_Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold_ How soon this image was erected, after the dream in his second year, is uncertain. The Greek and Arabic interpreters suppose it to have been in _the eighteenth year_ of his reign, and Dr. Prideaux agrees with them. But whether it was then, or, as some think, la... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather together the princes_, &c. It would be very difficult, and perhaps impossible, at this distance of time, to ascertain the proper titles and offices of the several characters that are here mentioned, and certainly would answer no valuable end to any reader. It may... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then a herald cried aloud_ Made proclamation in the languages of the several nations assembled; _To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages_ Whatever parts of the empire you come from, and whatever language you speak. This form of speech was doubtless designed to set forth the largene... [ Continue Reading ]
_All the people, &c., fell down and worshipped_ And what wonder, considering that all the charms of music were made use of to allure them to a compliance on the one hand, and the terrors of the fiery furnace to frighten them into it on the other? Thus beset with the double temptation of allurement a... [ Continue Reading ]
_At that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews_ It is not improbable that these Chaldeans were such as envied these friends of Daniel their preferments, having perhaps themselves expected the places to which they had been advanced. _They spake and said, O king, live for ever_ They a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage_, &c. How little was it to the honour of this mighty prince that he had rule over so many nations, when, at the same time, he had no rule over his own spirit! How unfit was he to rule reasonable men, who would not himself be ruled by reason! Surely it did not need to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nebuchadnezzar said, Is it true, O Shadrach?_ &c. Or, _of purpose_, as the margin reads it, and as the word is used, Exodus 21:13. Is it designedly and deliberately done, or was it only through inadvertency, that you have not served my gods? What! you that I have nourished and brought up; that have... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shadrach, Meshach, &c., said, We are not careful to answer thee_, &c. In so plain a case there is no room for deliberation: we have an answer ready at hand, that _we ought to obey God rather than man._ Admirable example this of a true faith in God, and ready obedience to his will! How worthy of our... [ Continue Reading ]
_If it be so_ If we are brought into this strait: if we must be thrown into the fiery furnace unless we serve thine image; _our God whom we serve is able to deliver us_, &c. As we are firmly persuaded of the power of our God to deliver us, so we trust in his mercy and goodness, that he will deliver... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury_ Nebuchadnezzar had himself known and owned so much of the true God, that one would have thought, though his pride and vanity had induced him to make this golden image, and set it up to be worshipped, yet that what these young men now said (whom he had formerly... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because the king's commandment was urgent_ That they should despatch them quickly, and be sure to do it effectually; and they therefore resolved to go to the very mouth of the furnace, that they might throw them into the midst of it; and were hasty and precipitate in executing their orders, and did... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 Nebuchadnezzar's astonishment. Hence Houbigant inserts two verses, which are found in the Vulgate to this purpose: “But an angel of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the furnace_ As near as he durst come; _and spake_ With a milder tone than before, God having abated the fire of his fury; _and said, Ye servants of the most high God_, &c. The miracle calls to his mind the confession which he had formerly made of the t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach_, &c. So Darius offers up his acknowledgments to the God of Daniel 6:26, looking upon him as superior to other gods, but not as the only true God. _Who hath sent his angel_ Thus Daniel ascribes his deliverance from the lions to an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore, I make a decree_, &c. He issues a royal edict, strictly forbidding any to speak evil of the God of Israel. We have reason to think that both the sins and the troubles of Israel had given great, though no just occasion to the Chaldeans to blaspheme the God of Israel, and it is likely Nebu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the king promoted Shadrach_, &c. He not only reversed the attainder of these three men, but restored them to their places in the government, nay, and preferred them to greater and more advantageous trusts than they had held before; or, as the margin reads it, He _made_ them _to prosper._ The L... [ Continue Reading ]