Notes on Daniel (Ch. 5) ~ Blaine Robison, M.A.

Notes on Daniel

Chapter Five

Blaine Robison, M.A.

Published 20 November 2009; Revised 25 December 2022

Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

Sources: Bibliographic data for sources cited may be found at the end of the article. Unless otherwise indicated Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB Updated Edition (1995). The text for this chapter may be found here. Click here for Abbreviations of Bible Versions. Most versions can be accessed on the Internet.

Terminology: In order to emphasize the Hebraic and Jewish nature of Scripture I use the terms Tanakh (Old Testament) and Besekh (New Testament), as well as the terms Yeshua (Jesus) and Messiah (Christ).

Chapter Overview

This Chapter moves the timeline in Daniel forward to 538 B.C., some twenty-four years after Chapter Four, and the last night of Babylonian rule (Ussher 116). King Belshazzar, the grandson of , throws a drunken, idolatrous feast that is interrupted by a hand writing on the wall. Daniel is brought in to interpret the mysterious phenomenon, and he explains that it is a divine proclamation of judgment of Belshazzar and his kingdom. Babylon will fall into the hands of the Medes and Persians, which occurs that very night.

Chapter Outline

Belshazzar's Feast, 5:1-4

Divine Fingers, 5:5-9

The Queen's Recommendation, 5:10-12

Interview of Daniel, 5:13-16

History of Nebuchadnezzar, 5:17-21

Rebuke of Belshazzar, 5:22-24

God's Message Revealed, 5:25-27

End of the Empire, 5:28-31

1― Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.

Belshazzar: Aram. Belshatstsar ("Bel, protect the king"), the last king of Babylon. He succeeded to the throne in 555 B.C. (Ussher 113). Belshazzar is identified as Nabonidus in The History of Babylonia by Berosus (3rd cent. B.C.), and in The Canon of Kings by Ptolemy of Alexandria. Josephus reported the Babylonian and Greek sources regarding Belshazzar being known as Nabonidus (Antiquities X, 11:2; Against Apion I, 20).

However, discovery of a cuneiform tablet which called for oaths in the names of both Nabonidus and Belshazzar, as well as the content of verse 7 below, influenced modern historians to posit that Nabonidus was the father of Belshazzar (Archer 365). Thus, Belshazzar is considered the viceroy of Nabonidus, ruling in his stead. In any event the reign of Belshazzar lasted 17 years until the event described in this chapter.

The Chapter begins with the report that Belshazzar hosted a festival with the greatest in the empire invited. Archaeologists have determined that this event took place in one of the king's palaces, probably the principal residence, that covered about 350 by 200 yards (Miller). The feast itself would likely last several days. This story of this chapter occurs on the last night of the feast. "Drinking wine" carries the idea of continuous drinking and the king taking the lead. It probably became a drunken orgy.

Why the festival? It should be remembered that at this time the Persian army was invading Babylonian territory. Three possible answers have been proposed. (1) It was a special feast Belshazzar decided to have to build morale and encourage the people in the prosperity and strength of the city. Whatever may happen the city was impregnable, had ample water supply and enough food stocked to last many years. (2) One commentator suggested that feast is directly connected to the Persian defeat of the Babylonians at the Battle of Opis on the Tigris River 100 miles north of the city Babylon.

Nabonidus was in the city of Sippar fifty miles to the north and he fled when he learned of the Persian victory, but was soon captured. Sippar surrendered without a fight. This occurred two days previous and Belshazzar moved quickly to proclaim himself as first ruler of the empire. Thus the festival was a celebration of Belshazzar's coronation. (3) Greek historical sources indicate that this was a customary festival that simply happened to fall at this time. A festival would take days to prepare and time for guests to arrive. Belshazzar decided to proceed with the annual feast to portray a sense of normalcy.

2― When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.

The verb tasted suggests not merely savoring the flavor of the wine, but being under the influence. Being drunk would probably account for the desecration of using sacred vessels for common use. Even to pagan Babylonians such behavior would be sacrilege.

Nebuchadnezzar: Aram. Nebukadnetstsar, a personal name meaning "Nebo, protect the boundary. Nebuchadnezzar served as viceroy under his father Nabopolassar in 607 B.C. and became sole king two years later when his father died. His reign lasted 43 years and he died in 562 B.C. (Ussher 110).

his father: Aram. av, father, which may refer to (1) a male biological parent, (2) someone who fulfilled the role of a father or (3) an ancestor. The third meaning is intended here. A few versions translate the noun as "grandfather" (ERV, GW, ISV, NOG), a few versions have "ancestor" (EXB, ICB, NCV), and some versions have "predecessor" (CSB, HCSB, LEB, NLT, VOICE). The OJB has "forefather." The familial relationship is mentioned six times in this chapter.

The paternal reference may simply refer to Nebuchadnezzar as Belshazzar's predecessor. "Son" can have a political meaning in texts dealing with royal succession. In an Assyrian text, Jehu, king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, is called a son of Omri, even though he was of a different lineage (Miller). Neither Aramaic or Hebrew has a separate word for grandfather or grandson and the word for son is used to describe this relationship. Thus, Belshazzar could have been a biological grandson of Nebuchadnezzar if Nabonidus married one of the daughters of Nebuchadnezzar.

vessels: The narrative refers to the sacred vessels that had been plundered when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah and destroyed the temple fifty years earlier (2Kgs 25:14-16; Dan 1:2). These vessels had been kept in some special vault, but on this occasion Belshazzar in his arrogance directed they be brought out for use in his feast.

his wives: pl. of Aram. shegal, a royal consort or wife. This status is important since the son(s) of a wife would be the legitimate heir(s). and his concubines: pl. of Aram. lechenah, concubine. In non-Jewish cultures a concubine was not a legal wife, but a slave woman who lived with a man (often married) to provide regular sexual relations. Children of this type of union were not considered legitimate. Maintaining a harem was common among ancient kings (cf. 2Chr 11:21; Song 6:8; Eccl 2:8; Esth 2:3). The Code of Hammurabi (18th cent. B.C.) that preferred monogamy and allowed for polygamy only under very strict conditions (§144-148) had long been abandoned. For the history of polygamy see my article Polygamy.

3― Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.

The vessels mentioned were taken from the temple in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar fifty years earlier. These vessels were probably small shallow bowls used to pour drink offerings on the altar when lambs were sacrificed. Until this night these vessels apparently remained in the treasury as trophies of his victory. Everyone at the feast shared in the drinking from God's vessels.

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

The Babylonians blasphemed God by not giving glory to Him as Nebuchadnezzar had and using these holy vessels to toast the gods of Babylon. In fact, Belshazzar may have been deliberately defying God.

5― Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.

An incredible miracle suddenly happened. God selected an area of a wall probably without decoration to write a message for Belshazzar. The message was no doubt clearly visible as later the king's counselors and Daniel were called to interpret it. Plaster means that the wall was composed of chalk or lime. Archaeological excavations at Babylon beginning in 1899 discovered that the walls of the throne room were washed over with white gypsum (Miller).

6― Then the king's face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together.

Belshazzar's defiance crumbled. His physical reaction indicate extreme panic. Maybe he experienced true terror of the God of Israel.

7― The king called aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, "Any man who can read this inscription and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a necklace of gold around his neck, and have authority as third ruler in the kingdom."

Belshazzar immediately called his cadre of counselors. He asked them to read the inscription as well as interpret it, implying that he did not understand the words, as if they were in a foreign language. He offers a threefold reward. (1) Clothed in purple, the royal color; (2) a golden necklace, both symbols of high rank; [ancient historians indicate that these items could only be worn if presented by the king] (3) made third ruler in the empire, which alludes to the fact that Belshazzar was second ruler after his father Nabonidus. Belshazzar promised a position of authority over the empire after him.

8― Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king.

The king's counselors were completely baffled. They couldn't understand the words, much less interpret its meaning.

9― Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, his face grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed.

Belshazzar was even more alarmed. His counselors were learned men; they should have been able to at least read the message. They were in fact confused as to why they couldn't understand the message. The message was written in Aramaic as indicated in verses 25-28. According to Jewish tradition the letters were not comprehensible because they were written vertically instead of horizontally.

A mitigating factor is that vowels were not written with the consonants in Aramaic so that even if the letters were understood the meaning of the terms could still have been ambiguous. Perhaps the words were understood, but they didn't convey any intelligible meaning (Miller). (For example, do the words "wise space" convey any meaning? There is no cultural context to interpret those two words together.)

10― The queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the king and his nobles; the queen spoke and said, "O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale.

Most commentators assume that the queen was not the wife of Belshazzar, because verse 2 mentions his wives as being present (Miller). She has been called the queen-mother on the assumption that she was either a wife of Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar's father Nabonidus. Against this common view is the fact that Daniel doesn't say "queen mother" as occurs five times in the Tanakh (1Kgs 15:13; 2Kgs 10:13; 2Chr 15:16; Jer 13:18; 29:2).

A queen by definition is the wife of a king, but not just any wife, as the story of Esther shows. She exercised royal authority which none of the king's other wives possessed. Queen Vashti was clearly the wife of Ahasuerus (Esth 1:17) and later Esther replaced Vashti as queen (Esth 2:17). Belshazzar's queen was obviously a woman of moral standards who apparently refused to participate in the drinking party. However, she had heard of the trouble and went immediately to help. She was a decisive woman of action and used to solving problems.

11― "There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners.

The queen reminds Belshazzar that he has an official on his staff that could solve the riddle. She proceeds to give Daniel's resume, listing four qualities in this verse, since Belshazzar is apparently unaware of Daniel's existence. Of course, it had been 23 years since Nebuchadnezzar's death and Daniel may not have had a high position under Belshazzar that he once enjoyed.

12― "This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned and he will declare the interpretation."

The queen continues the list of Daniel's virtues, adding six more. Of interest is that twice the queen refers to Daniel by his Hebrew name, which suggests personal knowledge and perhaps sympathy toward the Jewish exiles.

13― Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, "Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?

Belshazzar addresses Daniel by his Hebrew name and makes mention of him being an exile and a former citizen of Judah. Belshazzar may have been simply establishing Daniel's identity or perhaps trying to intimidate Daniel with a tinge of contempt for the Jew. One commentator has suggested that Belshazzar did not use Daniel's Babylonian name because it was too close to his own.

14― "Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

Belshazzar repeats the resume he had heard from the queen. He does not claim to believe the report, so his declaration may have been intended as flattery in order to convince Daniel to cooperate.

15― "Just now the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not declare the interpretation of the message.

Belshazzar then goes on to explain the failure of his own advisers and the dilemma he now faces.

16― "But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom."

Belshazzar again repeats Daniel's qualifications and then repeats his promise of a three-fold reward for interpreting the message on the wall.

17― Then Daniel answered and said before the king, "Keep your gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him.

The elderly Jew curtly rejected the king's promised reward, probably based on a Torah principle ("You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD your God,” Deut 23:18).

18― "O king, the Most High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father.

Before considering the message Daniel takes the opportunity to remind Belshazzar of Nebuchadnezzar's history. Belshazzar is a lesser man of a great man.

19― "Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled.

Nebuchadnezzar's greatness and power can only be attributed to the sovereign God.

20― "But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.

Nebuchadnezzar's experience should have been a warning to Belshazzar.

21― "He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes.

Pride brought about the fall of Nebuchadnezzar from power and affliction with boanthropy. However, Nebuchadnezzar experienced God's mercy when he submitted to the sovereignty of the God of Israel and give Him glory.

22― "Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this,

Belshazzar did not humble himself, even though he knew the story.

23― but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified.

But you indicates a stinging rebuke. Daniel presents the heavenly charge of sacrilege, a blatant and premeditated defiance of God. Such an offense in Israel's history often brought immediate death, such as Numbers 3:4 (for offering strange fire), 1 Samuel 6:19 (for looking inside the ark) and 2 Samuel 6:7 (for touching the ark). Daniel offers a sobering reminder about God. He can take our breath away or alter the course of our life in an instant. A similar reality check is given in Malachi 3:6, "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.” Being alive doesn't mean that we have gotten away with our sins. God does not wish any to perish; he takes no delight in the death of the wicked.

24― "Then the hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out.

Daniel makes it clear that the hand was sent by the God whom Belshazzar had offended.

25― "Now this is the inscription that was written out: 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.'

The words of the inscription on the wall are finally given. MENE: Aram. mena, maneh or mina, a measurement of weight. TEKEL: Aram. teqal (pronounced te-qal), as a verb means to weigh. As a noun it means a shekel (BDB 1118c), which is a measurement of weight. and UPHARSIN: Aram. pras, to break in two, thus divided. MENE is repeated to stress the certainty of the divine decision.

26― "This is the interpretation of the message: 'MENE'--God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.

Mene is similar to the Hebrew manah, which means to number. Moses prayed in Psalm 90:12, "Teach us to number our days that we may present to you a heart of wisdom." Belshazzar had wasted the time God had given him and God announced "Your time is up."

27― "'TEKEL'--you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.

Tekel. See verse 25 above. Tekel corresponds to the Hebrew shaqal, heaviness, weight and shekel (BDB 1053b). The shekel was the common standard of weight and value among the Hebrews. In fact, all weights which the Bible explains are explained only in terms of the shekel. The shekel, which might be might be in gold, silver or brass, was used as a bartering material, not a minted coin. For example, Abraham weighed out 400 shekels of silver to pay for land on which to bury his wife (Gen 23:15-16). It wasn't until after the rebuilding of the temple that the word shekel became the name of a Jewish coin.

Thus, Tekel alludes to the use of a scale of balances, in this case God's standard on one side and Belshazzar's life on the other. Belshazzar was lacking in righteousness. His iniquity far outweighed his righteousness and thus could not meet God's standard. Belshazzar had never humbled himself before God and repented as Nebuchadnezzar had done. Several Scriptures speak of God weighing human behavior.

"Let Him weigh me with accurate scales, and let God know my integrity." (Job 31:6)

"For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me." (Ps 38:4)

"All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD weighs the motives." (Prov 16:2)

"Every man's way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts." (Prov 21:2)

If you say, "See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?" (Prov 24:12)

28― "'PERES'--your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."

Peres: divided, does not mean that the kingdom was to be divided into two parts, one given to the Medes and one given to the Persians. The kingdom was to be divided into pieces, destroyed or dissolved. The Babylonian Empire would be no more. The empire would now belong to the Medes AND Persians, an alliance in which the Persians dominated. There was never a separate Median empire. Peres may be a bit of wordplay. Only the consonants were written in ancient Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts. Peres has the same consonants as "Persian” in Aramaic and thus alludes to the fact that Belshazzar's kingdom would be divided by the Persians.

29― Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.

Belshazzar kept his promise and gave Daniel the three-fold reward, although being "third ruler" was short-lived. However, the next chapter indicates that Daniel was given a high post in the new government.

30― That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.

Before the night was done, Belshazzar was taken and executed. One Greek historian (Xenophon) said that the Persians specifically chose this night to invade the city because of the distraction of the festival (Miller). The Persians gained the city in a clever manner. Fresh water was supplied to Babylon by a canal from the Euphrates River that flowed through the city. The Persian army dug another canal to divert the water. On the night of Belshazzar's feast, they opened the new canal and then waded into the city under the walls while Babylonian soldiers slept. There was almost no struggle.

Given the chapter's comparison of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar one might wonder why God didn't give Belshazzar time to repent as He gave to Nebuchadnezzar? The basic difference is that Nebuchadnezzar's sin was in regard to his own things. Belshazzar's sin was in regard to God's holy things, God's property. At least Nebuchadnezzar had never defiled the sacred vessels. Such an offense in Israel's history often brought immediate death, such as Numbers 3:4 (for offering strange fire), 1Samuel 6:19 (for looking inside the ark) and 2Samuel 6:7 (for touching the ark). While God does not wish any to perish and takes no delight in the death of the wicked, He does not allow sentimentality to control justice for His name.

31― So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.

Original manuscripts of the Bible contain no chapter and verse divisions, but the Masoretic Text and the original Septuagint placed this verse as the first verse of Chapter Six. This version division is a more natural for the textual flow of the narrative. The Complete Jewish Bible of David Stern, the Tree of Life Version and the JPS Tanakh (1985) have this verse at the beginning of Chapter Six. See the comment there.

Works Cited

Archer: Gleason L. Archer, Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Rev. ed. Moody Bible Institute, 2007.

BDB: The New Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. London: Oxford University Press, 1907. Reprinted by Associated Publishers and Authors, Inc., 1981.

CJB: David Stern, Complete Jewish Bible.

DSB: Henry Morris, The Defender's Study Bible. World Publishing Co., 1995.

Gill: John Gill (1697-1771), Exposition of the Entire Bible. Online.

JPS-1917: Jewish Publication Society of America Bible, 1917.

Keil: C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Ezekiel-Daniel. Commentary on the Old Testament (1866-1891), Vol. 9. Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.

Miller: Stephen R. Miller, Daniel. The New American Commentary, Vol. 18. Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1994.

Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi (1040-1105), Commentary on the Tanakh. Online.

Sevener: Harold A. Sevener, God's Man in Babylon. Chosen People Ministries, 1994.