This trio of names (which, for some reason, people often give to pets) is from the Bible. In the book of Daniel, Daniel and three friends are, like many other Jews, living in exile in Babylon, where King Nebuchadnezzar reigns.
The four young men are chosen to serve in the king’s palace, and a court official changes their Hebrew names to Babylonian ones. Daniel’s three companions were renamed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego (Dan. 1:7).
According to Daniel 3, the proud Babylonian king set up a gold image of himself and required everyone to worship it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, being faithful Jews, would not bow down to an idol.
The furious king ordered them thrown into a fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than usual. The three friends were tied up and thrown into the furnace, but God miraculously preserved them from harm.
The Babylonians saw not only the three men walking around in the fire, but also a fourth man, who looked like “the Son of God.” Nebuchadnezzar was so awed that he ordered that no one be allowed to slander the Jews’ God.
