So I thought AI was supposed to be smart...guess again

Jeff Bell · 2025-02-17T01:00:17+00:00

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So I was making a note in one book and wanted the Hebrew names for the three associates of Daniel who were thrown in the fire (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) so I asked, "What are the hebrew names of the three thrown in the fire."

Nothing. Maybe it's just me…I get it…but so far, I am less than impressed. I'll just open up to Daniel and figure that one out…

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NetworkGeek

It worked for me using your question…?

MJ. Smith

And then there is perplexity:

The story of three people being thrown into a fire is most famously associated with the biblical account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Book of Daniel. However, there are other references and interpretations in both Biblical and Rabbinic sources that relate to this theme. Here's a list of relevant resources:
Biblical Sources
Book of DanielThe primary source is Daniel 3:1-30, which recounts the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into a fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar1.
Book of JeremiahJeremiah 29:22 mentions two false prophets, Ahab and Zedekiah, whom the king of Babylon "roasted in the fire"2.
Rabbinic Sources
TalmudTractate Sanhedrin 93a discusses the fate of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, elaborating on the biblical account3.
Midrash RabbahGenesis Rabbah 44:13 draws a parallel between Abraham's rescue from Ur of the Chaldees (interpreted as a fiery furnace) and the rescue of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Pesikta RabbatiThis midrashic work contains discussions on the theme of martyrdom, including references to the story of the fiery furnace.
Pirke de-Rabbi EliezerChapter 33 of this aggadic-midrashic work retells and expands upon the story of Abraham being thrown into a fiery furnace by Nimrod, drawing parallels with the Daniel narrative.
Sefer ha-YasharThis medieval text elaborates on the story of Abraham and the fiery furnace, connecting it thematically to the account in Daniel.
Additional Interpretations
ZoharThe primary text of Kabbalah offers mystical interpretations of the fiery furnace story, relating it to spiritual trials and divine protection.
Medieval Jewish CommentariesCommentators like Rashi and Ibn Ezra provide additional insights into the Daniel narrative and its implications.
These sources offer various perspectives on the theme of three individuals facing a fiery ordeal, ranging from literal interpretations to allegorical and mystical readings. The story has been used to explore themes of faith, divine protection, and martyrdom in both Jewish and Christian traditions.

Jeff Bell

Well MJ, then there is that. Network Geek, thanks for posting that. Any idea why it is so different? I have no idea…but glad I took my screenshot. Seemed pretty simple question to me. But appreciate your post. :)

Graham Criddle

Hi @Jeff Bell - and I don't know why you get different results either. I get the same as you.

But the smart Bible search (currently in beta) does return some helpful results

Jeff Bell

Thanks Graham…I am beginning to get a complex!! :) I appreciate your post as well…at least I know I'm not crazy. I appreciate the direction too. I was just trying to quickly get the names to put it into a post. But I will definitely look at your option and see what I get too!

I was just in a webinar and saw that the instructor was doing a search or something similar. I had my Logos open and tried to duplicate and got different results too, so that was interesting. She said that it may have been because it was checking her books in her library, so IDK. I thought it checked the whole Logos library, but maybe I'm missing something. Just weird IMHO…

And mine gives me a similar Magi result when restricting the search to Your Books

When searching All I get a correct result.

Jan Krohn

With typo:

Without typo:

NetworkGeek

So how is this for weird? This morning I tried again - Smart search, All, (Books shows the same), and now it does not work! Note the resources pulled from are different.

Smart Search is being very inconsistent it seems. Maybe it needs to do more digging to ensure it doesn't grab some rogue resource with a contrary view?

BTW - I used the ChatGPT app on my Mac, asked the same question nice concise answer, with the Hebrew!

The three men thrown into the fiery furnace in the Book of Daniel (chapter 3) were originally named Hananiah (חֲנַנְיָה), Mishael (מִישָׁאֵל), and Azariah (עֲזַרְיָה) in Hebrew. However, when they were taken into Babylonian captivity, their names were changed to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, respectively.

Jan Krohn

If the search fails, add a typo to the question and it will work. This is reproducible.

Kevin Houghtaling

@Jeff Bell I also ran the same search as you. At first I ran an ALL search which produced a similar result as your first. Then I ran a BOOKS search, which then provided an appropriate answer. It is interesting that with a decent number of resources only one was referenced.
I then ran the all search with thrown in the fire in quotes. That provided the same answer as of the books search.

John Fidel

I just ran a book search using:

Daniel friends names

Results were very good.

Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were among the young Israelites taken to Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Jerusalem in 605 BC1 2 3. Upon arrival, they were given Babylonian names: Daniel became Belteshazzar, while his friends were renamed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego respectively1 3. These young men were selected for their intelligence and physical attributes to be trained in Babylonian language and customs for service in the royal court3. Some scholars argue that references to Daniel and his friends may exist in cuneiform records, with Daniel possibly appearing as "Belshazzar" in two texts, and his friends potentially mentioned in a prism of Nebuchadnezzar1. However, it's important to note that apart from the biblical accounts and related Jewish literature, there is limited historical information about Daniel and his companions2.1Paul J. N. Lawrence, “Who Wrote Daniel,” Bible and Spade Volume 28 28.1 (2015): 3.2John William Drane, Introducing the Old Testament, Completely rev. and updated. (Oxford: Lion Publishing plc, 2000), 226.3American Bible Society, The Holy Bible: The Good News Translation, 2nd ed. (New York: American Bible Society, 1992), Da 1:1–2.This synopsis is generated by AI from the results below. Check it for accuracy.

Maybe we just use too many words.

Lew Worthington

Agreed. English is nuanced enough (multiple meanings for "Hebrew" in this case) that any effort to simplify the syntax of such searches will probably enhance our chances for a good result.

Jeff Bell

I really appreciate all of you and your comments. It has at least let me feel somewhat vindicated. I appreciated all the ancillary comments and the posts, so again, thank you. I hope that Logos will possibly at least address this to its customer base. Maybe my expectation and bar were just a bit high… :(

Justin Walker

I have had very mixed results so far with AI searching. I know I have books in my resources with the information and it just doesn't find it. I am a little bit puzzled by this and think maybe it is the AI searching correctly but not interpreting my question accurately. Time will tell I guess.

As of now, I have started playing some with Chat GTP and Grok, asking questions and requesting citations. Both of those seem to find what I'm looking for more accurately and then I am going to the source to confirm.

DMB

Well, first, I'm an unsubscriber. But I've noted before and again … I think (!) AI search is a re-ordering of a traditional search results (to show the best prospects … not to do the actual search). Again, with no knowledge, I'd assume a true AI search would need to deliver a considerable amount of data to the 3rd party.