Loyalty

This chapter analyzes the Scriptures in several hymns prescribed for Holy Tuesday, whose theme is faithfulness (loyalty), as shown by the three Jewish youths thrown by Nebuchadnezzar into a fiery furnace but saved by divine intervention, of an angel/son of God (Dan 3). The Theodotion version, which replaces the Septuagint of Daniel in Eastern Orthodox tradition, underscores the three youths’ unconditioned faithfulness (Dan 3:17–18), compared to the seven Maccabee brothers’ martyrdom (2 Macc 7). Thus, the three youths prefigure Christ’s perfect faithfulness tested through suffering up to the cross. Moreover, the lection Job 1:13–22 prescribed for this day points to Job as another type of the faithful Christ. The lection Matt 25:1–13 (parable of the ten bridesmaids) reminds one again of watchfulness, this time as prerequisite to faithfulness. The hymnographers interconnect the fiery furnace episode with the burning bush story (Exod 3).