Daniel 5:15-25

15 And now the chachamim, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this mikhtav (writing), and give me da’as of the pesher (interpretation, explanation) thereof, but they could not show the pesher (interpretation, explanation) of the thing;

16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst give interpretations, and explain enigmas; now if thou canst read the mikhtav (writing), and make known to me the pesher (interpretation, explanation) thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the malchut.

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the mikhtav (writing) unto the king, and make known to him the pesher (interpretation, explanation).

18 O thou king, El Elyon gave Nevuchadnetzar thy forefather a malchut, and gedulah (greatness), and kavod (glory), and hadar (majesty);

19 And for the gedulah that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him; whom he would he violently killed; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.

20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his ruach hardened in ga’avah (pride), he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his kavod (glory) from him;

21 And he was driven from the bnei haAdam; and his lev was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys; they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that El Elyon ruled in the malchut haAdam, and that He appointeth over it whomsoever He will.

22 And thou his son, O Belshatzar, hast not humbled thine lev, though thou had da’as of all this;

23 But hast lifted up thyself against Hashem of Shomayim; and they have brought the vessels of His Beis Hamikdash before thee, and thou, and thy nobles, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the g-ds of silver, and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the G-d in Whose hand thy breath is, and Whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.

24 Then was the part of the yad sent from Him; and this mikhtav (writing) was written.

25 And this is the mikhtav (writing) that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UFARSIN.

Daniel 5:15-25 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.