Daniel 3:20-21

3:20 He ordered strong ¹  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, ²  and were thrown into the furnace ³  of blazing fire.

Daniel 3:23-24

3:23 But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace ⁴  of blazing fire while still securely bound. ⁵ 

God Delivers His Servants

3:24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw ⁶  into ⁷  the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”

¹ tn This is sometimes taken as a comparative: “[some of the] strongest.”

² sn There is a great deal of uncertainty with regard to the specific nature of these items of clothing.

³ tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

³ tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

⁴ 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.

⁴ tn Aram “we threw…bound.”

⁵ tn Aram “into the midst of.”