Parallel DAN 3:16

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 3:16–18

In this paragraph, the three men responded to the king. The paragraph does not begin with a connector. However, the relation between the two paragraphs (3:13–15; 3:16–18) is one of contrast. If you have a natural way of showing this in your language, you can use it here. For example, in English you could begin the paragraph with the connector “But…”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

• ¶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we^(excl) do not need to defend what we did.

• ¶ The three men declared, “King Nebuchadnezzar, there is no need for us^(excl) to give you^(sing) an answer.