BELSHAZZAR's FEAST While Belshazzar and his lords are at a feast, impiously drinking their wine from cups which had belonged once to the Temple at Jerusalem, the fingers of a man's hand appear writing upon the wall. The king, in alarm, summons his wise men to interpret what was written; but they ar... [ Continue Reading ]
_Belshazzar_ Babyl. _Bêl-shar-uṣur_, -Bel, protect the king!" LXX. Theod. and Vulg. confuse this name with Belteshazzar (Daniel 1:7), representing both by Βαλτασαρ, -Baltassar." _to a thousand of his lords_ in accordance with the magnificence of Eastern monarchs. _and drank_, &c. _and before the t... [ Continue Reading ]
_whiles_ the genitive sing. of the subst. _while_(as in -for a _while_"), used adverbially (cf. -needs," -upwards"). It occurs in A.V. Daniel 9:20-21; Ezekiel 21:29 (twice), Ezekiel 44:17; Hosea 7:6; Matthew 5:25; Act 5:4; 2 Corinthians 9:13; and several times in Shakespeare, as _Much Ado_, iv. 1, 2... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the same hour_ in the midst of their godless revelry (Daniel 5:4). Cf. for the expression Daniel 3:6; Daniel 3:15; Daniel 4:33. _over against_ IN FRONT OF, or OPPOSITE TO, _the candlestick_; and hence a part of the wall where the light was particularly bright. _the plaister_ lit. _the chalk_. T... [ Continue Reading ]
_countenance_ lit. BRIGHTNESS (i.e. healthy freshness and colour): cf. Daniel 4:36. So Daniel 5:9-10; Daniel 7:28. Cf. the Targum (Onk.) of Deuteronomy 34:7, -And the glorious _brightness_of his face was not _changed_." _was changed_ i.e. grew pale through fear. If the text be correct, the word use... [ Continue Reading ]
_aloud_ lit. _with might_, as Daniel 3:4; Daniel 4:14. Not simply -commanded," but -cried aloud": the king's alarm was reflected in the tones of his voice. THE ENCHANTERS, _the Chaldeans, and the_ DETERMINERS (of fates)] Cf. Daniel 4:7; and see on Daniel 1:21; Daniel 2:2; Daniel 2:27. _spake_ ANSWE... [ Continue Reading ]
The wise men, however, failed either to read or to explain the writing.... [ Continue Reading ]
_greatly troubled greatly_ ALARMED, a climax upon Daniel 5:6. _and his_ BRIGHTNESS was _changed_ UPON _him_ -upon" in accordance with the principle explained on Daniel 2:1. _were astonied were_ CONFUSED or (R.V.) PERPLEXED.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the queen_ probably, as most commentators assume, partly because she is distinguished from the -wives" or -consorts" mentioned in Daniel 5:2, partly on account of the manner in which she speaks in Daniel 5:11 of what had happened in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, the queen-mother, i.e. (in the view of... [ Continue Reading ]
_in whom is the spirit_, &c. As Daniel 4:8, where see the note. _thy father_ see on Daniel 5:2. _like the wisdom of_(_the) gods_ Cf. 2 Samuel 14:20. The queen, however, speaks as a polytheist. _made master of the magicians_, &c. See Daniel 2:48 and Daniel 4:9. ENCHANTERS, _Chaldeans, and_ DETERM... [ Continue Reading ]
_an excellent spirit a_ SURPASSING _spirit_, i.e. pre-eminent ability. Cf. Daniel 5:14; Daniel 6:3; and see on Daniel 2:31. The Aramaic word used stands often in the Syriac version of the N.T. for πλεῖον and περισσότερον, as Matthew 6:25; Matthew 11:9; Matthew 12:42. _interpreting … dissolving_ Thes... [ Continue Reading ]
_spake_ ANSWERED. Art _thou that Daniel Art_ THOU _Daniel_. The pron. _thou_is emphatic; but -that" implies a false view of the syntax of the sentence (cf. on Daniel 2:38 and Daniel 3:15). WHO IS _of the children of the_ EXILE _of Judah_, &c. See Daniel 2:25. _Jewry_ JUDAH. -Jewry," i.e., the coun... [ Continue Reading ]
_I_ HAVE HEARD (R.V.), &c. Daniel 5:11. _excellent wisdom_ SURPASSING (Daniel 5:12) _wisdom_(Daniel 5:11).... [ Continue Reading ]
_the astrologers the_ ENCHANTERS (Daniel 1:20). _shew_ DECLARE.... [ Continue Reading ]
_make_ better _give_(R.V.); lit. _interpret_. _dissolve doubts_ LOOSE KNOTS. See on Daniel 5:12. _thou shalt be clothed with_ PURPLE, &c. As Daniel 5:7. _and_ RULE AS ONE OF THREE _in the kingdom_ See on Daniel 5:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
Daniel rejects the proffered honours: he will read the writing; but he will do so quite irrespectively of any promises made to him by the heathen king. _before the king_ cf. on Daniel 2:8. _rewards_ See the note on Daniel 2:6. _yet_ NEVERTHELESS (R.V.) brings out the force of the adverb used more... [ Continue Reading ]
Before interpreting the writing Daniel reads the king a lesson. Nebuchadnezzar's pride, combined with his refusal to recognize the sovereignty of the true God, had brought upon him a bitter humiliation: Belshazzar has exhibited the same faults yet more conspicuously: and the present sign has been se... [ Continue Reading ]
_and_ BECAUSE OF _the_ GREATNESS _that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages_, &c. Cf. Daniel 3:4. _trembled and feared before him_ dreading what he might do next. _whom he would he slew_, &c. he acted as though he possessed the attributes of Deity, and was accountable to no superior. S... [ Continue Reading ]
_was lifted up_ Cf. Deuteronomy 8:14; Deuteronomy 17:20; Ezekiel 31:10, &c. _and his_ SPIRIT WAS HARDENED THAT HE DEALT PROUDLY (R.V.)] -was hardened" is literally _was strong_(i.e. stiff, unyielding): the same word (_teḳaph_) is used in the Targums for the Hebrew _ḥâzaḳ, ḥizzçḳ_-to be _or_make stro... [ Continue Reading ]
See Daniel 4:25; Daniel 4:32-33. _the wild asses_ An untamable animal, which roamed in the open plains (see Job 39:5-8; and cf. Genesis 16:12): to dwell with the wild asses would thus be a special mark of wildness and savagery. _they fed him_ or HE WAS FED (R.V.): Daniel 4:25; Daniel 4:32 (-make t... [ Continue Reading ]
But Belshazzar, in spite of the warning afforded by Nebuchadnezzar's fate, has sinned still more deeply, and by wanton sacrilege has deliberately defied the God of heaven.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and they have brought_, &c. See Daniel 5:2. _which see not, nor hear, nor know_ Cf. Deuteronomy 4:28; Psalms 115:5-6; Psalms 135:16-17. _IN_ _whose hand thy breath_is] who is the author of thy life and being. Cf. Genesis 2:7; Job 12:10. _thy ways_ i.e. thy destinies. Cf. Jeremiah 10:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then_was _the_ PALM (Daniel 5:5) _of the hand_ SENT FORTH FROM BEFORE _him; and this writing_was INSCRIBED] Daniel 5:5. _Then_is here equivalent, virtually, to _hence, therefore_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_written_ INSCRIBED (R.V.). The word is not the one that ordinarily means _to write_, but one that means rather _to print_or _stamp_. Mene (pron. _měnê_, to rhyme with _bewray_), Mene, Tekel (pron. _těkêl_, to rhyme with _bewail_), Upharsin] in the explanation (Daniel 5:28), we have, for _upharsîn,... [ Continue Reading ]
The reading and interpretation of the writing.... [ Continue Reading ]
_finished it_ COMPLETED _it_, given it its full and complete measure of time. Cp. the cognate adj. in Genesis 15:16 (-full," -complete").... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Medes and Persians_ See on Daniel 5:31.... [ Continue Reading ]
Belshazzar fulfils the promise given in Daniel 5:16. The unconcern exhibited by the king at Daniel's interpretation, especially in presence of what (as Daniel 5:30 shews) could hardly have been a distant or unsuspected danger, is scarcely consistent with historical probability. _scarlet_ PURPLE, as... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Darius the Median_(or _the_ MEDE, as Daniel 11:1) RECEIVED _the kingdom_ The idea of the writer appears to be that the Medes and Persians were acting in concert at the time of the capture of Babylon (Daniel 5:28); but that when the city was taken, -Darius the Mede," by a joint arrangement betwe... [ Continue Reading ]