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And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, firmly bound, fell into the blazing fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:23 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the middle of the burning fiery furnace.
  • KJV And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
  • NKJV And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
  • NASB But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell into the middle of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.
  • NLT So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell into the roaring flames.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The three men fall, bound, into the midst of the blazing furnace. Their plight could not be more dire.

Overview

They go down into the fire still tied, with no way out by their own strength. The verse leaves them at the lowest point, seemingly lost. It is precisely here, where all hope seems gone, that God will reveal his presence and power.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Dan 6:16–17So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
  • Jer 38:6So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
  • Ps 66:11–12You led us into the net; You laid burdens on our backs.
  • Ps 124:1–5A song of ascents. Of David. If the LORD had not been on our side—let Israel now declare—
  • Ps 34:19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
  • 2 Cor 4:17For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.
  • 1 Pet 4:12–13Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
  • 2 Cor 1:8–10We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
  • Lam 3:52–54Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Daniel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Daniel 3:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DanielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.

How Daniel 3:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.