Daniel 3:27
Verse 27 Upon whose bodies the fire had no power - The heathens boasted that their priests could walk on burning coals unhurt; and Virgil mentions this of the priests of Apollo of Soracte: - Summe Deum, sancti custos Soractis Apollo! Quem primi colimus, cui pineus ardor acervo Pascitur; et medium, freti pietate, per ignem Cultores multa premimus vestigia pruna. Virg. Aen. 11:785. O Phoebus, guardian of Soracte's woods And shady hills; a god above the gods; To whom our natives pay the rites divine, And burn whole crackling groves of hallowed pine; Walk through the fire in honor of thy name, Unhurt, unsinged, and sacred from the flame. Pitts. But Varro tells us that they anointed the soles of their feet with a species of unguent that preserved them from being burnt. Very lately a female showed many feats of this kind, putting red hot iron upon her arms, breasts, etc., and passing it over her hair without the slightest inconvenience; but in the case of the three Hebrews all was supernatural, and the king and his officers well knew it.
Copyright information for
Clarke