Daniel 5
5
Belshazzar’s Banquet
1When Belshazzar was king, # 5:1 Belshazzar was the son of King Nabonidus (556–539 BC). He served as the regent of the kingdom (person acting as king) during the absence of his father. If Belshazzar was serving his father as second-in-command, it would explain why the interpreter of the handwriting on the wall would be made third-in-command in the kingdom (see v. 16). The events of ch. 5 happened many years after the events of ch. 4. he invited a thousand of his nobles to a state banquet, where the wine flowed freely among all his guests. 2While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple of Jerusalem. He was wanting to drink from them along with all his guests—his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. # 5:2 Or possibly “singing women [entertainers].” 3So they brought in the sacred gold vessels that were seized from the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king, his nobles, his wives, and his concubines all drank from them. 4As they all drank their wine, they praised their man-made gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. # 5:4 Historians tell us that in September–October of 539 BC, King Cyrus of Persia marched on Babylon and defeated Nabonidus, who fled, leaving his son Belshazzar as ruler of the city. This banquet was likely a religious feast meant to rally the city under Belshazzar’s leadership. It is not credible to suggest it was simply a party since the enemies of Babylon were approaching the city. They were celebrating their gods and, in effect, calling on them for aid. (For more on the setting of Belshazzar’s feast, see William H. Shea, “Nabonidus, Belshazzar, and the Book of Daniel: An Update,” Andrews University Seminary Studies 20, no. 2 [1982], 133–49.)
5Then all at once, a human hand appeared out of thin air, # 5:5 Or “the fingers of a man came out.” The words “came out” are the same used in vv. 2 and 3 for taking out (seizing) the sacred vessels from the temple. and its finger began writing on the white-washed wall of the palace, illuminated by the lampstand # 5:5 This is the Aramaic word nebrashta’, which corresponds to the lampstand in the temple. There can be little question that this “lampstand” was the menorah taken as part of the spoils from Solomon’s Temple when it was conquered by the Babylonians. (See Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vol. 5, trans. M. E. J. Richardson [Boston: Brill, 2000], 1925.) nearby. When the king witnessed this strange hand # 5:5 The Aramaic means literally “the hand of the hand.” In Aramaic there are two different words used for the hand, and they are found together here. It could mean the back of the hand as it wrote or a hand detached from the body. as it was writing, 6terror gripped him! The color drained from his face, his knees began to knock together, and he wet himself. # 5:6 Or literally “the knots [or joints] of his loins were loosened.” In other words, euphemistically, he wet himself or dirtied his trousers or both. (See Al Wolters, “Untying the King’s Knots: Physiology and Wordplay in Daniel 5,” Journal of Biblical Literature 110, no. 1 [1991], 117–22.) See also Isa. 45:1 and fourth footnote. However, this physiological response may refer to the weakening of his joints—likely the hips—with the result that he would be unable to stand up. This second option is more preferable, if “joints” is read as the meaning of the Aramaic term qiterey.
7The king shouted out, “Bring in the astrologers, wise men, and enchanters.” And when they came before him, he said to all the wise ones of Babylon, “I will make rich and famous anyone who can read this handwriting on the wall and tell me its interpretation. He will wear the purple robes of royalty and wear a golden collar # 5:7 Or “a torque [necklace].” See v. 16. on his neck, and I will make him the third highest ruler in my kingdom.”
8All the king’s wise men came forward to examine the wall, but not one could read the writing or tell the king what it meant. 9King Belshazzar grew more and more terrified, his face turned ashen, and all his nobles were dumbfounded.
10When the queen mother # 5:10 It is likely that the queen is Belshazzar’s mother, the wife of Nabonidus, and that she was the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, which meant Belshazzar was Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson. heard the uproar among the king and his nobles, she entered the banquet hall and said, “Long live the king! Do not be so alarmed. Why are you so pale? 11There is a mighty man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. During your predecessor’s reign, he was found to have light, brilliant insight, and godlike wisdom. It was, in fact, your predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar, who made him chief of the wise men, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. 12This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has an extraordinary spirit and is full of revelation and understanding. He possesses a rare ability to interpret dreams, unravel mysteries, # 5:12 Or “dark sentences.” and find solutions to impossible problems. # 5:12 Or “untying of knots.” So send for Daniel, and he will reveal to you what this handwriting means.”
Daniel Explains the Handwriting on the Wall
13Then Daniel was brought into the presence of King Belshazzar, and the king asked him, “So, you are the Daniel of the Jewish exiles my predecessor brought here from Judah? 14I have heard so much about you. I’ve been told that you have the Spirit of God # 5:14 Or “the spirit of the gods.” and that you possess divine illumination, brilliant insight, and extraordinary wisdom. 15Now, I have already brought in my wise men and astrologers before me, that they might read this inscription and give me its interpretation, but they were unable to show me what the words mean. 16However, I have heard that you are able to interpret dreams and that you have solutions for impossible problems. If you, then, can read the handwriting and tell me what it means, you will wear purple robes of royalty and a golden collar on your neck, and you will become the third most powerful ruler in the kingdom.”
17Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your rewards or give your gifts to someone else. But I will clear up for you the mystery of this handwriting on the wall. 18As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your predecessor Nebuchadnezzar kingship, greatness, honor, and majesty. 19God made him so great that people everywhere—people from every nation, tribe, and language group—trembled with fear and dread of him. He killed or spared whomever he pleased, and he exalted or humbled whomever he wished. 20But when his heart was inflated with pride # 5:20 See Deut. 8:14. and his spirit hardened into stubbornness, God deposed him from his royal throne and stripped him of his glory. 21He was driven away from civilization, for his mind became like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox. His body was bathed with the dew of heaven until finally he acknowledged that the Most High God has dominion over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.
22“Yet you, his successor Belshazzar, you have not humbled your heart even though you knew all this. 23Instead, you lifted yourself up above the sovereign Lord of the heavens. And you brought into your banquet hall the vessels of his temple # 5:23 Or “his house.” so that you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines might drink wine from them. You lifted praises to your gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone, who do not see or hear or know anything; but the God who controls your very life breath and every move you make # 5:23 Or “all your ways.” you did not glorify. 24This is why God sent the hand that wrote the inscription upon the wall.
25“The words inscribed are: Mene, Mene, Teqel, Parsin. # 5:25 Mene means “number,” “measure,” or “count.” Teqel means “weigh” or “weight.” Parsin means “divided up.” Parsin is a word play on the Hebrew word for “Persian,” Parsan. 26And here is what they mean: # 5:26 The words written in Aramaic were quite ordinary words; however, ancient Aramaic had no vowels. So, the thirteen consonants could have been read in different ways. The mystery lay in their brevity and the fact that they could be understood as either verbs or nouns. The king knew there was a secret meaning behind these three words and their sequence. It was a riddle that only God’s Spirit could solve. See 1 Cor. 2:6–16.
“Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
27“Teqel: God has weighed you in the balance, and you have been found lacking. # 5:27 Or “you have been found too light [worthless, with no weight or substance].”
28“Peres: # 5:28 This is the singular form of the plural Parsin found in v. 25. God has divided up your kingdom and given it to the Medes and the Persians.” # 5:28 Nearly every scholar views these three Aramaic words—meneʾ, teqel, peres—as three weights or monetary units: the mina, the shekel (one fiftieth of a mina), and the half mina. (For further study of what these three words may signify, see E. G. Kraeling, “The Handwriting on the Wall,” JBL 63, no. 1 [Mar. 1944]: 11–18; H. L. Ginsberg, Studies in Daniel [New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1948]; Al Wolters, “The Riddle of the Scales in Daniel 5,” Hebrew Union College Annual 62 [1991]: 155–77.)
29Immediately Belshazzar ordered Daniel to be clothed in a royal purple robe, to have a golden collar placed around his neck, and to be proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
30That very night, the Babylonian King Belshazzar was killed. # 5:30 Babylon fell to the Persians on the night of October 11, 539 BC, which is the fifteenth day of the month of Tishri, the seventh month. According to the Jewish calendar, this was during the Feast of Tabernacles. According to Xenophon of Athens (ca. 430–354 BC), who was a pupil of Socrates, Cyrus launched a nighttime attack that conquered the city of Babylon. He states that Cyrus told his troops: “Tonight we go against them when some are asleep and some are drunk, and all are unprepared” (Cyropaedia, 7.5.17–29). The Greek historian Herodotus, who wrote of the fall of Babylon about a hundred years after it happened, described the unusual way that Cyrus’ army captured the city. Part of the army went north of Babylon and dug a trench from the Euphrates River to a nearby marsh. When the army connected the trench to the Euphrates River, much of the water in the river flowed toward the marsh while only a little water continued to flow toward Babylon. While the Babylonians were confidently celebrating at Belshazzar’s feast, the strong river and moat protecting the city became extremely shallow, and the Medes and Persians were able to march right into the city without a battle. (See Isa. 13:17–20; Herodotus, Histories, 1.191; Nabonidus Chronicle, col. 3.15.) Daniel was in his eighties when the events of this chapter took place. Perhaps Daniel knew from the prophecies of Isaiah that a deliverer was coming from the east by the name of Cyrus (see Isa. 41–48), whose destiny was to conquer Babylon and one day permit the return of the Jews to the land of Israel. 31So Darius the Mede # 5:31 It is possible that Darius was another name for Cyrus. (For a detailed study of this theory, see Leviticus Rabbah; Donald J. Wiseman, “The Last Days of Babylon,” Christianity Today 2, no. 4 [Nov. 25, 1957]: 7–10; Wiseman, “Some Historical Problems in the Book of Daniel,” D. J. Wiseman, ed., Notes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel [London: Tyndale, 1965], 9–18; James M. Bulman, “The Identification of Darius the Mede,” Westminster Theological Journal 35, no. 3 [Spring 1973]: 247–67; Brian E. Colless, “Cyrus the Persian as Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 17, no. 56 [Dec. 1992]: 113–26.) received the kingdom when he was sixty-two years old. # 5:31 When the Aramaic text was divided into chapters and verses sometime between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries AD, this verse became v. 1 of ch. 6. But more reasonably, it is a part of the account of Belshazzar’s banquet, thus, most English versions include it as v. 31 of this chapter. (For a further study of Darius the Mede, see William H. Shea, “Darius the Mede in His Persian-Babylonian Setting,” Andrews University Seminary Studies 29, no. 3 [1991]: 235–57.)
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Daniel 5: TPT
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