Daniel 5 Study Notes

5:13-29 When Daniel was brought before the king, he did not demonstrate the same level of respect that he had consistently shown Nebuchadnezzar. Instead, he rebuked Belshazzar for his brazen attitude and failure to learn from Nebuchadnezzar.

5:16-17 Daniel refused to accept any reward for interpreting the inscription not because he was rude or arrogant but because he was indignant at the king’s disregard for Nebuchadnezzar’s experiences with God and the blasphemous use of the temple vessels.

5:18-24 Writers of historical narrative frequently communicate the essential message of a text through dialogue. In this case, Daniel’s words served as a rebuke of Belshazzar for his failure to learn from the experience of Nebuchadnezzar (as described in Dn 4). Daniel reprimanded Belshazzar because he had not humbled his heart, even though he knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar. According to ancient Babylonian texts, Belshazzar had served in the government of King Neriglissar in 560 BC. This indicates that he had been old enough to be aware of the events at the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s life. Instead of learning to submit to the Almighty, he exalted himself against God by using the temple vessels to blaspheme God. The specific sins Daniel cited were pride, blasphemy, idolatry, and failure to glorify the true God. For this reason, the writing was inscribed on the wall as a message of judgment and doom.

5:25-27 The three Aramaic words on the wall were Mene (numbered), Tekel (weighed), and Parsin (divided).

5:28 Although the third word was written in the plural form (parsin), Daniel explained its meaning by using the singular form (Peres). The prediction that Belshazzar’s kingdom has been divided does not indicate that the Babylonian Empire would be divided equally by two kingdoms (Medes and Persians) but rather that Babylon would be destroyed or dissolved and taken over by the Medo-Persian Empire. The third word on the wall (Parsin) has the same letters as the Aramaic word for “Persian.” It was a play on words, indicating that the kingdom would fall to the Persian army.

5:29 It seems that the king did not take the message seriously.

5:30 Having lost a brief skirmish outside the walls of Babylon, Belshazzar retreated to the city and made light of the coming Persian siege. The Babylonians had twenty years of provisions, and the city was a seemingly impregnable fortress. Nevertheless, Darius diverted the waters of the Euphrates River so his forces could enter through the channel, passing below the water gates. He took the city that very night without a battle and killed Belshazzar, who was engaged in a drunken feast. The kingdom of Babylon fell just as foretold by Daniel (2:39). The colossus’s head of gold (Babylon) had fallen. It was replaced by the chest and arms of silver, representing Medo-Persia (see 2:40).

5:31 The identity of Darius the Mede, who received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two, is uncertain. Some believe he was Gubaru, the governor of Babylon, called Darius, an honorific title meaning “royal one.” Others maintain that “Darius the Mede” was an alternate title for the Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great, also viewing the word “Darius” as a royal title.