Daniel 5:18-31

18 "O king, the 1Most High God 2granted sovereignty, 3grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father.
19 "Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him; 4whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled.
20 "But when his heart was 5lifted up and his spirit became so 6proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was 7deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.
21 "He was also 8driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the 9wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until * he recognized that the 10Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever * He wishes.
22 "Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have 11not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this,
23 but you have 12exalted yourself against the 13Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the 14gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God 15in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways16, you have not glorified.
24 "Then the 17hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out.
25 "Now this is the inscription that was written out: 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.'
26 "This is the interpretation of the message: 'MENE '-God has numbered your kingdom and 18put an end to it.
27 " 'TEKEL '-you have been 19weighed on the scales and found deficient.
28 " 'PERES '-your kingdom has been divided and given over to the 20Medes and Persians."
29 Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they 21clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 That same night 22Belshazzar the Chaldean king was 23slain.
31 So 24Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age * of sixty-two *.

Daniel 5:18-31 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.

Cross References 24

  • 1. Daniel 4:2; Daniel 5:21
  • 2. Daniel 2:37, 38; Daniel 4:17
  • 3. Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 27:5-7
  • 4. Daniel 2:12, 13; Daniel 3:6; Daniel 11:3, 16, 36
  • 5. Exodus 9:17; Job 15:25; Isaiah 14:13-15; Daniel 4:30, 31
  • 6. 2 Kings 17:14; 2 Chronicles 36:13
  • 7. Job 40:11, 12; Jeremiah 13:18
  • 8. Job 30:3-7; Daniel 4:32, 33
  • 9. Job 39:5-8
  • 10. Exodus 9:14-16; Psalms 83:17, 18; Ezekiel 17:24; Dan 4:17, 34, 35
  • 11. Exodus 10:3; 2 Chronicles 33:23; 2 Chronicles 36:12
  • 12. 2 Kings 14:10; Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 37:23; Jeremiah 50:29; Daniel 5:3, 4
  • 13. Daniel 4:37
  • 14. Psalms 115:4-8; Isaiah 37:19; Habakkuk 2:18, 19
  • 15. Job 12:10
  • 16. Job 31:4; Psalms 139:3; Proverbs 20:24; Jeremiah 10:23
  • 17. Daniel 5:5
  • 18. Is 13:6, 17-19; Jeremiah 50:41-43
  • 19. Job 31:6; Psalms 62:9
  • 20. Isaiah 13:17; Isaiah 21:2; Isaiah 45:1, 2; Daniel 5:31; Daniel 6:8, 28; Acts 2:9
  • 21. Daniel 5:7, 16
  • 22. Daniel 5:1, 2
  • 23. Isaiah 21:4-9; Isaiah 47:9; Jer 51:11, 31, 39, 57
  • 24. Daniel 6:1; Daniel 9:1

Footnotes 16

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.