The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them,.... Belshazzar, as Kimchi; he had the report brought him of the invasion of his land by them; of their approach to Babylon, and design upon it; and of their number, character, and force:
and his hands waxed feeble; as they did when he saw the handwriting upon the wall, Daniel 5:6;
anguish took hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail; a sudden panic seized him, and he was quite dispirited at once, as a woman in childbirth, when her pains come upon her, and there is no avoiding them; though when those who were with Gobrias and Gadates rushed in upon him, they found him standing up with his sword drawn z, but unable to defend himself against such a posse as came in upon him.
z Xenophon. Cyropaedia, l. 7. c. 23.