Meshach
Meshach is the Babylonian name given to Mishael, one of the four young men of Judah deported with Daniel and trained for service in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. He appears almost always in the formula "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego" — the three companions whose refusal to worship the golden image lands them in the burning fiery furnace, and whose deliverance becomes the occasion of Nebuchadnezzar's decree.
The Renaming in the King's Service
Meshach is the second of the renamings the prince of the eunuchs imposed on the Hebrew youths: "And the prince of the eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel he gave [the name of] Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, [of] Shadrach; and to Mishael, [of] Meshach; and to Azariah, [of] Abed-nego" (Dan 1:7). After Daniel's interpretation of the king's dream of the great image, the three are appointed to provincial administration: "And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king" (Dan 2:49).
The Refusal Before the Image
When Nebuchadnezzar erects the golden image on the plain of Dura and orders all peoples to fall down at the sound of the music, the three Hebrews refuse, and certain Chaldeans denounce them by name: "There are Jewish [prominent] men whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these [prominent] men, O king, have not regarded you: they don't serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up" (Dan 3:12). Nebuchadnezzar summons them in fury and offers them a second chance: "Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these [prominent] men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, Is it on purpose, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you⁺ don't serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if you⁺ are ready that at what time you⁺ hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you⁺ fall down and worship the image which I have made, [well]: but if you⁺ don't worship, you⁺ will be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god who will deliver you⁺ out of my hands?" (Dan 3:13-15).
The three answer without negotiating: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If it is [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up" (Dan 3:16-18). The "but if not" is the heart of the answer: their loyalty to Yahweh does not depend on whether deliverance comes.
The Furnace and the Fourth Figure
Nebuchadnezzar's rage turns physical. The furnace is heated sevenfold; the three are bound and cast in still in their robes; and the heat is so extreme it kills the soldiers who do the casting: "Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: [therefore] he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded mighty [prominent] men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, [and] to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these [prominent] men were bound in their hosen, their tunics, and their mantles, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire slew those [prominent] men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego" (Dan 3:19-22). "And these three [prominent] men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace" (Dan 3:23).
What Nebuchadnezzar sees through the furnace door breaks the script: "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in a hurry: he spoke and said to his counselors, Didn't we cast three [prominent] men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Look, I see four [prominent] men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods" (Dan 3:24-25). He calls them out, and the witnesses gather to see that the fire has had no power on them: "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the opening of the burning fiery furnace: he spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, you⁺ slaves of the Most High God, come forth, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came forth out of the midst of the fire. And the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these [prominent] men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their hosen changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them" (Dan 3:26-27).
The Decree and the Promotion
Nebuchadnezzar's response is a public confession and an imperial decree: "Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his slaves who trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, will be cut in pieces, and their houses will be made a dunghill; because there is no other god that is able to deliver after this sort" (Dan 3:28-29). The political end matches the public refusal that began the sequence: "Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the province of Babylon" (Dan 3:30). Meshach, with his two companions, has the same name in court at the end of the chapter that he had at the beginning — but now with a king's confession behind it.