Abed-Nego
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [1]
a - bed´nē̇ - go (Hebrew and Aramaic עבד נגו , ‛ăbhēdh neghō ; Daniel 3:29 , עבד נגוא , ‛ăbhēdh neghō' ): According to many, the nego is an intentional corruption of Nebo, the name of a Babylonian god, arising from the desire of the Hebrew scribes to avoid the giving of a heathen name to a hero of their faith. The name, according to this view, would mean "servant of Nebo." Inasmuch as ‛ăbhēdh is a translation of the Babylonian ‛arad , it seems more probable that nego also must be a translation of some Babylonian word. The goddess Ishtar is by the Babylonians called "the morning star" and "the perfect light" ( nigittu gitmaltu ). The morning star is called by the Arameans nogah , "the shining one," a word derived from the root negah , the equivalent of the Babylonian nagu , "to shine." Abed-nego, according to this interpretation, would be the translation of Arad-Ishtar, a not uncommon name among the Assyrians and Babylonians. Canon Johns gives this as the name of more than thirty Assyrians, who are mentioned on the tablets cited by him in Vol. Iii of his great work entitled Assyrian Deeds and Documents . It means "servant of Ishtar."
Abed-nego was one of the three companions of Daniel, and was the name imposed upon the Hebrew Azariah by Nebuchadnezzar ( Daniel 1:7 ). Having refused, along with his friends, to eat the provisions of the king's table, he was fed and flourished upon pulse and water. Having successfully passed his examinations and escaped the death with which the wise men of Babylon were threatened, he was appointed at the request of Daniel along with his companions over the affairs of the province of Babylon (Dan 2). Having refused to bow down to the image which Nebuehadnezzar had set up, he was cast into the burning fiery furnace, and after his triumphant delivery he was caused by the king to prosper in the province of Babylon (Dan 3). The three friends are referred to by name in 1 Macc 2:59, and by implication in Hebrews 11:33 , Hebrews 11:34 .
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [2]
(Heb. Abed' Neg עֲבְֵד נְגו , Servant Of Nego, i.e. of Nebo, or the Chaldaic Mercury, Daniel 1:7, and Chald. id. עִבֵד נְגוֹץ ; Sept. and Josephus Ἀβδεναγώ ), the Chaldee name imposed by the king of Babylon's officer upon AZARIAH (See Azariah) (q.v.), one of the three companions of Daniel ( Daniel 2:49; Daniel 3:12-30). With his two friends, Shadrach and Meshach, he was miraculously delivered from the burning furnace, into which they were cast for refusing to worship the golden statue which Nebuchadnezzar had caused to be set up in the plain of Dura ( Daniel 3:1-30). He has been supposed by some to be the same person as Ezra; but Ezra was a priest of the tribe of Levi ( Ezra 7:5), while this Azariah was of the royal blood, and consequently of Judah ( Daniel 1:3; Daniel 1:6).
