THREE CHILDREN, SONG OF THE (̔́Υμνος τῶν τριῶν παίδων). One of the Gr. additions to the Book of Daniel, which, along with the Prayer of Azariah, appears not as an appendix but as a supplementary insertion between 3:23 and 3:24 in the LXX. These two items, connected by a short narrative bridge, form a separate book of the Apocrypha, but in the Vul. (as in the LXX) are to be found in ch. 3 of the canonical Daniel.

After the Prayer of Azariah, the ed. remarks (or was this once a part of the MT?) that the fire into which the three had been thrown continued to be fed, becoming so great that it burned those near the furnace, but that the angel of the Lord came down and protected the three (vv. 23-27). Thereupon they are said to have sung “as with one mouth” (ὡς ἐξ ἑνὸ̀ς στόματος) a great doxology. This hymn of praise, after an introductory section (vv. 29-34), is built on the repeated words “Bless the Lord...” followed by the refrain “sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever,” which occurs in identical pattern thirty-two times in succession (except for a very slight variation in v. 52). This calls to mind the similar liturgical rhythm of Psalm 136, where the repeated refrain is “for his stedfast love endures for ever” (cf. v. 67f.). The idea that all the various works of the Lord are to bless or praise Him may well be derived from the same idea in Psalm 148. The Song (Benedicite omnia opera) has found an enduring place in the liturgy of the Christian Church and is included in the Book of Common Prayer where it stands in the Morning Service as an alternate to the Te Deum.

In v. 66 is reference to the names of the three Israelites, who are to bless the Lord for deliverance from the fiery furnace. It is likely, however, that this v. is an addition of the ed. who is responsible for the insertion of this material into ch. 3. The joyful praise of the Song stands in marked contrast to the penitential prayer that precedes it, and thereby any essential connection between the two seems ruled out. The Song, like the Prayer, was composed independently (i.e without reference to the story of Dan 3) and seems to derive from a time when Israel was very grateful for the blessings of the Lord upon the nation, and it has been suggested that this could well fit the period of the Maccabean restoration. If the date of the Song remains unknown, so also does its author, of course, but it is not improbable that he originally wrote the Song in Heb.

The Song preceded by the Prayer of Azariah is available as a separate entity in the Apoc. The Gr. text (LXX and Theodotionic recensions agree closely) is available in the standard edd. of the LXX as a part of Daniel 3, but also as one of the collected Odes (Rahlfs, H = 8) which are often appended to the Psalms. The Song is received by Roman Catholics as a canonical part of Daniel 3. See Prayer of Azariah.