Discovery BoxDaniel 3:19-23 
Context3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed 1 toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders 2 to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated. 3:20 He ordered strong 3 soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 3:21 So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, 4 and were thrown into the furnace 5 of blazing fire. 3:22 But since the king’s command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted 6 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed 7 by the leaping flames. 8 3:23 But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace 9 of blazing fire while still securely bound. 10
1 tn Aram “the appearance of his face was altered”; cf. NLT “his face became distorted with rage”; NAB “[his] face became livid with utter rage.”
2 tn Aram “he answered and said.”
3 tn This is sometimes taken as a comparative: “[some of the] strongest.”
4 sn There is a great deal of uncertainty with regard to the specific nature of these items of clothing.
5 tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.
6 tn Aram “caused to go up.”
7 tn The Aramaic verb is active.
8 tn Aram “the flame of the fire” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NRSV “the raging flames.”
9 tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.
10 sn The deuterocanonical writings known as The Prayer of Azariah and The Song of the Three present at this point a confession and petition for God’s forgiveness and a celebration of God’s grace for the three Jewish youths in the fiery furnace. Though not found in the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel, these compositions do appear in the ancient Greek versions.
