Hananiah was one of the four young Hebrews taken to Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar's first deportation. He received the Babylonian name Shadrach and is best known for his unwavering faith when, together with his friends, he refused to worship the golden statue and was thrown into the fiery furnace, yet miraculously saved by God.
Avaintapahtumat
The Deportation to Babylon
Hananiah was among the young Israelites of royal lineage chosen to serve at Nebuchadnezzar's court.
2And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God. He carried them off to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.
3Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites, both from the royal family and from the nobility—
4young men without any physical defect, handsome, skilled in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge and quick to understand, and fit to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the writing and the language of the Chaldeans.
7The chief official gave them new names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
49At Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to administer the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the king's court.
When Nebuchadnezzar ordered everyone to worship the golden statue he had set up, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down, despite the threat of death.
12There are certain Jews whom you appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men pay no attention to you, O king. They do not serve your gods, and they do not worship the golden image you have set up."
19Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the look on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual,
24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished. He rose up in alarm and said to his counselors, "Did we not throw three men, bound, into the fire?" They answered the king, "Certainly, O king."
25"But look," he said, "I see four men, unbound, walking around in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!"
26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the door of the blazing furnace and called out, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.
27The satraps, prefects, governors, and the king's counselors crowded around and saw these men: the fire had no power over their bodies, not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unharmed, and no smell of fire clung to them.
28Then Nebuchadnezzar declared, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him! They set aside the king's command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.