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| Unknown artist 3rd century A.D., Rome, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
One of the features of Daniel 3 is that it is the only chapter where the lead character Daniel is not mentioned. It's like a solo album where on one track the lead artist doesn't play.
But why is Daniel not mentioned? No doubt the writer is keen to show us that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were men of faith in their own right not just pale imitations of Daniel. However, there must be a reason why Daniel is not mentioned.
It cannot be that Daniel compromised his faith at this point and bowed down to the statue. Perhaps he was on an official royal assignment elsewhere in the kingdom. He had been promoted by King Nebuchadnezzar to rule over the entire province of Babylon and serve as chief administrator over the wisemen. He may have been away from the Plain of Dura on a diplomatic mission or royal duty elsewhere. It is alos possible that because Nebuchadnezzar held Daniel in such high regard after Daniel interpreted his dream that he simply overlooked Daniel's failure to attend the ceremony.
The other fruiful line of thought is that the who accused and reported the three Hebrew friends targeted them because they had administrative roles in the province. Daniel was not targeted either out of fear of his high rank and favour with the king or because he was not present in the group that they reported.
In the end we do not know for certain but sometimes these questions are still worth thinking about even though we cannot come to a very firm conclusion.
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