Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

3:1-30 Nebuchadnezzar’s megalomania, perhaps encouraged by the vision of ch 2, inspired him to construct a gilded statue and demand that everyone in his empire worship it. He had not learned the lesson that God cannot be captured in any created thing. The three young Hebrews refused to worship it as a god. They were faithful to the Lord, and the Lord rescued them from the king’s wrath.

3:1 The plain of Dura might be the plain adjacent to the city of Babylon, or the Aramaic term might refer to the magnificent outer wall of Babylon described by the Greek historian Herodotus. • statue: Literally image.

Verse 2

3:2 The various classes of people listed here were all governmental officials.

Verse 5

3:5 Pipes could be rendered “drums,” or possibly this was a word of musical direction that indicated being “in harmony” with the other instruments.

Verse 7

3:7 all the people: Outside of Israel, idol worship was normal, so all the non-Jewish people obeyed the king’s command.

Verse 11

3:11 In some situations, the Lord’s people must refuse to obey the established authorities in order to remain faithful to the Lord (cp. Acts 4:19; 5:29; Rom 13:1-7).

Verse 12

3:12 These Jews had defied his Majesty the king, specifically by refusing to worship his statue. Defying the king was an act of high treason (cp. 2:10-13).

Verse 13

3:13 Nebuchadnezzar was capable of deadly rage against even his most honored officials (cp. 2:12, 48-49).

Verse 14

3:14 Is it true . . . ? The Aramaic word is used only here in the Old Testament. The king may have been asking, “Are your actions deliberate?”

Verse 15

3:15 I will give you one more chance: The three men’s earlier relationship to the king may have helped them get a second chance.

Verse 16

3:16-18 The three men declared their faithfulness to God above all. They were entrusting themselves to the God who had rescued the entire nation of Israel from the power of Pharaoh (Exod 18:10). God later revealed that those who remain faithful unto death will be delivered even after they have died (Dan 12:1-3).

Verse 23

3:23 In the Greek version and the Latin Vulgate, The Prayer of Azariah and The Song of the Three Jews are inserted after 3:23 (see Daniel Book Introduction, “Author and Date”).

Verse 25

3:25 walking around: The same word is used in Gen 3:8-9. • like a god (literally like a son of the gods): The king understood the being as the Lord’s angel (Dan 3:28).

Verse 26

3:26 The title Most High is often used to refer to God (e.g., 4:2, 24-25; 7:25; Gen 14:18; Num 24:16; Deut 32:8-9; Ps 73:11; Isa 14:14). In Canaanite religion, it often referred to Baal.

Verse 28

3:28 The king was surprised that God could rescue his people, but the three Hebrew men knew that their God could deliver them (3:17).

Verse 30

3:30 promoted: A related word is used in Gen 39:2. The men were rewarded for their righteousness and their faithfulness to the Lord.