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And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:23 · New King James Version
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.
  • BSB And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, firmly bound, fell into the blazing 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 6:16–17Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you.
  • Jer 38:6Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
  • Ps 66:11–12You brought us into prison. You laid a burden on our backs.
  • Ps 124:1–5A Song of Ascents. By David. If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, let Israel now say,
  • Ps 34:19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
  • 2 Cor 4:17For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
  • 1 Pet 4:12–13Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you, to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you.
  • 2 Cor 1:8–10For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life.
  • Lam 3:52–54They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.

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.