He answered, Look, I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
Parallel translations
- KJV He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
- BSB “Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”
- NKJV “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
- NASB He responded, “Look! I see four men untied and walking about in the middle of the fire unharmed, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”
- NLT “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!”
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 king sees four men walking unharmed in the fire, the fourth like "a son of the gods." God's presence has joined his servants in the flames.
Overview
The fourth figure, whom Nebuchadnezzar describes in pagan terms, is a divine messenger sent to protect the faithful. Many Christians have seen here a foreshadowing of God's nearness to his people in suffering, and some a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, though the text speaks plainly only of a heavenly deliverer. Either way, the scene proclaims that God does not always remove his people from the fire, but he is with them in it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 43:2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.
- Acts 28:5However he shook off the creature into the fire, and wasn’t harmed.
- Mark 16:18they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
- Ps 91:3–9For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.
- Job 1:6Now on the day when God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them.
- Ps 34:7Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
- Dan 3:28Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
- 1 Pet 3:13Now who is he who will harm you, if you become imitators of that which is good?
- Job 38:7when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
- Dan 3:18But 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.
- Rom 1:4who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
- Prov 30:4Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?
- Luke 1:35The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.
- John 19:7–8The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:25 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.