[Will Kinney]

Originally Posted by boaz212

Hi Will, quick question for you. Why do many new versions say:
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” Dan 3:25 (NIV)
Where does that reading come from? Thanks.
Tim

Hi Tim. Their variant English translation comes from the way they read the Hebrew text. If you believe the verse is talking about the Son of God, then you translate it that way. If you do not, then you go with what the NIV and other modern versions have.

Here is a bit more on it.

Daniel 3:25 "and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

John Gill - "And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God; many of the ancient Christian writers interpret it of Christ the Son of God, whom Nebuchadnezzar, though a Heathen prince, might have some knowledge of from Daniel and other Jews in his court, of whom he had heard them speak as a glorious Person; and this being such an one, he might conclude it was he, or one like to him; and it is highly probable it was he, since it was not unusual for him to appear in a human form, and to be present with his people, as he often is with them, and even in the furnace of affliction;to sympathize with them; to revive and comfort them; to bear them up and support them; to teach and instruct them, and at last to deliver them out of their afflictions."

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown - "like the Son of God--Unconsciously, like Saul, Caiaphas, and Pilate, he is made to utter divine truths. Really it was the "messenger of the covenant," who herein gave a prelude to His incarnation.

Matthew Henry - "Some think it was the eternal Son of God, the angel of the covenant, and not a created angel. He appeared often in our nature before he assumed it in his incarnation, and never more seasonable, nor to give a more proper indication and presage of his great errand into the world in the fulness of time, than now, when, to deliver his chosen out of the fire, he came and walked with them in the fire."

John Wesley - " The Son of God - Jesus Christ, the Angel of the covenant, did sometimes appear before his incarnation."

"And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" is the reading of the King James Bible, Geneva Bible, Webster's, Douay, Green's interlinear, Lamsa's translation of the Syriac Peshitta, Third Millenium Bible and the NKJV.

However the NKJV also has a footnote that reads" "Or a son of the gods". A son of the Gods, would not be the Son of the only true and living God. "A son of the gods" would not be the Lord Jesus Christ who was with them in the fiery furnace. "A son of the gods" is the reading of the NASB, NIV, RSV and many other modern versions. You cannot believe nor teach the same truth using these conflicting versions.

Will K