Daniel 5:9

5:9 Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken. ¹  His nobles were completely dumbfounded.

Daniel 5:22

5:22 “But you, his son ²  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ³  although you knew all this.

Daniel 5:30

5:30 And in that very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, ⁴  was killed. ⁵ 

Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar ⁶  prepared a great banquet ⁷  for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of ⁸  them all. ⁹ 

Daniel 5:29

5:29 Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, ¹⁰  Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.

Daniel 8:1

Daniel Has a Vision of a Goat and a Ram

8:1 ¹¹ In the third year ¹²  of King Belshazzar’s reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me previously. ¹³ 

Daniel 7:1

Daniel has a Vision of Four Animals Coming up from the Sea

7:1 In the first ¹⁴  year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had ¹⁵  a dream filled with visions ¹⁶  while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. ¹⁷ 

Daniel 5:2

5:2 While under the influence ¹⁸  of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father ¹⁹  had confiscated ²⁰  from the temple in Jerusalem ²¹  – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. ²² 

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¹ tn Aram “his visage altered upon him.” So also in v. 10.

² tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

³ tn Aram “your heart.”

⁴ tn Aram “king of the Chaldeans.”

⁵ sn 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.

⁶ sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

⁷ sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

⁸ sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

⁹ tn Aram “the thousand.”

¹⁰ tn Aram “Belshazzar spoke.”

¹¹ sn Dan 8:1 marks the switch from Aramaic (= 2:4b-7:28) back to Hebrew as the language in which the book is written in its present form. The remainder of the book from this point on (8:1-12:13) is in Hebrew. The bilingual nature of the book has been variously explained, but it most likely has to do with the book’s transmission history.

¹² sn The third year of King Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 551 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately 69 years old at the time of this vision.

¹³ tn Heb “in the beginning.” This refers to the vision described in chapter seven.

¹⁴ sn The first year of Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 553 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately 67 years old at the time of this vision.

¹⁵ tn Aram “saw.”

¹⁶ tn Aram “and visions of his head.” The Aramaic is difficult here. Some scholars add a verb thought to be missing (e.g., “the visions of his head [were alarming him]”), but there is no external evidence to support such a decision and the awkwardness of the text at this point may be original.

¹⁷ tn Aram “head of words.” The phrase is absent in Theodotion. Cf. NIV “the substance of his dream.”

¹⁸ tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).

¹⁹ tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.

²⁰ tn Or “taken.”

²¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²² sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.