‘Then the herald cried aloud, “To you it is commanded O peoples, nations and languages, that at the time that you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.'
‘Peoples, nations and languages,' covered all possible members of the empire, although they were here represented by their officials. The phrase occurs regularly to signify all members of the empire.
The instruments appear to be Semitic and Greek. Greece traded throughout the empire and their products were found everywhere. The word for ‘kinds' is Persian, possibly a technical musical term. It was an international empire, and all nations were present. And the Babylonians were famous for their love of music (Psalms 137:3; Isaiah 14:11).
The requirement was that they all worship Nebuchadnezzar's god. The worship of a suzerain's god was an essential part of the oath of loyalty, a factor that had proved disastrous time and again in Israel's history. But for most nations and peoples it was not a difficulty, unless they were thinking of rebelling. After all such gods had proved their superiority and it did not mean denying their own gods. It was different for worshippers of the one God, Yahweh, the God of heaven (as Rome would concede later).
The stern warning was typical of the age. Loyalty had to be maintained with an iron hand. Any resistance might quickly spread. And Nebuchadnezzar was ever conscious of the image in his dream, and the possible failure of his kingdom.
‘A burning fiery furnace.' The word for furnace ('attun) is probably a loan word from the Akkadian utunu (oven) as used for baking bricks or smelting metals. We do not know the direct nature of the furnace but it was clearly dreadful as the added adjectives ‘burning, fiery' indicate. It was possibly of a large kiln type with an opening at the top and in the side. Brick kilns were common around Babylon for the great building projects, and the idea of throwing people into such kilns for punishment is instanced in a Babylonian letter of around 1800 BC and an Assyrian court regulation of about 1130 BC (compare Psalms 21:9; Jeremiah 29:22).