Daniel 3:25
From Textus Receptus
עָנֵה וְאָמַר הָא־אֲנָה חָזֵה גֻּבְרִין אַרְבְּעָה שְׁרַיִן מַהְלְכִין בְּגוֹא־נוּרָא וַחֲבָל לָא־אִיתַי בְּהוֹן וְרֵוֵהּ דִּי *רְבִיעָיָא [רְבִיעָאָה] דָּמֵה לְבַר־אֱלָהִין ס
(Masoretic Text, Bomberg Edition, 1525)
- Daniel 3:25 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.
(King James Version, Pure Cambridge Edition 1900)
- Daniel 3:25 He responded and said, “Behold, 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.”
(King James Version 2016 Edition, 2016) - buy the revised and updated printed 2023 Edition New Testament here
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Commentary
John Gill
John Gill stated in his commentary:
- And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God; many of the ancient Christian writers interpret it of Christ the Son of God, whom Nebuchadnezzar, though a Heathen prince, might have some knowledge of from Daniel and other Jews in his court, of whom he had heard them speak as a glorious Person; and this being such an one, he might conclude it was he, or one like to him; and it is highly probable it was he, since it was not unusual for him to appear in a human form, and to be present with his people, as he often is with them, and even in the furnace of affliction;to sympathize with them; to revive and comfort them; to bear them up and support them; to teach and instruct them, and at last to deliver them out of their afflictions.
Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry says in his commentary:
- Some think it was the eternal Son of God, the angel of the covenant, and not a created angel. He appeared often in our nature before he assumed it in his incarnation, and never more seasonable, nor to give a more proper indication and presage of his great errand into the world in the fulness of time, than now, when, to deliver his chosen out of the fire, he came and walked with them in the fire.
John Wesley
John Wesley said:
- The Son of God - Jesus Christ, the Angel of the covenant, did sometimes appear before his incarnation.
Matthew Poole
Matthew Poole states:
- Like the Son of God; a Divine, most beautiful, and glorious countenance; either of a mere angel, or rather of Jesus Christ, the Angel of the covenant, who did sometimes appear in the Old Testament before his incarnation, Gen. xii. 7; xviii. 10, 13, 17, 20, &c.; Exod. xxiii. 23; xxxiii. 2; Josh. v. 13—15 ; Prov. viii. 31; in all which places it is Jehovah; Gen. xix. 24; Exod. iii. 2 ; Acts vii. 30, 32, 33, 38."
- Was it an angel, or was it the second person of the Trinity, "the" Son of God? That this was the Son of God - the second person of the Trinity, who afterward became incarnate, has been quite a common opinion of expositors. So it was held by Tertullian, by Augustine, and by Hilary, among the fathers; and so it has been held by Gill, Clarius, and others, among the moderns. Of those who have maintained that it was Christ, some have supposed that Nebuchadnezzar had been made acquainted with the belief of the Hebrews in regard to the Messiah; others, that he spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit, without being fully aware of what his words imported, as Caiaphas, Saul, Pilate, and others have done. - Poole's "Synopsis."
John Trapp
John Trapp in his Complete Commentary (English Puritan) said:
- This fourth person here in the fiery furnace is by many held to be Christ the Son of God, who appeared at this time in human shape.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Unabridged) it says:
- The form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Unconsciously, like Saul, Caiaphas (John 11:49-52), and Pilate, he is made to utter divine truths, the full import of which he did not himself understand. "Son of God" in his mouth means only an "angel" from heaven, as Daniel 3:28 proves, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, etc., who hath sent his angel." (Compare Job 1:6; Job 38:7, where "the sons of God" mean the angels; Psalms 34:7-8, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them;" and the probably pagan centurion's exclamation, Matthew 27:54, "Truly this was the Son of God"). The Chaldeans believed in families of gods: Bel, the supreme god, accompanied by the goddess Mylitta, being the father of the gods: thus by the expression he meant one sprung from and sent by the gods. Really it was the "messenger of the covenant," who herein gave a prelude to His incarnation.
New King James Version
The NKJV of 1982 reads:
- the fourth is like the Son of God".
it has a footnote that reads:
- Or a son of the gods.
English Bibles
- 1382 Forsothe Asarie stoode, and preiede thus; and he openyde his mouth in the myddis of the fier, (Wycliffe)
- 1535 He answered and sayde: lo, for all that, yet do I se foure men goinge lowse in the myddest off the fyre, and nothinge corrupte: and the fourth is like an angel to loke vpon. (Coverdale)
- 1537 He aunswered and sayde: lo, for all that, yet do I se foure men goynge lowse in the myddeste of the fyre, and nothynge corrupte: and the fourthe is lyke an angell to loke vpon. (Matthew's)
- 1539 He answered, and sayde: lo, for all that, yet do I se foure men going lowse in the myddest of the fyer, and nothynge corrupte: and the fourth is lyke the sonne of God to loke vpon. (Great Bible)
- 1560 And he answered, and said, Loe, I see foure men loose, walking in the middes of the fire, and they haue no hurt, and the forme of the fourth is like the sonne of God. (Geneva Bible)
- 1568 He aunswered & sayde: Lo, I see foure men loose, walking in the mids of ye fire, and they haue no hurt: and the fourme of the fourth is like the sonne of God
- 1611 He answered and said, Loe, I see foure men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they haue no hurt, and the forme of the fourth is like the sonne of God.
- 1769 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.
- 1862 He answered and hath said, `Lo, I am seeing four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the appearance of the fourth `is' like to a son of the gods.' (Young's)
- 1833 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. (Webster's)
- 1993 He answered and said, Behold! I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and there is no harm among them. And the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods. (Green's Literal Translation)
