Nebuchadnezzar: the proper noun may be replaced by a pronoun or by the title “king,” if this will be more natural. See 2.5 and 3.14.
Blessed be: the verb “bless” is often difficult to translate, especially when it is used of a human blessing God. In such cases the Aramaic verb (as well as the corresponding Hebrew) has as its primary component the idea of “praise” or “give thanks to.” And in some languages it will be necessary to avoid the passive and name the subject of the verb: “I praise God,” “I magnify the name of God,” or “Let us praise God.” See comments on 2.19-20.
The God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: that is, the God that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego worship. Translators should be careful not to give the impression that someone owns God or that God belonged exclusively to the three persons mentioned or was worshiped only by them.
His angel: compare verse 25. The Aramaic term may indicate a messenger or envoy. The translator may wish to use an expression like “heavenly messenger” or “divine messenger,” to emphasize the supernatural character of the person sent.
Delivered: grammatically the subject of this verb may be either God or the angel he sent. Since the result will be essentially the same in either case, this is not an extremely important question. However, most languages will force the translator to decide one way or the other. In such cases it is probably better to make it clear that God is the subject of the verb.
Who trusted in him: this refers to the three persons named, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. King Nebuchadnezzar also calls them his servants, meaning God’s servants.
Set at nought the king’s command: since it is the king who is speaking, it will be unnatural in certain languages for him to refer to himself as “the king.” The clear meaning is that they “disobeyed the royal command” (New English Bible/Revised English Bible) or, more directly, “disobeyed my orders” (Good News Translation).
Yielded up their bodies: in many languages it may be necessary to indicate an indirect object, if the verb yielded up is maintained: “They yielded their bodies to punishment” or “They gave their bodies over to their torturers.” The ancient Greek version, the Septuagint, actually supplies such an indirect object, and Revised English Bible follows this, translating “yield themselves to the fire.” Or there may be other meaningful ways of rendering this idea; for example, “willingly surrendered” or, more colloquially, “put their lives on the line.”
Rather than serve …: some translators may prefer to say “in order not to have to serve….” For serve and worship see these verbs used together in verses 12, 14, and 18.
Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .