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The Three Men Loyal to Jehovah
v. 1. Nebuchadnezzar, the king, at some later period of his reign, made an image of gold, an immense idol figure, probably in the form of a human being, whose height was threescore cubits and the breadth thereof six cubits, that is, its height with its pedestal was about ninety feet and its width nine feet; he set it up in the Plain of Dura, very likely in the level country east of the Tigris, or in a smaller valley near the capital, in the province of Babylon.
v. 2. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king, sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, executive officers of superior rank with both civil and military duties, the judges, or chief officers of administration, the treasurers, the financial directors or managers of the public treasury, the counselors, those learned in the law, the sheriffs, the inferior judges, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up, to have a great celebration in honor of the occasion, all the officials of the empire being the king's guests during the festival.
v. 3. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up, proudly obedient to the king's summons; and they stood before, over against, the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, ready to take part in all the ceremonies of the dedication, since the picture was a symbol of Babylon's world power and of the king's divine majesty, as they believed.
v. 4. Then an herald cried aloud, literally, "with might," raising his voice to reach all the members of the assembled multitude, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, this evidently being a formula. used in the official edicts of the Chaldean Empire, by which the sovereign addressed himself to all the subjects of his great empire,
v. 5. that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, the horn or tuba of the ancients, flute, the reed-flute, or shepherd's pipe, harp, a small four-stringed harp like a zither, sackbut, a triangular stringed instrument, psaltery, another kind of harp, dulcimer, a bappipe consisting of two pipes thrust through a leathern bag, and all kinds of music, the enumeration being characteristic of the pompous language used by a world ruler, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, hath set up;
v. 6. and whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. This mode of punishment was in use among the Babylonians, and since all men were required to fall on their faces in the act of adoration, it would be all the easier to pick out all such as might refuse to obey the king's decree.
v. 7. Therefore at that time, in accordance with the announcement of the herald, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, represented here by their respective rulers, the nations, and the languages, as many as had appeared for the great celebration, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up. It is to be noted here that, whereas most of the heathen nations tolerated the gods of the countries conquered by them, they at the same time required of the subdued people a greater veneration for their own gods, whose superiority they considered fully established by the fact of their being victors.
v. 8. Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans, who were filled with jealousy on account of the promotion of the strangers, while they were obliged to be satisfied with inferior positions, came near and accused the Jews, literally, "they ate their pieces of flesh," a term used in the Aramaic for slandering, for casting hateful suspicions.
v. 9. They spake and said to the King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever! this being the ordinary form of address in Babylonia.
v. 10. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, issued an unmistakable order, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and an kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;
v. 11. and whoso falleth not down and worshipeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
v. 12. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, who, therefore, as the accusers intimate, were under special obligations toward the king as their benefactor, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, whose influence and example were of such great importance, have not regarded thee, paying no attention to his commands; they serve not thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. What made the behavior of these Chaldeans so particularly odious at this time was the fact that they used this one instance of disobedience to the king's command on the part of the Jewish officials as an occasion for removing them from their offices, that, in other words, envy was the one motive which caused them to take such steps at this time. "The mention of their exalted official rank was designed to emphasize the dangerous feature connected with the disobedience of such men to the royal command and also to direct attention to the blackness of their ingratitude toward their royal benefactor. "
v. 13. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, in the extreme violence of his anger, commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, to have them delivered into his presence at once. Then they brought these men before the king.
v. 14. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, literally, "With deliberate, evil intent are ye not serving my god?" nor worship the golden image which I have set up? His gods were here taken together and represented under the golden image, and Nebuchadnezzar construed the absence of the three men from the festive assembly as an endeavor purposely to avoid any participation in the ceremonies.
v. 15. Now, if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well, the completion of the conditional clause being omitted in the Aramaic, as in Exo_32:32; Luk_13:9; but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? This was not a direct blasphemy of the true God, but it was a very presumptive statement, since the king thereby declared the deliverance from the fiery furnace to be a work which no god was able to perform.
v. 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, the directness of their address giving added emphasis to their statement, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter, that is, they did not consider it necessary to search for a reasonable excuse or explanation.
v. 17. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, rather, "If our God is able to deliver us," and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. This was not casting doubt upon the strength and ability of the Lord to help them; it only left the matter under the disposition of the gracious and good will of Him whose actions are always right and good.
v. 18. But if not, that is, if a deliverance is not in agreement with His counsel and will, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. We have here a fine example of the loyalty of faith and of meek submission to the will of God. Christians in a similar situation may also find it impossible to produce an understanding of the issues involved in the minds of their adversaries. They will, therefore, not attempt to justify their attitude, but leave the matter entirely in the hands of God, whose ways are always good.