Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Daniel 3:23

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

And these three men – fell down bound … – That is, the flame did not loosen the cords by which they had been fastened. The fact that they were seen to fall into the furnace bound, made the miracle the more remarkable that they should be seen walking loose in the midst of the fire.

In the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Latin Vulgate, there follow in this place sixty-eight verses, containing The Song of the Three Holy Children. This is not in the Chaldee, and its origin is unknown. It is with entire propriety placed in the Apocrypha, as being no part of the inspired canon. With some things that are improbable and absurd, the song contains many things that are beautiful, and that would be highly appropriate if a song had been uttered at all in the furnace.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 23. And these three men – fell down bound] There is a most evident want of connexion between this and the following verse; and it is between these verses that the apocryphal Song of the Three Children, as it is called, has been inserted by St. Jerome and others; but with this note: Quae sequuntur in Hebraeis voluminibus non reperi; “What follows I have not found in the Hebrew books.” And then begins, “They walked in the midst of the flame, praising God, and blessing the Lord.” The Septuagint and Arabic read the twenty-fourth verse thus: “Then Nebuchadnezzar heard them singing praise, and was astonished.” To connect the two verses Houbigant adds two verses found in the Vulgate, which are the forty-ninth and the twenty-third: “But an angel of the Lord went down with Azariah and his companions into the furnace, and drove out the flame of fire from the furnace; and they walked in the midst of the furnace.” This verse (the forty-ninth) has been added to show the reason of Nebuchadnezzar’s astonishment, and also to account for the appearance of a fourth person in the furnace, as in Da 3:25.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

All this is expressed with emphasis, to make the power of God more glorious in their preservation; for that flame that slew the executioners might much more easily have suffocated the three children before they fell down.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

23. fell downnot castdown; for those who brought the three youths to the furnace,perished by the flames themselves, and so could not cast themin. Here follows an addition in the Septuagint, Syrian, Arabic,and Vulgate versions. “The Prayer of Azarias,” and”The Song of the Three Holy Children.” It is not in theChaldee. The hymn was sung throughout the whole Church intheir liturgies, from the earliest times [RUFINUSin Commentary on the Apostles Creed, and ATHANASIUS].The “astonishment” of Nebuchadnezzar in Da3:24 is made an argument for its genuineness, as if it explainedthe cause of his astonishment, namely, “they walked in the midstof the fire praising God, but the angel of the Lord came down intothe oven” (vs. 1 and vs. 27 of the Apocryphal addition). But Da3:25 of English Version explains his astonishment, withoutneed of any addition.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And these three men fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. The fire not so much as destroying what they were bound with, and much less them; but being bound they fell, and there they lay for the present, unbound and alive; when those that cast them in were destroyed. In the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, follow sixty seven verses, containing the song of Azariah and his companions in the furnace, which are not in the Hebrew text.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Dan 3:23. And these three menfell down, &c. Houbigant inserts between the 23rd and 24th verses two verses which are found in the Vulgate to this purpose: “But an angel of the Lord descended to Azariah and his companions into the furnace, and drove the flame of fire from the furnace, and they walked in the midst of the flame, praising and blessing the Lord.” The LXX and Arabic read the beginning of the 24th verse thus; Then Nebuchadnezzar heard them singing praise, and was astonished, &c. The Vulgate and several other of the versions, introduce after the 23rd verse, The Song of the Three Children, found in the Apocrypha, which is not found in the Hebrew.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Dan 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Ver. 23. And these three men fell down bound.] Their binders were burnt, but not their bonds so soon, lest the glory of the miracle should have been thereby defaced.

Into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. ] Where yet these holy salamanders took no hurt. In the creatures there is an essence and a faculty whereby the work, as in fire is the substance and the quality of heat: between these God can separate, and so hinder their working, as here he did. Quisque sollicitus sit non tam de vita quam de vocatione, &c.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)