Chiasm
Daniel 3:1–30
Daniel 3:1–302 matched frames1 pivot
Read down to the center, where the pattern turns; then rise back out through its mirror.
- A 1 King makes golden image — Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue and set it up on the plain of Dura.
- B 2-3 Officials gathered — The satraps, prefects, governors, and all provincial officials were assembled for the dedication of the image.
- C 4-8 Decree and accusation against the three Jews — The herald proclaimed the decree: fall down and worship the image or be thrown into the fiery furnace. At that time certain Chaldeans accused the Jews.
- B' 9-12 Officials report — They said to the king, "Thou hast made a decree...there are certain Jews...Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image."
- B 2-3 Officials gathered — The satraps, prefects, governors, and all provincial officials were assembled for the dedication of the image.
- A' 13-30 King's response and final decree — Nebuchadnezzar summoned the three men and threatened them; they refused to bow; the king cast them into the furnace; the fourth man appeared; God delivered them; the king blessed God and issued a new decree.
- (Nested turning point) 16 "We are not careful to answer thee in this matter" — The bold refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is the hinge of the inner chiasm (Dan 3:13–19). See Chiasm — Daniel 3:13–19.
- (Nested center) 24–25 Three men bound → four men loose — "Did not we cast three men bound into the fire?...Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire."
- (Nested center) 28 "Yielded their bodies...not worship any god except their own" — Nebuchadnezzar blessed the God who delivered His servants who "yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God."