PERES,.... The singular of "Pharsin", Daniel 5:25. The sense of this word is,
thy kingdom is divided: which, though it consisted of various provinces, united under Belshazzar, now should be broken and separated from him:
and given to the Medes and Persians; to Darius the Mede, and to Cyrus the Persian, who was a partner for a while with his uncle Darius in the government of the empire: there is an elegant play on words in the words "Peres" and "Persians"; and a grievous thing it is to sinners, not only to have body and soul divided at death, but to be divided and separated from God to all eternity; and to hear that sentence, "depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels".