Daniel 3.16-Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego Tell Nebuchadnezzar That They Are By No Means Obligated To Respond To His Rhetorical Question
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday June 26, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 3:16-Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego Tell Nebuchadnezzar That They Are By No Means Obligated To Respond To His Rhetorical Question
Lesson # 91
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 3:16.
This evening we will study Daniel 3:16, which records Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego responding to Nebuchadnezzar’s rhetorical question at the end of verse 15, which challenged the God of Israel’s ability to deliver these three from the king’s power.
Daniel 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king sculptured an image composed of gold, its height ninety feet, its width nine feet. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king issued an order to assemble the satraps, military commanders as well as the governors, advisers, treasurers, lawyers, judges in other words, each and every one of the dignitaries from the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue, which Nebuchadnezzar erected. 3 Then when the satraps, military commanders as well as the governors, advisers, treasurers, lawyers, judges in other words, each and every one of the dignitaries from the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king had erected, they stood directly in front of the statue which Nebuchadnezzar had erected. 4 Next, a herald publicly proclaimed with authority: “To all of you nations, ethnicities and language groups, all of you are commanded: 5 At the precise moment when all of you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, dulcimer, drum as well as each and every type of musical instrument, all of you must fall down in order to worship the gold statue, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king has erected. 6 However, whoever refuses to fall down in order to worship, in that very hour, they will be deposited unceremoniously in the midst of a blazing, fiery furnace.” 7 Because of this, at the precise moment when each and every one of the people from the nations heard the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, dulcimer as well as each and every type of musical instrument, each and every one of the nations, ethnicities and language groups fell down worshipping the gold statue which Nebuchadnezzar the king had erected. 8 Because of this, during this time certain Chaldean men made assertions, specifically, they slanderously accused some individuals from the Jewish race. 9 They made a statement to the king and said, 10 “O King live forever! You O king issued a command, namely that each and every person who hears the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, dulcimer as well as drum and in addition every type of musical instrument, must fall down in order to worship the gold statue. 11 However, whoever refuses to fall down in order to worship, they will be deposited unceremoniously in the midst of a blazing, fiery furnace. 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 god, that is, by no means do they worship the gold statue which you erected.” 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. 14 Nebuchadnezzar asked a question and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, all of you are refusing to serve my god, that is, all of you refuse to worship the gold statue, which I erected? 15 Now if all of you are ready, namely that, at the precise moment when all of you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, dulcimer, drum as well as each and every type of musical instrument, all of you must fall down in order to worship the gold statue, which I erected. However, if all of you refuse to fall down in order to worship, in that very hour, all of you will be deposited unceremoniously in the midst of a blazing, fiery furnace. Now, let’s see, what God exists who has the ability to effect the rescue of all of you out of my power?” (My translation)
Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. (NASB95)
“We” is the first person plural personal pronoun ʾǎnǎḥ∙nā(ʾ) (אֲנַחְנָא) (an-akh´-naw), which serves to contrast Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego with God.
It serves to contrast God with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who refuse to answer the king’s rhetorical question since only God could answer it for him.
Thus, they are in effect telling the king that they won’t answer but their God, the God of Israel, Daniel’s God will give him the answer to his rhetorical question, which challenged God’s ability to deliver them from his power.
“Do not need” is composed of the negative particle lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), “not” which is negating the meaning of the masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb ḥǎšǎḥ (חֲשַׁח) (khash-akh´), “do need.”
The verb means “to need, to be necessary, to feel obligated” and its meaning is emphatically negated by the particle lā(ʾ), which is a particle of emphatic negation meaning “by no means.”
Therefore, these two words denote Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego telling Nebuchadnezzar that they “by no means need to” or “by no means find it necessary to” or “by no means are obligated” to answer the king’s rhetorical question which challenged God’s ability to deliver them from the king’s power.
“To give you an answer” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), “to” and its object is the third person masculine singular hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active infinitive construct form of the verb tûḇ (תּוּב) (toob), “give an answer” and then we have the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix -ḵ (־ךְ), “you.”
The verb tûḇ means “to answer, to respond to” someone and denotes that these three are telling the king that by no means are they obligated “to respond, to answer” the king’s rhetorical question, which challenged the God of Israel’s ability to deliver them out of the king’s power.
“Concerning this matter” is composed of the preposition ʿǎl (עַל) (al), “concerning” and then we have the masculine singular demonstrative pronoun denā(h) (דְּנָה) (dane-awe), “this” which is modifying the masculine singular noun piṯ∙ḡām (פִּתְגָם) (pith-gawm´), “matter.
The noun piṯ∙ḡām means “matter” in the sense of the subject under consideration, which is Nebuchadnezzar’s rhetorical question.
It does not refer to the king’s question in verse 14, in which he asks Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego if it was true that they refused to worship the gold statue he erected.
Nor does it refer to the king’s command in verse 15 to worship the gold statue at the sound of the music or the ultimatum in this verse to worship it or die.
Rather, it is a direct reference to the king’s rhetorical question, in which he challenges the God of Israel’s ability to deliver them from the king’s power since in verse 18 they tell the king that they will by no means worship the gold statue.
This answers the king’s question if it was true that they refuse to worship the gold statue and also serves to answer the king’s command and ultimatum.
However, they do not speak for God with regards to the rhetorical question.
Instead, they are telling the king that they are by no means obligated to respond to this question but will let God speak for Himself and answer the king if He desires to.
Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, as for us, we are by no means obligated to respond to you concerning this matter.” (My translation)
Daniel 3:16-18 contains the response of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to what Nebuchadnezzar said to them as recorded in Daniel 3:14-15.
In verse 14, Nebuchadnezzar asks them if it is true that they refused to obey his command and worship the gold statue he erected.
Then, in verse 15, he repeats to them his command that they must worship the gold statue at the sound of the music.
Following this command in verse 15, he also repeats the ultimatum to worship the image or suffer capital punishment.
Lastly, at the end of verse 15, he poses to them a rhetorical question that demands a negative response from his perspective and challenges the God of Israel’s ability to deliver these three from his power.
In Daniel 3:16, we have the response of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to the king’s rhetorical question.
Then, in verse 18, they respond to his question in verse 14 as well as the command and ultimatum in verse 15 by telling the king that they will by no means worship the gold statue.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are refusing to compromise and demonstrate absolutely no fear of the king or death.
They demonstrate total and absolute confidence in God even if He decides not to deliver them from the king’s power as indicated by their statements in verses 17-18.
Nebuchadnezzar’s question in verse 14 as well as his repeating the command and ultimatum in verse 15 to obey his command or suffer capital punishment and in addition his rhetorical question at the end of verse 15 were all designed to tempt Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to rationalize and seek their own safety.
The king knew human nature and that most men would compromise to save their lives.
He also was trying to intimidate them and demoralize them and question their faith in God so that they had no other recourse but to obey him.
However, they felt it was more important to obey God and manifest their faith in Him to all of Babylon including Nebuchadnezzar than seek their own safety.
Their obedience to God is more important than their powerful and prestigious position in Babylonian society which they will lose along with their lives for refusing to obey the king’s order.
They do not love the things of the world which is commanded of every Christian in 1 John 2:15-17.
They were of the conviction that executing the Lord’s will is more important than anything the cosmic system of Satan could tempt them with or give them.
These three friends will not be seduced away from obedience to God and doing His will by what Babylonian society could give them, which is driven by Satan’s standards.