DANIEL 5

 

Daniel 5:1-4

Verse 1 Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus. Ironically, his name means “O Bel, protect the king.” He is not listed in cuneiform records as being a king of Babylon, which caused Bible critics to label him as a fiction. More recently, records have been found showing that he was regent for his father Nabonidus while Nabonidus was ill. He is living it up in his father's absence. Here is another similarity to Esther in that important events transpire during a banquet.

Verses 2-4 This illustrates the danger of becoming drunk. The Persians were actually attacking cities near Babylon during the time Belshazzar was feasting. Why was he so oblivious? (a) “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die,” (b) was overconfident (Washington crossing the Delaware), or (c) was trying to consolidate his leaders for a unified defense. Another possibility: some ancient cultures felt that the gods would speak to them and give advice while they were drunk.

Do you remember the vessels mentioned in Daniel 1:2? Apparently Nebuchadnezzar felt they were too valuable or sacred to be used for a mere party. This new king is basically saying that he is more important than either his father or God himself.

Daniel 5:5-9

Verse 5 This palace has been excavated. The walls are covered with white gypsum, which would have made the writing easy to read.

Verses 6-9 His legs gave way is literally “the joints of his hips were loosened.” Some have felt that this was another way of saying that he lost control of his bladder. The story contains elements we have seen earlier in Daniel: mysterious message from God, the king is terrified, and his wise men cannot interpret the message. The writing itself is in Aramaic, the common language of the time. However, without vowels and word divisions it would be very hard to read. And even if it could be read, they couldn't interpret what it really meant.

Daniel 5:10-16

Verses 10-12 There is no question as in the previous chapter as to why Daniel was not called right away; this was a new king who was not acquainted with him [or he may have dismissed him from consideration because of his age (Daniel is about 80 years old at the time) or his prior association with Nebuchadnezzar]. The queen calls Nebuchadnezzar the “father” of Belshazzar. This is a loose designation to be taken as “predecessor.” There were actually several kings in between, but they all had very short reigns. The queen here is probably the queen mother, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar (according to Josephus). She proves to be wiser than the king (similar to events in the Book of Esther), which was also the case with Nebuchadnezzar's wife according to Herodotus the ancient historian.

Verses 13-16 This is a repetition of the previous verses for the most part. Note that the king tries to put Daniel in his place. Even his praises start with “I have heard” which may have been pronounced with a sneer. The king also says, “If you can...” He himself is obviously not convinced.

Daniel 5:17-23

Verses 17-23 Daniel starts his reply in a rather dismissive manner himself. Why? The older we get, the more impatient we are or the more bluntly we feel we can talk. Also, he may have realized that Belshazzar would soon be in no position to reward him at all. Then he rehashes the events in the last chapter about Nebuchadnezzar's humbling. In vv. 22-23 he zeroes in on Belshazzar's actions as a contrast.

Daniel 5:24-30

Verses 24-28 Interpretation: mina (large weight related to “count”), shekel (1/60 of a mina, related to “weight”), and pares (½ parsin, interpreted as “divide”). This is like some other OT prophecies which depend on taking an ordinary object or word and through wordplay deriving a spiritual message. Other interesting tidbits: the last word is very close to “Persia,” and the image of a scale is appropriate since Babylon was captured by Persia on the eve of the annual rising of Libra. Question: why is Belshazzar not given a chance to repent like Nebuchadnezzar? Could God/Daniel sense that it would do no good based on his treatment of the temple vessels? The key may be in verse 22: “You knew all this.” Those with more revelation will be judged more harshly.

Verse 29 Why did the king reward Daniel for such a prophecy? (a) He couldn't go back on his word in the presence of others, (2) he was oblivious to its implications (still drunk), or (3) he thought that the prophecy could be reversed by bribing Daniel. Discuss implications of each.

Verse 30 There is some historical verification of the ending to the story in that Herodotus says Babylon was captured at nighttime while its leaders were enjoying a feast.