Ketuvim כתובים / Hagiographa / writing

Daniyel (דניאל) Chapter 3

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The Fiery Furnace:  (3:1-30)

3:1 Nevukadnetzar 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 Bavel (בּבל).

3:2 Then Nevukadnetzar 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 Nevukadnetzar the king had set up.

3:3 Then 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 Nevukadnetzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nevukadnetzar had set up.

3:4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,

3:5 [That] at what time ye hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nevukadnetzar the king hath set up:

3:6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

3:7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down [and] worshipped the golden image that Nevukadnetzar the king had set up.

3:8 Wherefore at that time certain Kasdim (Chaldeans) came near, and accused the Yehudim.

3:9 They spake and said to the king Nevukadnetzar, O king, live forever.

3:10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image:

3:11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, [that] he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

3:12 There are certain Yehudim whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Bavel (בּבל), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy elahim (אלהין), nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

3:13 Then Nevukadnetzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Then they brought these men before the king.

3:14 Nevukadnetzar spake and said unto them, [Is it] true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, do not ye serve my elahim (אלהין), nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, 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 elah that shall deliver you out of my yadim?

3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, answered and said to the king, O Nevukadnetzar, we [are] not careful to answer thee in this matter.

3:17 If it be [so], our Elah (אלהּ) whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver [us] out of thine yad (hand), O king.

3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy elahim (אלהין), nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

The deliverance by Elohim

3:19 Then was Nevukadnetzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego: [therefore] he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that [were] in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, [and] to cast [them] into the burning fiery furnace.

3:21 Then 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.

3:22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the eish (fire) slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.

3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

3:24 Then Nevukadnetzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, [and] spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the eish (fire)? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

Theophany

3:25 He answered and said, behold, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the eish (fire), and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Bar-Elahin (בר־אלהין) (Aramic - Bar = Ben)

3:26 Then Nevukadnetzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, [and] spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, ye avadim of the Elaha-ilai (Most High G_D), come forth, and come [hither]. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, came forth of the midst of the eish (fire).

3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the eish (fire) had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of eish (fire) had passed on them.

3:28 [Then] Nevukadnetzar spake, and said, Blessed [be] the Elahahon (אלההון) of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered His avadim that trusted in Him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any eloah, except their own Elahahon (אלההון)

3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the Elahahon (אלההון) of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other eloah that can deliver after this sort.

3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, in the province of Bavel (בּבל).


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Hashem was gracious and merciful not to judge Nevukadnetzar for his idolatry act but exhibit Elah's power and dominion over the idolatries, however judgment was swift over his pride which the next dream of the fallen of strong tree in chapter 4