what happened to nebuchadnezzar's golden statue

The sackbut may have been a triangular board to which strings were attached. Actually, a slow fire would have been far more torture as Geoffrey King puts it, And then he lost his temper! In the early 20th century, archaeologists excavating beneath the ruins of an ancient Babylonian palace found 14 vaulted rooms they first believed to be part of the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but later figured out were part of a royal storehouse. This is illustrated in the fall of Babylon and of the succeeding empires of Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. 16 iShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. He encamped against the city of Judah and on the second day of Adar he took the city and captured the king. He then ordered all the important leaders in the province, everybody who was anybody, to the dedication ceremony of the statue. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. what happened to nebuchadnezzar's golden statue; what happened to nebuchadnezzar's golden statue. Young, The Prophecy of Daniel, pp. There is no fool on earth like a man who has lost his temper. On the basis of this consistent use, the translation a son of the gods is preferable and in keeping with Nebuchadnezzars comprehension at this point in his experience. But Herodotus statements about the golden idols in Babylon afford sufficient background. Nebuchadnezzar doesn't write anything about his political or military exploits, but some important details were captured in a remarkable set of clay tablets known as the Babylonian Chronicles. The dulcimer is a wind instrument. Apparently, the only exceptions were the three companions of Daniel. Soon after Daniel entered into the civil service of King Nebuchadnezzar, the king had puzzling dreams that awakened him from his sleep ( Daniel 2:1 ). 3 King Nebuchadnezzar had a gold statue made, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and he had it set up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. But what proof do we have that King Jehoiachin and thousands more Judeans were in fact hauled off to Babylon? And Nebuchadnezzar did a stupid thing. The speculation as to why Persian terms should be used is much ado about nothing. Although Nebuchadnezzar had tremendous wealth and could conceivably have erected this image of solid gold, it is probable that it was made of wood overlaid with gold as was customary. Well, almost everyone bowed down and worshipped it. In the seventh year, the month of Kislev, the king of Babylon mustered his army and marched to atti-land. A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, p. 195. Either Daniel considered this a political act which did not violate his conscience, or Daniel did not worship and his high office prevented his enemies from accusing him, or more probably, Daniel for some reason was absent. 2 Chronicles 36:6 chapter context similar meaning copy save. Archer and others have challenged whether these words are actually Greek words, pointing out that karoz (herald, classified as a Greek word by Brown, Driver, and Briggs Lexicon, has in recent works like Koehler-Baumgartners Hebrew Lexicon been traced to the old Persian khrausa, meaning caller.187, Conservative biblical scholarship has fully answered the objection of critics which would tend to reflect upon the accuracy and historicity of the book of Daniel.188 Robert Dick Wilson, for instance, has pointed out that the argument actually boomerangs as, if Daniel was written in a Greek period, there would be many more Greek words than the few that occur here and there.189 The fact is that there is nothing strange about some amount of Greek influence in Babylonian culture in view of the contacts between them and the Greeks. They take into consideration that sometimes it is not in the purpose of God to deliver faithful ones from martyrdom. It was quite clear to the Chaldeans also that the Jews did not worship the gods of Babylon and were actually a foreign element in the government. This same Nebuchadnezzar throws Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to his statue. Chapter 3, the first of four chapters dealing with individuals, is an obvious preparation for chapter 4, which relates Nebuchadnezzars conversion. 176 H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, pp. Actually, none of the alternate terms improve much on that which is provided in Daniel 3:5 and repeated in verses 7, 10, and 15. That the king has the power to do this was obvious to everyone. It is an amazing fact that Nebuchadnezzar adds the challenging question, Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? He is quite conscious of the demonstration of the superiority of the God of the Hebrews over Babylonian gods in interpreting his dream in chapter 2, but he cannot bring himself to believe that the God of the Jews would be able in these circumstances to deliver these three men from his hand. Mar. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee (Is 43:1-2). The chain of events which had brought about this miracle also consolidated the position of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego as principal officials in the province of Babylon. At the end of three years, the four young men joined the royal court. As the decree had indicated that they should be thrown into the midst of the furnace, so it was executed. King Nebuchadnezzar II ordered his workers to build temples and other buildings using tough kiln-fired bricks to protect Babylon from intruders and make the city magnificent.. His hope and goal was that palaces, temples, and walls would last longer if they were constructed with such building . Nebuchadnezzar's golden image/statue. In casting the three men into the furnace, the strong men who did it were killed by the flame which reached out to take their lives. The worship of the image was intended to be an expression of political solidarity and loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar rather than an intended act of religious persecution. He gives them the opportunity to obey the command to worship, restating in full the description of the music and the obligation to fall down and worship. Of particular interest is the presence of a Greek money term, stater, in the Aramaic papyri from Egypt in documents of c. 400 B.C. Even if God does not deliver them, however, this will not change their decision in which they refuse to worship the gods of Babylon as well as the golden image. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream in which an angelic watcher appeared to him and decreed that for seven years, Nebuchadnezzar's mind would be taken and he would eat grass like an ox. This has been claimed as confirmation that Daniel wrote during the period of Greek dominance of Western Asia. Leupold, p. 137; and Keil, p. 119. "On both occasions, many people in Jerusalem were in fact taken into exile, including the royal family.". According to the records, King Nabonidus replaced the Babylonian gods with a new moon god and then led his troops on a strange campaign into the Arabian Desert to attack some towns, including Yathrib, the later Medina. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. Nebuchadnezzar had now accomplished his purpose, his decree had been fulfilled, and he could leave to the furnace the task of consuming these men who had challenged his authority and his gods. Leupold aptly says, The quiet, modest, yet withal very positive attitude of faith that these three men display is one of the noblest examples in the Scriptures of faith fully resigned to the will of God. Nebuchadnezzar I was the most famous ruler of the Second Dynasty of Isin. Now King Nebuchadnezzar had a gold statue made. The Babylonian Chronicles confirm this, and provide an exact date for the conquest of Jerusalem (597 B.C.E. The appearance of the image, however, was much the same as if it were solid gold. Leupold cites numerous ancient images such as that of Zeus in a temple at Babylon; the golden images on the top of the Belus temple, one of which was forty cubits high; and the Colossus at Rhodes which was seventy cubits high.177 While an image of this size was unusual, it was by no means unique; and there is no reason to question the historical accuracy of its dimensions. The flute was probably made of reeds with a sound similar to a fife. 3 King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide[ a] and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Now Nebuchadnezzar himself, the king of kings, declares that Daniel's God is "God of gods and Lord of kings.". With the stage thus set for the accusation, the Chaldeans make three charges against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Along with the young king and his extended royal family, thousands of Jerusalem's elites officials, priests, warriors, artisans were all marched to Babylon. The official titles used in Daniel 3:2-3 help to date the book in the sixth century and refute the second century date given by the critics. 19-27; and Keil, pp. 2 Then he sent messages to the high officers, officials, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up. This was a remarkable admission for a king in Nebuchadnezzars situation. Montgomery suggests that the furnace must have been similar to our common lime-kiln, with a perpendicular shaft from the top and an opening at the bottom for extracting the fused lime; cf. And after the head of gold we are shown . Critics are probably right that Daniel intended this chapter to remind Israel of the evils of idolatry and the necessity of obeying God rather than men. This also would be too distant.180, The consensus of conservative scholarship is that the most probable location is a mound located six miles southeast of Babylon consisting of a large square of brick construction which would have ideally served as a base for such an image as Nebuchadnezzar erected. The power to do this was obvious to everyone driven away from people and will live with the wild ;! A. Montgomery, a Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel that! Provide an exact date for the conquest of Jerusalem ( 597 B.C.E men. 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