And the princes, governors, and captains - Notes, Daniel 3:3.

And the king's counselors - Notes, Daniel 3:24.

Being gathered together, saw these men - There could be no mistake about the reality of the miracle. They came out as they were cast in. There could have been no trick, no art, no legerdemain, by which they could have been preserved and restored. If the facts occurred as they are stated here, then there can be no doubt that this was a real miracle.

Upon whose bodies the fire had no power - That is, the usual power of fire on the human body was prevented.

Nor was a hair of their head singed - That which would be most likely to have burned. The design is to show that the fire had produced absolutely no effect on them.

Neither were their coats changed - On the word "coats," see the notes at Daniel 3:21. The word "changed" means that there was no change caused by the fire either in their color or their texture.

Nor the smell of fire had passed on them - Not the slightest effect had been produced by the fire; not even so much as to occasion the smell caused by fire when cloth is singed or burned. Perhaps, however, sulphur or pitch had been used in heating the furnace; and the idea may be, that their preservation had been so entire, that not even the smell of the smoke caused by those combustibles could be perceived.

Upon whose bodies the fire had no power - The heathens boasted that their priests could walk on burning coals unhurt; and Virgil mentions this of the priests of Apollo of Soracte: -

Summe Deum, sancti custos Soractis Apollo!

Quem primi colimus, cui pineus ardor acervo

Pascitur; et medium, freti pietate, per ignem

Cultores multa premimus vestigia pruna.

Virg. Aen. 11:785.

O Phoebus, guardian of Soracte's woods

And shady hills; a god above the gods;

To whom our natives pay the rites divine,

And burn whole crackling groves of hallowed pine;

Walk through the fire in honor of thy name,

Unhurt, unsinged, and sacred from the flame.

Pitts.

But Varro tells us that they anointed the soles of their feet with a species of unguent that preserved them from being burnt. Very lately a female showed many feats of this kind, putting red hot iron upon her arms, breasts, etc., and passing it over her hair without the slightest inconvenience; but in the case of the three Hebrews all was supernatural, and the king and his officers well knew it.

And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together,.... Either by the order of the king, or of their own accord, to see the miracle that was wrought:

saw these men; saw them walking in the furnace, saw them come out of it at the king's call, and saw them when they were out, and examined them thoroughly; so that they had ocular demonstration, full proof and conviction, of the truth of what was done:

upon whose bodies the fire had no power; to blister, scorch, burn, and consume them, as it has usually over the bodies of men, or any creature:

nor was an hair of their head singed; which is easily done with the weakest flame; and this must be understood of the hair of their eyebrows and beards also; see Luke 21:18,

neither were their coats changed; neither the substance, nor form, nor colour of them, but were just as they were when cast into the furnace; the same holds good of all their other garments, their interior ones, with their turbants, shoes, and stockings:

nor the smell of the fire had passed on them; as will upon persons that stay at any time in a place where there is much fire and smoke; and especially where much combustible things are burnt, as pitch, sulphur, and the like, as in furnaces; and very probably in this, which had been so vehemently heated; and yet there was no smell of it on their garments; all which serve to make the miracle the more wonderful.

And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

27. nor . an hair-(Lu 12:7; 21:18).

fire had no power-fulfilling Isa 43:2; compare Heb 11:34. God alone is a "consuming fire" (Heb 12:29).

nor . smell of fire-compare spiritually, 1Th 5:22.

3:19-27 Let Nebuchadnezzar heat his furnace as hot as he can, a few minutes will finish the torment of those cast into it; but hell-fire tortures, and yet does not kill. Those who worshipped the beast and his image, have no rest, no pause, no moment free from pain, Re 14:10,11. Now was fulfilled in the letter that great promise, Isa 43:2, When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned. Leaving it to that God who preserved them in the fire, to bring them out, they walked up and down in the midst, supported and encouraged by the presence of the Son of God. Those who suffer for Christ, have his presence in their sufferings, even in the fiery furnace, and in the valley of the shadow of death. Nebuchadnezzar owns them for servants of the most high God; a God able to deliver them out of his hand. It is our God only is the consuming fire, Heb 12:29. Could we but see into the eternal world, we should behold the persecuted believer safe from the malice of his foes, while they are exposed to the wrath of God, and tormented in unquenchable fires.