OET interlinear DAN 3:2

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:

1. 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:

1. “The Golden Image” (NRSV, 3:1–18)

   • “Nebuchadnezzar’s Gold Statue” (NLT, 3:1–18)

2. “The Fiery Furnace” (NRSV, 3:19–30)

   • “The Blazing Furnace” (NLT, 3:19–30)

3. The GNT has four headings:

1. “Nebuchadnezzar Commands Everyone to Worship a Gold Statue” (3:1–7)

2. “Daniel’s Three Friends Are Accused of Disobedience” (3:8–18)

3. “Daniel’s Three Friends Are Sentenced to Death” (3:19–25)

4. “The Three Men Are Released and Promoted” (3:26–30)

Special Translation Problems:

1. 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)

2. 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…

Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces

• Then he sent messages to the provincial rulers/governors, magistrates, and assistant governors/rulers, and to the advisers/counselors, treasurers, judges, officers, and all the other leading men in/of the provinces, commanding/telling them

• The king then summoned the provincial leaders/rulers, the governors, magistrates, and assistant governors. He also summoned all the other provincial officials. He said to them,

• Then the king sent messengers to the officials in each of the provinces. This included the governors, magistrates, and assistant governors, as well as the advisers, treasurers, judges, and law officers, and all the other rulers of the province.

General Comment on 3:2a

The list of names includes seven types of officials. The exact work that each of these men did is uncertain and the names come from different languages.The names of these officials are transliterations of Akkadian and Old Persian terms. Goldingay (p. 65) notes that as such they do not all belong to a single ranking system. In some languages it may help to indicate the general category before the list. For example:

Then the king gave orders for all his officials to come together—the princes, governors, lieutenant governors, commissioners, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces. (GNT)

Then he called for the leaders: the governors, assistant governors, captains of the soldiers, people who advised the king, keepers of the treasury, judges, rulers, and all other officers in his kingdom. (NCV)

The author did not intend the list to be a complete or exact list of all the different people who attended the ceremony. Your language may not have as many different names for officials. In that case, you may give a shortened but more general list of names. For example:

and he commanded his governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, and his other officials to come from everywhere in his kingdom (CEV)

to attend the dedication of the statue he had set up.

• to come to dedicate the statue he had set up.

• “You^(plur) must attend a ceremony to celebrate the start of the worship of the image I have erected.”

• The king ordered them to come to a special ceremony where they would begin to worship the golden column.

General Comment on 3:2a–b

In some languages it may be natural to translate the king’s command as direct speech. For example:

Then the king sent a command to all the satraps, prefects, and governors, as well as all the advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and the rest of the provincial officials. He said, “Come to the dedication of the image that I have set up.”