6:11 “I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled 1 on it, and his house is to be reduced 2 to a rubbish heap 3 for this indiscretion. 4
3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, 5 “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel 6 and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring 7 the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than 8 serve or pay homage to any god other than their God! 3:29 I hereby decree 9 that any people, nation, or language group that blasphemes 10 the god of Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego will be dismembered and his home reduced to rubble! For there exists no other god who can deliver in this way.”
“For he is the living God;
he endures forever.
His kingdom will not be destroyed;
his authority is forever. 11
1 sn The practice referred to in v. 11 has been understood in various ways: hanging (cf. 1 Esd 6:32 and KJV); flogging (cf. NEB, NLT); impalement (BDB 1091 s.v. זְקַף; HALOT 1914 s.v. מחא hitpe; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The latter seems the most likely.
2 tn Aram “made.”
3 tn Aram “a dunghill.”
4 tn Aram “for this.”
5 tn Aram “answered and said.”
6 sn The king identifies the “son of the gods” (v. 25) as an angel. Comparable Hebrew expressions are used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible for the members of God’s angelic assembly (see Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:6). An angel later comes to rescue Daniel from the lions (Dan 6:22).
7 tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”
8 tn Aram “so that they might not.”
9 tn Aram “from me is placed an edict.”
10 tn Aram “speaks negligence.”
11 tn Aram “until the end.”