5:5 Like Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar received an omen from God. In Nebuchadnezzar's case it was two dreams (chs. 1; 4). In Belshazzar's it was a hand writing on a wall. The night of revelry became a night of revelation.176
"In the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace archeologists have uncovered a large throne room 56 feet wide and 173 feet long which probably was the scene of this banquet. Midway in the long wall opposite the entrance there was a niche in front of which the king may well have been seated. Interestingly, the wall behind the niche was covered with white plaster as described by Daniel, which would make an excellent background for such a writing."177
5:6-7 The conjurers that Belshazzar called to help him were magicians. These Chaldeans were scholars who knew the lore of the Babylonians. The diviners were astrologers. These were only three of the many groups of wise men that the king summoned (v. 8).
Clothing someone in purple meant giving him royal authority (cf. Esth. 8:15). This gold chain would have had symbolic as well as monetary value. Belshazzar evidently offered to promote anyone who could interpret the mysterious writing to third ruler of the kingdom because he himself was the second ruler under his father, Nabonidus. Thus this was the highest official reward that he could offer.
5:8-9 The writing appears to have been in the Aramaic language. Therefore it seems that the wise men's difficulty in understanding it may have been due to its interpretation rather than just the meaning of the words (cf. vv. 14-16, 25).
