Daniel 5:5-6

5:5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared¹ and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand.² The king was watching the back³ of the hand that was writing. 5:6 Then all the color drained from the king’s face⁴ and he became alarmed.⁵ The joints of his hips gave way,⁶ and his knees began knocking together.

Daniel 5:18-30

5:18 As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty.⁷ 5:19 Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear⁸ before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared⁹ whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished. 5:20 And when his mind¹⁰ became arrogant¹¹ and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him. 5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind¹² was changed to that of an animal, he lived¹³ with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

5:22 “But you, his son¹⁴ Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself,¹⁵ although you knew all this. 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods¹⁶ that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control¹⁷ your very breath and all your ways! 5:24 Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed.

5:25 “This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE,¹⁸ TEQEL, and PHARSIN.¹⁹ 5:26 This is the interpretation of the words:²⁰ As for mene²¹ – God has numbered your kingdom’s days and brought it to an end. 5:27 As for teqel – you are weighed on the balances and found to be lacking. 5:28 As for peres²² – your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

5:29 Then, on Belshazzar’s orders,²³ Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom. 5:30 And in that very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king,²⁴ was killed.²⁵

¹tn Aram “came forth.”

²sn The mention of the lampstand in this context is of interest because it suggests that the writing was in clear view.

³tn While Aramaic פַּס (pas) can mean the palm of the hand, here it seems to be the back of the hand that is intended.

⁴tn Aram “[the king’s] brightness changed for him.”

⁵tn Aram “his thoughts were alarming him.”

⁶tn Aram “his loins went slack.”

⁷tn Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.

⁸tn Aram “were trembling and fearing.” This can be treated as a hendiadys, “were trembling with fear.”

⁹tn Aram “let live.” This Aramaic form is the aphel participle of חַיָה(khayah, “to live”). Theodotion and the Vulgate mistakenly take the form to be from מְחָא (mÿkha’, “to smite”).

¹⁰tn Aram “heart.”

¹¹sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.

¹²tn Aram “heart.”

¹³tn Aram “his dwelling.”

¹⁴tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

¹⁵tn Aram “your heart.”

¹⁶tn Aram “which.”

¹⁷tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”

¹⁸tc The Greek version of Theodotion lacks the repetition of מְנֵא (mÿne’, cf. NAB).

¹⁹tc The Aramaic word is plural. Theodotion has the singular (cf. NAB “PERES”).

²⁰tn Or “word” or “event.” See HALOT 1915 s.v. מִלָּה.

²¹tn The Aramaic term מְנֵא (mÿne’) is a noun referring to a measure of weight. The linkage here to the verb “to number” (Aram. מְנָה, mÿnah) is a case of paronomasia rather than strict etymology. So also with תְּקֵל (tÿqel) and פַרְסִין (farsin). In the latter case there is an obvious wordplay with the name “Persian.”

²²sn Peres (פְּרֵס) is the singular form of פַרְסִין (pharsin) in v. 25.

²³tn Aram “Belshazzar spoke.”

²⁴tn Aram “king of the Chaldeans.”

²⁵sn The year was 539 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been approximately eighty-one years old. The relevant extra-biblical records describing the fall of Babylon include portions of Herodotus, Xenophon, Berossus (cited in Josephus), the Cyrus Cylinder, and the Babylonian Chronicle.