Daniel 3:1
New International Version
King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

New Living Translation
King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

English Standard Version
King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

Berean Standard Bible
King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

King James Bible
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

New King James Version
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

New American Standard Bible
Nebuchadnezzar the king made a statue of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits, and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

NASB 1995
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

NASB 1977
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Legacy Standard Bible
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Amplified Bible
Nebuchadnezzar the king made a gold [-plated] image, whose height [including the pedestal] was sixty cubits (ninety feet) and its width six cubits (nine feet). He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Christian Standard Bible
King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue, ninety feet high and nine feet wide. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue, 90 feet high and nine feet wide. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

American Standard Version
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Nebukadnetsar the King, made one image of gold, its height sixty cubits, and its width six cubits, and he stood it in the plain of Dura in the land of Babel

Brenton Septuagint Translation
In his eighteenth year Nabuchodonosor the king made a golden image, its height was sixty cubits, its breadth six cubits: and he set it up in the plain of Deira, in the province of Babylon.

Contemporary English Version
King Nebuchadnezzar ordered a gold statue to be built 27 meters high and nearly 3 meters wide. He had it set up in Dura Valley near the city of Babylon,

Douay-Rheims Bible
King Nabuchodonosor made a statue of gold, of sixty cubits high, and six cubits broad, and he set it up in the plain of Dura of the province of Babylon.

English Revised Version
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue 90 feet high and 9 feet wide. He set it up in a recessed area in the wall in the province of Babylon.

Good News Translation
King Nebuchadnezzar had a gold statue made, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and he had it set up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

International Standard Version
Some time later, king Nebuchadnezzar built a golden statue, making it 60 cubits high and six cubits wide. He set it up in the Dura Valley within the province of Babylon.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits; he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

Literal Standard Version
Nebuchadnezzar the king has made an image of gold, its height sixty cubits, its breadth six cubits; he has raised it up in the Valley of Dura, in the province of Babylon;

Majority Standard Bible
King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

New American Bible
King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, which he set up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

NET Bible
King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made. It was ninety feet tall and nine feet wide. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

New Revised Standard Version
King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits and whose width was six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

New Heart English Bible
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was eighty-eight feet seven inches, and its breadth eight feet ten inches: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

Webster's Bible Translation
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose hight was sixty cubits, and the breadth of it six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

World English Bible
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

Young's Literal Translation
Nebuchadnezzar the king hath made an image of gold, its height sixty cubits, its breadth six cubits; he hath raised it up in the valley of Dura, in the province of Babylon;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image
1King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue he had set up.…

Cross References
1 Kings 12:28
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, "Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."

Isaiah 46:6
They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.

Jeremiah 16:20
Can man make gods for himself? Such are not gods!"

Daniel 2:31
As you, O king, were watching, a great statue appeared. A great and dazzling statue stood before you, and its form was awesome.

Daniel 2:48
Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 3:14
and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden statue I have set up?

Daniel 3:30
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.


Treasury of Scripture

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was three score cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

A.

Daniel 2:31,32
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible…

Daniel 5:23
But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

Exodus 20:23
Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

in the province.

Daniel 3:30
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 2:48
Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

Esther 1:1
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)

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Babylon Breadth Cubits Feet Gold Height High Hight Image Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnez'zar Nine Ninety Plain Province Raised Six Sixty Thereof Threescore Valley Width
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Babylon Breadth Cubits Feet Gold Height High Hight Image Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnez'zar Nine Ninety Plain Province Raised Six Sixty Thereof Threescore Valley Width
Daniel 3
1. Nebuchadnezzar dedicates a golden image in Dura.
3. They being threatened, make a good confession.
8. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are accused for not worshipping the image.
19. They are cast into the furnace,
24. from which God delivers them.
28. Nebuchadnezzar seeing the miracle blesses God, and advances them.














(1) 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
King
מַלְכָּ֗א (mal·kā)
Noun - masculine singular determinate
Strong's 4430: A king

Nebuchadnezzar
נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּ֣ר (nə·ḇū·ḵaḏ·neṣ·ṣar)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5020: Nebuchadnezzar -- a Babylonian king

made
עֲבַד֙ (‘ă·ḇaḏ)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5648: To do, make, prepare, keep

a golden
דְהַ֔ב (ḏə·haḇ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1722: Gold

statue
צְלֵ֣ם (ṣə·lêm)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6755: An idolatrous figure

sixty
שִׁתִּ֔ין (šit·tîn)
Number - common plural
Strong's 8361: Sixty

cubits
אַמִּ֣ין (’am·mîn)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 521: A mother, a cubit, a door-base

high
רוּמֵהּ֙ (rū·mêh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7314: Altitude

and six
שִׁ֑ת (šiṯ)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's 8353: Six

cubits
אַמִּ֣ין (’am·mîn)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 521: A mother, a cubit, a door-base

wide,
פְּתָיֵ֖הּ (pə·ṯā·yêh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6613: Open, width

and he set it up
אֲקִימֵהּ֙ (’ă·qî·mêh)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6966: To arise, stand

on the plain
בְּבִקְעַ֣ת (bə·ḇiq·‘aṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1236: A split, a wide level valley between mountains

of Dura
דּוּרָ֔א (dū·rā)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1757: Dura -- a place near Babylon

in the province
בִּמְדִינַ֖ת (bim·ḏî·naṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 4083: A judgeship, jurisdiction, a district, a region

of 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)
Daniel 2:49
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