19 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 one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

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.

21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

[the fiery furnace,

22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell dow bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the kis was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsel lors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They swered and said unto the king, Tre O king.

25 He answered and said, Lo, I

number of worshippers. Supposing the figure to be erect, four times and a half the breadth of the shoulders, is stated to be the usual height of a man. Now the breadth of the statuc being 6 cubits, the proper height would then be 27, leaving 33 for pedestal, which does not appear to us unlikely, the above circumstance considered; and whether we take the cubit at 18 inches or 22, the proportion will be the

same.

But this was an image of gold; how immense therefore must be its value! True; but if the pedestal were of stone, as we suppose, this would reduce it more than half; and if the statue were hollow instead of solid, as we conceive most probable, it would make another considerable reduction in its supposed value. Golden images are, however, not uncommon in the east. Diodorus Siculus mentions one of forty feet high (without a pedestal) and two others nearly of the same value, beside altars and utensils of the same precious metal. Herodotus mentions one of Jupiter,

in a sitting posture, of solid gold, with a table of the same before him, estimated 800 talents of gold.

It may be asked, of whom was th statue the representation? Some suppe of the king himself, and others of bis 'r ther; but from the text, it is evident th it was of some deity, probably Bel, the representative of the Sun or Solar fire for the enraged king charges the Hebre children, not with personal disrespect, with refusing to adore his gods. (ver. 14.

The greatest difficulty in this hy seems to be, to account for Nebuchadeer." here setting up an idol, who but in the chapter before was falling down belo Daniel, and worshipping his God. It ma be observed, however, that though! events follow so closely in the narrat Abp. Usher and other respectable Ca nologers, place more than 20 years betwee the events themselves. Nebuchadte forgot his vows to the God of Israelis years: but how many have done this less than half that time!

Editor of Calmet, however, has proved that the h nace was open above; and, indeed, it mastbare de so, for the king to see all that passed; it ma have been of considerable extent, for four perses walk in the midst of the flames. In our Exp suggested the possibility of the wind b ployed to cool this furnace; the idea is taken the song of the three children, abore m which says, "He (i. e. God) made the mid fiery furnace as it had been a most Marc whistling wind; so that the fire touched Ver. 27. Nor the smell of fire had-Wintle, * had the smell of fire settled on them." Ver. 29. I make a decree-Chald. "A dep made by me."Any thing amiss.-Clad **

error."

Ver. 30. The king promoted - Chald. “E* prosper," or flourish, so that they were no lested.

But miraculously]

[delivered therefrom.

hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon. (E)

CHAP. IV.

unto all people, nations, and lan

(E) Ver. 19-30. The three Hebrew youths, nobly refusing to worship this image, are cast into a fiery furnace, but miraculously delivered.- Nebuchadnezzar, by an error too common among tyrants, supposing he had a right to prescribe the religion of his subjects, and rule their consciences, is now in as great a rage with the Hebrew youths, as he had been with his own soothsayers, and orders them to be thrown into this bed of fire, and the flames being blown perhaps directly in the face of their executioners, are to them fatal, while to the intended martyrs they are perfectly harmless. The king, who had probably hoped to gratify his temper in witnessing their destruction, is now perfectly astounded; struck with wonder and confusion. Yes; the Angel which had conducted the tribes of Israel on dry land through the Red Sea, is now coolly walking with the three children amidst the fiery furnace. Probably He, who by his wind divided the sea, by the same, or other means equally within his command, divided the flames also, and turned their fury against their executioners.

A question may here arise, Where was Daniel all this time, and how came it that he was not involved in the same persecution with his Hebrew brethren. Perhaps the singular honours Daniel had received by interpreting the king's dreams, might intimidate the Chaldeans from attacking him; and as to his interfering on their behalf, he doubtless knew the king's capricious temper, and thought himself

better employed, in interceding for them with the King of heaven than with the tyrant of Babylonia.

We have mentioned (in our introduction to this book) that there are some apocryphal fragments appended to it by the Church of Rome, of which by far the most interesting and valuable is "The Song of the Three Holy Children," supposed to be uttered by them in the midst of the fiery furnace. It contains many passages from the book of Psalms (and particularly from the 148th) not ill-suited to their character and circumstances, though we cannot consider the Song itself as holy scripture. They could not, however, be ill employed while their divine guardian, the Angel of the covenant, was walking with them.

Nebuchadnezzar, who had seated himself where he could view the whole process, was now overwhelmed with astonishment, as were all his courtiers, and commanded the three holy youths to come forth from the furnace; upon doing which they were strictly examined, and it was found that neither was their hair singed, nor was the smell of fire found upon them. The true God was therefore again acknowledged, and his servants promoted to higher honours. Thus was literally fulfilled, a promise, (which must not too generally be so construed,) "When thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." (Isa. xliii. 2.) This is true only when the Son of God is with us.

[vision of a tree,

visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

.

10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.

11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth.

12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

head

13 I saw in the visions of my upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;

14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:

15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:

16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.

CHAP. IV. Ver. 1. Peace be multiplied~a usual form of address, as appears from comparing ch. vi. 25. Ver. 2. I thought it good-Chald. "It was seemly before me."

Ver. 4. At rest-here means, at ease and in peace. Ver. 8. According to the name of my god—that is, Bel. See chap. i. 7.—The spirit of the holy gods. --Nebuchadnezzar, it is evident, was to this time an idolater, and seems to have entertained very confused notions of the divinity. "Perhaps (says Dr. Boothroyd) he thought his own god the same as Daniel's, under another name."

Ver. 10. I saw - Chald. “I was seeing." the midst of the earth-or land.

-- In

Ver. 11. Reached unto heaven-An hyperbole for very high. See Gen. xi. 4; Deut. i. 28; Job xx. 6; 2 Chron, xxviii. 9.

Ver. 13. A watcher and an holy one.-See on ver. 17. Ver. 14. Cried aloud — Chald. “With might," or mightily.

Ver. 15. With a band of iron, &c.-that is, secure it to the ground, that no human force may era.

17 This matter is by the decree of

dicate it; meaning, that during his disease, to foreign power should be suffered to seize his kingdom To render this verse more perspicuous, Dr. Be royd removes the semicolon from field to brass; and introduces the masculine pronoun he, instead of t The passage then reads, "In (or with) the tender grass of the field he shall be wet with the dew heaven, and his portion shall be with the beasts in the grass of the earth."

Ver. 16. Let his heart be changed from man'sWintle, "His heart shall be changed from the man" i. e. he shail be deprived of his under standing, which was the case; and he appears to have become" a wild man of the woods," feeding with the beasts of the forest on fruits and vegetables, and exposed to all the inclemency of the weather. Perhaps those who assumed the government, gare themselves no trouble to prevent this; and mana, we know, can endure a great deal of wet and end.

Ver. 17. This matter is by the deeree of the watch ers. By the watchers are generally understood gels, and particularly guardian angels, which wecan

the watchers, and the demand by the 2 word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of

men.

18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation; but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. (F)

19 ¶ Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar

CHAP. IV.

[interpretation.

answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.

20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;

21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:

22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree

(F) Ver. 1-18. Nebuchadnezzar relates his dream of a great tree, which is interpreted by Daniel.-In several versions, and in some editions of the original, the three first verses of this chapter are attached to the preceding; they are, however, equally striking and appropriate, whether they be considered as pious reflections, arising from the event just before mentioned, or as dictated after his illness and recovery, here about to be related.

The dream here recorded took place, as is supposed, ten or twelve years after the events of the preceding chapter, and near the close of Nebuchadnezzar's life. Having subdued all the neighbouring countries, and greatly embellished and enriched the metropolis in which he resided, he became intoxicated with self-admiration and applause, and in that state of mind saw the vision here related.

On the dream itself we have little to remark, since we shall find it fully explained by the Prophet himself, in the latter part of

the chapter. It may seem strange that, after having experienced the imbecility of his Chaldean soothsayers, in respect of his former dream, he should again apply to them, in preference to Daniel; but perhaps he might think, as he was still an idolater, that though they could not bring back the lost recollection of his former dream, yet, hearing the dream related, (as they then said,) they might be able to interpret it; and it appears extraordinary that this was not attempted.

It is possible, however, that the king might wish to try them; and that they, suspecting his real design, dreaded again to appear, in competition with the illustrious Prophet. Him, however, the haughty monarch addresses in terms not only of respect, but of flattery. "O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods (or rather, of the Holy God) is in thee." Or it may be, that Nebuchadnezzar's conscience smote him, and he feared to receive from Daniel those reproofs which he deserved, and which in the end he did meet with.

ceive to be the true sense of the Chaldee term. is the world governed by the decrees of angels? Certainly not; the very text asserts the contrary; for it says, that the direct object of the decree and demand is, that the living (by which we understand all living) may know that the Most HIGH ruleth in the kingdom of men. By "the decree of the watchers" we therefore understand, the decree which the watcher and holy one" came down from heaven (ver. 14) to execute; and the demand which these angels were sent to enforce was, that

that the root of this tree should be preserved. Compare Isa. xliv. 26.

We are aware that Mr. Parkhurst, Bp. Horsley, and others, explain the watchers to he the persons of the Holy Trinity; but we conceive they are expressly distinguished from them by the words just quoted. Dr. Good gives the words a different rendering, but this we conceive unnecessary. (See Good on Job Ixxi. &c.)

Ver. 22. Reacheth unto heaven.-See N. on ver. ¡l. Ver. 23. Iron and brass.-Comp. Note on ver. 15.