Daniel 3:19

19. This public and outspoken act of disobedience naturally infuriated the king, who was in the habit of having his own way absolutely. It is still customary in the East to say of one who is angry with another “his face is black against him.” This does not prove that as late as Daniel 3:14 the face of the king was white to these men (Thomson), but that he was now excessively and additionally furious. De Wette ( Allgemeine Encyclopedia) remarks that the king’s order to heat the furnace “seven times more than it was wont to be heated” was impossible, since “heating has its limits,” and seems to hold the Book of Daniel responsible for the king’s lack of scientific knowledge! The use of the number seven here is decidedly oriental, and this phrase only means that the furnace must be made as hot as possible. This was done to make the circumstances of their death more frightful.