Jer. xxix. 22 is another instance, so that there is no lack
of _vraisemblance_ in its introduction here. (_See_ Hastings' _D.B._
art. _Crimes and Punishments_, I. 523, for other instances). It has been
thought (Smith's _D.B._ ed. 2 art. _Furnace_, I. 1092b) that this
furnace in Daniel is alluded to by our Lord in St. Matt. xiii. 42, 50;
but how opposite on this occasion are the consequences of being cast
into it! Here prayer and praise from the righteous, there weeping and
gnashing from the wicked. The allusion must be considered a very
doubtful one.
The subservience of the king's servants[24] in performing their cruel
work, and the absence of a protesting voice or of a helping hand from
any quarter, is very characteristic of the results of Eastern despotism.
All, except the three martyrs, were afraid of Nebuchadnezzar, whose
murderous rage under contradiction is of a piece in both the Chaldee and
the Greek portions of the chapter. No one else on this occasion dared to
disobey his decree, and there is no sign of anyone venturing so much as
to intercede for the Jewish victims.
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