Daniel 3:11 (DRB)

Passage

And that if any man shall not fall down and adore, he should be cast into a furnace of burning fire.

Nearby Context

Daniel 3:9 And said to king Nabuchodonosor: O king, live for ever:

Daniel 3:10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and of all kind of music, shall prostrate himself, and adore the golden statue:

Daniel 3:11 And that if any man shall not fall down and adore, he should be cast into a furnace of burning fire.

Daniel 3:12 Now there are certain Jews, whom thou hast set over the works of the province of Babylon, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago: these men, O king, have slighted thy decree: they worship not thy gods, nor do they adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.

Daniel 3:13 Then Nabuchodonosor in fury, and in wrath, commanded that Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago should be brought: who immediately were brought before the king.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "fall", "down", "adore", "should", "cast", "furnace", and "burning". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "fall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Thou O king hast made a decree..." into verse 12's "Now there are certain Jews whom thou...", so "shall" and "fall" 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 "shall" and "fall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.