Daniel 5:1-31 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

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Daniel 5. Belshazzar, who is represented as king of Babylon, makes a great feast, using the vessels which his father had brought to Babylon from the Temple at Jerusalem. During the feast the fingers of a man's hand are seen, writing on the wall. Daniel explains the handwriting and tells the king that his days are numbered and that his kingdom is to be given to the Medes and Persians. That night the king is murdered and Darius the Mede assumes the throne. The motive of the chapter is again quite plain. Nebuchadnezzar's act of sacrilege has its parallel in the profanation of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes; and the fate of Belshazzar is depicted as an encouragement to the persecuted Jews of the Maccabean age. The chapter raises some very serious historical difficulties (see notes on Daniel 5:1 and Daniel 5:31).

Daniel 5:1. Belshazzar the King. In the Book of Daniel Belshazzar is represented as king of Babylon just before its conquest by the Persians in 538 B.C. Nothing is said as to the length of his reign, though the third year is mentioned in Daniel 8:1. Belshazzar is also described as the son of Nebuchadnezzar. But these statements appear to be erroneous. The statements of historians and the evidence of the Inscriptions make it abundantly clear that the name of the king at the time of the conquest was Nabonidus or Nabuna-' id, and that Belshazzar was his son. Some scholars have supposed that Belshazzar was associated with his father in the rule of Babylon, but we have no evidence to prove this theory, and the Inscriptions, by always describing him as the king's son, seem to make it impossible. Moreover Nabuna-' id was entirely unconnected with the dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar, so that unless we resort to the purely imaginative hypothesis that he married a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, it is quite impossible for the statement that Belshazzar was the son or grandson of Nebuchadnezzar to be true. made a great feast: this agrees with the statements of Herodotus and Xenophon that a great feast was being held on the night in which Babylon was destroyed.

Daniel 5:2. gold and silver vessels: see Daniel 1:2. his father: Daniel 5:1 *.

Daniel 5:4. The LXX adds, But the eternal God they praised not who hath power over their spirit.

Daniel 5:5. the part of the hand: the palm or hollow of the hand.

Daniel 5:6. The brightness of his face grew pale from fear.

Daniel 5:7. third ruler: the term is not found elsewhere. Driver translates, shall rule as one of three.

Daniel 5:10. the queen: probably the queen-mother, i.e. the wife of Nebuchadnezzar. For the influence exerted by the wife of a former king, see 1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 10:13; 2 Kings 24:12; Jeremiah 13:18; Jeremiah 29:2.

Daniel 5:12. shewing of dark sentences: declaring of riddles. dissolving of doubts: loosing of knots, probably contains a reference to magic spells, releasing from spells (cf. Daniel 5:16).

Daniel 5:18-24. A description of the glory of Nebuchadnezzar's rule (cf. Daniel 2:37 f., Daniel 4:10-12), his overweening pride, and the punishment which God inflicted on him (see Daniel 4).

Daniel 5:21. his heart was made: an allusion to the madness which befell Nebuchadnezzar (see introduction to Daniel 4).

Daniel 5:25. Mene: there is a good deal of difficulty with regard to (a) the original form of the inscription, (b) the interpretation of the words. In reference to (a) it will be observed that the Upharsin of the inscription becomes Peres in the interpretation. (b) The words are generally explained as meaning Counted, counted, weighed and pieces. The objection to this is that tekel and peres are substantives and not verbs. Another suggestion, which is widely accepted, regards the terms as names of three weights, a mina, a mina, a shekel and a half mina (a mina contained 50 or 60 shekels). It is supposed that the mina means Nebuchadnezzar, the shekel Belshazzar, the half-mina or Peres, the Persians. The interpretation suggested by Daniel is connected with the derivation of the words mene, numbered; tekel, weighed; Peres, divided; the form of the word naturally suggested Persians. Upharsin: the connexion with Peres may be thus explained: U is the connecting particle and, and pharsin is the plural form of Peres.

Daniel 5:30. the Chaldean king: the king of Babylon.

Daniel 5:31. Darius the Mede: the introduction of Darius is one of the most serious historical inaccuracies in the Book. Darius is described as king of Babylon after the Persian conquest. In Daniel 5:6 he is depicted as an absolute sovereign dividing the kingdom into satrapies and appointing governors. In Daniel 9:1 he is called the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, preceding Cyrus in this position (Daniel 6:28). There is no historical warrant for these statements. We know that Cyrus became king immediately after the fall of Babylon. There is absolutely no room for Darius between the expulsion of Nabuna-' id and the accession of Cyrus. Some authorities have identified Darius with Gobryas (of which the name may be a corruption), who is said to have commanded the attacking army at the siege of Babylon, and as viceroy of Cyrus to have taken over the government of the city, appointing governors, etc. Gobryas never, however, held the position assigned to Darius in our Book.

Related Commentaries of Daniel 5:1

Daniel 5:1-31

1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his fathera Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.

3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.

4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

6 Then the king's countenanceb was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

7 The king cried aloudc to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

8 Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.

9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenanced was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.

10 Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:

11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy fathere light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpretingf of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.

13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my fatherg brought out of Jewry?

14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.

15 And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:

16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations,h and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewardsi to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:

19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.

20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride,j he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heartk was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;

23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.

25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.