Daniel 5 Study Notes

5:1 The developments in Dn 5 occurred about twenty-three years after the events in the previous chapter. Nebuchadnezzar had died in 562 BC, shortly after his time of madness and subsequent repentance (see note at 4:37). After his death, a series of intrigues and assassinations resulted in several obscure kings ruling Babylon until Nabonidus took the throne (556-539 BC). Beginning in 1914, thirty-seven separate archival texts have been discovered documenting the existence of Belshazzar as crown prince. King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, probably to bolster morale after Nabonidus had experienced a crushing defeat at the hands of the Persians. The Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon confirm that Babylon fell while a great feast was in progress (v. 30). Excavations have uncovered a throne room that could accommodate one thousand nobles.

5:2-4 By drinking libations to Babylonian gods with the vessels . . . taken from the temple devoted to the true God of Israel, Belshazzar was acting in an unusually aggressive and blasphemous way. Nebuchadnezzar is called Belshazzar’s predecessor (lit “his father”). Most likely, Belshazzar’s father, Nabonidus, married Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter to establish his own claim to the throne of Babylon, making Nebuchadnezzar the grandfather of Belshazzar. The Aramaic word for “father” is flexible, capable of referring to a grandfather, ancestor, or even a predecessor to a king without any lineal tie.

5:5 The appearance of a man’s hand beginning to write was not a vision seen by Belshazzar alone, but a miracle seen by everyone present. Afterward, the wise men called to interpret could still see the words written on the plaster wall. According to the archaeologist who excavated it, the throne room (see v. 1) had walls covered with white gypsum or plaster.

5:6 This account of the king’s response to the writing was apparently reported to Daniel by those who were there.

5:7 The king shouted for his wise men to come and offered great honor to anyone who could interpret the words on the wall. He even offered to give the successful wise man the third highest position in the kingdom after Nabonidus and Belshazzar.

5:8 None of the wise men of Babylon were able to interpret the inscription on the wall, showing the futility of their pagan religion. Only Daniel, prophet of the one true God, could discern its meaning (1:17).

5:9 That the message was incomprehensible terrified the king even more.

5:10 The queen who came to the banquet hall was the queen mother, not the wife of King Belshazzar since all his wives were already present (cp. v. 3).

5:11-12 Daniel was approximately eighty years old at this point and was either retired or forgotten. The queen mother, being the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, remembered Daniel’s extraordinary spirit and ability to interpret dreams during her father’s reign.

5:13-29 When Daniel was brought before the king, he did not demonstrate the same level of respect that he had consistently shown Nebuchadnezzar. Instead, he rebuked Belshazzar for his brazen attitude and failure to learn from Nebuchadnezzar.

5:16-17 Daniel refused to accept any reward for interpreting the inscription not because he was rude or arrogant but because he was indignant at the king’s disregard for Nebuchadnezzar’s experiences with God and the blasphemous use of the temple vessels.

5:18-24 Writers of historical narrative frequently communicate the essential message of a text through dialogue. In this case, Daniel’s words served as a rebuke of Belshazzar for his failure to learn from the experience of Nebuchadnezzar (as described in Dn 4). Daniel reprimanded Belshazzar because he had not humbled his heart, even though he knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar. According to ancient Babylonian texts, Belshazzar had served in the government of King Neriglissar in 560 BC. This indicates that he had been old enough to be aware of the events at the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s life. Instead of learning to submit to the Almighty, he exalted himself against God by using the temple vessels to blaspheme God. The specific sins Daniel cited were pride, blasphemy, idolatry, and failure to glorify the true God. For this reason, the writing was inscribed on the wall as a message of judgment and doom.

5:25-27 The three Aramaic words on the wall were Mene (numbered), Tekel (weighed), and Parsin (divided).

5:28 Although the third word was written in the plural form (parsin), Daniel explained its meaning by using the singular form (Peres). The prediction that Belshazzar’s kingdom has been divided does not indicate that the Babylonian Empire would be divided equally by two kingdoms (Medes and Persians) but rather that Babylon would be destroyed or dissolved and taken over by the Medo-Persian Empire. The third word on the wall (Parsin) has the same letters as the Aramaic word for “Persian.” It was a play on words, indicating that the kingdom would fall to the Persian army.

5:29 It seems that the king did not take the message seriously.

5:30 Having lost a brief skirmish outside the walls of Babylon, Belshazzar retreated to the city and made light of the coming Persian siege. The Babylonians had twenty years of provisions, and the city was a seemingly impregnable fortress. Nevertheless, Darius diverted the waters of the Euphrates River so his forces could enter through the channel, passing below the water gates. He took the city that very night without a battle and killed Belshazzar, who was engaged in a drunken feast. The kingdom of Babylon fell just as foretold by Daniel (2:39). The colossus’s head of gold (Babylon) had fallen. It was replaced by the chest and arms of silver, representing Medo-Persia (see 2:40).

5:31 The identity of Darius the Mede, who received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two, is uncertain. Some believe he was Gubaru, the governor of Babylon, called Darius, an honorific title meaning “royal one.” Others maintain that “Darius the Mede” was an alternate title for the Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great, also viewing the word “Darius” as a royal title.