If integrated into the book of Daniel: 3.88

Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael: This is the only place in this deuterocanonical addition to the book of Daniel that the three men are named in the Theodotion text (see Dan 1.6). In the Septuagint they are also named in verse 1 (see the comments there). Some translators will have a problem with these three names appearing here, since they are the speakers, and it is awkward for the speakers to be naming themselves. Contemporary English Version deals with this problem by beginning the verse as follows: “The three of us—Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael—should sing praises to the Lord forever….”

He has rescued us from Hades and saved us from the hand of death, and delivered us …: Hades is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Sheol (see Psa 16.10), which is “the world of the dead” (Good News Translation; see the comments on Bar 2.17). In some languages Hades will be rendered “the place where dead people go.”

The hand of death is a poetic expression for “death,” emphasizing its power.

Three verbs are used in this verse to describe God’s salvation: he rescued them from Hades, saved them from death, and delivered them from the fire. The verb delivered is used twice. It is not necessary to reflect this pattern in translation; few translations do. New Jerusalem Bible has “rescued … saved … snatched … drawn….” The stylistic point worth preserving is the emphasis on being rescued from the fire. It is emphasized in Greek (a) by using the same verb twice, (b) by using and repeating the phrase from the midst of, and (c) by the descriptive expression burning fiery furnace. New English Bible and Moore have a rather effective expression for rescued us from the midst of the fire, saying “rescued us from the heart of the fire” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). Good News Translation simply says “saved us from the fire,” which can be faulted only in that it does not repeat a description of being taken out of the furnace; it sounds more like a summary statement.

Contemporary English Version provides a helpful model for the whole verse:

• The three of us—
Hananiah, Azariah,
and Mishael—
should sing praises
to the Lord forever,
because if he hadn’t rescued us,
we would have died
in a flaming furnace
and gone down
to the world of the dead.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.