Daniel 3:5

5 When you hear the band strike up - all the trumpets and trombones, the tubas and baritones, the drums and cymbals - fall to your knees and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

Daniel 3:5 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 3:5

That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet
So called of the horn of which it was made; a sort of trumpet; so the Jews had trumpets of rams' horns: flute;
or pipe, or whistle, so called for its hissing noise; it is used of the shepherd's pipe or whistle; see ( Zechariah 10:8 ) , harp;
an instrument of music used by David, and much in use among the Jews, and other nations; sackbut;
or "sambuca"; which, according to Athenaeus ^F7, was a four stringed instrument, an invention of the Syrians; and Strabo ^F8, a Greek writer, speaks of it as a barbarous name, as the eastern ones were reckoned by the Grecians: psaltery;
this seems to be a Greek word, as does the next that follows, rendered "dulcimer"; but in the original text is "symphonia"; which does not signify symphony, or a concert or consort of music, but a particular instrument of music. Maimonides ^F9 makes mention of it as a musical instrument, among others; Servius ^F11 calls it an oblique pipe; and Isidore ^F12 describes it a hollow piece of wood, with leather stretched upon it, and beat upon with rods or sticks, something like our drum: the king of Babylon might have Grecian musicians, or, however, Grecian instruments of music, in his court, as the Grecians had from the eastern nations: and all kinds of music;
that could be had or thought of; and this was done in honour to this idol, and to allure carnal sensual persons to the worship of it, according to the order given: ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
hath set up;
when they heard the music sound, immediately they were to repair to the plain where the image stood, and pay their adoration to it; or to fall down prostrate in their own houses in honour of it; and perhaps persons were appointed in all cities and towns throughout the empire to play this music; at hearing which, all people, nations, and tongues, were to bow down, in token of their religious regard unto it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Deipnosoph. I. 4.
F8 Geograph. l. 10. p. 324.
F9 Hilchot Celim, c. 10. sect. 14.
F11 In Virgil. Aeneid. I. 11.
F12 Originum, l. 3. c. 21.

Daniel 3:5 In-Context

3 They all came for the dedication, all the important people, and took their places before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

4 A herald then proclaimed in a loud voice: "Attention, everyone! Every race, color, and creed, listen!

5 When you hear the band strike up - all the trumpets and trombones, the tubas and baritones, the drums and cymbals - fall to your knees and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

6 Anyone who does not kneel and worship shall be thrown immediately into a roaring furnace."

7 The band started to play, a huge band equipped with all the musical instruments of Babylon, and everyone - every race, color, and creed - fell to their knees and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.