Pt2 Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah and the Fiery Furnace in the Talmud: Aggadic Expansion of Daniel 3 (Sanhedrin 92b-93a)

This is the second and final part of a two-part series. Part 1 is here; the outline for the series can be found at Part 1.

Unrelated to the rest of this post: I uploaded the video and slides from my talk this past Tuesday.

Video (~15 minutes):

Slides (20 slides): “AI-Assisted Editing and Analysis of Rabbinic Texts - Presentation at 2025 Israeli Conference on Digital Humanities“.

R' Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai - Rebuke by Nations - Nations shame Jews for idol worship - Daniel 9:7

R' Tanḥum reports that non-Jews mocked Jews after the miracle, rhetorically asking: "You have such (כזה) a god (אלוה) and still bow to an idol (צלם)?!"

The Jews respond with a confession of shame (Daniel 9:7).

אמר רבי תנחום בר חנילאי:

בשעה שיצאו חנניה מישאל ועזריה מכבשן האש,

באו כל אומות העולם וטפחו לשונאיהן של ישראל על פניהם.

אמרו להם:

יש לכם אלוה כזה,

ואתם משתחוים לצלם?!

מיד פתחו ואמרו:

״לך ה׳ הצדקה

ולנו בשת הפנים כיום הזה״.

§ R' Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai says:

At the moment that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah emerged from the fiery furnace,

all the nations of the world came and struck the enemies of Israel, a euphemism for the Jewish people, in the face

and said to them:

You have a God with capabilities like that

and you bow to the graven image?!

Immediately Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah began and said:

“YHWH, righteousness is Yours,

but we are shamefaced, as of this day” (Daniel 9:7).

R' Shmuel bar Naḥmani in name of R' Yonatan - Limited Divine Harvest - Only Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were worthy among Israel - Song of Songs 7:9

R' Shmuel bar Naḥmani, citing R' Yonatan, interprets the “palm tree” as Israel and the “boughs” as the few who remained faithful—specifically Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.¹

אמר רבי שמואל בר נחמני, אמר רבי יונתן:

מאי דכתיב:

״אמרתי:

אעלה בתמר

אחזה בסנסניו״?

״אמרתי אעלה בתמר״ –

אלו ישראל,

ועכשיו לא עלה בידי אלא "סנסן" אחד --

של חנניה מישאל ועזריה.

[...]

R' Shmuel bar Naḥmani says that R' Yonatan says on a similar note:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

“I said:

I will climb into the palm tree;

I will grasp its boughs” (Song of Songs 7:9)?

“I said: I will climb into the palm tree” --

this is a reference to the Jewish people, who are likened to a palm tree, as they are upright and have one heart directed toward their Father in Heaven.

God continues: And now that I have tested them by means of the decrees of Nebuchadnezzar, I have succeeded in grasping in My hand only the one “bough” --

of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, as only they were willing to give their lives.

[...]

Dispute re the Fate of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah - 3 views: died, drowned in spittle, or settled in Eretz Yisrael

Amoraim: Rav, Shmuel, and R' Yoḥanan

Three views are given:

1. Rav: They died due to the evil eye.

2. Shmuel: They drowned in (the nations’) spittle (רוק).

3. R' Yoḥanan: They emigrated to Eretz Yisrael and had families.²

ורבנן, להיכא אזלו?

1. אמר רב: בעין [הרע] מתו.

2. ושמואל אמר: ברוק טבעו.

3. ורבי יוחנן אמר: עלו לארץ ישראל, ונשאו נשים והולידו בנים ובנות.

The Talmud asks: And with regard to the rabbis, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, where did they go after their miraculous deliverance, as there is no further mention of them?

1. Rav says: They died as the result of the evil eye, as everyone was jealous of their deliverance.

2. And Shmuel says: They drowned in the spittle of the nations of the world who held the Jewish people in contempt due to their failure to serve God in the appropriate manner.

3. And R' Yoḥanan says: They ascended to Eretz Yisrael and married women and fathered sons and daughters.

Tanaim: R' Eliezer, R' Yehoshua, and and the Sages (Zechariah 3:8)

This debate mirrors a tannaitic one with identical positions.

The final view—they emigrated to Eretz Yisrael and had families—is linked to Zechariah 3:8 which mentions "men of wonder (אנשי מופת)"; this is understood to mean “people who had a wonder performed for them”.

כתנאי:

1. רבי אליעזר אומר: בעין [הרע] מתו.

2. רבי יהושע אומר: ברוק טבעו.

3. וחכמים אומרים: עלו לארץ ישראל ונשאו נשים והולידו בנים ובנות,

שנאמר:

״שמע נא יהושע הכהן הגדול

אתה ורעיך הישבים לפניך

כי אנשי מופת המה״.

איזו הם אנשים שנעשה להן מופת?

הוי אומר: זה חנניה מישאל ועזריה.

The Talmud comments: This amoraic dispute is parallel to a dispute between tanna’im:

1. R' Eliezer says: They died as the result of the evil eye.

2. R' Yehoshua says: They drowned in the spittle.

3. And the Rabbis say: They ascended to Eretz Yisrael and married women and fathered sons and daughters,

as it is stated:

“Hear now, Joshua the High Priest

you and your fellows who sit before you,

for they are men of wonder” (Zechariah 3:8).

Who are the people who had a wonder performed for them in that generation?

You must say that it is Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Rav, Shmuel, R' Yoḥanan - Where Was Daniel? - 3 views: canal, alfalfa, pigs; a strategic absence - Daniel 2:46

Three amoraic explanations:

1. Rav: Digging (למיכרא) “the great canal” (נהרא רבא) in Tiberias.

2. Shmuel: Fetching alfalfa seed (ביזרא דאספסתא).

3. R' Yoḥanan: Procuring pigs from Alexandria.

ודניאל להיכן אזל?

1. אמר רב: למיכרא נהרא רבא בטבריא.

2. ושמואל אמר: לאתויי ביזרא דאספסתא.

3. ורבי יוחנן אמר: לאתויי חזירי דאלכסנדריא של מצרים.

[...]

The Talmud asks: And where did Daniel go? He certainly did not bow to the graven image, and he was not cast into the furnace. Apparently, he was elsewhere.

1. Rav says: He went to dig the great river in Tiberias.

2. And Shmuel says: Daniel went to bring choice alfalfa seed from a distance, and therefore he was not in Babylonia.

3. And R' Yoḥanan says: He went to bring the high-quality pigs of Alexandria of Egypt.

[...]

Baraita - Consensus to Remove Daniel

A baraita states that God, Daniel, and Nebuchadnezzar all agreed to remove Daniel:³

1. God: So people wouldn’t attribute the miracle to Daniel’s merit (בזכותיה איתנצול)

2. Daniel: Was afraid of being burned as an idol (since he was treated as an object of worship by Nebuchadnezzar)

3. Nebuchadnezzar: To avoid burning his “god” Daniel (since Nebuchadnezzar treated Daniel as an object of worship)

תנו רבנן:

שלשה היו באותה עצה:

1. הקדוש ברוך הוא,

2. ודניאל,

3. ונבוכדנצר.

A baraita states:

Three were partners in that plan to ensure that Daniel would not be in Babylonia when the decree of persecution was in effect:

1. God;

2. Daniel;

3. and Nebuchadnezzar.

God - To prevent misattribution of miracle to Daniel’s merit

הקדוש ברוך הוא אמר:

ניזיל דניאל מהכא,

דלא לימרו בזכותיה איתנצול.

God, said:

Let Daniel go from here,

so that people would not say that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were delivered from the fiery furnace due to the virtue of Daniel, rather than due to their own righteousness.

Daniel - was afraid of being burned as an idol (Deuteronomy 7:25)

ודניאל אמר:

איזיל מהכא,

דלא ליקיים בי ״פסילי אלהיהם תשרפון באש״.

And Daniel said to himself:

I will go away from here

so that this verse will not be fulfilled in my regard: “The graven images of their gods shall you burn with fire” (Deuteronomy 7:25).

Daniel was concerned that because Nebuchadnezzar worshipped him like a deity, his legal status was that of an idol, and he would be burned.

Nebuchadnezzar - to avoid burning his “god” Daniel (Daniel 2:46)

ונבוכדנצר אמר:

יזיל דניאל מהכא,

דלא לימרו ״קלייה לאלהיה בנורא״.

ומניין דסגיד ליה?

דכתיב:

״באדין מלכא נבוכדנצר נפל על אנפוהי

ולדניאל סגד וגו׳״.

And Nebuchadnezzar said:

Daniel should go away from here

so that the people will not say: Nebuchadnezzar burned his god in fire.

And from where is it derived that Nebuchadnezzar worshipped Daniel?

It is derived from a verse, as it is written:

“Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face

and worshipped Daniel and commanded that they should offer an offering and pleasing aromas to him” (Daniel 2:46).

Appendix 1 - Table of statements in the sugya

Appendix 2 - Allegorical Reading of Zechariah’s Vision (Zechariah 1:8)

This aggadic passage offers an interpretive gloss on Zechariah 1:8. It allegorizes the prophet’s vision of a man on a red horse standing among myrtles in the depths, using it to describe divine wrath averted by the merit of the righteous.

This midrash reads the verse typologically, connecting each visual element to a theological motif:

1. Night = destruction

2. Man = God

3. Red = blood

4. Myrtles = the righteous

5. Depths = Babylon

Zechariah 1:8

אמר רבי יוחנן:

מאי דכתיב:

״ראיתי הלילה

והנה:

איש רכב על סוס אדם

והוא עמד בין ההדסים אשר במצלה [וגו׳]״?

R' Yoḥanan says:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

“I saw the night,

and behold:

a man riding upon a red horse,

and he stood among the myrtle bushes that were in the depths” (Zechariah 1:8)?

"ראיתי הלילה" – "I saw the night" - God sought to destroy the world, rendering it all into night (destruction due to lack of righteous)

R' Yoḥanan reads “I saw the night” as implying that God sought to render the entire world into “night” (i.e., destruction. The vision signals impending catastrophe due to a lack of merit).

מאי ״ראיתי הלילה״?

ביקש הקדוש ברוך הוא להפוך את כל העולם כולו ללילה.

What is the meaning of the phrase “I saw the night”?

God sought to transform the entire world into night and destroy it, as there were no righteous people.

"והנה איש רכב" – "Behold, a man riding" - “Man” refers to God - Exodus 15:3 – “YHWH is a man of war”

The “man riding” the horse is identified with God. The prooftext cited is Exodus 15:3: “YHWH is a man of war.”

(This suggests that the figure is not merely a human rider or angel, but a direct metaphor for divine agency.)

״והנה איש רכב״ –

אין ״איש״ אלא הקדוש ברוך הוא,

שנאמר:

״ה׳ איש מלחמה

ה׳ שמו״.

“And behold, a man riding” --

the word “man” is referring to no one but God,

as it is stated:

“YHWH is a man of war,

YHWH is His name” (Exodus 15:3).

"על סוס אדם" – "Upon a red horse" - “Red horse” read as “blood horse”; symbol of divine intent to destroy through bloodshed - Play on דם (“blood”)

“Red horse” (סוס אדם) is read homiletically as “horse of blood” (דם), implying divine intent to destroy the world in bloodshed.

(The visual symbolism of the red horse thus represents imminent violence.)

״על סוס אדם״ –

ביקש הקדוש ברוך הוא להפוך את העולם כולו לדם.

“Upon a red horse” --

alludes to the fact that God sought to transform the whole world into blood.

"הוא עמד בין ההדסים" – "Stood among the myrtles" - Myrtle bushes (הדסים) represent the righteous (esp. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) - Esther 2:7; "אשר במצולה" – "In the depths" - “Depths” (מצולה) interpreted as Babylon - Isaiah 44:27

God’s anger abates when He sees Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, cast into the furnace (Daniel 3).

1. The “myrtle bushes” (הדסים) are read as righteous individuals, based on Esther 2:7 (Esther = Hadassah).

2. The “depths” (מצולה) are equated with Babylon, following Isaiah 44:27.

כיון שנסתכל בחנניה מישאל ועזריה,

נתקררה דעתו,

שנאמר:

״והוא עמד בין ההדסים

אשר במצלה״.

1. ואין ״הדסים״ אלא צדיקים,

   1. שנאמר: ״ויהי אמן את הדסה״.

2. ואין ״מצולה״ אלא בבל,

   1. שנאמר: ״האמר לצולה: חרבי ונהרתיך אוביש״.

Once He looked at Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah

He was placated,

as it is stated:

“And he stood among the myrtle bushes [hadassim]

that were in the depths [bametzula].”

1. And hadassim is referring to no one but the righteous,

   1. as it is stated: “And he raised Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter” (Esther 2:7). Hadassah is an appellation for the righteous Esther.

2. And metzula is referring to no place but Babylonia,

   1. as it is stated with regard to the downfall of Babylonia: “That says to the deep [latzula]: Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers” (Isaiah 44:27).

Red and angry horses - Symbolize wrathful divine agents - Become calm and white upon seeing the righteous

The heavenly agents, represented by horses, undergo a change. Their rage (they were “full of anger”) subsides—they turn from red to white.

מיד:

• מלאים רוגז -- נעשים שרוקים,

• ואדומים -- נעשו לבנים.

Immediately:

• those messengers, in the form of horses, filled with anger -- became gray,

• and those who were red -- became white.

Rav Pappa - A white horse in a dream is a good omen

Rav Pappa derives a practical lesson: seeing a white horse in a dream is a good omen.

אמר רב פפא:

שמע מינה:

סוסיא חיורא מעלי לחלמא.

Rav Pappa says:

Conclude from it that:

seeing a white horse in a dream is a good portent for that dream, as it presages peace and quiet.

1. The Talmud now gives an elaborate Allegorical Reading of Zechariah’s Vision (Zechariah 1:8); I bring this at the end of this piece, in Appendix 2.

2. R' Yoḥanan’s exact statement:

עלו לארץ ישראל,

ונשאו נשים

והולידו בנים ובנות

They ascended to Eretz Yisrael

and married women

and fathered sons and daughters.

This is the exact same line as was said by R' Eliezer ben Yosei about the “dead resurrected by Ezekiel”, see my recent piece “Actual Resurrection or Allegory? The Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37 in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 92b)“, section “R' Eliezer ben Yosei - the revived moved to Eretz Yisrael, married, and had children“.

In the next section here, the statement is said by the “Sages”.

3. The baraita starts with an idiomatic line:

שלשה היו באותה עצה

Three were [partners] in that plan (עצה - literally: “counsel”)

This same idiom appears elsewhere in the Talmud in the context of Pharaoh’s enslavement of the Jews in Egypt, see my “Pharaoh’s Deception, the Mechanics of Oppression, and Divine Justice: Talmudic Interpretations of Exodus 1:10-14 (Sotah 11a-b)“, section “Part 1: Pharaoh’s Three Advisors: Balaam, Job, and Jethro“, and “Pt1 The Prophet, the Prostitutes, and the Curses Reversed: The Biblical Story of Balaam in Talmudic Interpretation (Sanhedrin 105b-106b)“, section “Fates of Three Advisors: Balaam, Job, and Yitro in Egyptian Counsel“.