Daniel 5:1-9

The Handwriting on the Wall

1 1King Belshazzar 2made a great feast for a thousand of his 3lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.
2 4Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that 5the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father[a] had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
3 Then they brought in 6the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
4 They drank wine and 7praised the 8gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 9Immediately 10the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw 11the hand as it wrote.
6 12Then the king's color changed, 13and his thoughts alarmed him; 14his limbs gave way, and 15his knees knocked together.
7 16The king called loudly to bring in 17the enchanters, the 18Chaldeans, and 19the astrologers. The king declared[b] to the wise men of Babylon, 20"Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and 21shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."
8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but 22they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation.
9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly 23alarmed, and his 24color changed, and his 25lords were perplexed.

Daniel 5:1-9 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 25

  • 1. ver. 22, 29, 30; Daniel 7:1; Daniel 8:1
  • 2. See Esther 1:3
  • 3. Daniel 4:36; Daniel 6:17
  • 4. [See ver. 1 above]
  • 5. ver. 23; See Daniel 1:2
  • 6. [See ver. 2 above]
  • 7. ver. 23; [Judges 16:24]
  • 8. ver. 23; [Revelation 9:20]; See Psalms 115:4-7
  • 9. [Daniel 4:31]
  • 10. [Ezekiel 8:3]
  • 11. ver. 24
  • 12. [ver. 10; Daniel 7:28]
  • 13. [Daniel 4:5, 19; Daniel 7:28]
  • 14. [Psalms 69:23; Isaiah 45:1]
  • 15. Nahum 2:10
  • 16. [Daniel 2:2; Daniel 4:6]
  • 17. [Daniel 2:2; Daniel 4:6]
  • 18. See Daniel 1:4
  • 19. Daniel 2:27
  • 20. ver. 16, 29; [Daniel 2:6]
  • 21. ver. 16, 29
  • 22. ver. 15; Daniel 4:7, 18; [Daniel 2:27; Genesis 41:8]
  • 23. [Daniel 2:1]
  • 24. [See ver. 6 above]
  • 25. ver. 1

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or predecessor; also verses 11, 13, 18
  • [b]. Aramaic answered and said; also verse 10
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.