Where was Daniel during the furnace episode in the Bible?

Answer 1

Daniel was a slave, and had been renamed Belteshazzar by King Nebuchadnezzar. Because Daniel was able to accurrately interpret one of the King's dreams the King placed him in a high position. He was ruler of the entire province of Babylon and in charge of all its wise men. Daniel had the King make Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego administrators over Babylon while he remained in the Royal Court. Read Daniel 2:24-49 The episode with the fiery furnace follows immediately, and is in chapter 3. Daniel, however, is not mentioned in this episode. The context makes it clear that the three were the only ones who defied the king and didn't bow; and it also makes it clear that all the royal officeholders from throughout the land were indeed there at the time; the only reasonable conclusion (though it's not explicitly confirmed) is that Daniel was in fact present, and that he did in fact bow. This is an uncomfortable truth to consider, but the other possibilities (that he refused to bow but was exempted; that he wasn't in town) are each far more unlikely. Some teachers start from the assumption that Daniel couldn't have done such a thing, and therefore conclude that he must not have been there, but all the facts clearly point to the reality that *every* official was there and had been called in from the furthest reaches of the kingdom. While it is horrible that Daniel would have bowed, it is not at all out of keeping with the behavior of other Bible heroes, who regularly behaved out of character. The Hebrew and Christian scriptures proclaim often that there is no one who is really righteous, and that all are sinners who fall short. No less than Abraham, Moses, or King David, Daniel was an imperfect person. The rest of the book shows that Daniel bravely stood against tyranny and stood for his identity and his God for the rest of his life, and the sum total of his actions show him as a role model for integrity in the face of overwhelming political and social pressure.

Answer 2

This event occurs in Daniel chapter 3, transparently obvious Propaganda that ends with King Nebuchadnezzar ordering that anyone who spoke against the Jewish God be cut into pieces. The book does not say where Daniel was when the three were cast into the furnace. Biblical scholars say that the Book of Daniel was actually written approximately 147 BCE, long after the events it attempts to portray, so on a historical basis, Daniel was not really anywhere.

Answer 3

A:Although widely accepted as historical, the Book of Daniel was actually a novel written approximately 167 BCE and placed back in the time of the Babylonian Exile. In this episode, the Chaldeans accused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego of not worshipping the golden idol, and therefore King Nebuchadnezzar only had them thrown into the furnace, but not Daniel, who would have been equally At Fault.

The author of the Book of Daniel had saved Daniel for the later passage about the lion's den, because it would have reduced the dramatic impact to have Daniel too frequently subjected to attempts on his life and miraculously saved. He leaves it to our imaginations where Daniel was at this time. Similarly, the three friends had fulfilled their role by escaping from the furnace and to later place them in the lion's den with Daniel would reduce the literary impact of Daniel's plight.

Answer 4

Yes.

Answer 5

Yes.