King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statueNebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, a powerful empire during the 6th century BC. The creation of a golden statue reflects the king's desire to consolidate his power and unify his diverse empire under one religious and political symbol. Gold, a symbol of wealth and divinity, indicates the statue's importance and the king's attempt to assert his dominance. This act can be seen as a response to the dream in
Daniel 2, where Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was represented by a head of gold, suggesting his desire to immortalize his reign.
sixty cubits high and six cubits wide
A cubit is an ancient measurement roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 centimeters. Thus, the statue was approximately 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. The dimensions suggest an imposing structure, designed to inspire awe and command reverence. The use of the number six, often associated with imperfection or human effort in biblical numerology, contrasts with the divine perfection symbolized by the number seven, highlighting the human-centered nature of the statue.
and he set it up on the plain of Dura
The plain of Dura is believed to be a location near Babylon, though its exact site is uncertain. Plains were often chosen for large gatherings and public displays due to their open space, allowing many people to witness the event. This setting underscores the public nature of the statue's dedication and the king's intention for widespread recognition and worship.
in the province of Babylon
Babylon was the capital of the Babylonian Empire, known for its grandeur and cultural achievements, including the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The province of Babylon was a central hub of political and religious activity. By placing the statue here, Nebuchadnezzar was reinforcing Babylon's status as the heart of his empire and the center of his religious reforms. This act can be seen as a foreshadowing of the challenges faced by Daniel and his companions, who remained faithful to God amidst a culture of idolatry.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
King NebuchadnezzarThe ruler of Babylon, known for his powerful reign and significant influence over the ancient world. He is a central figure in the Book of Daniel, often representing the pride and power of earthly kingdoms.
2.
Golden StatueA massive idol made of gold, measuring sixty cubits high and six cubits wide. This statue symbolizes human pride and the temptation to worship false gods or idols.
3.
Plain of DuraA location in the province of Babylon where the statue was erected. This setting highlights the public and communal nature of the event, as it was meant to be seen and worshiped by many.
4.
BabylonThe empire over which Nebuchadnezzar ruled, known for its wealth, power, and idolatry. Babylon often symbolizes worldly systems opposed to God's kingdom.
5.
Event of Idol WorshipThe construction and dedication of the statue were intended to enforce idol worship, challenging the faith of those who worship the one true God.
Teaching Points
The Danger of Pride and IdolatryNebuchadnezzar's statue represents human pride and the temptation to elevate earthly power above God. Believers must guard against idolatry in all its forms, whether material or ideological.
Faithfulness in the Face of PressureThe account sets the stage for the faithfulness of Daniel's friends, who refuse to bow to the statue. Christians are called to stand firm in their faith, even when societal pressures demand compromise.
The Sovereignty of GodDespite Nebuchadnezzar's power, the account of Daniel emphasizes God's ultimate authority over earthly rulers. Believers can trust in God's sovereignty, even when facing powerful opposition.
Public WitnessThe public nature of the statue's dedication reminds Christians of the importance of their witness in the world. Our actions and decisions should reflect our allegiance to God.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Daniel 3:1?
2.How does Nebuchadnezzar's statue challenge God's commandment against idolatry?
3.What does Nebuchadnezzar's decree reveal about his understanding of power and worship?
4.How can Daniel 3:1 inspire us to resist cultural pressures today?
5.Compare Nebuchadnezzar's statue with the golden calf in Exodus 32.
6.What modern "idols" might we be tempted to worship in place of God?
7.Why did Nebuchadnezzar build a gold statue in Daniel 3:1?
8.What does the statue's height and width symbolize in Daniel 3:1?
9.How does Daniel 3:1 reflect the theme of idolatry?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Daniel 3?
11.How could Nebuchadnezzar have built such an enormous gold statue (Daniel 3:1) without leaving any historical or archaeological trace?
12.Where was Daniel during his friends' furnace ordeal?
13.What happened to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Babylon?
14.What is the Image of the Beast?What Does Daniel 3:1 Mean
King Nebuchadnezzar• Daniel opens chapter 3 by naming the same monarch introduced in 1:1 and highlighted in 2:37 as the “king of kings” to whom God had “given dominion, power, and glory.”
• Scripture portrays him as proud (Daniel 4:30) yet as an instrument of God’s sovereign plan (Jeremiah 27:6). His actions here flow from the dream of chapter 2, where his own kingdom was symbolized by a head of gold (Daniel 2:38). Rather than humble himself before the “God of gods” (Daniel 2:47), he magnifies himself.
Made a Golden Statue• The king commissions a massive image, likely overlaid with gold as inIsaiah 40:19.
• In contrast to God’s command against images (Exodus 20:4), Nebuchadnezzar constructs one for worship (Daniel 3:5).
• This foreshadows later prophetic warnings about idolatrous “images” demanding worship (Revelation 13:14-15).
Sixty Cubits High and Six Cubits Wide• Approximately ninety feet tall and nine feet wide—impressive yet slender, drawing eyes upward.
• The repeated sixes echo other biblical associations with human pride and incompleteness (1 Samuel 17:4;Revelation 13:18), underscoring man’s attempt to reach divine status without God.
• The literal dimensions emphasize the historical reality of the event; this is not allegory but an actual structure recorded for our instruction (Romans 15:4).
He Set It Up on the Plain of Dura• A wide, flat expanse allowed multitudes to gather and the image to dominate the skyline, much like the plain of Shinar at Babel where men once said, “let us make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4).
• Public placement turned private arrogance into compulsory, empire-wide idolatry (Daniel 3:4-6).
In the Province of Babylon• Babylon—the heart of the empire, earlier called “the land of Shinar” (Isaiah 11:11)—serves as a biblical symbol of worldly power opposed to God (Jeremiah 51:7;Revelation 18:2).
• By situating the idol here, the king makes defiance of the true God the official religion of the realm, setting the stage for the fiery-furnace test of faith (Daniel 3:12-18).
summaryDaniel 3:1 records a real historical act of royal pride: Nebuchadnezzar, freshly aware of God’s sovereignty yet unwilling to submit, erects a towering golden image in Babylon’s plain of Dura. Its imposing size, conspicuous location, and idolatrous intent reveal a direct challenge to the first commandment. The verse sets up the confrontation between human glory and divine authority that unfolds through the chapter, inviting believers to stand firm when culture demands worship of anything less than the living God.
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An image.--If this image was made after the manner described (
Isaiah 44:9-20), the body was formed of wood, and the whole, when properly shaped, was covered with thin plates of gold. As the height of the whole is disproportionate to the width, it is probable that the height of the pedestal on which the image stood is included under the sixty cubits.
Plain of Dura.--The older commentators identified this place with various sites, some north, some east of Babylon. Recent discoveries place it nearer to Babylon, in a place still called by a similar name.
Verses 1-30. - THE GOLDEN IMAGE, AND THE FIERY FURNACE.
Verse 1. -
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was three score cubits, and the breadth thereof air cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. The Septuagint Version is full of redundance and interpolation, "In the eighteenth year King Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled cities and countries, and all those dwelling (in them)over the earth from India even to Ethiopia, made a golden image; the height of it was sixty cubits, and the breadth of it six cubits, and set it up in a plain within the boundary of the province of Babylon." The reason for translating
Dura "boundary, is natural enough, for the word. means something approximate to this. Theodotion begins in the same way, giving the date "the eighteenth year;" the place is
ἐν πεδίῳ Δεειρᾷ, As for the rest, it is in agreement with the text of the Massoretes. The Peshitta follows a text that must have been identical with the Massoretic, as also does the Vulgate. The date inserted into the Greek Version is improbable. At that time, if we take the chronology of
2 Kings 25:8, Nebuchadnezzar was engaged in the siege of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was taken in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, after a two years' siege. In
Jeremiah 52:29 we are told, however, that Nebuchadnezzar took eight hundred and thirty-two captives in his eighteenth year, and the difference between Babylonian and Jewish chronology suggests that the eighteenth year of
Jeremiah 52. may be the nineteenth of
2 Kings 25 Against this is the fact that the month of the year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar is given (
2 Kings 25:8), and this implies the adoption of the Babylonian chronology. It is certainly not to be expected that Nebuchadnezzar would traverse the long distance that separated him from his capital merely to erect a statue or obelisk. At the same time, we are told (
Jeremiah 52:29), as we have mentioned above, that in the eighteenth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar took eight hundred and thirty-two persons captive. This may be that he sent these prisoners by a convoy, for it is clear that a larger number of captives were taken when Jerusalem was captured than eight Hundred and thirty-two. They may have been taken during the progress of the siege, in sallies, etc. The number of prisoners taken in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar does not suggest the great numbers that are implied in Ezekiel to be dwelling on the Chebar, otherwise we might be inclined to regard these differences from the received chronology as due to a different mode of reckoning. Even though the date given in
Jeremiah 52:29 were the date of the capture of Jerusalem, it is not at all likely that the capture of an obscure city in the hill country of Judaea was an event on account of which a special thanksgiving would be given. The description of the empire of Nebuchadnezzar in the Septuagint is borrowed from
Esther 1:1. In regard to this image, the statement that it is "golden" does not mean that it was solid gold, any more than the golden altar (
Numbers 4:11) was entirely of gold (
Exodus 30:1-3;
Exodus 37:25, 26); that it was an "image" (
tzelem) does not necessarily imply that it was a statue in the form of a human being. In
Ezekiel 16:17 there are references to
tzalmee zakar, which seem naturally to be
phallus images. Hegel's opinion ('Æsthetik') was that the obelisk was really a modified
phallus image. If that is so, then the proportions of this
tzele are not extravagant for an obelisk. Moreover, these numbers, "sixty" and "six," are evidently round numbers, their mnemonic character maintaining their place. The real numbers might be anything near the number given; instead of "sixty," the real number might be not much over "fifty" cubits, and the "six" cubits the number given as the breadth, might be, without intentional deception, seven or eight cubits. The proportion, at all events, in the extreme case of fifty and eight cubits, would not be extraordinary, even for a statue. It might be a gilded statue on a lofty column. One other note may be added: 6 and 60, multiplied together, give 360, the number of the days in the Babylonian year. The division of the circle into 360 degrees is probably due to this Babylonian division of the year.
In the plain of Dura. There are several places in Babylonia which may be identified with this (Schrader, 'Keilin-schriften,' 430). While it may be outside the wall of the city, this
Dura may also have been within it; the Septuagint rendering favours thistly -
ἐν πεδίῳ περιβόλου, It is remarked by Professor Fuller that districts within the city of Babylon have at times "Dun" as part of the name. Thus, "in Esarhaddon's inscriptions, Duru-suanna-ki is that part of Babylon which is elsewhere called Imgur-Bel, or wall of Babylon." This would confirm the view - Quatremere's - that Duru was within the city wall. Archdeacon Rose ('Speaker's Commentary,'
ad loc.) refers to Oppert as having found near a spot named Duair the pedestal of a colossal statue, but gives no reference. On the fiat plains of Mesopotamia, this obelisk of a hundred feet high would be seen for nearly thirteen miles in every direction, and the gleam from its gilded top would be visible even further. What was the occasion of this image being set up? We have no means of even conjecturing. Certainly it was not merely to seduce the Jews again into idolatry. From the way Marduk (Merodach) is glorified in the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar, the probability is that it was erected in his honour. Bishop Wordsworth ('Com. Daniel') thinks the statue was of Nebuchadnezzar himself, and quotes Lenormant ('Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne,' 1:237, trans, 1:486). Lenormaut, in the passage referred to, quotes an ins,,ription in which Nebuchadnezzar calls himself "the begotten of Marduk" From this Lenormant comes to the conclusion that, like Caligula in later times, Nebuchadnezzar demanded worship to be given to himself as a god. But when we turn back in this same book ('Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne,' vol. 1. p. 484, Engl. trans.), we find a number of statements of a similar kind which invalidate the emphasis which Lenormant would give to this. He calls
Bilit Larpanit, "the mother who bore me;"
Sin, "who inspires me with judgment;"
Shamash, "who inspires my body with the sentiment of justice:" and so on. In saying he was begotten of Marduk, it is not as claiming the personal possession of the characteristics of divinity that Nebuchadnezzar made this statement, but as regarding himself to be the special instrument and favourite of the gods - a posture of mind quite compatible with the deepest and most real humility. Hippolytus and Jerome maintain the same view as Lenormant on
a priori evidence. There is no contradiction between Nebuchadnezzar's ascription of praise to Jehovah as a God of gods and a Revealer of secrets, in
Daniel 2:47, and his erection of this image to Merodaeh That Jehovah was a God of gods did not prevent Merodach being that also, and even greater.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
Kingמַלְכָּ֗א(mal·kā)Noun - masculine singular determinate
Strong's 4430:A kingNebuchadnezzarנְבוּכַדְנֶצַּ֣ר(nə·ḇū·ḵaḏ·neṣ·ṣar)Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5020:Nebuchadnezzar -- a Babylonian kingmadeעֲבַד֙(‘ă·ḇaḏ)Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5648:To do, make, prepare, keepa goldenדְהַ֔ב(ḏə·haḇ)Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1722:Goldstatueצְלֵ֣ם(ṣə·lêm)Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6755:An idolatrous figuresixtyשִׁתִּ֔ין(šit·tîn)Number - common plural
Strong's 8361:Sixtycubitsאַמִּ֣ין(’am·mîn)Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 521:A mother, a cubit, a door-basehighרוּמֵהּ֙(rū·mêh)Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7314:Altitudeand sixשִׁ֑ת(šiṯ)Number - feminine singular
Strong's 8353:Sixcubitsאַמִּ֣ין(’am·mîn)Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 521:A mother, a cubit, a door-basewide,פְּתָיֵ֖הּ(pə·ṯā·yêh)Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6613:Open, widthand he set it upאֲקִימֵהּ֙(’ă·qî·mêh)Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6966:To arise, standon the plainבְּבִקְעַ֣ת(bə·ḇiq·‘aṯ)Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1236:A split, a wide level valley between mountainsof Duraדּוּרָ֔א(dū·rā)Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1757:Dura -- a place near Babylonin the provinceבִּמְדִינַ֖ת(bim·ḏî·naṯ)Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 4083:A judgeship, jurisdiction, a district, a regionof Babylon.בָּבֶֽל׃(bā·ḇel)Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 895:Babylon -- an eastern Mediterranean empire and its capital city
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OT Prophets: Daniel 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image (Dan. Da Dn) 
