DANIEL 5: HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

 Handwriting on the Wall (acrylics, collage)

This story is told in the form of complete literary symmetry:

Figure 1: The Organization of Daniel 5

    A. Belshazzar feasts (5:1)

        B. Temple vessels used to toast the gods (5:2-4)

            C. Hand writes on the wall (5:5)

                D. King offers reward for interpretation (5:6-9)

                    1. King is terrified (5:6)

                        2. Wise men are summoned (5:7)

                        2'. Wise men unable to interpret (5:8)

                    1'. King is more terrified (5:9)

                            E. Events of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (5:10-12)

                                F. Daniel summoned and offered reward (5:13-16)

                                F'. Daniel rejects reward (5:17)

                            E'. Events of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (5:18-21)

        B'. Temple vessels used to toast the gods (5:22-23)

            C'. Hand wrote on the wall (5:24)

                D'. Daniel interprets the words and is rewarded (5:25-29)

    A'. Belshazzar is slain (5:30)

Daniel 5:1 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.

Daniel 5:2-4 You may recall the vessels mentioned in Daniel 1:2. Apparently the previous king, 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 This palace has been excavated. The walls are covered with white gypsum, which would have made the writing easy to read. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery notes: “A finger can often be an image that brings with it mercy/grace or judgment...The biblical image of the finger carries with it the general notion of power and influence. More specifically, fingers often represent the source of deliberate action; as such, the activity of the fingers reflects the character of their owner. The phrase 'the finger of God' is often used in Scripture to indicate God's authority, his signature or trademark, his work or his power.”

Daniel 5:6-9 “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. Alternatively, “failing or trembling knees describe fear or weakness. In cases of fear, all references in Scripture are associated with an act or will of God or the person of Jesus (cf. Ezek 7:17, 21:7; Dan 5:6; 10:10; Nahum 2:10; Lk 5:8).” (DBI) 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.

“It is not specified what made the words unreadable as well as unintelligible. There is no suggestion that they were in code or written in an odd way...Weights could be abbreviated, as in English, and perhaps the inscription consisted in a series of abbreviations that were not immediately recognized as such. But most straightforwardly the story envisages them written in unpointed consonants: being able to read out unpointed text [i.e. with no vowels indicated] is partly dependent on actually understanding it, and Daniel later reads the words out one way and interprets them another.” (Goldingay)

Daniel 5:10-12 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 – 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 meaning “predecessor.” There were actually several kings in between, but they all had very short reigns. According to Josephus, the “queen” here is probably the queen mother, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar. She proves to be wiser than the king (as also in the Book of Esther), which was actually the case with Nebuchadnezzar's wife according to the historian Herodotus.

Daniel 5:13-16 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 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. He first rehashes the events regarding Nebuchadnezzar's humbling, and then he zeroes in on Belshazzar's actions as a contrast.

Daniel 5:24-30 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.

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.

In Scripture, there is actually a series of such celebratory scenes turning bad for some of the participants:

Judges 16: After the Philistines had captured Samson, they brought him to a huge hall where 3,000 were gathered to celebrate the downfall of their enemy. But his performance literally brought the house down and killed all of them.

Esther 1: King Ahasuerus held a seven-day banquet for all of his officials and they lived it up. But the king lost face when his queen refused to parade in front of them.

Esther 6-7: At each of the two feasts for King Ahasuerus and Haman hosted by Esther, Haman enters with high hopes, only to get such hopes dashed to the ground.

The Last Supper was the yearly celebration of the Passover, but it concluded with betrayal, abandonment, and death on the cross.

An interesting exercise you may want to try sometime is to look at the many parallels between these passages hidden in the details.