DAN 3:1 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–30: God delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace

This is the only chapter in the book of Daniel where the author does not refer to Daniel himself. Scholars have debated why this might be. Possibly he was traveling somewhere else in the empire on the king’s business at this time.

The author wrote Daniel 3 in the Aramaic language. These Notes usually follow the Aramaic found in the Masoretic Text (MT). The early Greek translation of Daniel 3 is somewhat different from the Aramaic. The Greek translation includes two stories that are not in the MT. The first is called “The Prayer of Azariah” (3:24–45). The second is called “The Song of the Three Young Men” (3:50–90). These two stories are connected by a short paragraph (3:46–50). Most English versions do not include these two stories. The NJB, however, does include them. As a result the verse numbers in the NJB are different from those of most other English versions.

In some other places the Greek text of Daniel 3 differs from the Aramaic of the Masoretic Text. For example, the Greek text includes a date in 3:1 that is not in the MT. Scholars have different views on why the two texts differ. It is possible that the Greek versions may have translated from a different Aramaic original. The Notes will discuss the differences between the two texts for certain important passages.

Outline: This chapter can be divided into four parts:

1. Setting: Nebuchadnezzar commanded all his officials of Babylon to come and worship the golden image that he had set up. (3:1–7)

2. Problem: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship the image. The king threatened to kill them, but they still refused. (3:8–18)

3. Action: The king ordered his soldiers to throw the three young men into the furnace. (3:19–23)

4. Result/Outcome: God delivered the three young men from the furnace, and Nebuchadnezzar gave honor to God. (3:24–30)

The author gave prominence to Daniel 3:16–18, when the three young men proclaimed that they trusted in God to rescue them. If you have a way in your language to mark this section as important, you should use do that here

Headings:

The Notes interpret Daniel 3:1–30 as a one unit with one heading. However, in some languages it may be helpful to divide this chapter into more than one unit and to give each unit a separate heading. The following are some examples of how English versions divide the chapter into units and the headings they give for each unit:

Some versions have one heading. For example:
1. “The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace” (NIV)
2. “The Fiery Furnace” (REB)
3. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Refuse to Worship an Idol” (GW)

2. Some have two headings:

“The Golden Image” (NRSV, 3:1–18)
- “Nebuchadnezzar’s Gold Statue” (NLT, 3:1–18)
“The Fiery Furnace” (NRSV, 3:19–30)
- “The Blazing Furnace” (NLT, 3:19–30)

3. The GNT has four headings:

“Nebuchadnezzar Commands Everyone to Worship a Gold Statue” (3:1–7)
“Daniel’s Three Friends Are Accused of Disobedience” (3:8–18)
“Daniel’s Three Friends Are Sentenced to Death” (3:19–25)
“The Three Men Are Released and Promoted” (3:26–30)

Special Translation Problems:

Lists: The author liked to use lists. He repeated these lists throughout the chapter. For example:
1. the list of the names of officials (3:2, 3, 27)
2. the list of musical instruments (3:5, 7, 10, 15)
3. the phrase: “peoples, nations, and languages” (3:4, 29)
Repetition: The author also liked to repeat phrases throughout the narrative. Some of these phrases are:
1. “the image that King Nebuchadnezzar set up” (3:1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 12, 14, 18)
2. “hear the sound of the horn” (3:5, 7, 10, 15)
3. “fall down and worship” (3:5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15)
4. “burning fiery furnace” (3:6, 11, 15, 17, 20, 21, 23, 26)
5. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego” (3:12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 26, 28, 29, 30)

Each language uses repetition in its own way. These notes will discuss the significance of the repetitions in Daniel. In some languages, the repetition may not be natural. If that is true in your language, you will have to consider how best to communicate the same meaning.

Paragraph 3:1a–3:3b

Several years may have passed since the events in chapter two. In some languages it may be necessary to introduce the story with a general remark of when the story began. For example:

After some time…

Later…

3:1a

King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue

¶ One day King Nebuchadnezzar had a statue made from gold,
¶ Some time later King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his servants to build a golden column.

King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue: The king did not make the image himself. He commanded his workers to do it. If this is not clear, you may have to add implied information. Ways to translate this idea in English include:

King Nebuchadnezzar had a gold statue made (GNT) -

King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his servants to build a gold statue.

King Nebuchadnezzar caused a golden statue to be made/built.

King Nebuchadnezzar: The Aramaic phrase that the BSB translates as King Nebuchadnezzar is literally “Nebuchadnezzar the king.” Use the word order that is most natural in your language.

a golden statue: The phrase a golden statue indicates that the statue was made from gold. It was probably not solid gold. The workers more likely made it of stone or wood and covered it with a layer of gold.

statue: The dimensions of the object resemble a column or pillar. It is uncertain, however, what the statue or column represented. There are at least two possibilities:

The image represented the king. Assyrian kings set up statues of themselves as symbols of their power. Following this interpretation, the image in Daniel 3 relates back to the image in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2.
The image represented the king’s god.Lucas, p. 88. This view is supported by 3:12, 14, 18 (“who…have refused to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”). Herodotus (1:183) describes a statue of Bel in Babylon made of 800 talents of gold (22 tons). It was 12 cubits high. The king may have wanted to unify his country under one religion. He commanded everyone to bow down and worship his god.

Both (1) and (2) may be true. People may have considered the king and a particular god to be closely associated with each other. It is probably best not to be too specific.

The word that the BSB translates as statue is the same word that described the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2. However, the shape of the object implies that it did not have the same form. This was not a statue according to the usual English meaning of the word—the representation of a human figure. The dimensions of the object describe a tall pillar or column. It may have been a tall, four-sided pillar tapering toward the top, shaped like a pyramid.This is sometimes called an obelisk. Another possibility is that it was a stele, a standing stone containing an inscription or design in bas-relief. It may have been a column with a sculpture of a person on the top. Since we do not know for sure, use an expression that refers in a general way to this type of object.

3:1b

sixty cubits high and six cubits wide,

a statue ninety feet high and nine feet wide.
It was thirty meters high and three meters wide.

sixty cubits high and six cubits wide: These are the dimensions of the image, its size. In some languages it may be natural to translate this as a separate sentence. For example:

It was ninety feet high and nine feet wide.

sixty cubits high: A cubit was an ancient unit of measurement. It was based on the length of a man’s forearm from his finger tips to his elbow, about 500 millimeters. Sixty cubits is about thirty meters. It is good to use modern units of measurement. For example:

thirty meters high

ninety feet high (GNT)

You should use a measure that people in your language normally use to measure a tall object like this.

and six cubits wide: This phrase refers to the distance from one side of the image to the other. You can translate this as:

three meters wide

nine feet wide (GNT)

Again, you should use the measure that people in your culture normally use to measure the width of an object like this.

3:1c

and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

The king had this statue placed/erected in the plain called Dura, which was in the province of Babylon.
They built the column in the valley called Dura. This was in the same province as the city of Babylon.

and he set it up: The phrase set it up here indicates that the king ordered his workers to place the image in an upright position. Other ways to say this are:

He caused it to be set up

and he ordered his workers to raise/stand it up

In some languages it may be natural to begin a new sentence here. For example:

he had it set up (GNT)

on the plain of Dura: The word plain refers to a broad expanse of flat land. In some languages this term contrasts with hilly or mountainous regions.

Dura: The name of the plain was Dura. People probably named the plain after a nearby city or a place called Dura. Some ways to translate this are:

Dura Valley (CEV)

the plain called Dura

in the province of Babylon: The king had divided the empire into provinces. Each province had a governor, who administered the province for the king. In this context, the province included the capital city of Babylon. Other ways to translate this are:

the province that included the city of Babylon

Babylon province

Your country may have a different word for this unit of government. Some nations have “states.” Others have “regions.” Use a word in your language that most naturally corresponds to a province. In some languages it may be necessary to say something like:

near the city of Babylon (CEV)

near the area of Babylon

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.