THE BOOK OF DANIEL
Lesson 3
Chapters 3-4: The Adoration of the Golden Statue and Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Great Tree
Holy and Eternal Lord,
Every day Christians demonstrate faith and obedience by willing dying
to sin to live in the image of Christ. Many of the faithful down through the
centuries have paid the ultimate price by suffering martyrdom for the sake of
believing in You, Lord. Like the Jewish captives in the Babylonian court of
King Nebuchadnezzar, they have risked everything to remain faithful, claiming
Your promise that evil people might destroy their physical bodies but can never
destroy their immortal souls that remain in Your loving care. Help us to take
courage and comfort in the stories of the lives of Daniel and his friends,
living in the midst of unbelievers but maintaining their covenant relationship
with You as their One, True, God. We pray in the name of God the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ + +
Because of
their faith, they believe that they can escape death, but they say "if he does
not deliver us out of your hand" so that the king will know that they may also
die in the arms of the God they love.
St. Cyprian, Epistolae, 58.5
And now, thus says Yahweh, he who created you, Jacob, who formed you, Israel: Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine... Should you walk through fire, you will not suffer, and the flame will not burn you. For I am Yahweh, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior (Is 43:1, 2b-3a).
Chapter 3
Chapter 3, like Chapter 2 concerns a statue. The scene in Chapter 3 is still in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar, but this time it concerns not a dream of a statue, but a golden statue erected by the king which his ministers must worship as a sign of their loyalty to him. The story concerns a confrontation between the Judahites serving in the Babylonian king's court who worship the God of Israel and the pagan Gentiles who worship idols. The story divides into three parts:
*Verses 24-90 are in Greek and are not in the Jewish Tanakh or Protestant Bible translations. The wording of the text leads Biblical scholars to believe the original composition was in Hebrew or Aramaic, no longer preserved, and are only in the Greek Septuagint. The Church has always regarded these verses as part of the canonical Scriptures.
Daniel 3:1-7 ~ Nebuchadnezzar and the Golden Statue
1 [In the
eighteenth year of his reign*], King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made,
sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, which he set up on the plain of Dura, in
the province of Babylon. 2 King
Nebuchadnezzar then summoned the satraps, magistrates, governors, counselors,
treasurers, judges, lawyers, and all the provincial authorities to assemble and
attend the dedication of the statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. 3 Satraps, magistrates, governors, counselors,
treasurers, judges, lawyers and all the provincial authorities then assembled
for the dedication of the statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar and stood in
front of the statue which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 A herald then loudly proclaimed: "Peoples,
nations, languages! Thus are you commanded: 5
the moment you hear the sound of horn, pipe, lyre, zither, harp, bagpipe
and every other kind of instrument, you will prostrate yourselves and worship
the golden statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. 6 Anyone who does not prostrate himself and worship will
immediately be thrown into the burning fiery furnace." 7 And so, the instant all the peoples heard the
sound of horn, pipe, lyre, zither, harp, bagpipe and all the other instruments,
all the peoples, nations and languages prostrated themselves and worshipped the
statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar.
[*] = Greek Septuagint translation.
1[In the eighteenth year of his
reign*], King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made, sixty cubits high and
six cubits wide, which he set up on the plain of Dura, in the province of
Babylon.
The Septuagint dates this event to Nebuchadnezzar's
eighteenth year as does the translation by Theodotion.(2) The date,
which is 587 BC, agrees with Jeremiah 32:1-2, This message came to Jeremiah
from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, the eighteenth year
of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging
Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned in the quarters of the
guard, at the king's palace.
587 BC was the year the Nebuchadnezzar's army was successfully putting down revolts throughout his empire, including revolts in the Levant. The Babylonians besieged Jerusalem and then withdrew to stop the army of Judah's advancing Egyptian allies before returning, for the last time, to conquer and destroy the city and Solomon's Temple in the summer after the Babylonian new year (in March) that was the king's nineteenth year in 586 BC (2 Kng 25:1-10; 2 Chr 36:11-21; Jer 32:1-2; 34:21-22; 39:1-10). Theodotion's Greek translation also adds having subdued towns and provinces and all the inhabitants of the world from India to Ethiopia.
The colossal statue the king erected was six cubits high and six cubits wide. In our measurements, the statue was about 90 feet high by 9 feet wide, an odd, ill-proportioned human statue since it was very tall and very narrow, having more the dimensions of a stone pillar like an obelisk with a human form engraved on its gold-covered surface.(3) It was an object of religious worship (verses 4, 7, 10) either connected with the cult of Nebuchadnezzar's gods (verses 12, 14, 18) or perhaps an image representing the king by which his people were intended to declare their loyalty by worshipping him as a god. In any event, it was a pagan idol. It was not uncommon in antiquity for a ruler to want his people to worship him as a god.(1)
However, the significance of the size of the statue is in the number of cubits. God created both man and the serpent on the sixth day; therefore, the number six represents both man and rebellion. The numbering system for both Hebrew and Greek was their alphabet. The Greek alphabet, however, does not represent the number six by an alphabetic letter as in the other letters. It is represented instead by a snake-like symbol called the "stigma." In the Book of Revelation 13:18, the number of the Beast is written not as 666 but written with the Greek symbols for 600 and 60 and 6. In his book Numbers in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger observes that these three symbols correspond to first and last letters of the Greek word for Christ (Christos), with the symbol of the serpent in between the two other numbers (Numbers in Scripture page 49). Perhaps this arrangement can be seen as Christ the Messiah crushing Satan, the serpent (Rev 12:9), as God told the serpent in Genesis 3:15: I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will crush your head and you will strike its heel.
Examples of the number six in Scripture:
The location of the statue, built on the "plain of Dura," cannot be identified. Scholars conclude that the word "dura" derives from an Akkadian word meaning "city wall, fortified place" (The Book of Daniel, Hartmen and Di Lella, page160). The location of the statue may have been the open area immediately outside the walls of the city of Babylon, welcoming all visitors to the city like the Colossus of Rhodes, constructed outside the walls of the city in 262 BC that was c. 108 feet tall.
King Nebuchadnezzar then summoned the satraps,
magistrates, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, lawyers, and all the
provincial authorities to assemble and attend the dedication of the statue set
up by King Nebuchadnezzar. 3 Satraps,
magistrates, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, lawyers and all the
provincial authorities then assembled for the dedication of the statue set up
by King Nebuchadnezzar and stood in front of the statue which King
Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
The dedication ceremony included seven groups of royal
officials who were the provincial authorities. The first three groups were of
higher rank than the last four. Satraps oversaw the main divisions of the
empire. The magistrates were ranking civic officers directly responsible to
the satraps, and the governors were the heads of the divisions of the satrapies
(e.g., Judah, Samaria, etc.).
A herald then loudly proclaimed: "Peoples, nations,
languages! Thus are you commanded: 5 the
moment you hear the sound of horn, pipe, lyre, zither, harp, bagpipe and every
other kind of instrument, you will prostrate yourselves and worship the golden
statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. 6 Anyone
who does not prostrate himself and worship will immediately be thrown into the
burning fiery furnace."
When those assembled heard the musicians playing their
instruments (the text names six kinds of instruments), they were to prostrate
themselves in worship in front of the golden statue. The horn and pipe were
wind instruments, the lyre, zither, and harp were string instruments, and the
Aramaic instrument translated as "bagpipe" is unknown but could have been a
drum or percussion instrument, the only well-known ancient instrument missing
from the list. The punishment for failing to worship Nebuchadnezzar's statue
was death by fire.
Daniel 3:8-12 ~ The Denunciation of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego
8 Some Chaldaeans
then came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "May Your
Majesty live forever! 10 You have
issued a decree, Your Majesty, to the effect that everyone on hearing the sound
of horn, pipe, lyre, zither, harp, bagpipe and every other kind of instrument
is to prostrate himself and worship the golden statue; 11 and that anyone who does not prostrate
himself and worship is to be thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 12 Now, there are certain Jews to
whom you have entrusted the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-Nego; these men have ignored your command, Your Majesty; they
do not serve your gods, and refuse to worship the golden statue you have set
up."
"Some Chaldaeans" is not a reference to the ethnic group but to Babylonian astrologers and soothsayers. They accused the Jewish royal administrators of disobeying the king's order to worship the statue. Apparently, they forget the kindness Daniel did for them concerning the king's dream in Chapter 1. At this point, the Jewish captives are no longer "young men" since that term is not used to describe them (as their youth was mentioned seven times previously in 1:3, 10, 13, 15, 17, 18, and 19). Notice that they do not name Daniel along with his countrymen. As the king's chief minister, he should have been present unless he was away on some special diplomatic mission as the king's representative.
Question: What was the motive of the Chaldeans
for accusing the three Jews? See 3:12.
Answer: Their motive appears to be professional jealousy.
Daniel 3:13-23 ~ Nebuchadnezzar's Judgment
13 Shaking with
fury, Nebuchadnezzar sent for Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. The men were
immediately brought before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar
addressed them, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, is it true that you do not
serve my gods, and that you refuse to worship the golden statue I have set up? 15 When you hear the sound of horn, pipe, lyre,
zither, harp, bagpipe and every other kind of instrument, are you prepared to
prostrate yourselves and worship the statue I have made? If you refuse to
worship it, you will be thrown forthwith into the burning fiery furnace; then
which of the gods could save you from my power?" 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego replied to
King Nebuchadnezzar, "Your question needs no answer from us: 17 if our God, the one we serve, is able to save
us from the burning fiery furnace and from your power, Your Majesty, he will
save us; 18 and even if he does
not, then you must know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your god or
worship the statue you have set up." 19 This
infuriated King Nebuchadnezzar; his expression was changed now as he looked at
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. He gave orders for the furnace to be made
seven times hotter than usual 20 and
commanded certain stalwarts from his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-Nego and throw them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 They were then bound in their cloaks,
trousers, headgear and other garments, and thrown into the burning fiery
furnace. 22 The king's command was
so urgent, and the heat of the furnace was so fierce, that the men carrying
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were burnt to death by the flames from the
fire; 23 the three men, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-Nego fell, bound, into the burning fiery furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar views their failure to worship his statue as an act of treason and threatens them with death by fire if they continue to refuse to bow down to it. Despite the king's threat, the three Jewish men refuse to worship the pagan idol. Execution by burning alive was not a common practice in the ancient Near East, but it was not unknown. The Book of Jeremiah records that the prophet Jeremiah foresaw that Nebuchadnezzar would have the false Jewish prophets Ahab ben Kolaiah and Zedekiah ben Maaseiah roasted alive for fostering sedition among the Jewish exiles (Jer 29:21).
16 Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-Nego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, "Your question needs no
answer from us: 17 if our God, the
one we serve, is able to save us from the burning fiery furnace and from your
power, Your Majesty, he will save us; 18 and
even if he does not, then you must know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve
your god or worship the statue you have set up."
Question: What is the response of the Jews to the
king's threat?
Answer: Their answer is in two parts:
They will submit to martyrdom because they will never
serve Nebuchadnezzar's pagan gods or worship the golden statue.
Question: Who else, at a climax in salvation
history, expressed the same faith and trust in God by asking to be spared if it
was God's will but submitting completely to the suffering if it was not His
will? Quote Luke 22:42 (also see Mt 26:39 and Mk 14:36).
Answer: Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane,
prayed "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not
my will but yours be done" (NAB).
Their answer enrages the king. He gives the order for his servants to stoke the fire seven times hotter and for the Jews to be bound and cast into the furnace fully clothed. The fire was so hot that the men carrying the Jews to the fire, perhaps some of the men who denounced them, were burned alive as they threw the Jews into the furnace.
Daniel 3:24-45 ~ The Song of Azariah (Abed-Nego) in the Furnace
24 And they
walked in the heart of the flames, praising God and blessing the Lord. 25 Azariah stood in the heart of the fire,
praying aloud thus: 26 May you be
blessed and revered, Lord, God of our ancestors, may your name be held glorious
forever. 27 For you are upright in
all that you have done for us, all your deeds are true, all your ways right,
all your judgments true. 28 True is
the sentence you have given in all that you have brought down on us and on
Jerusalem, the holy city of our ancestors, for you have treated us rightly and
truly, as our sins deserve. 29 Yes,
we have sinned and committed a crime by deserting you, yes, we have greatly
sinned; we have not listened to your commandments, 30 we have not observed them, we have not done
what you commanded us to do for our own good. 31 Yes, all that you have brought down on us, all that you have
done to us, you have been fully justified in doing. 32 You have handed us over to our enemies, to a
lawless people, the worst of the godless, to an unjust king, the worst in the
whole world; 33 today we have no
right to open our mouths, shame and dishonor are the lot of those who serve and
worship you. 34 Do
not abandon us forever, for the sake of your name; do not repudiate your
covenant, 35 do not withdraw
your favor from us, for the sake of Abraham, your friend, of Isaac, your
servant, and of Israel, your holy one, 36 to
whom you promised to make their descendants as many as the stars of heaven and
as the grains of sand on the seashore. 37 Lord,
we have become the least of all nations, we are put to shame today throughout
the world, because of our sins. 38 We
now have no leader, no prophet, no prince, no burnt offering, no sacrifice, no
oblation, no incense, no place where we can make offerings to you 39 and win your favor. But may the contrite
soul, the humbled spirit, be as acceptable to you 40 as burnt offerings of rams and bullocks, as
thousands of fat lambs: such let our sacrifice be to you today, and may it
please you that we follow you whole-heartedly, since those who trust in you
will not be shamed. 41 And now we
put our whole heart into following you, into fearing you and seeking your face
once more. 42 Do not abandon us to
shame but treat us in accordance with your gentleness, in accordance with the
greatness of your mercy. 43 Rescue
us in accordance with your wonderful deeds and win fresh glory for your name, O
Lord. 44 Confusion seize all who
ill-treat your servants: may they be covered with shame, deprived of all their
power, and may their strength be broken. 45
Let them learn that you alone are God and Lord, glorious over the whole
world.
At this point, the Greek Bible has a longer form of the text in three unequal parts. These parts are from the Greek Septuagint versions and Jerome's Vulgate (as well as the New Vulgate) that uses Theodotion's Greek version. The section is in three parts with each poetic passage introduced by prose description of the scene with the men in the flames of the furnace. Each part recalls the promise God made to faithful Israelites through the prophet Isaiah, and the men may have recalled it in their ordeal: And now, thus says Yahweh, he who created you, Jacob, who formed you, Israel: Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine. Should you pass through the waters, I shall be with you; or through rivers, they will not swallow you. Should you walk through fire, you will not suffer, and the flame will not burn you. For I am Yahweh, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior (43:1-3a).
The three parts include:
Other Catholic translations may list the numbering of the verses differently than the NJB.
The penitential psalm begins in verses 26-28, like most penitential psalms in Scripture, by proclaiming that Yahweh is just in all his actions, even when He punishes His people (see for example Ps 32). Then, in verses 29-32, Azariah accepts that the people's sins justify all the sufferings they have experienced, even in giving them into the hands of an "unjust king, the worst in the whole world." He asks God to take action by reminding Him of the covenant He made with their ancestors (verses 34-36).
34 Do not abandon
us forever, for the sake of your name; do not repudiate your covenant, 35 do not withdraw your favor from us, for the
sake of Abraham, your friend, of Isaac, your servant, and of Israel, your holy
one, 36 to whom you promised to
make their descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as the grains of sand
on the seashore.
Yahweh made seven covenants with His faithful in the Old
Testament and one final and eternal New Testament covenant. See the document "Yahweh's Eight Covenants" and use it to answer the following question.
Question: What covenant do the three men refer to
in verse 34 and what are the promises associated with that covenant? See Gen 12:1-3; 15:5-7, 18-21; 17:1-2, 9, 15-16; 18:18-19; 22:17-18; 26:1-5; 28:10-17.
Answer: They are referring to the three-part
covenant Yahweh made with Abraham and continued with his son Isaac and his son
Jacob-Israel and incorporated into the Sinai Covenant with the children of
Israel giving the promise of:
In verses 38-41, Azariah reminds the Lord that they have no spiritual leader to guide them and no altar where there can offer sin sacrifices. He urges God to accept the offering of their humble hearts as their sacrifice and to reveal Himself to His servants. It is a request that is similar to David's prayer of repentance in Psalm 51:17-19 (also see Hos 6:6 and Mic 6:7-8).
In verses 43-45, Azariah urges God to reveal His goodness and mercy, arguing that His honor requires that He rescue them to demonstrate His greatness and power over the pagans who worship false gods and subjugate God's covenant people.
Daniel 3:46-50 ~ God's Answer to Azariah's Prayer
46 All this time,
the king's servants, who had thrown them into the furnace, had been stoking it
with crude oil, pitch, tow and brushwood 47
until the flames rose forty-nine cubits above the furnace 48 and, leaping out, burnt those Chaldaeans to
death who were standing round it. 49 But
the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace beside Azariah and his
companions; he drove the flames of the fire outwards from the furnace 50 and, in the heart of the furnace, wafted a
coolness to them as of the breeze and dew, so that the fire did not touch them
at all and caused them no pain or distress.
The passage returns to prose as God answers Azariah's prayer. The flames rose 49 cubits or 7 cubits times 7 cubits (seven is the number of fullness and completion), in other words, the exact amount ordained by God who controls these events. The passage presents a contrast between the fate of the Chaldean accusers and the three faithful Jews. Ironically, the flames consume the Chaldaeans who denounced them to the king like the flames consumed those servants of the king who carried the men to the furnace (verse 22). However, the three men, in the company of "the angel of the Lord" are safe inside the furnace as the angel drove the flames away from the three men who were kept cool and untouched by the fire that did not even burn their garments. In other Old Testament passages, the "angel of the Lord stands for God's power and protection (cf. Gen 16:7-11; Ex 3:2; etc.). However, in this passage, he appears as a person who stands with and protects the three Jewish men in the furnace like the angel who comforted and encouraged Joshua before the Battle of Jericho in Joshua 5:13-15.
The Fathers of the Church saw "the angel of the Lord" as the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. St. Athanasius wrote: "Daniel knew the Son of God and saw the works of God. He saw the Son of God who cooled the fires of the furnace with dew. But when he says, Bless the Lord, all works of the Lord,' he does not include the Son among them, because he knows that He is not a creature, but the One through whom all creatures were made, and who should be praised and exalted in the Father" (Epistulae ad Serapionem, 2.6).
Daniel 3:51-90 ~ The Canticle of the Three Jewish Men
51 Then all three in
unison began to sing, glorifying and blessing God in the furnace, with the
words: 52 May you blessed, Lord, God of our
ancestors, be praised and extolled forever. Blessed be your glorious and holy
name, praised and extolled forever. 53 May you be
blessed in the Temple of your sacred glory, exalted and glorified above all for
ever: 54 blessed on the throne of your kingdom,
exalted above all, glorified forever: 55 blessed
are you who fathom the abyss, enthroned on the winged creatures, praised and
exalted above all forever: 56 blessed in the
expanse of the heavens, exalted and glorified forever. 57 Bless
the Lord, all the Lord's creation: praise and glorify him forever! 58
Bless the Lord, angels of the Lord, praise and glorify him forever!
59 Bless the Lord, heavens, praise and glorify him forever!
60 Bless the Lord, all the waters above the heavens,
praise and glorify him forever! 61 Bless the Lord,
powers of the Lord, praise and glorify him forever! 62 Bless
the Lord, sun and moon, praise and glorify him forever! 63 Bless
the Lord, stars of heaven, praise and glorify him forever! 64
Bless the Lord, all rain and dew, praise and glorify him forever! 65
Bless the Lord, every wind, praise and glorify him forever! 66
Bless the Lord, fire and heat, praise and glorify him forever! 67
Bless the Lord, cold and warmth, praise and glorify him forever! 68
Bless the Lord, dew and snow-storm, praise and glorify him forever!
69 Bless the Lord, frost and cold, praise and glorify
him forever! 70 Bless the Lord, ice and snow,
praise and glorify him forever! 71 Bless the Lord,
nights and days, praise and glorify him forever! 72 Bless
the Lord, light and darkness, praise and glorify him forever! 73
Bless the Lord, lightning and cloud, praise and glorify him forever!
74 Let the earth bless the Lord: praise and glorify
him forever! 75 Bless the Lord, mountains and
hills, praise and glorify him forever! 76 Bless
the Lord, every plant that grows, praise and glorify him forever! 77
Bless the Lord, springs of water, praise and glorify him forever! 78
Bless the Lord, seas and rivers, praise and glorify him forever! 79
Bless the Lord, whales, and everything that moves in the waters,
praise and glorify him forever! 80 Bless the Lord,
every kind of bird, praise and glorify him forever! 81 Bless
the Lord, all animals wild and tame, praise and glorify him forever! 82
Bless the Lord, all the human race: praise and glorify him forever!
83 Bless the Lord, O Israel, praise and glorify him forever!
84 Bless the Lord, priests, praise and glorify him forever!
85 Bless the Lord, his servants, praise and glorify
him forever! 86 Bless the Lord, spirits and souls
of the upright, praise and glorify him forever! 87 Bless
the Lord, faithful, humble-hearted people, praise and glorify him forever! 88
Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, bless the Lord, praise and glorify him forever!
For he has rescued us from the Underworld, he has saved us from the hand of
Death, he has snatched us from the burning fiery furnace, he has drawn us from
the heart of the flame! 89 Give thanks to the
Lord, for he is good, for his love is everlasting. 90 Bless
the Lord, the God of gods, all who fear him, give praise and thanks to him, for
his love is everlasting!
Like the last section, the poetic Canticle of Thanksgiving begins with a prose description of the scene with the men in the flames of the furnace. The key words in this passage are "Forever," repeated 33 times, and the word "bless/blessing/blessed," repeated 40 times. The focus of the hymn is first on God Himself and His greatness. Next, the focus is on His creatures in Heaven and on earth. Finally, the focus shifts to the goodness and mercy God shows to those who fear Him:
There is an order in the blessings in this canticle in verses 55-82 that reflects God's work in Creation. It begins with heavenly beings (the cherubim, angels), then the elements of the air and earth (waters above the heavens that are rain-filled clouds, the sun, moon, and stars, the winds, fire and heat, cold and chill, the dew, rain, cold, chill, ice and snow, nights and days, light and darkness, lightning and clouds, the earth, mountains). That is followed by water on earth and growing things on the earth with its creatures (the springs and rivers, creatures in the seas and waters, birds of the air and animals wild and tame), and finally, human beings (the sons of men).
86 Bless the Lord, spirits and
souls of the upright, praise and glorify him forever!
The verse summarizes the Creation event that began with
the angels and ended with the creation of man. The angels and human beings are
the only creatures capable of offering praise and glory to God and having a
relationship with Him in the liturgy of worship. In verse 86, "spirits" refers
to the angels, immortal spiritual beings who worship and serve God, while
"souls" refers to the immortal lifeforce of humans. The soul is the immortal
spiritual part of every human being that animates the body. It is individually
created for each person by God and infused into the body at the time of human
insemination. However, it is not the total human person since every individual
is composed of a body animated by a soul (see CCC 362-367). In this verse, the
order that began with the heavenly beings finds completion in the souls of men,
especially those who are "servants of the Lord" (verse 85).
The order in the poem implies that the angels in Heaven, the elements of the cosmos, and all creatures created by God on earth extol the glory of God by the fact of their existence (CCC 2416-18). However, it is through humanity, made in the image of God, and the praise that God's people give Him that we observe God's glory as manifested in His divine mercy; it is an attribute of God and His works that are not otherwise readily visible. In the document Gaudium et spes, the Vatican II Council wrote: "Though made of body and soul, man is one. Through his bodily composition he gathers to himself the elements of the material world; thus they reach their crown through him, and through him raise their voice in praise of the Creator" (Gaudium et spes, 14).
The Church calls this canticle of thanksgiving the "Benedictite," and includes it in the Divine Office for Sundays and feast days. The Church recommends it as a prayer of thanksgiving after the celebration of the Mass, and the Council of Vatican II alludes to verses from the Canticle of Thanksgiving of Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael.
Daniel 3:91-97 ~ The King Acknowledges the Miracle
[90b Hearing
them singing praises], 91 King
Nebuchadnezzar sprang to his feet in amazement. He said to his advisers, "Did
we not have these three men thrown bound into the fire?" They answered the
king, "Certainly, Your Majesty." 92 "But," he went on, "I can see four men walking free in the
heart of the fire and quite unharmed! And the fourth looks like a child of the
gods!" 93 Nebuchadnezzar approached
the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and said, "Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-Nego, servants of God Most High, come out,
come here!" And from the heart of the fire out came Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-Nego. 94 The satraps,
magistrates, governors, and advisers of the king crowded round the three men to
examine them: the fire had had no effect on their bodies: not a hair of their
heads had been singed, their cloaks were not scorched, no smell of burning hung
about them. Nebuchadnezzar said, 95 "Blessed
be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego: he has sent his angel to rescue
his servants who, putting their trust in him, defied the order of the king, and
preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or worship any god but
their God. 96 I therefore
decree as follows, Peoples, nations, and languages! Let any of you speak
disrespectfully of the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, and I shall have
him torn limb from limb and his house turned into a dunghill; for there is no
other god who can save like this.'" 97 The
king then showered favors on Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego in the province of
Babylon. [...] Greek Septuagint, page 1054.
Protestant and Jewish translations include this prose section beginning with verse 90b (numbered as verse 25 in their translations). Nebuchadnezzar hears singing coming from the furnace and sees the three men walking about in the midst of the flames with a fourth man looking like a child of the gods (verse 92) who Nebuchadnezzar identifies as an angel in verse 95 (also see verses 49-50). Nebuchadnezzar calls the three to come out of the furnace, referring to them as servants of God Most High. He is not the first Gentile to use this title for Yahweh, God of Israel; also see Melchizedek (Gen 14:18-20); Balaam (Num 24:16); and another King of Babylon (Is 14:14).
Question: What is the king's final judgment on the
refusal of the three Jewish men to submit his command to worship the statue?
Answer: He blesses the God of Shadrack, Meshach,
and Abed-Nego who sent His angel to rescue them because they put their trust in
their God by refusing to worship any god but Him.
Question: What is the essence of the king's royal
decree in verse 96?
Answer: He officially places the Jewish God and
worship of the Jewish God under the protection of the Babylonian state.
Verse 96 is almost the same Aramaic wording as in 2:5. In verse 97, the three Jewish men receive favors, and Nebuchadnezzar reinstates them as ministers in his kingdom.
Daniel 3:98-100 ~ Nebuchadnezzar's Proclamation
98 King
Nebuchadnezzar, to all peoples, nations and languages dwelling throughout the
world: may you prosper more and more! 99 "It
is my pleasure to make known the signs and wonders with which the Most High God
has favored me. 100 How
great his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
his empire endures age after age!"
Chapter 3 concludes with Nebuchadnezzar sending a proclamation throughout his empire, acknowledging the signs and wonders he has seen concerning the God of the Jews whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, his empire endures age after age! The addressees are all peoples, nations, and languages[tongues] dwelling throughout the world. It is similar to greetings in Daniel 3:4, 7; 5:19; 6:26; 7:14 and Revelation 5:9 and 14:6.
The Fathers of the Church, like Saints Ambrose and Augustine, wrote that the episode of the fiery furnace confirms that God wills that peoples of all nations should come to know Him. The transformation of a king who persecutes the righteous to a king who acknowledges and supports worship of the One Tue God foreshadows a world ruled by kings who confess Christ as the Savior who is the Lord of lords and King of kings (Ambrose, On the Christian Faith, 1.4.33 and Augustine, (Letter 93).
Chapter 4: Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Great Tree
The narrative
is clear indeed and required but little interpretation. Because he displeased
God, Nebuchadnezzar was turned into a madman and dwelled for seven years among
the brute beasts and fed on the roots of herbs. Afterwards, by the mercy of
God, he was restored to his throne and praised and glorified the King of
heaven.
Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, 4.1
Chapter 4 like Chapter 1 concerns a dream of King Nebuchadnezzar and divides into three parts:
Daniel 4:1-15 ~ Nebuchadnezzar Describes His Dream
1 "I,
Nebuchadnezzar, was living comfortably in my house, prosperously in my palace
[temple*]. 2 I had a dream; it
appalled me. Dread assailed me as I lay in bed; the visions that passed through
my head tormented me. 3 So I
decreed that all the sages of Babylon be summoned to explain to me what the
dream meant. 4 Magicians,
soothsayers, Chaldaeans and exorcists came, and I told them what I had dreamt,
but they could not interpret it for me. 5 Daniel, renamed Belteshazzar after my own god,
and in whom the spirit of the holy gods resides, then came into my
presence. I told him my dream: 6 "Belteshazzar,
chief of magicians," I said, "I know that the spirit of the holy gods resides
in you and that no mystery puts you at a loss. This is the dream I have had;
tell me what it means. 7 The
visions that passed through my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw a tree in
the middle of the world; it was very tall. 8
The tree grew taller and stronger, until its top reached the sky and it
could be seen from the very ends of the earth. 9 Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant, in it was food
for all. For the wild animals it provided shade, the birds of heaven nested in
its branches, all living creatures found their food on it. 10 I watched the visions passing through my head
as I lay in bed: Next, a Watchful One, a holy one, came down from heaven. 11 At the top of his voice he shouted: Cut the
tree down, lop off its branches, strip off its leaves, throw away its fruit;
let the animals flee from its shelter and the birds from its branches. 12 But leave the stump with its roots in the
ground, bound with hoops of iron and bronze, in the grass of the countryside. Let
it be drenched by the dew of heaven and have its lot with the animals, eating
grass! 13 Let it cease to have a
human heart, and be given the heart of a beast, and seven times shall pass over
him! 14 Such is the sentence
proclaimed by the Watchers, the verdict announced by the holy ones so that
every living thing may learn that the Most High rules over human sovereignty;
he confers it on whom he pleases, and raises the lowest of humankind. 15 This was the dream I had, I, Nebuchadnezzar the
king. Now it is for you, Belteshazzar, to pronounce on its meaning, since not
one of the sages in my kingdom has been able to interpret it for me; you,
however, can do so, since the spirit of the holy gods resides in you." [...*] Greek
Septuagint reads naos = temple.
Nebuchadnezzar has another dream, but this time he remembers enough of the dream to tell it to the four groups of wise men, the magicians, soothsayers, Chaldaeans and exorcists. They cannot interpret the dream, and so the king sends for Daniel.
5 Daniel, renamed
Belteshazzar after my own god, and in whom the spirit of the holy gods resides
Daniel ("God judges) was renamed Belteshazzar by the
king's orders, an Akkadian name meaning "(the god) Bel guard his life" (Dan 1:7). The name was an abbreviation for Bel-balatsu-ussur and was an appeal to
the god Bel. Bel was originally the name of the city god of Nippur (an ancient
city in central Babylonia) and was later identified with the chief god of
Babylon, Marduk (Is 46:1; Jer 50:2; 51:44; Dan 14:2-22).
In the dream the king saw:
10 I watched the
visions passing through my head as I lay in bed: Next, a Watchful One, a holy
one, came down from heaven. 11 At
the top of his voice he shouted: Cut the tree down, lop off its branches, strip
off its leaves, throw away its fruit; let the animals flee from its shelter and
the birds from its branches.
Next, a "watchful One" or "holy sentinel," an angel from
Heaven, orders the cutting down of the great tree that can no longer be a place
of food and refuge.
13 Let it cease to have a human
heart, and be given the heart of a beast, and seven times shall pass over him!
In this verse, the description passes from a metaphor to
reality, and the reader realizes that the tree that becomes a beast is
Nebuchadnezzar (see verse 19). The "seven times" represents fullness or
completion in the sense of the time ordained by God: the Most High rules
over human sovereignty; he confers it on whom he pleases, and raises the lowest
of humankind.
Daniel 4:16-24 ~ Daniel Interprets the Dream
16 Daniel,
known as Belteshazzar, was confused for a time and upset. The king said, "Belteshazzar,
do not be upset at the dream and its meaning." Belteshazzar answered, "My lord,
may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its meaning to your foes! 17 The tree you saw, so large and strong
and tall that it reached the sky and could be seen throughout the world, 18 the tree with beautiful foliage and
abundant fruit, with food for all in it, providing shade for the wild animals,
with the birds of heaven nesting in its branches: 19 that tree is yourself, Your Majesty,
for you have grown great and strong; your stature is now so great that it
reaches the sky, and your empire extends to the ends of the earth. 20 And the Watchful One seen by the king,
the holy one coming down from heaven and saying, Cut the tree down and destroy
it, but leave stump and roots in the ground, bound with hoops of iron and bronze
in the grass of the countryside; let it be drenched by the dew and have its lot
with the wild animals until seven times have passed over it': 21 the meaning of this,
Your Majesty, the verdict of the Most High passed on my lord the king, is this:
22 You will be driven from
human society and will make your home with the wild animals, you will feed on
grass, as oxen do, you will be drenched by the dew of heaven; seven times will
pass over you until you have learnt that the Most High rules over human sovereignty
and confers it on whom he pleases. 23
And the order, Leave the stump and roots of the tree,' means
that your kingdom will be kept for you until you come to understand that Heaven
rules all. 24 May it please
the king to accept my advice: by upright actions break with your sins, break
with your crimes by showing mercy to the poor, and so live long and peacefully."
Daniel was probably confused and upset because he feared that the meaning of the dream is not going to please the king, but the king assures Daniel that he will not penalize his chief minister for revealing the true meaning of the dream. Nevertheless, Daniel expresses the desire that the meaning of the dream should apply to the king's enemies rather than to the king (verse 16).
The dream revealed:
In verses 21-24, Daniel gave Yahweh's verdict for Nebuchadnezzar in judgment for his arrogance and pride:
Question: What advice does Daniel give the king in
verse 24?
Answer: The king should atone for his sins by good
deeds and for his misdeeds by kindness to the poor.
Daniel's advice follows what Ben Sirach will write in the 2nd century BC: Water puts out a blazing fire, almsgiving expiates sins (Sir 3:30/29).
The story of the Great Tree recalls the allegory of Ezekiel's cedar of Lebanon that applied to the Pharaoh/king of Egypt (Ez 31:1-18). Like Nebuchadnezzar's tree, it was beautiful and lifted up to the clouds (31:3); in its boughs, all the birds of the air nested, and under its branches, all the beasts of the field gave birth (31:6). However, because it became proud of heart, God let it be cut down (31:11ff). It is another example that God takes a dim view of human beings taking credit for their destiny and their control over the destinies of other humans that are in the hands of God.
Daniel 4:25-34 ~ The Dream Comes True
25 This all
happened to King Nebuchadnezzar: 26 At the end of twelve
months, while strolling on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon, 27
the king was saying, "Great Babylon! Was it not built by me as a royal
residence, by the force of my might and for the majesty of my glory?" 28
The words were not out of his mouth when a voice came down from heaven: "Of
you, King Nebuchadnezzar, it is decreed: the empire has been taken from you, 29
you will be driven from human society and will make your home with the
wild animals; you will feed on grass, as oxen do, and seven times will pass
over you until you have learnt that the Most High rules over human sovereignty
and gives it to whom he pleases." 30 The words were
immediately fulfilled: Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society and ate
grass as oxen do; he was drenched by the dew of heaven; his hair grew like an
eagle's feathers, and his nails became like a bird's talons. 31
When the time was over, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes to heaven: my
reason returned. And I blessed the Most High, praising and glorifying him who
lives forever, for his empire is an everlasting empire, his kingship endures,
age after age. 32 All who dwell on earth count for
nothing; as he thinks fit, he disposes the army of heaven and those who dwell
on earth. No one can arrest his hand or ask him, "What have you done?" 33
"At that moment my reason returned and, for the honor of my royal state,
my glory and splendor returned too. My counselors and noblemen acclaimed me; I was
restored to my throne, and to my past greatness even more was added. 34
And now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, extol and glorify the King of heaven,
all of whose deeds are true, all of whose ways are right, and who can humble
those who walk in pride."
After a year passed, the king forgot the warning of the dream. A third person account in verses 25-30 records that he boasted aloud, taking credit for the building of his royal palace and the success of his empire that he believed reflects his glory. In his pride, the king was taking the place of God who alone sustains life and gives lasting honor and glory. As soon as he made the claim, a voice from heaven pronounced the sentence of judgment from the dream (verses 25-30).
The rest of the passage returns to the first-person account of the king (verses 31-34) in which Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself before the Most High, praising and glorifying him who lives forever, for his empire is an everlasting empire, his kingship endures, age after age. 32 All who dwell on earth count for nothing; as he thinks fit, he disposes the army of heaven and those who dwell on earth. No one can arrest his hand or ask him, "What have you done?" His reason returned, and God reinstated Nebuchadnezzar as the ruler of his kingdom. His account ends with another profession of faith in the one King of Heaven, all of whose deeds are true, all of whose ways are right, and who can humble those who walk in pride" (verse 34).
Question: Previously, the king proclaimed the
power and glory of Yahweh, God of Israel, two times (Dan 2:47 and 3:95-96). However,
was his acknowledgment of belief in the God of Israel as the greatest of gods a
lasting condition? How is he healed and how is his experience with Yahweh not
unlike many Christians today?
Answer: Nebuchadnezzar professed belief in the God
of Israel but without renouncing his pagan gods and still believing he
controlled his destiny and was solely responsible for all his achievements.
Many Christians attend the worship of the Lord and profess their faith in Jesus
Christ, but afterward, they allow the false gods of self-interest and material
gains to rule over them and their actions that lead them into sin. All professing
Christians need to learn from the king's experience and humble themselves
before God, so sin does not demean them to the lowly state of beastly behavior
instead of godly behavior.
There is no historical evidence for Nebuchadnezzar's period of insanity discovered in the Babylonian archives. However, Babylon was one of the most magnificent and largest cities in the ancient world due to the efforts of Nebuchadnezzar, and there are several cuneiform inscriptions in which he boasts extravagantly of his achievements. Also, Babylonian documents suggest that Nebuchadnezzar's fourth successor, Nabonidus (556-539 BC), may have been mentally ill for several years which accounted for his prolonged stays in a remote oasis and making his son, Belshazzar, a co-ruler (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, pages 312-315). Some Biblical scholars suggest the king in Chapter 4 should be Nabonidus.
As we continue the study of the Book of Daniel, you should be aware that there are seven parallels between Daniel's visions and the visions of St. John in the Book of Revelation. Daniel's vision of the statue in Chapter 3 is the first of the seven parallels:
Parallels Between Daniel's Visions and St. John's Visions in the Book of Revelation
| The Vision | Book of Daniel | Book of Revelation |
| 1. The worshiping the statue | Chapter 3:5-7, 15 | Chapter 13:15 |
| 2. The Leopard, the Bear, and the Lion | Chapter 7:4-6 | Chapter 13:2 |
| 3. The ten horns | Chapter 7:8 | Chapters 12:3, 13:1; 17:3, 8 |
| 4. The Beast mouthing boasting and blasphemies | Chapter 7:8, 11 | Chapter 13:5 |
| 5. The Son of Man coming on the Glory-Cloud | Chapter 7:13 | Chapter 1:7 & 14:14 |
| 6. The war against the Saints | Chapter 7:21 | Chapter 13:7 |
| 7. Three-and-a-half-time period (a time, two times and half a time) | Chapter 12:7 | Chapter 11:9, 11 |
| Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 1993; revised 2018 | ||
Question for reflection or group discussion:
Question: How is the answer of the three faithful
Jews in Daniel 3:16-18 a model for us and our attitude to God when tragedy
strikes and particularly when suffering is certain?
In Jesus Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mt 13:31-33), Jesus
uses hyperbole in verse 32 to describe the mustard seed as the "smallest of all
the seeds" and its plant in full growth as the "largest of plants" (a mustard
tree could only grow as high as 8-12 feet).
Question: In the Parable of the Mustard Seed, how
does Jesus compare His Kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom in the vision of the
Great Tree?
Answer: In the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus contrasts
the small beginnings of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and its future expansion to
encompass the whole earth, sheltering all who come to dwell in the household of
Jesus that is the Church. The allusion to the Kingdom becoming so large that
"birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches" (verse 32b) is a reference to
the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar in which he saw a huge tree that sheltered
"birds of the sky" and other animals (Dan 4:7). The prophet Daniel interpreted
the tree and the animals to represent Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom and the many
different peoples over whom he ruled. The comparison is that the Kingdom of
Jesus Christ will become even greater than the Kingdom of the Babylonians (also
see Dan 9:17-19).
Endnotes:
1. Rulers worshipped as gods included the Egyptian Pharaohs and some Roman rulers. The Egyptians worshipped the Pharaohs as the human manifestation of the god Horus. The Roman Senate formally deified Julius Caesar after his assassination, and his great-nephew Caesar Augustus was called Divi filius, "son of the divine one" or "son of god." Other Roman Emperors who claimed divinity in the 1st to 4th centuries AD were Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Hadrian, Commodus, Constantine I, and Julian the Apostate.
2. Theodotion was a Gentile Jewish convert, probably from Ephesus in Asia Minor, who translated the Hebrew/Aramaic Old Testament into Greek sometime between AD 150-190. St. Jerome used his Greek translation of the Old Testament, along with several others, to compose his Latin Vulgate translation of the Old Testament texts.
3. The Egyptians and Assyrians erected obelisks as public monuments commemorating the achievements of Pharaohs and kings, and other nations, both ancient and modern, followed their practice. Some examples of obelisks the size of the one erected by Nebuchadnezzar's monument: Rameses II's obelisk on Gezira Island, Egypt is 67 feet tall, the Market Square obelisk in London, England is 80 feet tall, the Stillorgan obelisk in Dublin, Ireland is 100 feet tall, the McKinley Monument in Buffalo, New York is 96 feet, and the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. is an obelisk measuring 555 feet tall.
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Catechism references (* indicated Scripture is
quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Isaiah 43:1-2 (CCC 287*, 2158*, 2167*)
Daniel 3:57-58 (CCC 2416*)
Luke 22:42 (CCC 532, 2605, 2824)