The fiery furnace (chapter 3)
Main article: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Daniels companions Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow to King Nebuchadnezzars golden statue and are thrown into a fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar is astonished to see a fourth figure in the furnace with the three, one "with the appearance like a son of the gods." So the king calls the three to come out of the fire, blesses the God of Israel, and decrees that any who blaspheme against him shall be torn limb from limb.[15]
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hebrew names Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) are figures from chapter 3 of the biblical Book of Daniel. In the narrative, the three Jewish men are thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon for refusing to bow to the kings image. The three are preserved from harm and the king sees four men walking in the flames, "the fourth ... like a son of God". They are first mentioned in Daniel 1, where alongside Daniel they are brought to Babylon to study Chaldean language and literature with a view to serving at the Kings court, and their Hebrew names are replaced with Chaldean or Babylonian names.[2]
The first six chapters of Daniel are stories dating from the late Persian/early Hellenistic period, and Daniels absence from the story of the Hebrew children in the fiery furnace suggests that it may originally have been independent.[3] It forms a pair with the story of Daniel in the lions den, both making the point that the God of the Jews will deliver those who are faithful to him.[4]
Summary
Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome, late 3rd century/early 4th century.
Depicted on Moone High Cross, Ireland, 10th century
King Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image in the plain of Dura and commanded that all his officials bow before it. All who failed to do so would be thrown into a blazing furnace. Certain officials informed the king that the three Jewish youths Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who bore the Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and whom the king had appointed to high office in Babylon, were refusing to worship the golden statue. The three were brought before Nebuchadnezzar, where they informed the king that God would be with them. Nebuchadnezzar commanded that they be thrown into the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than normal, but when the king looked, he saw four figures walking unharmed in the flames, the fourth "like a son of God," meaning he is a divine being. Seeing this, Nebuchadnezzar brought the youths out of the flames, and the fire had not had any effect on their bodies. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire was on them. The king then promoted them to high office, decreeing that anyone who spoke against God should be torn limb from limb.[2]
Composition and structure
Chapters of the Book of Daniel
Daniels Answer to the King by Briton Rivière
Chapter 1: Induction into Babylon
Chapter 2: Nebuchadnezzars Dream
Chapter 3: The Fiery Furnace
Chapter 4: Nebuchadnezzars Madness
Chapter 5: Belshazzars Feast
Chapter 6: Daniel in the Lionss Den
Chapter 7: The Four Beasts
Chapter 8: The Ram, He-Goat and Horn
Chapter 9: The Seventy Weeks
Chapters 10–12: Daniels final vision
Additions to Daniel:
- Song of the Three Holy Children
- Susanna and the Elders (Daniel 13)
- Bel and the Dragon (Daniel 14)
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Book of Daniel
It is generally accepted that the Book of Daniel originated as a collection of stories among the Jewish community in Babylon and Mesopotamia in the Persian and early Hellenistic periods (5th to 3rd centuries BCE), expanded by the visions of chapters 7–12 in the Maccabean era (mid-2nd century).[5] Some researchers have concluded that Daniel is a legendary figure.[6] It is possible that the name Daniel was chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.[7] The tales are in the voice of an anonymous narrator, except for chapter 4, which is in the form of a letter from king Nebuchadnezzar.[8] Chapter 3 is unique in that Daniel does not appear in it.
Daniel 3
Daniel 3 forms part of a chiasmus (a poetic structure in which the main point or message of a passage is placed in the centre and framed by further repetitions on either side) within Daniel 2–7, paired with Daniel 6, the story of Daniel in the lions den:[9]
A. (2:4b-49) – A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth
B. (3:1–30) – Daniels three friends in the fiery furnace
C. (4:1–37) – Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar
C. (5:1–31) – Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar
B. (6:1–28) – Daniel in the lions den
A. (7:1–28) – A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth
Chapters 3 and 6 contain significant differences. The story of the fiery furnace does not include Daniel, while the story of the lions den does not include Daniels friends; the first story takes place under Nebuchadnezzar and the second under Darius; and in the first story the disobedience to the earthly ruler takes place in public, while in the second Daniel petitions God in private. The stories thus supplement each other to make the point that the god of the Jews will deliver those who are faithful to him.[4]
Genre and themes
The Three Young Men in the Fiery Furnace (15th century icon of the Novgorod school).
The legendary nature of the story is revealed by the liberal use of hyperbole – the size of the statue, the use of every kind of music, the destruction of the executioners, and the kings rage followed by his confession of the superiority of the God of Israel. The plot is a type known in folklore as "the disgrace and rehabilitation of a minister," the plot of which involves a man in a state of prosperity who is sentenced to death or prison by the plots of his enemies but vindicated and restored to honour.[10]
When Nebuchadnezzar confronts the defiant Jewish youths who refuse to submit to his will he asks them what god will deliver them from his hands. Their reply is the theological high point of the story: without addressing the king by his title, they tell him that the question is not whether they are willing to bow before the kings image, but whether God is present and willing to save.[11] When the three are thrown into the furnace the king sees four men walking in the flames, the fourth like "a son of gods,"[12] a divine being.
Interpretation
Daniels absence from the tale of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego suggests that it may originally have been an independent story. (The Talmuds (Sanhedrin 93a) explains this by saying that Daniel was out of the country at the time of the incident.)
The Hebrew names of the three youths were Hananiah (חֲנַנְיָה Ḥănanyā), "Yah is gracious", Mishael (מִישָׁאֵל Mīšā'ēl), "Who is what El is?" and Azariah (עֲזַרְיָה Ǎzaryā), "Yah has helped", but by the kings decree they were assigned Chaldean names, so that Hananiah became Shadrach (שַׁדְרַך Šaḏraḵ), Mishael became Meshach (מֵישַׁךְ Mēšaḵ) and Azariah became Abednego (עֲבֵד נְגוֹ ‘Ǎḇēḏ-Nəgō).[13]
The Chaldean names are related to the Hebrew ones, with the names El and Yah replaced by Babylonian theonyms: Šaḏraḵ may reflect Šudur Aku "Command of Aku (the moon god)",[14] Mêšaḵ is probably a variation of Mi-ša-aku, meaning "Who is as Aku is?", and Abednego is either "Slave of the god Nebo/Nabu" or a variation of Abednergal, "Slave of the god Nergal."
The word "Dura" (where the statue is erected) means simply "plain" or "fortress" and is not any specific place; the Greek historian Herodotus mentions a golden image of the god Bel in Babylon, but the gigantic size of this statue might suggest that its origins lie in folklore.[15] The statues dimensions (6×60 cubits) are linked intertextually with those of Ezra–Nehemiahs Second Temple (60×60 cubits), suggesting that the kings image is contrasted with the post-exilic place of worship for faithful Jews like Daniel.[16]
Christian liturgy
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The Greek Septuagint version of Daniel 3 includes the deuterocanonical Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children.[17] The song is alluded to in odes seven and eight of the canon, a hymn sung in the matins service and on other occasions in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The reading of the story of the fiery furnace, including the song, is prescribed for the vesperal Divine Liturgy celebrated by the Orthodox on Holy Saturday. The Latin canticle Benedicite, opera omnia Domini is based on the "song of the three youths". In the Roman Catholic Church, it is used at Lauds for Sundays and feast days. In the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, it is an alternative to the Te Deum at Morning Prayer, and is often used during Lent and Advent.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast day of the three youths, along with Daniel, is 17 December. The Orthodox also commemorate them on the two Sundays before the Nativity of Christ.
In the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the Oriental Orthodox or ancient non-Chalcedonian churches, the feast day of the three youths, along with Daniel, is commemorated on the Tuesday after the fourth Sunday of Pentecost.[18]
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod also includes Daniel and the three youths in the Calendar of Saints on 17 December.
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon",[1] the text features a prophecy rooted in Jewish history, as well as a portrayal of the end times that is both cosmic in scope and political in its focus.[2] The message of the text intended for the original audience was that just as the God of Israel saves Daniel from his enemies so that he would save the Israelites in their present oppression.[3]
The Hebrew Bible includes Daniel as one of the Ketuvim, while Christian biblical canons group the work with the major prophets.[4] It divides into two parts: a set of six court tales in chapters 1–6, written mostly in Biblical Aramaic, and four apocalyptic visions in chapters 7–12, written mainly in Late Biblical Hebrew;[5] the deuterocanonical books contain three additional sections, the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon.[6]
The books themes have resonated throughout the ages, including with the community of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the authors of the canonical gospels and the Book of Revelation. From the 2nd century to the modern era, religious movements, including the Reformation and later millennialist movements, have been deeply influenced by it.[7]
