The Story of Daniel and the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace by Konstantinos Adrianoupolitis
The Three Hebrews in the Furnace by Unknown artist
Censer depicting the Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace by Unknown artist, France

Daniel 3; Additions to Daniel: The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews

The Fiery Furnace

Commentaries by Peter S. Hawkins

Works of art by Konstantinos Adrianoupolitis, Unknown artist and Unknown artist, France

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Konstantinos Adrianoupolitis

The Story of Daniel and the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace, Second half of 18th century, Icon, 63 x 48 cm, "Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, Athens; ΓΕ 3034, © 2020 Benaki Museum, Athens

In the Shelter of the Most High

Commentary by Peter S. Hawkins

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This eighteenth-century icon by Konstantinos Adrianoupolitis gives a highly detailed rendition of Daniel 3. In the left foreground we see an immense furnace, its flames soaring beyond the picture’s borders. Inside are the three young Hebrews, identical, with their arms extended in thanksgiving and prayer—figures of undaunted piety. Close behind them is an angel embracing them with his protective wings; in front of them, overcome with an overflow of fire, are the Babylonian servants who consigned the Hebrews to the flames.

To the right of centre is the golden statue erected by the emperor; at the lower right Nebuchadnezzar is juxtaposed with his idol and flanked by courtiers in sumptuous garments and headgear. Crowds of men meant to represent ‘all the peoples’ focus their gaze intensely on the idol, which is serenaded by an orchestra of horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, ‘and every kind of music’ (Daniel 3:7). While the multitude turns from all directions to worship the golden statue, Nebuchadnezzar is fixated on the men within the blazing furnace. They look directly at the viewer with the same serene smile we see on the angel’s face.

Konstantinos Adrianoupolitis might well have left it at that; instead, he gives us an abundance of detail beyond what is offered by the Scriptures. City dwellers jam the ramparts to take in the spectacle below them. Painterly images of the ‘works of the Lord’ (Song of the Three Jews 35; Daniel 3:57 LXX), mountains and a river, limn the horizon. A figure in monastic garb—presumably the icon’s donor—kneels in front of the emperor so as to look beyond him, to venerate the faithful Hebrews in the furnace.

The painter also places Daniel 3 within a wider narrative. In the distance at the upper right of the composition, we see the prophet Daniel called to vision by an angel; below, he is shown in the lion’s den, its ravenous beasts smiling broadly at the holy man who crosses his hands in prayer. Beneath that vignette and to the right, we see the three young Hebrews studying a scroll of Scripture and surrounded by stringed instruments of praise. It is as if they are preparing for the Benedicite that they will later sing in the furnace: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever’ (Song of the Three Jews 67; Daniel 3:89 LXX). A fragment of that Song is inscribed in the upper border of the icon, calling the viewer to thanksgiving as well.

Unknown artist

The Three Hebrews in the Furnace, c.250–300 CE, Fresco, Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome; Scala / Art Resource, NY

A Baptism of Fire

Commentary by Peter S. Hawkins

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Found in the third-century Roman catacombs of Priscilla, this paleo-Christian wall painting shows the three young Hebrew men of Daniel 3 thrown into a fiery furnace by the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar. Their crime was refusing to worship an immense golden idol traditionally thought to represent the monarch himself.

Whereas the biblical account is full of detail, the mural is selective in what it shows. It gives us the faithful believers—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—but only a suggestion of the furnace flames and nothing of the servants who commandeered them, the courtiers who gathered to watch their incineration, or the emperor who ordered it. Instead, the focus is on those who risked death trusting in God for deliverance; who, even if martyred, vowed to obey the prohibition of the first commandment (Exodus 20:3):

Be it known to you, O king, that we will not worship your gods nor adore the golden statue which you have set up. (Daniel 3:18 NRSV)

Interest in the Hebrews extends to their exotic clothing, which is itemized in Daniel 3:21. Although the exact meaning of the terms is debated, they are rendered in translation as tunics, trousers, hats, and ‘other garments’. Attention is also paid to their erect posture, open hands, and extended arms uplifted in the orant or prayer gesture. Might they together be singing the Benedicite thanksgiving hymn found in the Greek addition to Daniel 3 (Song of the Three Jews 23–68; Daniel 3:51–90 LXX).

The figures radiate a sense of calm, as if confident of their rescue. The fire in which they stand poses no apparent danger: it appears more like garden foliage than flame. Above them hovers a dove bearing an olive branch, perhaps a visual reminder of the Noah story and its deliverance (Genesis 8:11). In Daniel there is a fourth figure in the fiery furnace, who has (according to Nebuchadnezzar) ‘the appearance of a God’ (Song of the Three Jews 25; Daniel 3:92 LXX); here, however, that protective divine presence, otherwise taken to be an angel or Christ, suggests the Holy Spirit, who at Jesus’s baptism descends from heaven ‘like a dove’ (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22).

 

References

Walton, Ann. 1988. ‘The Three Hebrew Children in the Fiery Furnace’, in Medieval Mediterranean Cross-Cultural Contexts, ed. by Marilyn J.Chiat and Kathryn L. Reyerson (St. Cloud, MN: North Star Press of St. Cloud), 57–66

Unknown artist, France

Censer depicting the Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace, c.1160–65, Cast brass, chiselled and gilded, h. 16 cm; d. 10.4 cm, Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille; A 82, Photo: Stéphane Maréchalle, © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY

Let my Prayer be Counted as Incense

Commentary by Peter S. Hawkins

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Although the story of the three young Hebrews in the fiery furnace is a familiar trope of divine deliverance, its iconographic use on a censer seems to be unique. This mid-twelfth-century spherical incense burner, made for use in the liturgy, is a masterpiece from the Moselle valley in France. Its two hemispheres are decorated with dense foliage and fantastic creatures. An angel or perhaps a figure of Christ crowns the censer’s summit, seated on a pedestal and offering protection; below him, in a circle, sit the three Hebrews, each of whom is named by an inscription below his image, and each of whom strikes a distinctive pose. Here, as in the Greek addition to Daniel 3, it is Abednego (named Azariah) who alone is shown in the orant posture of thanksgiving, for it is he who stands in the fire and prays aloud, ‘Blessed art thou, O Lord, God of our fathers… (Prayer of Azariah 3; Daniel 3:26 LXX).

This emphasis on individuality is reinforced by a first-person Latin text that runs across the circumference:

I, Rénier, give this censer a sign so that at the hour of death you may grant me a funeral similar to yours, and in the belief that your prayers will rise like incense to Christ. (trans. by Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille)

Scholars speculate variously that this Rénier may have been a donor, the artist himself, or perhaps someone who both made and gave the work to a monastic community (Gearhart 2013). The gift’s stated purpose is to signify his salvation, offering prayers to help him to, as the inscription says, ‘rise like incense to Christ’.

With smoke issuing forth from the censer amid the images of the faithful Hebrews and their guardian angel or indeed Christ himself, the object’s purifying function and its artistic form come together in an extraordinarily complex way. In a billowing cloud of incense, we see their deliverance in the present moment and anticipate Rénier’s as well. It is as if all the figures were sitting on coals while yet 'the fire did not touch them at all’ (Song of the Three Jews 27; Daniel 3:50 LXX).

 

References

Gearhart, Heidi C. 2013. ‘Work and Prayer in the Fiery Furnace: The Three Hebrews on the Censer of Reiner in Lille and a Case for Artistic Labor’, Studies in Iconography, 34: 103–32

Konstantinos Adrianoupolitis :

The Story of Daniel and the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace, Second half of 18th century , Icon

Unknown artist :

The Three Hebrews in the Furnace, c.250–300 CE , Fresco

Unknown artist, France :

Censer depicting the Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace, c.1160–65 , Cast brass, chiselled and gilded

Faithful in the Flames

Comparative commentary by Peter S. Hawkins

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Read by Ben Quash

As in the stories of Daniel in the lions’ den and Jonah in the belly of the ‘great fish’, the moral of this episode is simple: deliverance is at hand, for God spares those who keep the faith.

The narrative in Daniel 3 is, by contrast, elaborate. It gives us crowd scenes, a dialogic back and forth, ‘every kind of music’, a detailed description of clothing as well as of instrumentation, and a dramatic reversal of expectation. An artist approaching this story has much to go on.

That said, an artwork’s focus might be on narrative essentials alone, as in the wall painting in the third-century catacomb of Priscilla. There we see only the three young Hebrews in the flames, with a divine presence hovering just above them and offering protection. In the catacomb’s funerary context, the image goes to the heart of the matter: death does not have the last word. In the late-Byzantine icon, on the other hand, there is a welter, even a superfluity, of visual ‘information’. The icon writer takes an expansive view, a fuller account than the one given in Daniel 3. Rather than opening a window onto heaven, the icon illustrates and extends the text.

But what text are we working with? The Hebrew Bible, and the Protestant Scriptures that follow it, give the events of the story as seen from outside the flames, and in prose. By contrast, the Scriptures of the Orthodox (working from the Greek Septuagint) and Roman Catholics (drawing on the Latin Vulgate) take us inside the conflagration, and into poetry. Between Daniel 3:23 and 3:24 they offer a suite of verses with two psalms or odes that record the prayers of the young men in the flames. One, known as the ‘Prayer of Azariah’ (Abednego), is a penitential plea for deliverance (vv.24–45 LXX); the other, the in-unison ‘Song of the Three Jews’ (vv.51–90 LXX), blesses God, as in Psalm 148, for the manifold gifts of creation.

The Song is commonly identified by its opening word in the Latin, Benedicite. It became a fixture in liturgies both East and West, but is especially important in Orthodox churches, which not only commemorate the deliverance on a fixed feast day (17 December), but also use the Song both in evening offices throughout the year and in the liturgy of Holy Saturday. (There is also evidence of a late-medieval liturgical drama, a Service of the Furnace, observed in Hagia Sophia and elsewhere; Lingas 2010.)

All the works in this exhibition assume the expanded version of Daniel 3. For this reason, we can imagine that whenever the three Hebrews are shown in the prayer position they would have on their lips, ‘Blessed art thou, O Lord, God of our fathers, and to be praised and highly exalted for ever (Song of the Three Jews 29; Daniel 3:52 LXX). Some representations make this explicit by including the opening words of the Benedicite within the work, so that the text, regularly sung in church, comes easily to mind when venerating the picture or, in the case of the medieval censer, when using the object liturgically to sanctify. The upper border of the icon, for instance, reads:

In times past, the three children did not fall down and worship the golden image, the Persian idol, but chanted in the middle of the furnace: O God of our fathers, blessed are you.

The fourth ‘man’ in the iconography of Daniel 3 is identified both as ‘an angel of the Lord’ (Prayer of Azariah 26; Daniel 3:49 LXX) and ‘like the Son of God’ (Daniel 3:25 NRSV; v.92 LXX). He is pictured in various ways. In the catacombs, he is ‘like’ a dove and therefore more like the Holy Spirit than the Saviour. At the apex of the twelfth-century medieval censer, he is more obviously readable as an angel (even if missing his telltale wings)—although given his greater size, seated position, and facial expression, he also has more than a passing resemblance to Christ, who was often thought to be the fourth man in the furnace. In the icon we see a winged angel embracing the three Hebrews, whose halo bears a christological cross embedded faintly in gold—a reflection of the ‘Son of God’ he was often taken to be. In every case, the Daniel image suggests the joy of a divine rescue, as if each one, though silent, gives voice to the Benedicite refrain, ‘bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever’.

 

References

Lingas, Alexander. 2010. ‘Late Byzantine Cathedral Liturgy and the Service of the Furnace’, in Approaching the Holy Mountain: Art and Liturgy at St Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai, ed. by S. Gerstal and R. Nelson (Turnholt: Bepols), pp. 179–230

Next exhibition: Daniel 4 Next exhibition: Additions to the Book of Daniel: Susanna .

Daniel 3; Additions to Daniel: The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews

Revised Standard Version

Daniel 3

3 King Nebuchadnezʹzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2Then King Nebuchadnezʹzar sent to assemble the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezʹzar had set up. 3Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, were assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezʹzar had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezʹzar had set up. 4And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezʹzar has set up; 6and whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image which King Nebuchadnezʹzar had set up.

8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeʹans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9They said to King Nebuchadnezʹzar, “O king, live for ever! 10You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image; 11and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego. These men, O king, pay no heed to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

13 Then Nebuchadnezʹzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego be brought. Then they brought these men before the king. 14Nebuchadnezʹzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I have set up? 15Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image which I have made, well and good; but if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace; and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezʹzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

19 Then Nebuchadnezʹzar was full of fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated. 20And he ordered certain mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21Then these men were bound in their mantles, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were cast into the burning fiery furnace. 22Because the king’s order was strict and the furnace very hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego. 23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then King Nebuchadnezʹzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He said to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.” 25He answered, “But I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

26 Then Nebuchadnezʹzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego, servants of the Most High God, come forth, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego came out from the fire. 27And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their mantles were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28Nebuchadnezʹzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set at nought the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” 30Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedʹnego in the province of Babylon.

Additions to the Book of Daniel: The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews

1 And they walked about in the midst of the flames, singing hymns to God and blessing the Lord. 2Then Azariʹah stood and offered this prayer; in the midst of the fire he opened his mouth and said:

3“Blessed art thou, O Lord, God of our fathers, and worthy of praise;

and thy name is glorified for ever.

4For thou art just in all that thou hast done to us,

and all thy works are true and thy ways right,

and all thy judgments are truth.

5Thou hast executed true judgments in all that thou hast brought upon us

and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our fathers,

for in truth and justice thou hast brought all this upon us because of our sins.

6For we have sinfully and lawlessly departed from thee,

and have sinned in all things and have not obeyed thy commandments;

7we have not observed them or done them,

as thou hast commanded us that it might go well with us.

8So all that thou hast brought upon us,

and all that thou hast done to us,

thou hast done in true judgment.

9Thou hast given us into the hands of lawless enemies, most hateful rebels,

and to an unjust king, the most wicked in all the world.

10And now we cannot open our mouths;

shame and disgrace have befallen thy servants and worshipers.

11For thy name’s sake do not give us up utterly,

and do not break thy covenant,

12and do not withdraw thy mercy from us,

for the sake of Abraham thy beloved

and for the sake of Isaac thy servant

and Israel thy holy one,

13to whom thou didst promise

to make their descendants as many as the stars of heaven

and as the sand on the shore of the sea.

14For we, O Lord, have become fewer than any nation,

and are brought low this day in all the world because of our sins.

15And at this time there is no prince, or prophet, or leader,

no burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense,

no place to make an offering before thee or to find mercy.

16Yet with a contrite heart and a humble spirit may we be accepted,

as though it were with burnt offerings of rams and bulls,

and with tens of thousands of fat lambs;

17such may our sacrifice be in thy sight this day,

and may we wholly follow thee,

for there will be no shame for those who trust in thee.

18And now with all our heart we follow thee,

we fear thee and seek thy face.

19Do not put us to shame,

but deal with us in thy forbearance

and in thy abundant mercy.

20Deliver us in accordance with thy marvelous works,

and give glory to thy name, O Lord!

Let all who do harm to thy servants be put to shame;

21let them be disgraced and deprived of all power and dominion,

and let their strength be broken.

22Let them know that thou art the Lord, the only God,

glorious over the whole world.”

The Song of the Three Jews

23 Now the king’s servants who threw them in did not cease feeding the furnace fires with naphtha, pitch, tow, and brush. 24And the flame streamed out above the furnace forty-nine cubits, 25and it broke through and burned those of the Chaldeʹans whom it caught about the furnace. 26But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace to be with Azariʹah and his companions, and drove the fiery flame out of the furnace, 27and made the midst of the furnace like a moist whistling wind, so that the fire did not touch them at all or hurt or trouble them.

28 Then the three, as with one mouth, praised and glorified and blessed God in the furnace, saying:

29“Blessed art thou, O Lord, God of our fathers,

and to be praised and highly exalted for ever;

30And blessed is thy glorious, holy name

and to be highly praised and highly exalted for ever;

31Blessed art thou in the temple of thy holy glory

and to be extolled and highly glorified for ever.

32Blessed art thou, who sittest upon cherubim and lookest upon the deeps,

and to be praised and highly exalted for ever.

33Blessed art thou upon the throne of thy kingdom

and to be extolled and highly exalted for ever.

34Blessed art thou in the firmament of heaven

and to be sung and glorified for ever.

35“Bless the Lord, all works of the Lord,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

36Bless the Lord, you heavens,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

37Bless the Lord, you angels of the Lord,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

38Bless the Lord, all waters above the heaven,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

39Bless the Lord, all powers,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

40Bless the Lord, sun and moon,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

41Bless the Lord, stars of heaven,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

42Bless the Lord, all rain and dew,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

43Bless the Lord, all winds,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

44Bless the Lord, fire and heat,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

45Bless the Lord, winter cold and summer heat,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

46Bless the Lord, dews and snows,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

47Bless the Lord, nights and days,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

48Bless the Lord, light and darkness,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

49Bless the Lord, ice and cold,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

50Bless the Lord, frosts and snows,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

51Bless the Lord, lightnings and clouds,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

52Let the earth bless the Lord;

let it sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

53Bless the Lord, mountains and hills,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

54Bless the Lord, all things that grow on the earth,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

55Bless the Lord, you springs,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

56Bless the Lord, seas and rivers,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

57Bless the Lord, you whales and all creatures that move in the waters,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

58Bless the Lord, all birds of the air,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

59Bless the Lord, all beasts and cattle,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

60Bless the Lord, you sons of men,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

61Bless the Lord, O Israel,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

62Bless the Lord, you priests of the Lord,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

63Bless the Lord, you servants of the Lord,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

64Bless the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

65Bless the Lord, you who are holy and humble in heart,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.

66Bless the Lord, Hananiʹah, Azariʹah, and Mishʹael,

sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever;

for he has rescued us from Hades and saved us from the hand of death,

and delivered us from the midst of the burning fiery furnace;

from the midst of the fire he has delivered us.

67Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his mercy endures for ever.

68Bless him, all who worship the Lord, the God of gods,

sing praise to him and give thanks to him,

for his mercy endures for ever.”

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