Daniel 3:20. He commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
On the monuments discovered at Khorsabad there are representations of gigantic and muscular men, like the “mighty men” of the text, who seem to have been always in attendance on the king, waiting to execute his orders. Such men were selected from the army on account of their size and strength, just as it is customary in the present day in Europe, as well as in the East, to select men of unusual stature as porters or guards in the palaces of kings. The monuments represent these men as clad in a peculiar costume, beautiful in style, and rich in ornament. It was probably men of this description who, at the king’s command, took the unfortunate captives and tossed them into the fiery furnace.