Nieb. "), and the desire of Nebuchadnezzar to adorn his capital in the most magnificent manner, it is not to be regarded as improbable that an image of this height was erected. An EasyEnglish Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Daniel. The opinion that it was in honor of Bel, the principal deity of the place, is every way the most probable, and this derives some confirmation from the well-known fact that a magnificent image of this kind was, at some period of his reign, erected by Nebuchadnezzar in honor of this god, in a style to correspond with the magnificence of the city. ). 1. But this, says Taylor, the editor of Calmet, is a disproportion of parts which, if not absolutely impossible, is utterly contradictory to every principle of art, even of the rudest sort. . Prideaux says on the subject (Connections, I. So the edict under Darius ( Daniel 6:7-9 ) was aimed against the Jews by those jealous of Daniel's influence. F F Bruce: A popular commentary series edited by F. F. Bruce and William Barclay (Abingdon Press) is full of modernistic thought and historical-critical discussion and specifically in the volume dealing with Daniel, the book of Daniel is said to have been written after the fulfillment of the events prophesied therein. Leon Wood, A Commentary of Daniel (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), p. 80. Why Nebuchadnezzar set up the golden images is not explicitly stated and no reference is made to the name of the god his statue is to represent. Prideaux thinks the sixty cubits refer to the image and pedestal together, the image being twenty-seven cubits high, or forty feet, the pedestal thirty-three cubits, or fifty feet. ii. nor worship--by prostration of the body. And as you have surely already surmised, the majority of the works listed on this page of Daniel Commentaries and Sermons are from sources that seek to interpret the text literally, and also interpret figurative language (e.g., the statute in Daniel 2, the 4 beasts in Daniel … The breadth, he supposes, was rather the depth or thickness measured from the breast to the back, than the breadth measured from shoulder to shoulder. 2. princes--"satraps" of provinces [GESENIUS]. The time referred to is Daniel’s 70 th week, which is the tribulation. Oppert (Expd. It is not necessary to suppose that the furnace was made for the occasion. furnace--a common mode of punishment in Babylon ( Jeremiah 29:22 ). Daniel 12:4 "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Men will in times of trouble confess God, if they are allowed to retain their favorite heart-idols. The statue, which the king arrogantly made, represented himself as an expression of his greatness and glory and reflected the dream where he was the head of gold. Commentary on Daniel: Chapter 10 Daniel 10. The Jewish religion was the only exclusive one that claimed all homage for Jehovah as the only true God. Diodorus Siculus, a much later writer, speaks to this effect: "Of the tower of Jupiter Belus, the historians who have spoken have given different descriptions; and this temple being now entirely destroyed, we cannot speak accurately respecting it. 16, p. 738; Herodotus, lib. ... As explained above, the period of time referenced here will be the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation. This chapter reports an incident about Daniel's three buddies. God alone is a "consuming fire" ( Hebrews 12:29 ). They walked up and down in the fire, not leaving it, but waiting for God's time to bring them out, just as Jesus waited in the tomb as God's prisoner, till God should let Him out ( Acts 2:26 Acts 2:27 ). not serve--by sacrificing. The fact of the erection by Nebuchadnezzar of a colossal statue has nothing which can cause astonishment, however recent may have been the Aramean form of the account of Scripture." Home >> Bible Studies >> Daniel Studies >> Daniel 3 These small group studies of Daniel contain outlines, cross-references, Bible study discussion questions, and applications. But on the other hand, the statue is not designated as the image of a god, or the image of Belus; therefore we agree with Klief. 1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits 1 and its breadth six cubits. No one can doubt that an image of that height could be erected; and when we remember the one at Rhodes, which was 105 Grecian feet in height (see art. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. seven times more than it was wont--literally, "than it was (ever) seen to be heated." up. Daniel 3:1 Context. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refuse positive homage to the image of the world power (Da 3:12); Daniel will not yield it even a negative homage, by omitting for a time the worship of God (Da 6:10). This vision, found in Chapters 11 and 12, will cover the history of the Jews from Daniel’s day down until the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. changed--He had shown forbearance ( Daniel 3:14 Daniel 3:15 ) as a favor to them, but now that they despise even his forbearance, anger "fills" him, and is betrayed in his whole countenance. v. 52; Amm. NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S IDOLATROUS IMAGE; SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABED-NEGO ARE DELIVERED FROM THE FURNACE. Marcel. B. Pride and bigotry cause men to require their subjects to follow their religion, whether right or wrong, and when worldly interest allures, and punishment overawes, few refuse. Previous | Index | Next >> "THE BOOK OF DANIEL" Faith In The Face Of Fire (3:1-30) INTRODUCTION 1. B. i. p. 97), Nebuchadnezzar wished to erect a statue as an expression of his thanks to his god Bel for his great victories, and on that account also to consecrate it with religious ceremonies. . He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. A. Nebuchadnezzar erects an image and demands everyone worship it. The arguments of the persecutor are in brief, Turn or burn. We may not, however, with Klief., seek any sanction for the idea that the significance off the image is in its size, 6, 10, and six multiplied by ten cubits, because the symbolical significance of the number 6 as the signature of human activity, to which the divine completion (7) is wanting, is not a Babylonian idea. This would, of course, make the height ten times the breadth, which Prideaux says is entirely contrary to the usual proportions of a man. "Whether our God deliver us, as He is able, or do not, we will not serve thy gods." when Antiochus Epiphanes profaned the temple Marc. Calmet makes the captivity of Daniel 602 years before Christ; the interpretation of the dream 598; and the setting up of the image 556 - thus making an interval of more than forty years. iii. 2. p. 103. Really it was the "messenger of the covenant," who herein gave a prelude to His incarnation. Frag. smell of fire--compare spiritually, 1 Thessalonians 5:22 . Compare Job 1:6 , 38:7 , Psalms 34:7 Psalms 34:8 ; and the probably heathen centurion's exclamation ( Matthew 27:54 ). Daniel 3:2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and … They tended also to secure, by their impressive character, that respect for the covenant-people on the part of the heathen powers which issued in Cyrus' decree, not only restoring the Jews, but ascribing honor to the God of heaven, and commanding the building of the temple ( Ezra 1:1-4 ) [AUBERLEN]. 4. like the Son of God--Unconsciously, like Saul, Caiaphas ( John 11:49-52 ), and Pilate, he is made to utter divine truths. Passion overdoes and defeats its own end, for the hotter the fire, the sooner were they likely to be put out of pain. Oppert, moreover, finds no difficulty in the size of the statue, but says regarding it: "There is nothing incredible in the existence of a statue sixty cubits high and six cubits broad; moreover the name of the plain of Dura, in the province (מדינה) of Babylon, agrees also with the actual conformation of the ruin."). No other nation but the Jews would feel this edict oppressive; for it did not prevent them worshipping their own gods besides. The statue itself, therefore, according to Prideaux, was forty feet high; the pedestal fifty feet. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refuse positive homage to the image of the world power ( Daniel 3:12 ); Daniel will not yield it even a negative homage, by omitting for a time the worship of God ( Daniel 6:10 ). Nebuchadnezzar's question, in Daniel 3:24 , is as if he can scarcely trust his own memory as to a fact so recent, now that he sees through an aperture in the furnace what seems to contradict it. The word which is here rendered "image" (Chaldee צלם tselēm - Greek εἰκόνα eikona), in the usual form in the Hebrew, means a shade, shadow; then what shadows forth anything; then an image of anything, and then an "idol," as representing the deity worshipped. 26. the most high God--He acknowledges Jehovah to be supreme above other gods (not that he ceased to believe in these); so he returns to his original confession, "your God is a God of gods" ( Daniel 2:47 ), from which he had swerved in the interim, perhaps intoxicated by his success in taking Jerusalem, whose God he therefore thought unable to defend it. The "astonishment" of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3:24 is made an argument for its genuineness, as if it explained the cause of his astonishment, namely, "they walked in the midst of the fire praising God, but the angel of the Lord came down into the oven" ( Daniel 3:1 and Daniel 3:27 of the Apocryphal addition). Copyright © 2021, Bible Study Tools. 183, for the great golden image of Belus, which was twelve cubits high, and the great golden table standing before it, the golden steps and the golden chair, only 800 talents of gold were used; and according to Diod. The second pair shows, in the case of the two kings of the first monarchy, how God can suddenly humble the world power in the height of its insolence. Daniel Chapter 3: Based on the American Standard Version of 1901: Concise PRESENTATION NOTES by Charles Dailey (Black underlined words match words in the Bible text.) 29. Ed. The Septuagint version calls this place the plain of Deeira, which some take to be the Deera of Ptolemy (b); but that is in the province of Susiana; rather this is Duraba (c), which he places near the river Euphrates, in the province of Babylon. It is not impossible that Nebuchadnezzar was led, as the editor of Calmet's "Dictionary" has remarked (Taylor, vol. Still less can we, with Zndel (p. 13), explain the absence of Daniel on this occasion as arising from the political import of the statue, because the supposition of Daniel's not having been called to be present is a mere conjecture, and a very improbable conjecture; and the supposition that Daniel, as being chief of the Magi, would not be numbered among the secular officers of state, is decidedly erroneous. יכיל denotes the ethical ability, i.e., the ability limited by the divine holiness and righteousness, not the omnipotence of God as such. This daring sin of Nebuchadnezzar was aggravated many ways, by the greatness of the kingdom and majesty God had given him, by the late discovery made to him when Daniel interpreted his dream, by his conviction and confession upon it of that great God and his sovereign power: this is the height of ingratitude, arguing his carriage before to be only a fit of astonishment, without the least change upon his heart. The miracles wrought in behalf of Daniel and his friends were a manifestation of God's glory in Daniel's person, as the representative of the theocracy before the Babylonian king, who deemed himself almighty, at a time when God could not manifest it in His people as a body. in loco.). To download a pdf version (where the fonts come … Colossal statues in honor of the gods abounded, and nothing would be more natural than that Nebuchadnezzar should wish to make his capital rival everything which he had seen in Thebes. Scientif. . (a) Under pretence of religion, and holiness in making an image to his idol Bel, he sought his own ambition and vain glory: and this declares that he was not touched with the true fear of God before, but that he confessed him on a sudden motion, as the wicked when they are overcome with the greatness of his works. captains--rulers, not exclusively military. (Read Daniel 3:1-7) In the height of the image, about thirty yards, probably is included a pedestal, and most likely it was only covered with plates of gold, not a solid mass of that precious metal. “It 3 will not leave even a root or branch. Daniel Chapter 3: When things get hot! Biblical Commentary Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 EXEGESIS: APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE: The book of Daniel belongs to a category of literature called apocalyptic. Hesitation, or parleying with sin, is fatal; unhesitating decision is the only safety, where the path of duty is clear ( Matthew 10:19 Matthew 10:28 ). And the breadth thereof six cubits - About nine feet. So Paul ( 2 Corinthians 12:8 2 Corinthians 12:9 ). In the height of threescore cubits the pedestal of the image may be regarded as included, so that the whole image according to its principal component part (a potiori) was designated as צלם; although the passage Judges 18:30-31, adduced by Kran., where mention is made of the image alone which was erected by Micah, without any notice being taken of the pedestal belonging to it (cf. See the statues of the two celebrated colossal figures of Amunoph III standing in the plains of Goorneh, Thebes, one of which is known as the Vocal Memnon. true: Ex 21:13,14; my gods: Da 3:1, 4:8 Isa 46:1 Jer 50:2; Daniel 3 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Juno, who stood upright, weighed eight hundred talents." But Belshazzar goes further, blaspheming God by polluting His holy vessels. The Septuagint, the Greek Translation of the Old Testament, says Daniel 3 took place in the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (587-586 B.C. Other pages of interest: Daniel 11 Explained (condensed ‘one page’ commentary) ‘Matthew 24’ Explained (must match Revelation) The ‘Seals’ Explained (Revelation’s timeline revealed) Seven Churches Explained (Past & Present Church Prophecy) See Sitemap for complete listing (by category). Daniel 3:1-30 – No Other God Is Able to Deliver in This Way Summary Nebuchadnezzar intensifies his tyrannical demands. "The Prayer of Azarias," and "The Song of the Three Holy Children." 3 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits 1 and its breadth six cubits. Footnotes. Nebuchadnezzar goes public with Daniel's image (Daniel 3:1-7) 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 3:1. ((e) Kabala Denudata, par. He will, we trust, literally deliver us, but certainly He will do so spiritually. 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