Did God write the Bible according to the belief systems of the people mentioned therein or did He write the Bible according to His own wisdom? Once we get into the text, we will see that the King James Bible has rendered the word properly as “God” and not “gods” as the modern versions do.
Notice verse 26 that Nebuchadnezzar came by the furnace and spoke into the furnace calling the three men servants of the most high God, not gods. Even the ESV translates it as “Most High God.” It is the very same word used in verse 25. We never translate the Scriptures according to how we believe someone may think, we translate according to the underlying text.
Notice the three Hebrew boys state that the God they serve can deliver them. So they told Nebuchadnezzar about the God they serve, which is in keeping with the context of the following verses of the furnace scene. There would have been no need on Nebuchadnezzar's part to change it to a plural "gods" since he was seeing a miracle and would have remembered they spoke of them serving only one God and not many. Now finally we look at two more verses in this chapter.
Four times in the closing verses of this chapter Nebuchadnezzar mentions God (same word as in verse 25) and in all four mentions, not one is made in the plural. Therefore, in verse 25, the word "God" stands as the correct rendering which fits the context of the entire narrative in this chapter.
Daniel 3:12 KJV "they serve not thy gods"
Daniel 3:12 Hebrew
palehin la lelahak (the last word is translated "your gods").
v. 14 KJV "do not ye serve my gods"
v. 14 Heb the word is
lelahay, clearly similar;
v. 15 KJV "who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?"
v. 15 Heb
elah, again the same root the previous terms;
v. 17 KJV "our God whom we serve"
v. 17 Heb
elahana;
v. 25 KJV "the fourth is like the Son of God."
v. 25 Heb
elahin ...
and so on. It's all the same root word. There's only one problem: in verse 25, the word is
plural. Of course, if you only look at the KJV and presume it is correct, you won't see that.
Here is Daniel 2:11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
The Hebrew word behind "the gods" is that same
elahin.
Again in Daniel 2:47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
We have the same word here: 'a God of gods' is
elah elahin.
Again in Daniel 4:9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.
The word "gods" is again
elahin.
I have given you three cases where
elahin is translated "gods" in the KJV.
The correct translation is
not what comports with any particular theological position (necessarily), but
what was originally said. Since we weren't there and don't have recordings, we have to accept what the text
in Hebrew says, and translate it without prejudice.