Passage

Daniel 3.17-18

Book: Daniel · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

15. Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands? 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter.

17. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. 18. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated. 20. And he commanded certain mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:15-20, ASV)

WEB

15. Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, good: but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands? 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

17. If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his appearance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. 20. He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:15-20, WEB)

KJV

15. Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. ^{full: Cald. filled} 20. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ^{most: Cald. mighty of strength} (Daniel 3:15-20, KJV)

YLT

15. Now, lo, ye are ready, so that at the time that ye hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, and the symphony, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and do obeisance to the image that I have made!, and lo, ye do no obeisance, in that hour ye are cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; who is that God who doth deliver you out of my hands?' 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego have answered, yea, they are saying to the king Nebuchadnezzar, 'We have no need concerning this matter to answer thee.

17. Lo, it is; our God whom we are serving, is able to deliver us from a burning fiery furnace; and from thy hand, O king, He doth deliver. 18. And lo, not! be it known to thee, O king, that thy gods we are not serving, and to the golden image thou hast raised up we do no obeisance.'

Then Nebuchadnezzar hath been full of fury, and the expression of his face hath been changed concerning Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; he answered and said to heat the furnace seven times above that which it is seen to be heated; 20. and to certain mighty men who [are] in his force he hath said to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, to cast into the burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:15-20, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answering the king together (3:16)
Audience: Nebuchadnezzar, who has just asked, "who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?" (3:15)
Location: The plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon (3:1)
Time period: The Babylonian exile, in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). The date of the book's composition is disputed: traditionally the sixth century BC, while many critical scholars place it in the second. This chapter belongs to the Aramaic section of the book (2:4b-7:28).

Theological reading

"Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." The king has asked which god could deliver them (3:15). The three answer the question directly.

An uncertain opening. The first words are hard to render. The ASV and KJV read "If it be so," the WEB "If it happens," and the YLT "Lo, it is." The Aramaic conditional can be taken as "if it be so that we are cast in," or as "if our God whom we serve exists and is able." Either way, the sentence moves from the condition to a confident claim: God "is able to deliver" (Strong's H7804), and "he will deliver us out of thy hand."

"But if not." The second sentence is the famous one. The three do not withdraw the claim that God is able. They refuse to make their obedience depend on whether He uses that power in their case. Power and the freedom to withhold it stand side by side, and their worship stands on God Himself rather than on the outcome. They will not "serve" (H6399) the king's gods whether or not their own God rescues them, using the same verb they used of their God in 3:17.

The outcome, and its limits. In this chapter God does deliver them: the king sees four men walking loose in the fire, "and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods" (3:25). But the three made their stand before they knew that. Hebrews 11 lists both kinds of faithful: those who "quenched the power of fire" (11:34) and "others" who "were tortured, not accepting their deliverance" (11:35). The text does not promise that every faithful person is rescued. It shows faith that holds either way. See Why Doesn't God Intervene Objection Defeater.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Quoted in

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Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.