we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?' They answered and said unto the king, 'Certainly, O king.' He answered and said, 'Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the look of the fourth is like that of a son of the gods.'

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, 'Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither.' Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the satraps, governors, and captains, and the king's ministers, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their breeches injured, nor had the smell of fire come upon them.

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and transgressed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other god that can deliver after this sort.' Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon.

'The general purpose of this chapter is perfectly clear-from beginning to end it is a polemic against the heathen worship and in particular against idolatry. The Israelite who has to choose between idolatry and death, should unhesitatingly prefer the latter. Even where there appears no hope of deliverance, the God of Israel is able to succour those who persevere in obedience to him' (Bevan). Three of the musical instruments mentioned in this chapter are Greek, viz. the lute (kitharis), the harp (psalterion) and the fife (symphonia). The latter is mentioned, curiously enough, in Polybius' character sketch of the character of Antiochus Epiphanes.

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If our God whom we serve be able to deliver us, he will deliver us. . . . But if not, . . . we will not serve thy gods.' Notable words. The speakers have no doubt that God is able to deliver them, if he chooses. All they mean to say is: Come what may,

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be it life or be it death, we will not disobey the laws of God or by our deeds renounce him. Whether supreme righteousness demanded the sacrifice of their lives, they knew not; if they were killed by the fire, then supreme righteousness did require that sacrifice; if it did not require it, they would be saved; but whatever the issue was to be, their own course was clear. The lesson to the Maccabean readers was plain and peremptory. God may save you, or God may require your death: it is yours to obey his law, whether you live or whether you die.

§ 11. How Nebuchadnezzar was made to dwell with the beasts of the field.-Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. It pleaseth me to set forth the signs and wonders that the most high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.

I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I an order to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. Then came in the soothsayers, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, 'O Belteshazzar, master of the soothsayers, of whom I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

'Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree was great and strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the girth thereof to the end of all the earth: the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was food for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the birds of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold,

a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus, "Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves, and scatter its fruit: let the beasts flee away from under it, and the birds from its branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even in a band of iron and brass; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and with the beasts let his portion be of the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the business by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men." This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.'

Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was appalled for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake and said, 'Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee.' Belteshazzar answered and said, 'My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. The tree that thou sawest, which was great and strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the girth thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was food for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the birds of the heaven had their habitation:-It is thou, O king, thou that art great and strong for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, "Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even in a band of iron and brass; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him :-This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is gone forth upon my lord the king: They shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the

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beasts of the field, and they shall give thee to eat grass as oxen, and thou shalt be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou realize that the most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, thy kingdom shall be confirmed unto thee, after that thou shalt recognize that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by almsgiving, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if haply it may be a lengthening of thy prosperity.'

All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked on the roof of the royal palace at Babylon. The king spake, and said, 'Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal residence by the might of my power, and to the honour of my majesty?' While the word was yet in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, "O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou realize that the most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.' The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.

And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will upon the army of heaven, and upon the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason came back to me; and I returned to the glory of my kingdom, and my complexion was restored unto me; and my ministers and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and even greater power was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise

and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways justice: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

What traditional basis there may be for this story is hard to say. But a fragment of the historian Abydenus leads us to believe that in some form or other a Babylonian legend on the subject did circulate in Palestine and was known to our author. How much he modified or added to it, it is impossible to tell.

Its purpose has been well described by Professor Bevan. It is 'a demonstration of the real helplessness of the Gentile power in the presence of the true God. To the Jewish subjects of Antiochus the king's power might well seem irresistible; accordingly the author here teaches, for the encouragement of his despairing brethren, that the mightiest of men has no more strength against God than the meanest, that by the divine decree a great king may in a moment be degraded not merely to the level of a beggar, but to that of a brute. In order to heighten the effect of this moral lesson, Nebuchadnezzar himself, the subject of the story, is introduced as the narrator.' By a slip of memory the writer in the middle of the tale uses the third person in speaking of the king instead of the first.

'Break off thy sins by almsgiving.' It is doubtful if the word means 'righteousness' or 'almsgiving,' for in Rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic Zedakah acquired the special meaning of almsgiving. The passage means quite simply, 'Do good deeds instead of evil ones. The most typical good deeds are almsgiving and charity to the poor.

The story teaches humility even more than the helplessness of human might over against the omnipotence of God. It is in consonance with Greek ideas of the punishment which must inevitably befall the insolence of power. Nebuchadnezzar is guilty of what the Greeks called hubris, insolent pride, the intemperate abuse of good fortune and prosperity. But it is a curious feature of the story that the narrator displays a certain tenderness towards the king. Not only does Daniel address him with respect, but he is represented as a sort of repentant sinner. He acknowledges the justice of his punishment; he realizes the distance between the mightiest monarch and God. Does the author mean to indicate that there was still a chance for Antiochus, if he repented of his insolence and cruelty, of being forgiven by God?

§ 12. Belshazzar's feast.-Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, com