Daniel 5:8

8 Then all the wise men of the king came in, but they were not able to read the writing or to make known its explanation.

Daniel 5:8 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 5:8

Then came in all the king's wise men
The whole college of them, the persons before described; over whom, in Nebuchadnezzar's time, Daniel was the chief of the governors, ( Daniel 2:48 ) , these came in readily, in hope of getting both riches and honour: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the
interpretation thereof;
for if they could not do the former, it must be impossible to do the latter; of the reason of which, various are the conjectures ^F16: as that, though these words were written in Chaldee, yet in characters, as the Samaritan or Phoenician, they did not understand; or were written without points, and so they knew not which were the proper ones to put to them; or they were written according to the position of the letters of the alphabet, called "athbash", of which (See Gill on Jeremiah 25:26), or the words were placed so as to be read backward, or else downward, and not straightforward; or they were all in one word; or only the initial letters of words; but the true reason was, that it was so ordained by the Lord, that they should not be able to read and interpret them; this being reserved for another man, Daniel, that he might have the honour, and God the glory.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Vid. Jac. de Clerice Dissertat. de Epulo Belshazzar, in Thesaur. Theolog. Philol. vol. 1. p. 885.

Daniel 5:8 In-Context

6 Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and {his hip joints gave way} and {his knees knocked together}.

7 The king cried {aloud} to bring [in] the conjurers, the {astrologers} and the diviners; the king {spoke} and said to [the] wise men of Babylon, "Any man that can read this writing and can tell me its explanation will be clothed [in] purple and [will have] [a] necklace of gold [hung] around his neck and he will rule [as] third [in authority] in the kingdom."

8 Then all the wise men of the king came in, but they were not able to read the writing or to make known its explanation.

9 Then the king, Belshazzar, became greatly terrified, and {his facial features} changed upon him, and his lords were perplexed.

10 Because of the words of the king and his lords, the queen came into {the banqueting hall} and the queen {spoke up} and said, "O king, live {forever}, and let not your thoughts terrify you and [do] not let your facial expressions {grow pale}.

Footnotes

• [a] Aramaic "the explanation/ interpretation"