Daniel 3.5-Nebuchadnezzar Orders The Dignitaries To Bow Down And Worship The Image Of Himself At The Sound Of The Music
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday June 5, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 3:5-Nebuchadnezzar Orders The Dignitaries To Bow Down And Worship The Image Of Himself At The Sound Of The Music
Lesson # 82
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 3:1.
This evening we will study Daniel 3:5, which records the herald Nebuchadnezzar commissioned proclaiming to the dignitaries assembled at the dedication of that gold statue the king erected of himself that they were to fall down and worship this image at the precise moment when the orchestra played music.
Daniel 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language, 5 that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.” (NASB95)
“That at the moment” is composed of the preposition bĕ (בְּ) (beh) and its object is the masculine singular form of the noun ʿid∙dān (עִדָּן) (id-dawn´), “the situation” and then we have the particle dî (דִּי) (dee), which is not translated.
The preposition bĕ means “at” since it functions as a temporal marker indicating a point of time or a point when something takes place.
Here it indicates that “when” the dignitaries from the various provinces in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom assembled for the dedication of the statue he erected were to bow down and pay homage to this statue.
These dignitaries were composed of satraps, military commanders, governors, advisers, treasurers, lawyers and judges.
The noun ʿid∙dān means “the precise moment” since it functions as a marker of a point of time that is simultaneous with another point of time.
The two points of time are the sound of the music and the worship of the image of Nebuchadnezzar which he erected of himself.
Therefore, this word is referring to a specific moment in time when the dignitaries from the various provinces in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom assembled for the dedication of the statue he erected were to bow down and pay homage to this statue.
The particle dî means “when” since it functions as a marker relating points of time. The two points of time are again the sound of the music and the worship of the image of Nebuchadnezzar which he erected of himself.
Therefore, this word denotes that at the precise moment “when” the dignitaries from the various provinces in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom hear the music played, they were to bow down and pay homage to this statue.
“You hear” is the second person masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active imperfect form of the verb šemǎʿ (שְׁמַע) (shem-ah´), which is referring to the sense of hearing.
Here it is used of the dignitaries from the various provinces in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom bowing down and paying homage to the image of himself, which he erected at the precise moment when they “hear” the sound of the music played.
“The sound” is the masculine singular construct form of the noun qāl (קָל) (kawl), which is used in relation to the musical instruments listed here in verse 5.
Thus, it refers to the “sound” made by these instruments when they are played.
“The horn” is the feminine singular noun qě∙rěn (קֶרֶן) (keh´-ren), which means “trumpet” and was a wind musical instrument made of an animal horn, or horn-shaped wood or metal.
“Flute” is the feminine singular noun mǎš∙rô∙qî (מַשְׁרֹוקִי) (mash-ro-kee´), which refers to a musical wind instrument with a tub-like cylinder shape, made of wood, reed or even bone which produced a course, shrill, whistling sound.
This noun in Daniel 3:5 most likely was a reed flute which was made of several reeds of varying thicknesses and lengths bound together.
“Lyre” is the masculine singular noun qî∙ṯerōs (קִיתְרֹס) (kee-the-rosh), which is correctly translated and is referring to a stringed musical instrument of the harp class.
“Trigon” is the feminine singular noun śǎb∙beḵā(ʾ) (שַׂבְּכָא) (shah-beh-kah), which means “harp” which was also a stringed musical instrument consisting of a resonator, an arched back or angled neck that may be supported by a post, and strings of graded strength that are perpendicular to the soundboard.
“Psaltery” is the masculine singular noun pesǎn∙tē∙rîn (פְּסַנְתֵּרִין) (pes-an-tay-reen´), which means “dulcimer” which was another musical stringed instrument of trapezoidal shape which was played by either plucking or with plectra.
“Bagpipe” is the feminine singular noun sûmep∙pō∙neyā(h) (סוּמְפֹּנְיָה) (soom-po-neh-yaw´), which means “drum” referring a percussion instrument consisting of a hollow shell or cylinder with a drumhead stretched over one or both ends that is beaten with the hands with some implement such a stick or wire brush.
“And all kinds of music” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל) (kole), “all” which is modifying the masculine plural construct form of the noun zǎn (זַן) (zan), “kinds of” and then we have the masculine singular noun zemār (זְמָר) (zem-awr´), “music.”
The noun zemār means “musical instrument” referring to unidentified musical instruments.
The word is modified by the noun zǎn, which means “kind, type, sort” describing these unidentified musical instruments of being of different categories or classification.
Also, modifying the noun zemār is the noun kōl, which denotes each one of a totality and is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every.”
Thus, these three words denote that the dignitaries were to fall down and worship the image Nebuchadnezzar erected of himself when they hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, dulcimer, drum as well as “each and every type of musical instrument.”
Daniel 3:5 that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.” (NASB95)
“You are to fall down” is the second person masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active imperfect form of the verb nep̄ǎl (נְפַל) (nef-al´), which means “to fall down, to be prostrate oneself before someone” in order to express one’s humble submission to someone or something and to honor them and show them respect.
Here it refers to the act of the satraps, military commanders, governors, advisers, treasurers, lawyers and judges from the provinces in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom prostrating themselves before the statue which the king erected of himself in order to express their humble submission to him and to honor him and show him respect.
In the ancient world, lying prostrate before someone also was an expression of fear.
Undoubtedly, these dignitaries prostrated themselves before this statue of Nebuchadnezzar out of fear of him.
“And worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up” is a purpose clause since the conjunction wa, “and” is a marker of purpose meaning that it is introducing a statement which presents the purpose of Nebuchadnezzar’s order that the dignitaries from the various provinces throughout his kingdom fall down before the gold statue he erected of himself.
The conjunction is introducing a statement which says that these dignitaries were to worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar.
Therefore, this word indicates that Nebuchadnezzar ordered these dignitaries to fall down before the statue of himself at the sound of the music “in order to” worship this image of himself.
“Worship” is the second person masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active imperfect form of the verb seḡiḏ (סְגִד) (seg-eed´), which means “to worship” referring to the act of committing idolatry.
Therefore, this indicates that Nebuchadnezzar was ordering that these dignitaries “worship” the image of himself when they heard the sound of the music.
“The golden image” is composed of the masculine singular form of the noun ṣelēm (צְלֵם) (tseh´-lem), “the image” which is modified by the masculine singular noun dehǎḇ (דְּהַב) (deh-hab´), “gold.”
The noun ṣelēm means “statue, a sculpted image to be worshipped as a god” indicating that Nebuchadnezzar summoned all of his dignitaries throughout the various provinces in his kingdom to the dedication of the gold “statue” he erected on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.
The noun dehǎḇ means “gold” indicating that Nebuchadnezzar’s statue of himself was made of this material.
In Daniel 3:5, we read that Nebuchadnezzar is ordering his subordinates to commit the sin of idolatry.
The Scriptures teach that Satan and the kingdom of darkness are behind the idolatry and the worship of the false gods in the world.
Therefore, unregenerate members of the human race like Nebuchadnezzar were worshipping demons by worshipping the various gods and practicing idolatry.
Idolatry is the worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself and is an expression of mankind’s total depravity (Job 14:1-4; 15:14-16; 25; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:19-20; Romans 1:18-23; 3:9-18).
Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20 teach that the worship of idols is connected to the worship of demons since the sacrificing to idols is in reality sacrificing to demons who promote the worship of idols.
Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (NASB95)
Exodus 20:23 “You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.” (NASB95)
Idolatry is not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion, which belongs to God alone, but also is putting anything ahead of your relationship with God and which would prevent you from doing His will (1 Corinthians 10:14; Galatians 5:20; Colossians 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
Ultimately in the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God's will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).