Daniel 5:3

3 So the gold equipment that had been carried out of the temple, God's house in Jerusalem, was brought in; and the king, his princes, his consorts, and his secondary wives drank out of it.

Daniel 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 5:3

Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the
temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem
That is, the servants to whom the orders were given fetched them from the temple of Bel, and brought them to the king's house; and though only mention is made of golden vessels, yet no doubt the silver ones were also brought, according to the king's command: and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in
them;
by which they were profaned, being dedicated to holy uses, but now put to common use, and that by such impious persons; and who did it, not on account of the value and antiquity of these vessels, and in admiration of them, and to the honour of their festival; but in contempt of them, and in a profane and scurrilous way, as follows:

Daniel 5:3 In-Context

1 King Belshazzar threw a huge party for a thousand of his princes, and he drank a lot of wine in front of them.

2 While he was under the wine's influence, Belshazzar commanded that the gold and silver equipment that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem's temple be brought to the party so that the king, his princes, his consorts, and his secondary wives could drink wine out of them.

3 So the gold equipment that had been carried out of the temple, God's house in Jerusalem, was brought in; and the king, his princes, his consorts, and his secondary wives drank out of it.

4 They drank a lot of wine; and they praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 Right then the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the king's palace wall in the light of the lamp. The king saw the hand that wrote.

Footnotes

• [a]. Vulg, Theodotion add silver.