3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage 2 demanded that they bring 3 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them 4 before the king. 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my gods and that you don’t pay homage to the golden statue that I erected? 3:15 Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?” 5 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, 6 “We do not need to give you a reply 7 concerning this.
1 sn Daniel’s absence from this scene has sparked the imagination of commentators, some of whom have suggested that perhaps he was unable to attend the dedication due to sickness or due to being away on business. Hippolytus supposed that Daniel may have been watching from a distance.
2 tn Aram “in anger and wrath”; NASB “in rage and anger.” The expression is a hendiadys.
3 tn The Aramaic infinitive is active.
4 tn Aram “these men.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid undue repetition.
5 tn Aram “hand.” So also in v. 17.
6 tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”
7 tn Aram “to return a word to you.”