CHAPTER V _In the commencement of this chapter we are informed how_ _Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, when rioting in his_ _palace, and profaning the severed vessels of the temple_, 1-4, _was suddenly terrified with the appearance of the fingers of a_ _man's hand, which wrote a few w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:2. _WHILES HE TASTED THE WINE_] He relished it, got heated by it, and when WINE got _fully in_, WIT went _wholly out_; and in consequence he acted the profane part of which we immediately read.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:4. _AND PRAISED THE GODS OF GOLD_] They had gods of _all_ _sorts_, and of _all metals_; with _wooden gods_, and _stone_ gods, beside!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:5. _FINGERS OF A MAN'S HAND_] The fingers were collected about the _style_ or _pen_ as in the act of writing.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:6. _THE KING'S COUNTENANCE WAS CHANGED_] Here is a very natural description of fear and terror. 1. The face grows pale; 2. The mind becomes greatly agitated; 3. Pains seize on the lower part of the back and kidneys; 4. A universal tremor takes place, so that the knees smite agains... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:7. _WHOSOEVER SHALL READ THIS WRITING_] He knew it must be some awful portent, and wished to know what.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:8. _THEY COULD NOT READ THE WRITING_] Because it was in the _pure Hebrew_, not the _Chaldean character_. See below.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:10. _THE QUEEN - CAME_] This is generally allowed to have been the _widow_ of Nebuchadnezzar; if so, she was the queen _Amiyt_, daughter of _Astyages_, sister of _Darius_ the Mede, and aunt of _Cyrus_, according to _Polyhistor_, cited by _Cedrenus_. See _Calmet._ Others think that _Ni... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:11. _NEBUCHADNEZZAR THY FATHER_] Daniel 5:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _DISSOLVE DOUBTS_] _Untie knots - unbind what is bound_. An expression used in the east to signify a _judge_ of eminent wisdom and skill.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _LET THY GIFTS BE TO THYSELF_] They could be of little use to any, as the city was _in a few hours_ to be taken and pillaged.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _NEBUCHADNEZZAR THY FATHER_] Or _grandfather_, as the _margin_ reads, Daniel 5:2. Daniel 5:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _WHOM HE WOULD HE SLEW_] The genuine character of a _despot_, whose _will_ is the only _rule_ of his conduct.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 20. _HE WAS DEPOSED FROM HIS KINGLY THRONE_] Became insane; and the reins of government were taken out of his hands.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _HAST NOT HUMBLED THINE HEART_] These _judgments_ and _mercies_ have had no good effect upon thee.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _BUT HAST LIFTED UP THYSELF AGAINST THE LORD_] And the highest evidence of this rebellion was, the profaning the sacred vessels of the Lord's house.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _THEN WAS THE PART OF THE HAND SENT_] This was the filling up of the cup of thy iniquity; this last act made thee ripe for destruction.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:25. _AND THIS_ IS _THE WRITING_] Had the words been written in the _Chaldean_ character, every wise man there, every one that could read the _alphabet of his own language_, could have read and interpreted them. Let it be observed, - 1. That the _character_ which we now call _Hebrew_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:29. _CLOTHED DANIEL WITH SCARLET_] ארגונא _argevana_, more probably with _purple_. The _gold chain_ about the neck was an emblem of magisterial authority. It is often thus mentioned in Scripture.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:30. _IN THAT NIGHT WAS BELSHAZZAR - SLAIN._] Xenophon says, he was despatched by two lords, _Gadatas_ and _Gobrias_, who went over to Cyrus, to avenge themselves of certain wrongs which Belshazzar had done them. We have already seen that Cyrus entered the city by the bed of the Euphra... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Daniel 5:31. _DARIUS THE MEDIAN TOOK THE KINGDOM_] This is supposed to be the same as _Cyaxares_, son of _Astyages_ and maternal uncle of _Cyrus_, to whom he gave the throne of Babylon, after himself had had the honour of taking the city. Daniel speaks nothing of the war that raged between t... [ Continue Reading ]