Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Daniel 3:24
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, [and] spoke, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
24. was astonied ] ‘astonied’ is the old, and more correct, form of astonished (Old Eng. astony, astonie, from Old Fr. estonner, Lat. * extonare). Here, however, the meaning is rather, was alarmed, the Aram. twah being used in the Targums for Heb. words signifying to fear, as Gen 27:33; 1Ki 1:49.
rose up ] from the seat, from which he had been watching the preparations at the furnace.
spake ] properly answered, as Dan 3:9. So Dan 3:26 ; Dan 3:28.
counsellers ] ministers (‘counseller, is used rightly for an entirely different word in Ezr 7:14-15, 2Sa 15:12, al.), a word ( haddbar) peculiar to Dan. ( Dan 3:27, Dan 4:36, Dan 6:7), and of uncertain meaning. The termination bar shews that it is of Persian origin (cf. dethbar, ‘law-bearer,’ gizbar, ‘treasurer’), but the sense of the first part of the word is not clear (Andreas). The explanation ‘associate-judge’ is questionable, as it implies a contracted, modern form of dethbar, ‘judge,’ viz. dwar.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then, Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied – The word astonied, which occurs several times in our translation Ezr 9:3; Job 17:8; Job 18:20; Eze 4:17; Dan 3:24; Dan 4:19; Dan 5:9, is but another form for astonished, and expresses wonder or amazement. The reasons of the wonder here were that the men who were bound when cast into the furnace were seen alive, and walking unbound; that to them a fourth person was added, walking with them; and that the fourth had the appearance of a Divine personage. It would seem from this, that the furnace was so made that one could conveniently see into it, and also that the king remained near to it to witness the result of the execution of his own order.
And rose up in haste – He would naturally express his surprise to his counselors, and ask an explanation of the remarkable occurrence which he witnessed. And spake, and said unto his counselors. Margin, governors. The word used here ( haddaberyn) occurs only here and in Dan 3:27; Dan 4:36; Dan 6:7. It is rendered counselors in each case. The Vulgate renders it optimatibus; the Septuagint, megistasin – his nobles, or distinguished men. The word would seem to mean those who were authorized to speak (from dabar); that is, those authorized to give counsel; ministers of state, viziers, cabinet counselors.
Did not we cast three men bound … – The emphasis here is on the words three, and bound. It was now a matter of astonishment that there were four, and that they were all loose. It is not to be supposed that Nebuchadnezzar had any doubt on this subject, or that his recollection had so soon failed him, but this manner of introducing the subject is adopted in order to fix the attention strongly on the fact to which he was about to call their attention, and which was to him so much a matter of surprise.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Dan 3:24
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished.
The Astonishment of Nebuchadnezzer as he looked into the Fiery Furnace
Consider the causes of his astonishment.
I. HE WAS ASTONISHED AT THE NUMBER HE BEHELD IN THE FURNACE Lo! I see four men; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God! Some have imagined that by the expression Son of God Nebuchadnezzar meant a son of Jupiter, or of Baal, or of some other heathen deity; but surely it is far more reasonable to suppose that by the power of God, who causeth the wrath of man to praise Him, and of whom we read, He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the king was constrained to utter a great truth in spite of the fury of his spirit and the darkness of his soul. Does it not seem clear that Jehovah was then dealing with Nebuchadnezzar in essentially the same way as He had, ages before, dealt with Balaam, when He caused his opposition to praise Him, and when, in spite of the madness of the prophet, he was constrained, instead of cursing Israel, to give utterance, under a power he could not resist, to truths he did not understand, when he spake of the coming of a Star out of Jacob, and proclaimed: I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh? Can we fail in the light of Scripture to recognise the fourth in the furnace as the Messenger of the covenant of whom we read: In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; the Word that was to be made flesh and dwell among men, the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth? That cause of the kings astonishment, seeing four in the furnace, becomes to us illustrative of a precious truth–that God, our Saviour, is with His people in the furnace of affliction. The Lord loveth the righteous. Loving man, He prepares them for home; and affliction, if need be, is one of the preparatory means employed by Him whose fire is in Zion and His furnace in Jerusalem. But neither are others free from trial. The world has its furnaces. Was not Cain in a furnace when he said, My punishment is greater than I can bear? Was not Belshazzar, when, with trembling knees and a terrified soul, he quailed before the writing on the wall: Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting? Was not Judas, when, casting on the ground the thirty pieces of silver, as if burning not his fingers but his soul, he went out and hanged himself? And multitudes now wandering in the ways of sin are in furnaces of affliction. But when servants of the Lord are in the furnace of affliction they are in the furnace that is in Jerusalem, and in it they are not alone. He who controls and regulates its heat, and can, at His pleasure, take them out of it, is with them in it, as the consolation of Israel, the Saviour thereof, in time of trouble. will not leave you comfortless. Lo! I am with you always; My grace is sufflcient for thee.
II. Another cause of the kings astonishment was this: THEY HAVE NO HURT. How illustrative of the precious truth that Gods people receive no hurt in the furnace of affliction! So the Psalmist seems to have felt when he said, The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. To have discoveries made to us of errors in the judgment, deceitfulness in the heart, self-righteousness in the spirit, and manifold deficiencies previously unnoticed by us in our character and life, may be most humiliating and painful for a season, but far from hurtful to the soul; for such are some of the expressly intended results of sanctified affliction which, injuring none of the Christian graces, gives new vigour to faith, new brightness to hope, new ardour to holy affections, and a tone of new devotedness to the whole spirit and life. Surely, then, it becomes the people of God, amid the various trials of life, to trust and be not afraid, and so glorify in the fires their covenant God and Father.
III. That the king saw in the furnace four men LOOSE, whilst unhurt, was another cause of astonishment. Not power only, but thought, discrimination, and directing influence were acting amid the flames. He who directeth His lightning to the ends of the earth, Lord of all the elements, the God of nature and natures laws, caused the fire to act only in such direction and for such ends as He willed. It acted, but only to burn bonds. That cause of astonishment illustrates another precious truth–that sanctified affliction burns bonds–the bonds of sin, Satan, and the world. Children of God, becoming entangled anew in bonds of various kinds, are often placed by the unerring hand of a faithful and loving Father in the furnace of affliction; and in due season, the bonds being burned, they are led out of the furnace to feel anew and often far more than previously, the glorious liberty of the children of God.
IV. Another cause of the kings astonishment seems to have been this: THEIR DEMEANOUR IN THE FURNACE–walking in the midst of the fire, so calm, self-possessed, joyful. How illustrative of another precious truth, that Gods people are not only supported but enabled to be joyful in tribulation. Before the multitude of amazed spectators went away they must surely have fixed their eyes very intently for a few moments upon the king, the furnace, and the three faithful servants of a great God. Let us do likewise.
1. The king. What is now the state of his mind? One thing he said was this: There is no other God that can deliver after this sort. True, O king. But is there any other god that can deliver at all? Where were thy gods, O Babylon, when some of their self-denying votaries, those mighty men, were being burned to death even outside the furnace? Sadly did Nebuchadnezzar fail to turn to rational and right account that signally favourable opportunity of looking fully at the question, What is truth ? And not very long afterward he was to be seen eating grass with the beasts of the field! What a lesson as to the importance of improving every season of specially favourable opportunity, every day of specially merciful visitation.
2. The furnace. Read as in letters of light among the subsiding glories, such lessons as these: The path of duty is the path of safety; As my days, so shall my strength be; Them that honour God, He will honour; Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.
3. The three tried ones that have come forth as gold.
(1) They are young men, not Levites, not priests, but young men who have been engaged in secular affairs and in positions of great exposure to many allurements and temptations–representative young men.
(2) The extent of the usefulness of those three young men will never be fully known till time shall be no longer.
(3) Having glorified God in the fires, no one could tell, from their appearance, that they had been near the furnace. (Joseph Elliot.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Rose up in haste: this fear, perturbation, and amazement as the word signifies, surprised the king, being surprised with the strangeness of it, beholding something supernatural in it, together with the disappointment of his design and cruel commands.
True, O king: the Lord extorted this confession from them, though enemies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. True, O kingGod extortedthis confession from His enemies’ own mouths.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, At the burning of those that cast the three men into the furnace, as Jacchiades; or he might be seized with a panic, and his spirits filled with fear and dread, the word u is by some said to signify, and this from the immediate hand of God:
and rose up in haste; from the place where he was, and went to the mouth of the furnace, to see what was become of those that were cast into it:
and spake and said unto his counsellors; who had advised him to do what he had done, out of envy and ill will to these Jews:
did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? that is, was there not an order of council for it? and was it not done according to it?
they answered and said, true, O King; it was certainly so: thus they are brought to bear a testimony to the truth of this; it was not only the king that gave the orders, and saw them obeyed, but his counsellors also; and which they own, and serves to corroborate the truth of the miracle.
u “expavit”, Munster, Piscator, Michaelis; “trepidavit”, Gejerus; so Ben Melech from the Targum on Gen. xxvii. 33; “trepidus”, Junius & Tremellius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The king, who sat watching the issue of the matter, looked through the door into the furnace, and observed that the three who had been cast into it bound, walked about freed from their bonds and unhurt; and, in truth, he saw not the three only, but also a fourth, “like to a son of the gods,” beside them. At this sight he was astonished and terrified. He hastily stood up; and having assured himself by a consultation with his counsellors that three men had indeed been cast bound into the furnace, while he saw four walking in the midst of it, he approached the mouth of the furnace and cried to the three to come forth. They immediately came out, and were inspected by the assembled officers of state, and found to be wholly uninjured as to their bodies, their clothes being unharmed also, and without even the smell of fire upon them. refers, without doubt, to the officers of the kingdom, ministers or counselors of state standing very near the king, since they are named in Dan 3:27 and Daniel 6:8 (Dan 6:7) along with the first three ranks of officers, and (Dan 4:23 [26]) during Nebuchadnezzar’s madness they conducted the affairs of government. The literal meaning of the word, however, is not quite obvious. Its derivation from the Chald. , duces, with the Hebr. article (Gesen.), which can only be supported by , Pro 11:14 (Targ.), is decidedly opposed by the absence of all analogies of the blending into one word of the article with a noun in the Semitic language. The Alkoran offers no corresponding analogues, since this word with the article is found only in the more modern dialects. But the meaning which P. v. Bohlen ( Symbolae ad interp. s. Codicis ex ling. pers. p. 26) has sought from the Persian word which is translated by simul judex, i.e., socius in judicio, is opposed not only by the fact that the compensation of the Mim by the Dagesch, but also the composition and the meaning, has very little probability.
The fourth whom Nebuchadnezzar saw in the furnace was like in his appearance, i.e., as commanding veneration, to a son of the gods, i.e., to one of the race of the gods. In Dan 3:28 the same personage is called an angel of God, Nebuchadnezzar there following the religious conceptions of the Jews, in consequence of the conversation which no doubt he had with the three who were saved. Here, on the other hand, he speaks in the spirit and meaning of the Babylonian doctrine of the gods, according to the theogonic representation of the of the gods peculiar to all Oriental religions, whose existence among the Babylonians the female divinity Mylitta associated with Bel places beyond a doubt; cf. Hgst. Beitr. i. p. 159, and Hv., Kran., and Klief. in loc.
Acting on this assumption, which did not call in question the deliverance of the accused by the miraculous interposition of the Deity, Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace and cried to the three men to come out, addressing them as the servants (worshippers) of the most high God. This address does not go beyond the circle of heathen ideas. He does not call the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the only true God, but only the most high God, the chief of the gods, just as the Greeks called their Zeus . The Kethiv (in Syr. elaya , to preserve) is here and everywhere in Daniel (v. 32; Dan 4:14, Dan 4:21, etc.) pointed by the Masoretes according to the form (with ) prevailing in the Targg. The forms , , are peculiar to Daniel (v. 27f., Dan 4:30; Dan 5:21; Dan 7:11). The Targg. have instead of it.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Here Daniel relates how God’s power was manifest to the profane — to both the king and his courtiers, who had conspired for the death of these holy men. He says, then, the king trembled at that miracle; since God often compels the impious to acknowledge his power, and when they stupidity themselves, and harden all their senses, they are compelled to feel God’s power whether they will or not. Daniel shews how this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. He trembled, says he, and rose up quickly, and said to his companions, Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? When they say, It is so, Nebuchadnezzar was doubtless impelled by Divine impulse, and a secret instinct, to inquire of his companions to extract this confession from them. For Nebuchadnezzar might easily approach the furnace, but God wished to extract this confession from his enemies, that both they and the king might allow the rescue of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, to have proceeded from no earthly medium, but from the admirable and extraordinary power of God. We may here remark, how the impious are witnesses to God’s power, not willingly, but because God placed this question in the king’s mouth, and also in his not permitting them to escape or turn aside from the confession of the truth. But Nebuchadnezzar says, four men walked in the fire, and the face of the fourth is like the son of a god No doubt God here sent one of his angels, to support by his presence the minds of his saints, lest they should faint. It was indeed a formidable spectacle to see the furnace so hot, and to be cast into it. By this consolation God wished to allay their anxiety, and to soften their grief, by adding an angel as their companion. We know how many angels have been sent to one man, as we read of Elisha. (2Kg 6:15.) And there is this general rule — He, has given his angels charge over thee, to guard thee in all the ways; and also, The camps of angels are about those who fear God. (Psa 91:11, and Psa 34:7.) This, indeed, is especially fulfilled in Christ; but it is extended to the whole body, and to each member of the Church, for God has his own hosts at hand to serve him. But we read again how an angel was often sent to a whole nation. God indeed does not need his angels, while he uses their assistance in condescension to our infirmities. And when we do not regard his power as highly as we ought, he interposes his angels to remove our doubts, as we have formerly said. A single angel was sent to these three men; Nebuchadnezzar calls him a son of God; not because he thought him to be Christ, but according to the common opinion among all people, that angels are sons of God, since a certain divinity is resplendent in them; and hence they call angels generally sons of God. According to this usual custom, Nebuchadnezzar says, the fourth man is like a son of a god. For he could not recognize the, only-begotten Son of God, since, as we have already seen, he was blinded by so many depraved errors. And if any one should say it was enthusiasm, this would be forced and frigid. This simplicity, then, will be sufficient for us, since Nebuchadnezzar spoke in the usual manner, as one of the angels was sent to those three men — since, as I have said, it was then customary to call angels sons of God. Scripture thus speaks, (Psa 89:6, and elsewhere,) but God never suffered truth to become so buried in the world as not to leave some seed of sound doctrine, at least as a testimony to the profane, and to render them more inexcusable — as we shall treat more at length in the next lecture. (194)
(194) See Dissertation 13 at the end of this volume.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(24) Was astonied.He had been watching the proceedings from a distance through the mouth (Dan. 3:26), which was in the side of the furnace.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. Counselors Probably councilors. One version of the Greek has “his friends.” The word is obscure, but it must refer to the Babylonian officials who surrounded the king.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and he rose up in haste. He spoke and said to his counsellors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the heart of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the heart of the fire, and they have no injury, and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” ’
It is indicative of the king’s fury that he had not just been satisfied with the execution being carried out. He had himself gone down to look through the side opening of the burning kiln, through which the kiln was fed and the heat of the furnace was intensified by bellows, to watch the destruction of the men who had defied him. But what he then saw astonished him, and he could not believe what he was seeing, so much so that he sought assurance from his counsellors that indeed three men, and only three men, had been cast into the fire, and also that they had been bound.
When they agreed that it was so, he told them why he was so astonished. He had seen not three men but four, and they were free from their bonds and walking about in the fire. And the fourth was like a son of the gods. They were accompanied by their God!
Whatever view we take of the fourth figure in the furnace, there seems little doubt what Nebuchadnezzar meant. The figure was ‘a son of the gods’, that is, He was of the race of the gods, He was a divinity. And to Nebuchadnezzar with his knowledge of these men that could only mean one thing. It was the God of heaven. Compare Gen 16:7; Gen 18:1-2; Gen 32:24-30; Jdg 6:11-22; Jdg 13:3; Jdg 13:6; Jdg 13:9; Jdg 13:19-20.
And so was literally fulfilled God’s promise to His redeemed people. ‘When you pass through the waters I will be with you, — when you walk through the fire you will not be burned, nor will the flame set you alight (Isa 43:2).’
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Probably the impious wretch was struck with astonishment at the distinguishing providence of God, that while God’s servants received no hurt, the very heat of the furnace struck dead those who had laid their hands upon them. But what, did the fire loosen the cords, With which Shadrach and his companions were bound, and yet not touch their persons? Yes! so distinguishing was the mercy, that not a hair of their heads was singed. Oh! what tokens are these of Jesus looking on, guiding all, and controlling all! But all is explained to us in what follows. Jesus was with them. Yea, the monster of iniquity shall see Him, like another Balaam, but not nigh. Num 24:17 ; Rev 1:7 . Reader! pause, and ponder well the wonderful subject, for the same is every day going on in the Church, thought not in such open manifestations. Men may shackle and bind the bodies of the saints: but Jesus loosens the cords of the heart, and gives them an enlargedness of soul in him. Prisons have often shut the saints in; but no prison can ever shut Christ out. Read, I beseech you, some of those many promises to this amount, with which the word of God abounds. Isa 43:1-2 ; Rev 2:10 ; Joh 16:33 . And then turn to the account the Holy Ghost gives of those illustrious servants of the Lamb, who through faith quenched the violence of fire, Heb 11 from beginning to the end.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, [and] spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Ver. 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied. ] God can soon astonish the stoutest; as he did Dioclesian the tyrant, who laid down the empire in a discontent because he could not, as he desired, root out Christian religion, such was the constance and courage of the professors thereof. Antoninus the emperor set forth an edict in Asia that no Christian should be persecuted; for, said he, it is their joy to die: they are victors, and do vanquish you.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Dan 3:24-27
24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire? They replied to the king, Certainly, O king. 25He said, Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods! 26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here! Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. 27The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.
Dan 3:24 Notice that Nebuchadnezzar, talking to his counselors, says, did not we cast? He wants to spread the blame.
Dan 3:25 I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire There has been much discussion about how Nebuchadnezzar could see. It seems that the brick kiln was a domed structure with a place at the bottom for the removal of ashes. Apparently, he looked through the hole in the bottom and saw the young men walking about.
the fourth is like a son of the gods A considerable amount of speculation has been made about this fourth personage. He is an angel of the LORD (cf. Dan 3:28 also Dan 6:22). It is humorous to note that when Nebuchadnezzar calls the boys out by name, he makes no mention of that fourth person!
Dan 3:27 In the presence of all his civil, military, and police officials Nebuchadnezzar is forced to acknowledge the God of Judah (cf. Dan 3:28-29) for the second time.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
counsellors: or, ministers [standing near] to him; either to his throne or near at the time. Chaldee. haddabrin. Not the same word as in verses: Dan 3:2, Dan 3:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Dan 3:24
Dan 3:24 ThenH116 NebuchadnezzarH5020 the kingH4430 was astonied,H8429 and rose upH6966 in haste,H927 and spake,H6032 and saidH560 unto his counsellors,H1907 Did notH3809 we castH7412 threeH8532 menH1400 boundH3729 into the midstH1459 of the fire?H5135 They answeredH6032 and saidH560 unto the king,H4430 True,H3330 O king.H4430
Dan 3:24
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Nebuchadnezzar confirmed with his counselors about the number of men thrown into the furnace. Obviously he did not actually see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego thrown into the furnace and was watching all this from another vantage point, probably at a lower level where the floor of the furnace could be seen by a number of people. Doubtless the Chaldeans were in attendance for the viewing of this execution, staying close by the king anxious to be the recipients of any favor from him that might be forthcoming.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
astonied: Dan 5:6, Act 5:23-25, Act 9:6, Act 12:13
counsellors: or, governors, Dan 3:2, Dan 3:3
O king: Dan 3:9, Dan 3:10, Dan 3:17, Dan 4:22, Dan 4:27, Dan 5:18, Dan 6:7, Dan 6:22, 1Sa 17:55, Act 26:13, Act 26:27
Reciprocal: Eze 38:16 – that the Act 12:7 – And his
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Dan 3:24. Nebuchadnezzar must have been near when the men were cast into the furnace, for it was immediately following the act that the text says then the king was astonished at what he saw la the furnace. As if he did
not believe the testimony of his eyes, he asked ‘whether they did not cast three men hound into the furnace, and his servants gave him an affirmative answer.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Dan 3:24-25. Then Nebuchadnezzar was astonied, and rose up in haste Some have thought there is something wanting between this and the preceding verse, expressive of the reason of Nebuchadnezzars astonishment. Hence Houbigant inserts 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 the 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 this verse thus: Then Nebuchadnezzar heard them singing praise, and was astonished, &c. But it is probable that either the slaying of the men who executed his sentence was that which astonished Nebuchadnezzar, or rather, his unexpectedly seeing at a distance the young men walking at liberty, and apparently in comfort, in the fiery furnace. He said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire 1st, They were loose from their bonds: the fire, which did not so much as singe their clothes, burned the cords with which they were tied. 2d, They had no hurt, felt no pain or uneasiness in the least; the flame did not scorch them, the smoke did not stifle them: they were alive, and as well as ever in the midst of the flames. See how the God of nature can, when he pleases, control the powers of nature, to make them serve his purposes! Now was fulfilled in the letter that gracious promise, Isa 43:2, When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. By faith they quenched the violence of fire. 3d, They walked in the midst of the fire: the furnace was large, so that they had room to walk; they were unhurt, so that they were able to walk; their minds were easy, so that they were disposed to walk as in a paradise, or garden of pleasure. Can a man walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt? Pro 6:28. Yes; they did it with as much pleasure as the king of Tyrus walked up and down in the midst of his precious stones, which sparkled as fire, Eze 28:14. 4th, There was a fourth seen with them in the fire, whose form, says Nebuchadnezzar, is like the Son of God Or rather, like a son of God, or, of the gods; in agreement with the Hebrew, LXX., and Syriac; that is, Like a divine and glorious person, sent from the powers above to rescue and deliver these men. For as Nebuchadnezzar was an idolater, it is scarce to be conceived that he should know any thing concerning the Son of God, the Messiah, and much less of his form and likeness; whereas all the heathen had a notion, which runs through their theology, of the sons of the deities, as powerful beings, sent often to the aid and protection of mankind. But though we can scarce suppose Nebuchadnezzar to have called or known this person to have been the Son of God, the promised Redeemer; yet it is extremely probable, (and so the best Jewish as well as Christian commentators have understood it,) that he was indeed the Son of God, who often appeared in our nature, in a human form, before he assumed that nature for our salvation; the great angel, or messenger of the covenant, who under that character frequently revealed himself to the patriarchs of old; and accordingly, in a subsequent verse, he is called the angel of God, the messenger sent to deliver these servants of the Lord; the same who was afterward sent to Daniel, to preserve him from the rage of the lions. Moreover, we may observe, that as angels are often called sons of God, and as most nations had high ideas of their power, perhaps Nebuchadnezzar might only mean an angel, a celestial delegate; and this seems the more probable from his own words, Dan 3:28, Blessed be God, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants, &c. That angel, or son of God, whom I saw in the furnace, &c: see Christian Mag., vol. 2. page 613. Observe, reader, those that suffer for Christ, have his gracious presence with them in their sufferings, even in the fiery furnace, even in the valley of the shadow of death, and therefore even there they need fear no evil. Hereby Christ showed that what is done against his people, he takes as done against himself: whoever throw them into the furnace, do in effect throw him in; I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest, Act 9:5.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5. God’s deliverance of His servants 3:24-27
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
As Nebuchadnezzar watched what was happening inside the furnace, he marveled to see that the three Jews did not perish in an instant. Rising from his seat, he saw them loosed from their bonds and walking around inside the furnace. What startled him even more was the presence of a fourth person with them. The fourth person had an unusual appearance, like "a son of gods" (lit.). The king probably meant that this fourth person appeared to be super-human or divine from his viewpoint as a pagan polytheist. Evidently the fourth person was either an angel or the Angel of the Lord, the preincarnate Christ (cf. Gen 16:13; et al.). He was with the three men in their affliction and protected them from harm in it (cf. Exo 3:12; Psa 23:4-5; Isa 7:14; Isa 43:1-3; Isa 63:9; Mat 28:20). He did not deliver them from the fire but in it (cf. Rom 8:37).