זוהר ויקרא — דף נז ע”א

But this has already been explained, that Jacob certainly redeemed Abraham; for at that moment when he fell into the fire of the Chaldeans, his case was judged. They said: behold Ishmael who will come out of him. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: behold Isaac who will stretch out his neck upon the altar. They said: behold Esau who will come out of him. He said: behold Jacob, who is a perfect throne, and all his children are perfect before me. They said: certainly by this one's merit Abraham will be saved. This is what is written, "who redeemed Abraham."<br />
<br />
"Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, nor shall his face grow pale now, for when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they shall sanctify my name." Who are "his children, the work, etc."? These are Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who threw themselves into the burning furnace to sanctify His name. "Jacob shall no longer be ashamed" — what is Jacob doing here? Is it not written, "and among them were, of the sons of Judah, Daniel, Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah"? They were called sons of Judah, and therefore it should have been written "Judah shall no longer be ashamed"; what does "Jacob shall no longer be ashamed" come to add?<br />
<br />
But thus we have learned, that at the moment they were bound to be thrown into the fire, each one raised his voice and spoke before all those peoples, kings and lords. Chananiah said: "the Lord is with me, I will not fear; what can man do to me; the Lord is with me as my helper, and I shall see my enemies; it is better to take refuge in the Lord, etc." Mishael opened and said: "and you, do not fear, my servant Jacob, says the Lord, etc., for I am with you, says the Lord, to save you, for I will do, etc." At that moment, when all heard the name Jacob, they were astonished and laughed in mockery. Azariah opened and said: "hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one."<br />
<br />
This is what is written, "this one shall say, I am the Lord's, etc." "This one shall say, I am the Lord's" — this is Chananiah. "And that one shall call himself by the name of Jacob" — this is Mishael. "And this one shall write with his hand, 'to the Lord,' and surname himself by the name of Israel" — this is Azariah. At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, gathered His heavenly court and said to them: by which word of those words that these three spoke shall I save them? They opened and said: "and let them know that You, whose name is the Lord, You alone are the Most High over all the earth."<br />
<br />
At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, said to the throne: my throne, by which word of those words shall I save those righteous ones? It answered Him: by that very word over which they all laughed, save them — "Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, nor shall his face grow pale now." Just as Jacob stood by Abraham in the fire, let him now stand by these. This is what is written, "thus says the Lord to the house of Jacob, who redeemed Abraham: Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, etc." — from the shame of the mockery.<br />
<br />
We have learned that all those who laughed at this word were burned in that very fire, and a spark of fire killed them. What saved these three? Because they were praying before the Holy One, blessed be He, and unifying His name as is fitting, and because they unified His name as is fitting, they were saved from that burning fire.<br />
<br />
The two sons of Aaron offered strange fire, for they did not unify the name as is fitting, and they were burned by fire. Rabbi Yitzchak said: it is written "after the death," and it is written "and they died." Since it says "after the death of the two sons of Aaron," did we not already know that "they died"? But thus we have learned, there were two deaths: one before the Lord, and one because they had no children; for whoever does not merit children is considered dead. Therefore, "after the death," "and they died."<br />
<br />
Rabbi Abba said, regarding what is written, "and Nadav and Avihu died before the Lord when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children, and Eleazar and Itamar served as priests" — what is the connection between the two, that it is written "and they had no children, and Eleazar and Itamar served as priests"? But this is the secret of the matter — this is what I said, "they died" because they had no children, and this is certainly so. But not like the rest of the people of the world, even though they had not married, for these did not die except the death of their bodies, but the death of their souls they did not die.<br />
<br />
From where do we know this? For it is written, "and Eleazar son of Aaron took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore him Pinchas; these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families." "These are" — and yet Pinchas was alone! And it is written "the heads of the fathers of the Levites." Therefore they died the death of their bodies, but the death of their souls they did not die. Rabbi Elazar said: certainly this implies "these are," and it implies "the heads."<br />