Daniel 3:22 (DBY)

Passage

Forasmuch as the king's commandment was rigorous, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that had taken up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

Nearby Context

Daniel 3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

Daniel 3:21 Then these men were bound in their hosen, their tunics, and their cloaks, and their garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Daniel 3:22 Forasmuch as the king's commandment was rigorous, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that had taken up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

Daniel 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Daniel 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste; he spoke and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "forasmuch", "king's", "commandment", "rigorous", "furnace", "exceeding", "flame", and "fire". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "forasmuch" and "king's", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "Then these men were bound in their..." into verse 23's "And these three men Shadrach Meshach and...", so "forasmuch" and "king's" belong inside that flow. In Daniel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "forasmuch" and "king's" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.