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, Daniel 5:1, and of the displeasure of God, signified by a handwriting on the wall, which terrified the... [ Continue Reading ]
BELSHAZZAR THE KING MADE A GREAT FEAST,.... This king was not the immediate successor of Nebuchadnezzar, but Evilmerodach, Jeremiah 52:31, who, according to Ptolemy's canon, reigned two years; then followed Neriglissar, his sister's husband, by whom he was slain, and who usurped the throne, and reig... [ Continue Reading ]
BELSHAZZAR, WHILE HE TASTED THE WINE,.... As he was drinking his cups, and delighted with the taste of the wine, and got merry with it: or, "by the advice of the wine" h, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi interpret it, by a personification; as if that dictated to him, and put him upon doing what follows; and... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THEY BROUGHT THE GOLDEN VESSELS THAT WERE TAKEN OUT OF THE TEMPLE OF THE HOUSE OF GOD WHICH WAS AT JERUSALEM,.... That is, the servants to whom the orders were given fetched them from the temple of Bel, and brought them to the king's house; and though only mention is made of golden vessels, yet... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY DRUNK WINE,.... That is, out of the vessels of the temple at Jerusalem, and perhaps till they were drunk: AND PRAISED THE GODS OF GOLD, AND OF SILVER, OF BRASS, OF IRON, OF WOOD, AND OF STONE; for they had gods of all these materials; Daniel 1:2, and these they praised by offering sacrifices... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE SAME HOUR CAME FORTH FINGERS OF A MAN'S HAND, c. From heaven, as Jarchi or they came forth as if they came out of the wall: this was done by the power of God, though it might be by the intervention or means of an angel; so Josephus Ben Gorion i says, that an angel came and wrote what follows;... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE KINGS COUNTENANCE CHANGED,.... Or, "his brightness" l; his ruddy countenance, his florid looks, his gay airs; all his jollity and mirth, that appeared in his face, were changed into paleness, sadness, and confusion: AND HIS THOUGHTS TROUBLED HIM; what should be the meaning of this; perhaps... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING CRIED ALOUD TO BRING IN THE ASTROLOGERS, THE CHALDEANS, AND THE SOOTHSAYERS,.... Or, "with strength" n; with a strong voice, as loud as he could; which is expressive of the fright he was in, and of his eagerness and impatience of information; laying aside all decency, and forgetting his roy... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CAME IN ALL THE KING'S WISE MEN,.... The whole college of them, the persons before described; over whom, in Nebuchadnezzar's time, Daniel was the chief of the governors, Daniel 2:48, these came in readily, in hope of getting both riches and honour: BUT THEY COULD NOT READ THE WRITING, NOR MAKE... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WAS KING BELSHAZZAR GREATLY TROUBLED,.... A second time, and perhaps more than before; since he had conceived some hope that his wise men would have informed him what this writing was, and the meaning of it; but finding that they were nonplussed by it, it gave him still greater uneasiness: AND... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THE QUEEN, BY REASON OF THE WORDS OF THE KING AND HIS LORDS, CAME INTO THE BANQUET HOUSE,.... Not the wife of Belshazzar, as Porphyry would have it; but rather the queen mother, as Jacchiades, the widow of Evilmerodach his father, whose name was Nitocris; and is spoken of, by Herodotus q, as a v... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS A MAN IN THY KINGDOM,.... She does not say in his court; very probably, after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps in one of the former reigns, he was removed from his offices; for, had he been in one, very likely the queen would have described him by it; and this seems to receive confirmat... [ Continue Reading ]
FORASMUCH AS AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT,.... A superior spirit to all the wise men in Babylon for natural knowledge and political wisdom; and he had yet a more excellent spirit which she knew nothing of, and was no judge of; a spirit of real grace, and true piety and devotion: AND KNOWLEDGE, AND UNDERSTAN... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WAS DANIEL BROUGHT IN BEFORE THE KING,.... Proper officers being sent to seek and find him; and having fetched him from his house or apartment where he lived, which seems to have been in the city of Babylon, though not very probably at court as formerly, he was introduced in form into the king'... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE EVEN HEARD OF THEE,.... Very probably he had heard often of him, though he did not think fit to honour him, and use him with that familiarity his grandfather had; or however he had now just heard of him by the queen, whose encomiums of him he recites in her own words: THAT THE SPIRIT OF THE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW THE WISE MEN; THE ASTROLOGERS, HAVE BEEN BROUGHT IN BEFORE ME,.... For it seems they came not of themselves, or upon hearing his loud cry; but were sent for by him, and came by his orders, and were introduced into his presence by the proper officers: THAT THEY SHOULD READ THIS WRITING, AND... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I HAVE HEARD OF THEE,.... That is, by the queen, which he repeats for the sake of observing what she had said of him, and which gave him encouragement to send for him: THAT THOU CANST MAKE INTERPRETATIONS; of dreams, and of things hard to be understood: AND DISSOLVE DOUBTS; untie knots, solve... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN DANIEL ANSWERED AND SAID BEFORE THE KING,.... With great freedom, boldness, and intrepidity: LET THY GIFTS BE TO THYSELF; remain with thee; I neither want them, nor desire them; nor will I receive them on condition of reading and interpreting the writing: AND GIVE THY REWARDS TO ANOTHER; whic... [ Continue Reading ]
O THOU KING,.... "Hear" t, O king; so Aben Ezra supplies it; what he was about to say first, in order to prepare him for the meaning of the handwriting, and the cause of it; or, "thou knowest", as Saadiah supplies it; namely, what follows: THE MOST HIGH GOD GAVE NEBUCHADNEZZAR THY FATHER A KINGDOM:... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FOR THE MAJESTY THAT HE GAVE HIM,.... The greatness of his power, the largeness of his dominions, and the vast armies he had at his command: ALL PEOPLE, NATIONS, AND LANGUAGES, TREMBLED AND FEARED BEFORE HIM; not only those that were subject to him, but those that had only heard of him: who dre... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN HIS HEART WAS LIFTED UP, AND HIS MIND HARDENED IT PRIDE,.... When his heart was elated with his successes and victories, with the enlargement of his dominions, and with his grandeur and glory he had arrived unto; and his pride increased yet more, till he was strengthened and hardened in it:... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE WAS DRIVEN FROM THE SONS OF MEN,.... From their company, and from conversation with them; his madness was of that kind, that he chose rather to be with beasts than men; it drove him from men, and made him more desirous of being with beasts; or it was so intolerable, that his family, friends,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU HIS SON, O BELSHAZZAR,.... His grandson; Daniel 5:1: HAST NOT HUMBLED THINE HEART; so as to acknowledge the most high God, and his dependence on him; to own him as his Sovereign, by whom he held his crown and kingdom, and to whom he was accountable; but, on the contrary, lifted up his hea... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HAST LIFTED UP THYSELF AGAINST THE LORD OF HEAVEN,.... Who made it, and dwells in it; from whence he beholds all the actions of the children of men, and will bring them to an account for them; and yet, though so high and great, such was the insolence of this king, that he dared to lift up himsel... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WAS THE PART OF THE HAND SENT FROM HIM,.... That is, from God: being thus reproached and blasphemed, at that very instant, and for that reason, because the vessels of his sanctuary were profaned, and idol gods were praised, and he despised; he caused part of a hand, the writing fingers of it, t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS IS THE WRITING THAT WAS WRITTEN,.... They are such and such letters, and so to be read, as follows: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN; which are Chaldee words, and may be literally rendered, "he hath numbered, he hath numbered"; that is, God hath certainly, perfectly, and exactly numbered; "he h... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS THE INTERPRETATION OF THE THING,.... Or, "word" z; for they might all seem as one word; or this is the sense of the whole: MENE; as for this word, it signifies, GOD HATH NUMBERED THY KINGDOM, AND FINISHED IT; God had fixed the number of years, how long that monarchy should last, which he w... [ Continue Reading ]
TEKEL,.... As for the meaning of this word, and what it points at, it is this: THOU ART WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES: of justice and truth, in the holy righteous law of God; as gold, and jewels, and precious stones, are weighed in the scales by the goldsmith and jeweller with great exactness, to know th... [ Continue Reading ]
PERES,.... The singular of "Pharsin", Daniel 5:25. The sense of this word is, THY KINGDOM IS DIVIDED: which, though it consisted of various provinces, united under Belshazzar, now should be broken and separated from him: AND GIVEN TO THE MEDES AND PERSIANS; to Darius the Mede, and to Cyrus the Per... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN COMMANDED BELSHAZZAR,.... As soon as he had heard the writing read and interpreted; instead of being full of wrath, as might have been expected, he orders the reward promised to be given, to show he had a regard to his word and honour, as a king; and to secure his credit with his nobles and peo... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT NIGHT WAS BELSHAZZAR, THE KING OF THE CHALDEANS, SLAIN. Not by a servant of his own, as Jacchiades; or by an eunuch, one of his guards, as Saadiah and Joseph ben Gorion b; but by Gadales and Gobryas, who led Cyrus's army up the river Euphrates into the city of Babylon, its course being turne... [ Continue Reading ]
AND DARIUS THE MEDIAN TOOK THE KINGDOM,.... This was Cyaxares the son of Astyages, and uncle of Cyrus; he is called the Median, to distinguish him from another Darius the Persian, that came after, Ezra 4:5, the same took the kingdom of Babylon from Cyrus who conquered it; he took it with his consent... [ Continue Reading ]