What does Daniel 3:17 mean?

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

Daniel 3:17, King James Version

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The verse in its chapter

Daniel 3:15-19

15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 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.
19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

Study note

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871) (public domain).

If it be so--VATABLUS translates, "Assuredly." English Version agrees better with the original. The sense is, If it be our lot to be cast into the furnace, our God (quoted from Deu 6:4) is able to deliver us (a reply to Nebuchadnezzar's challenge, "Who is that God that shall deliver you?"); and He will deliver us (either from death, or in death, Ti2 4:17-18). He will, we trust, literally deliver us, but certainly He will do so spiritually.

Cross references

Other Bible passages linked to this one, most cited first.

Romans 8:31
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Hebrews 7:25
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Psalms 27:1-2
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Jeremiah 1:8
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 26:3-4
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

About the book of Daniel

Author: Daniel, according to tradition (date debated)
When: 6th century BC by tradition; many scholars date it to the 2nd century BC
Period: Exílio, 586 a 538 a.C. (in Portuguese)

Authorship: the book itself or Christian tradition. Approximate dates, as in Carson and Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament, and Longman and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament.

In the Mercy Bible Atlas (in Portuguese)

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