“Et congregati satrapæ, et magistratus, et judices, et potentes regis contemplabantur viros illos, quoniam nihil potestatis habuisset ignis in corporibus eorum, et capillus capitis eorum non esset adustus, et sarabala eorum non fuissent immutata, et odor ignis non transisset per eos.”
Smell, such as is felt when people, (Haydock) or their garments, come too near the fire. Pagans have sometimes walked through fire; but they first anointed their feet with certain preservatives, as Servius (in Æn. xi.) remarks from Varro. (Calmet) — Here the fire burnt only the bands, (ver. 23, 92.; Haydock) God making his creatures afford comfort to his servants, as was the case when the Goths attempted to burn St. Benedict. (St. Gregory, Dial. iii. 18.) (Worthington)