Soon after this experience the king has a colossal image made. It is overlaid with gold, ninety feet high, and nine feet wide. It probably was erected in honor of Nebo (or Nabu), the patron god of Nebuchadnezzar. The Valley of Dura, where the statue is set up, is unknown as a place-name. It simply may have been a place designated for the occasion.

Filled with pride, the king demands that all his officials worship the image. He calls on the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all provincial officials to join him in dedicating the image he has set up. The king decrees that at the signal of the music, all his subjects proclaim allegiance to him, the Babylonian kingdom, and Nabu. Whoever disobeys will be thrown into a blazing furnace (3:6).

However, …