The fourth figure in the furnace
Three faithful men survive the fire in the company of an extraordinary fourth figure.
Reception
Debated identification
Tradition note
Read the encounters through the eternal Word's revelation and the Church's Christological reading of Israel's Scriptures. Patristic witnesses are named individually; their interpretations and the symbolism of Abraham's hospitality are not identical in every source.
Avoid overclaiming
The king's initial description reflects a pagan observer's language, and verse 28 calls the rescuer an angel. Translation into 'Son of God' should not by itself be treated as an explicit Christian confession. Numbering varies in Greek-expanded Daniel.
Key points
- Nebuchadnezzar sees four unbound figures walking in the furnace. He describes the fourth with language rendered a son of the gods or the Son of God in different translations. He later praises God for sending an angel to rescue the servants.
Common questions
- How does the king describe the fourth figure at first and afterward?
- What changes when the phrase is translated 'a son of the gods'?
Doctrinal connections
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV.20.11, explicitly reads the fourth figure as the Word preserving the faithful servants in the fire. Later Christian preaching and worship likewise see the Son sharing their suffering and delivering them. This is a documented Christian interpretation of the scene.
Scripture
- Daniel 3:24–28 — Nebuchadnezzar sees four unbound figures walking in the furnace. He describes the fourth with language rendered a son of the gods or the Son of God in different translations. He later praises God for sending an angel to rescue the servants.
- Isaiah 43:1–2 — God's promise of presence through fire supplies a thematic connection.
- Daniel 6:22 — Daniel's later rescue also names God's sent angel.
- Hebrews 11:33–34 — The list of faithful witnesses recalls quenching the power of fire. It commends deliverance through faith without identifying the fourth figure.
Primary sources
The king's initial description reflects a pagan observer's language, and verse 28 calls the rescuer an angel. Translation into 'Son of God' should not by itself be treated as an explicit Christian confession. Numbering varies in Greek-expanded Daniel.
The WEB renders the fourth figure as like a son of the gods; the king later credits God with sending an angel.
The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” … who has sent his angel and delivered his servants
Passage context and translation
Nebuchadnezzar sees four unbound figures walking in the furnace. He describes the fourth with language rendered a son of the gods or the Son of God in different translations. He later praises God for sending an angel to rescue the servants.
Before the excerpt
Daniel 3:24 — Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished and rose up in haste. He spoke and said to his counselors, “Didn’t we cast three men bound …
After the excerpt
Daniel 3:29 — Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall …