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Text -- Daniel 5:15-31 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
5:15 Now the wise men and astrologers were brought before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation . But they were unable to disclose the interpretation of the message .
5:16 However, I have heard that you are able to provide interpretations interpretations and to decipher knotty problems . Now if you are able to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation , you will wear purple and have a golden collar around your neck and be third ruler in the kingdom .”
Daniel Interprets the Handwriting on the Wall
5:17 But Daniel replied to the king , “Keep your gifts , and give your rewards to someone else! However , I will read the writing for the king and make known its interpretation .
5:18 As for you , O king , the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom , greatness , honor , and majesty .
5:19 Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples , nations , and language groups were trembling with fear before him. He killed whom he wished , he spared whom he wished , he exalted whom he wished , and he brought low whom he wished.
5:20 And when his mind became arrogant and his spirit filled with pride , he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him.
5:21 He was driven from human society , his mind was changed to that of an animal , he lived with the wild donkeys , he was fed grass like oxen , and his body became damp with the dew of the sky , until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms , and he appoints over them whomever he wishes .
5:22 “But you , his son Belshazzar , have not humbled yourself , although you knew all this .
5:23 Instead , you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven . You brought before you the vessels from his temple , and you and your nobles , together with your wives and concubines , drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver , gold , bronze , iron , wood , and stone – gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend ! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways !
5:24 Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him , and this writing was inscribed .
5:25 “This is the writing that was inscribed : MENE , MENE , TEQEL , and PHARSIN .
5:26 This is the interpretation of the words : As for mene – God has numbered your kingdom’s days and brought it to an end .
5:27 As for teqel – you are weighed on the balances and found to be lacking .
5:28 As for peres – your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians .”
5:29 Then , on Belshazzar’s orders , Daniel was clothed in purple , a golden collar was placed around his neck , and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom .
5:30 And in that very night Belshazzar , the Babylonian king , was killed .
5:31 So Darius the Mede took control of the kingdom when he was about sixty-two years old .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Daniel |
Belshazzar |
Wicked |
Symbols and Similitudes |
Government |
Reproof |
Mene |
Heathen |
Babylon |
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN |
God |
Darius |
Medes |
MEDES, MEDIA |
Tekel |
Upharsin |
Ingratitude |
King |
Impenitence |
Persia |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes: Dan 5:15 The Aramaic text does not have “and.” The term “astrologers” is either an appositive for “wise men” (cf. KJV, NKJV...
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NET Notes: Dan 5:16 Or perhaps “one of three rulers,” in the sense of becoming part of a triumvir. So also v. 29.
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NET Notes: Dan 5:18 Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.
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NET Notes: Dan 5:19 Aram “let live.” This Aramaic form is the aphel participle of חַיָה(khayah, “to live”). Theodoti...
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NET Notes: Dan 5:20 The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt deci...
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NET Notes: Dan 5:26 The Aramaic term מְנֵא (mÿne’) is a noun referring to a measure of weight. The linkage here to the verb ̶...
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NET Notes: Dan 5:30 The year was 539 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been approximately eighty-one years old. The relevant extra-biblical records describing the fall ...
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