Daniel 5:28

28 means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Daniel 5:28 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 5:28

PERES
The singular of "Pharsin", ( Daniel 5:25 ) . The sense of this word is, thy kingdom is divided:
which, though it consisted of various provinces, united under Belshazzar, now should be broken and separated from him: and given to the Medes and Persians;
to Darius the Mede, and to Cyrus the Persian, who was a partner for a while with his uncle Darius in the government of the empire: there is an elegant play on words in the words "Peres" and "Persians"; and a grievous thing it is to sinners, not only to have body and soul divided at death, but to be divided and separated from God to all eternity; and to hear that sentence, "depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels".

Daniel 5:28 In-Context

26 This is what these words mean: means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
27 means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.
28 means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Aramaic Peres, the singular of Parsin.
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