they never did, in which they were indulgeS:nor
worship the golden image that I have set up ? it is for the
sake of this the question is put; this was the thing his
heart was set upon; and such was his pride, that he
could not bear any control in it.
Vet. 15. Now if ye be ready that at what time ye
shall hear, &c.] The meaning is, that if they were
disposed in mind, which the king was very desirous
they should, both for his own honour, and for their
safety, for whom he had a regard; and were willing
to comply with his orders, and readily yield obedience
to his will, and worship his idol; the following would
be a signal to them, and all would be well with them:
or it may be rendered, when now ye shall be, that at what
time ye shall hear {q}; for the word signifies future, as well
as ready, and is by some so translated; and the sense
is, when it shall be, or for the future, that they should
hear the sound of the cornet,flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery,
and dulcimer, and all kinds of music; which was played
not once only, but perhaps at certain times every day,
and designed to be continued: yefall down and worship
the image which I have made; it is well ;so doing.
the king's wrath would be appeased, their lives would
be preserved, and they continued in his fayour, and
in their honourable posts: but if ye worship not, ye
shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning
.fiery furnace; immediately, without any delay; no re-
prieve will be granted, and much less a pardon: and
who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands ?
he knew their confidence in the God of Israel, which
he attempts to break and remove; he foresaw the ob-
jection they would make, which he endearours to an-
ticipate by this proud and vain boast, forgetting what
he himself had said, oh. if. 47.
Ver. 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered
and said to the king, &c.] In a mild and gentle man-
ner, without affronting his majesty, or insulting his
gods, and yet without the least degree of servile fear
or fawning flattery: O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not
careful to answe,' thee in this matter; about worship-
ping the image; we are not solicitous about a choice
of words, or .in what manner to draw up our answer,
it is ready in our mouths; we have no need to take
time and consider of this matter, and think what to
say, we are at a point about it: as thou art peremptory
in thy will to have thine image worshipped, we are
as resolute, as determined, never to worship it; so that
there is no need to spend -time in a debate about it;
thou art come to a conclusion, and so are we: or in
this matter, about the power of our God to deliver,
we are not solicitous about an answer to that; we leave
him to defend himself, and his own power, against
such insults upon him.
Ver. 17. If it be so, &c.] That we mnst be cast
into the fiery furnace, as thou hast threatened: our
God whom we serve; for though they did not serve the
gods of the Babylonfans, they did not live without
God in the world; they believed in the one true God,
the God of Israel, their covenant God and Father;
whom they worshippeal, had an interest in, and who
had and would have a regard for them: he, say they,
is able to deliver us from the burning fiery .furnace;
either to prevent their being cast into it, or tO pre-
serve them unhurt in it-, and to bring them safe out of
it: instances of his power in other cases, such as the
passage of the Israelites through the Red sea safe,
when their enemies were drowned, with others, con-
firmed their faith- in this: and he will deliver us out of
thine hand, 0 king; they might have a well-grounded
hope and persuasion of deliverance, arising partly from
former instances of the divine power and goodness in
such-like cases; and partly from the consideration of
the glory of God, which would be greatly conspicuous
herein; and chiefly because of the king's defiance of
God, and blasphemy against him, which they had
reason to believe would be taken notice of; for it does
not appear that they had any tbresight of certain deli-
verance, or any secret intimation of it to them, or a full
assurance of it, as is evident by what ft,!lows:
Ver. 18. But if ,tot, &c.] If our God does not
think fit to exert his power, and deliver us, which we
are well assured he is able to do; if it is not his will,
we are content, we are resigned unto it: be it/enown
unto thee, 0 king, that we will not serve th.t/ gods. be
it as it will, whether we are delivered or not; we are
not sure of the one, but we are at a point as to the
other: nor worship the golden image which thou hast
set up; come life, come death, we are ready; we had
rather die than sin: they were all of one mind, and
agreed in this matter; a noble instance of spiritual for-
titude and courag.e!
Ver. 19. Then was Nebuchdnezzar full of fury, &c.]
Nettled at the answer given hitn; perceiving his.
threats made no impression on these three men, and
that they were resolutely determined at all events not
to obey his will: and the form of his visage was changed!
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego ; not only
to what it was in times past, when they were his fa-
yourites, and he smiled upon them; but with respect
to what it was while they were under examination,
and he was trying to bring them to his will; when
finding it impracticable, fury rose up, and shewed it-
self in the furrows and frowns of his forehead; in the
sharpness of his nose; in his sparkling eyes, foaming
mouth, and gnashing teeth, and that general redhess
his face was covered with: therefore he spake, and com-
manded that they should heat the furnace one seven times
more than it was wont to be heated; this seems to be a
furnace for this purpose, and where it was usual to
burn malefactors; it being a common punishment with
the Chaldeans; see Jet. xxix. 22. the order was to put
seven times more fuel in the furnace, that it might be
so much the hotter, and burn so much the fiercer;
which order of the king shews indeed the greatness of
his wrath and fury, but at the same time that it had
transported him out of his sense and judgment; since
so fierce a fire wa.s the better for the three men, sup-.
posing them to have died as he intended; who would
have been the sooner dispatched by it, and so not
suffer so much pain and torment as in a slow fire, or
less heat; but this was overruled by the providence of
God, that so it should be, that the miracle of their
walking in it unsinged and unhurt, and their deliver-
ance out of it, might appear the greater.

{q} \^Nydyte Nwkytya Nh\^ si futuri estis, Gejerus.