Daniel 3:24–28

Context

In chapter 3 of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, sets up a golden image and commands all his officials to bow down to it. Three officials from Judah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (whose original names, according to Daniel 1:7, were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah), refuse. They are bound and thrown into a furnace (a large kiln used for smelting metal) heated seven times hotter than usual. This passage describes what happens immediately afterward. The king sees four men walking unbound in the fire and calls the three out. In the presence of high officials such as the princes, governors, and captains, it is confirmed that their bodies, the hair of their heads, and their garments are entirely unharmed. The king then declares that their God "hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants" (Daniel 3:28). In the verses that follow (3:29–30), the king issues a decree forbidding anyone to speak against this God and promotes the three men.

Interpretation

The most widely discussed question is the identity of the "fourth" figure who appears in the midst of the fire.

• The angelic reading: This view rests on the fact that in verse 28 Nebuchadnezzar himself speaks of "his angel," that is, an angel sent by God. Jewish tradition and many Protestant commentators follow this reading.
• The Christophany reading: This interpretation regards the figure as an appearance of Jesus Christ prior to his incarnation. It is found among various interpreters throughout church history and is widespread in Korean preaching. This interpretation emphasizes God's presence with those who suffer.
• The reading focused on the text's main point: Rather than settling on a single identification, this approach emphasizes that God delivered the men from the fire and that a pagan king came to acknowledge the God of Israel.

Views also differ regarding Nebuchadnezzar's declaration. Some read it as a pagan king's acknowledgment of the true God, while others hold that, as the events of chapter 4 show, the king's conversion was not yet complete.

Points of Debate

• Translation: The Aramaic expression in verse 25 literally means "a son of the gods," and the New Korean Revised Version renders it this way, preserving the king's polytheistic perspective. The King James Version, by contrast, translates it as "the Son of God" ("the form of the fourth is like the Son of God"), a rendering widely regarded as having influenced Christological interpretation.
• Additional Greek text: The Greek Old Testament contains the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men between 3:23 and 3:24. The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church accept these additions as canonical, while Protestants classify them as Apocrypha. For this reason, the verse numbering of this section in Catholic and some other Bibles differs from that of Protestant Bibles.
• Application: This story is sometimes cited as a promise of miraculous deliverance. In response, some argue that it must be read together with the earlier words "But if not" (Daniel 3:18). On this reading, the heart of the passage is faithfulness regardless of whether deliverance comes.

In the Korean Church

In sermons, this story is often associated with believers who resisted compulsory Shinto shrine worship during the Japanese colonial period. It remains a standard text today in sermons and Sunday school lessons on God's presence amid suffering and on the rejection of idolatry.

Related Passages

• Daniel 3:16–18
• Isaiah 43:1–2
• Hebrews 11:33–38
• Acts 5:29
• Deuteronomy 5:6–10