, the overall format remains the same and is prefaced by Ashrei (Psalms 145) and the Half-Kaddish. In the Western Ashkenazic tradition, there is similarly an overall format, but it begins with Adon Olam or Lecha Hashem Ha’Tzedaka, and the Half-Kaddish follows the first set of the thirteen attributes.
Selichot are usually recited between midnight and dawn. Some recite it at night after the Maariv prayer, or in the morning before Shacharit, due to the convenience of synagogue attendance when a prayer is already taking place there.
The most popular night of Selichot in the Ashkenazi tradition is the first night, when many women and girls as well as men and boys attend the late-night service on Saturday night. In some communities, the hazzan wears a kittel and sings elaborate melodies. In some congregations, it is not unusual for a choir to participate in this first night’s service. In the Eastern Ashkenazic tradition, this night also has more Selichot than any other night prior to Rosh Hashanah eve. The other nights are sometimes more sparsely attended and those services are often led by a layperson, rather than a trained musician, and with melodies that are less elaborate than the first night.
In addition to the Selichot of the High Holiday period, the recitation of Selichot on Yom Kippur itself is the centerpiece and most important part of the liturgy, recited in all of the prayers of the day. Beginning in the late 19th Century, many communities in Eastern Europe stopped reciting Selichot except at Maariv and Neilah. Western Ashkenazic communities, as well as a small number of Eastern Ashkenazic communities, maintain the recitation of Selichot in all of the prayers of Yom Kippur. Italian rite communities recite Selichot on Yom Kippur in all of the prayers except Musaf. Sephardic communities also recite Selichot at all of the prayers of Yom Kippur, although they recite them after the Chazzan’s repetition rather than as a part of it.
The miracle happens in the next set of verses, which we shall cover in the next post.
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