Daniel 3.13-An Enraged Nebuchadnezzar Orders Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego Be Brought Before Him
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday June 19, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 3:13-An Enraged Nebuchadnezzar Orders Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego Be Brought Before Him
Lesson # 88
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 3:1.
This evening we will study Daniel 3:13.
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. 6 But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.” 7 Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 8 For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. 9 They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image. 11 But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.” 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. (NASB95)
“Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger” is composed of the preposition bĕ (בְּ) (beh), which is not translated and is followed by the temporal adverb ʾěḏǎ∙yin (אֱדַיִן) (ed-ah´-yin), “then” and this is followed by the masculine singular form of the proper name neḇû∙ḵǎḏ∙ně(ʾ)ṣ∙ṣǎr (נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר) (neb-oo-kad-nets-tsar), “Nebuchadnezzar” and then we have once again the preposition bĕ (בְּ) (beh), “in” which is followed by the masculine singular noun reḡǎz (רְגַז) (reg-az´), “rage” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the feminine singular noun ḥǎmā(h) (חֲמָה) (khem-aw´), “anger.”
The preposition bĕ means “because” since it functions as a marker of cause meaning that it is introducing a statement which presents the reason why Nebuchadnezzar issued an order to have Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego brought to him immediately.
Here it indicates that “because” Nebuchadnezzar was enraged as a result of the accusations made against these three by certain unidentified envious dignitaries, the king ordered that they be brought immediately into his presence.
The noun reḡǎz means “rage” which refers to a violent and uncontrolled anger.
The noun ḥǎmā(h) means “furious rage” which describes Nebuchadnezzar’s rage as intense, violent and avenging and is not only describing Nebuchadnezzar as enraged but also enraged to the point of being violent and vengeful towards Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
The conjunction wa is used this time to join the nouns ḥǎmā(h) and reḡǎz in order to communicate one idea, which is called “hendiadys.”
Therefore, these two words express one idea, namely that because of rage, yes, and a furious rage at that, Nebuchadnezzar ordered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to be brought into his presence to respond to the accusations made against them by certain unidentified dignitaries.
So this figure of hendiadys emphasizes the intensity of Nebuchadnezzar’s rage towards these three.
Daniel 3:13 Then, because of rage, yes and a furious rage at that, Nebuchadnezzar issued an order causing Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to be brought into his presence. Consequently, these men were brought into the king’s presence. (My translation)
Daniel 3:13 records Nebuchadnezzar becoming enraged at hearing the report from certain unidentified dignitaries that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had disobeyed his order to worship the gold statue he erected of himself on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.
This rage caused him to have these three brought into his presence to give an account for their disobedience.
No doubt his anger stemmed from the fact that he thought that they were ungrateful when he had recently promoted them to administrate the province of the city of Babylon.
This anger was aroused by certain envious dignitaries who were unseated by the promotion of these three since in Daniel 3:12 they remind the king that he had recently promoted these three to this prestigious position.
Nebuchadnezzar considered them disloyal and insubordinate for disobeying his command.
Daniel 3:12 “There are certain Jewish men, because you assigned them the administration over the province of the city of Babylon-Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, these men have absolutely no respect for your command O king. By no means do they serve your gods, that is, by no means do they worship the gold statue which you erected.” (My translation)
In Daniel 3:12, these envious dignitaries said that the king’s appointment of these three was the reason why they did not show proper respect for the king and didn’t worship his god, i.e. the golden statue.
The implication is that their promotion went to their heads and caused them to be arrogant in thinking that it was beneath them to worship the golden statue he erected of himself.
They were implying that the king was at fault for the insubordination of these three.
Their statement is a rebuke to the king himself since they are telling him it was because he promoted these three to such high positions that they became arrogant and were insubordinate to him.
They got away with the rebuke because they were pretending to be looking out for the king’s interests when in reality they were seeking to destroy Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego because they were envious of their promotion over them.
They also got away with this rebuke because they could substantiate the charges since they knew that these three would not disobey their God and worship idols and would be willing to die for their loyalty to their God when confronted by the king.
They were proven right about these three according to Daniel 3:16-18.
Therefore, this criticism of the king contributed to his rage no doubt.
To the king’s credit, he did not issue an order to have them executed immediately as he did with the wise men in chapter two, which resulted in many dignitaries being placed under the sentence of death unjustly, such as Daniel and his three friends.
Thus, it appears the king has learned from this error.
Remember, Daniel 1:19-20 records that Nebuchadnezzar considered Daniel and his three friends superior to all of his wise men.
Thus, when he issues the order to execute the wise men of the city of Babylon he would not have wanted to execute Daniel and his friends because he valued them.
Therefore, here in Daniel 3:13, the king does not issue an order to execute these three because he has learned from this previous mistake, which almost cost the lives of men he greatly valued.
Thus, he does not have Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego executed because he did respect them and of course Daniel as well, which is yet another reason why he did not give the order to execute them.
His respect for Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego served to prevent him from issuing an order for their execution.
Another reason why Nebuchadnezzar did not order the immediate execution of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is that he was smart enough to know that those making accusations against these three could have been doing so out of jealousy for being unseated by them.
Thus, the fact that he delayed execution of these three in order to hear them out is an indication that the king might of have been a little bit suspicious of these accusations since he knew that politically it was not uncommon for jealous rivals to make accusations against one another.
