Daniel 5:18-31

18 O king, the 1Most High God 2gave 3Nebuchadnezzar your father 4kingship and greatness and glory and majesty.
19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, 5all peoples, nations, and languages 6trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled.
20 But 7when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, 8he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him.
21 9He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, 10until he knew that the 11Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.
22 And you his son,[a]12Belshazzar, 13have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this,
23 but you have lifted up yourself against 14the Lord of heaven. And 15the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. 16And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, 17but the God in whose hand is your breath, and 18whose are all your ways, 19you have not honored.
24 "Then from his presence 20the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed.
25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.
26 This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered[b] the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end;
27 TEKEL, 21you have been weighed[c] in the balances and found wanting;
28 PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to 22the Medes and 23Persians."[d]
29 Then 24Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel 25was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 26That very night 27Belshazzar the 28Chaldean king was killed.
31 [e] And 29Darius 30the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Daniel 5:18-31 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 5

This chapter gives an account of a feast made by King Belshazzar, attended with drunkenness, idolatry, and profanation of the vessels taken out of the temple at Jerusalem, Da 5:1-4, and of the displeasure of God, signified by a handwriting on the wall, which terrified the king, and caused him to send in haste for the astrologers to read and interpret it, but they could not, Da 5:5-8, in this distress, which appeared in the countenances of him and his nobles, the queen mother advises him to send for Daniel, of whom she gives a great encomium, Da 5:9-12, upon which he was brought in to the king, and promised a great reward to read and interpret the writing; the reward he slighted, but promised to read and interpret the writing, Da 5:13-17 and after putting him in mind of what had befallen his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar, and charging him with pride, idolatry, and profanation of the vessels of the Lord, Da 5:18-23 reads and interprets the writing to him Da 5:24-28, when he had honour done him, and was preferred in the government, Da 5:29 and the chapter is concluded with an account of the immediate accomplishment of ancient prophecies, and of this handwriting, in the slaying of the king of Babylon, in the dissolution of the Babylonish monarchy, and the possession of it by Darius the Mede, Da 5:30,31.

Cross References 30

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. Or successor
  • [b]. Mene sounds like the Aramaic for numbered
  • [c]. Tekel sounds like the Aramaic for weighed
  • [d]. Peres (the singular of Parsin) sounds like the Aramaic for divided and for Persia
  • [e]. Ch 6:1 in Aramaic
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.