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Text -- Daniel 5:1-31 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall
5:1 King Belshazzar prepared a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles , and he was drinking wine in front of them all .
5:2 While under the influence of the wine , Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father had confiscated from the temple in Jerusalem – so that the king and his nobles , together with his wives and his concubines , could drink from them.
5:3 So they brought the gold and silver vessels that had been confiscated from the temple , the house of God in Jerusalem , and the king and his nobles , together with his wives and concubines , drank from them.
5:4 As they drank wine , they praised the gods of gold and silver , bronze , iron , wood , and stone .
5:5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall , opposite the lampstand . The king was watching the back of the hand that was writing .
5:6 Then all the color drained from the king’s face and he became alarmed . The joints of his hips gave way , and his knees began knocking together .
5:7 The king called out loudly to summon the astrologers , wise men , and diviners . The king proclaimed to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple and have a golden collar placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom .
5:8 So all the king’s wise men came in , but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its interpretation to the king .
5:9 Then King Belshazzar was very terrified , and he was visibly shaken . His nobles were completely dumbfounded .
5:10 Due to the noise caused by the king and his nobles , the queen mother then entered the banquet room . She said , “O king , live forever ! Don’t be alarmed ! Don’t be shaken !
5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods . In the days of your father , he proved to have insight , discernment , and wisdom like that of the gods . King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians , astrologers , wise men , and diviners .
5:12 Thus there was found in this man Daniel , whom the king renamed Belteshazzar , an extraordinary spirit , knowledge , and skill to interpret dreams , solve riddles , and decipher knotty problems . Now summon Daniel , and he will disclose the interpretation .”
5:13 So Daniel was brought in before the king . The king said to Daniel , “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives of Judah , whom my father the king brought from Judah ?
5:14 I have heard about you, how there is a spirit of the gods in you, and how you have insight , discernment , and extraordinary wisdom .
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 |
Women |
Government |
Reproof |
Heathen |
King |
Mene |
Drunkeess |
Babylon |
GODS |
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN |
HOLY SPIRIT, 1 |
Feasts |
God |
Darius |
WINE; WINE PRESS |
Ingratitude |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Dan 5:1; Dan 5:1; Dan 5:1; Dan 5:1; Dan 5:2; Dan 5:2; Dan 5:2; Dan 5:2; Dan 5:2; Dan 5:3; Dan 5:3; Dan 5:5; Dan 5:5; Dan 5:5; Dan 5:6; Dan 5:6; Dan 5:6; Dan 5:7; Dan 5:7; Dan 5:7; Dan 5:7; Dan 5:7; Dan 5:8; Dan 5:9; Dan 5:10; Dan 5:10; Dan 5:10; Dan 5:11; Dan 5:11; Dan 5:11; Dan 5:11; Dan 5:12; Dan 5:12; Dan 5:12; Dan 5:14; Dan 5:15; Dan 5:16; Dan 5:16; Dan 5:17; Dan 5:18; Dan 5:19; Dan 5:19; Dan 5:20; Dan 5:20; Dan 5:21; Dan 5:21; Dan 5:22; Dan 5:22; Dan 5:23; Dan 5:23; Dan 5:25; Dan 5:25; Dan 5:26; Dan 5:26; Dan 5:28; Dan 5:29; Dan 5:30; Dan 5:30; Dan 5:31
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NET Notes: Dan 5:2 Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportio...
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NET Notes: Dan 5:3 Aram “the temple of the house of God.” The phrase seems rather awkward. The Vulgate lacks “of the house of God,” while Theodot...
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NET Notes: Dan 5:5 While Aramaic פַּס (pas) can mean the palm of the hand, here it seems to be the back of the hand that is intended.
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NET Notes: Dan 5:7 The term translated “golden collar” here probably refers to something more substantial than merely a gold chain (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) ...
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NET Notes: Dan 5:10 Aram “The queen.” The translation has used the pronoun “she” instead because repetition of the noun here would be redundant in...
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NET Notes: Dan 5:11 The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as origin...
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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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