BELSHAZZAR THE KING] These words raise another historical difficulty, We learn from the inscriptions that Belshazzar was the son of Nabuna' id (Nabonidus), the last king of Babylon, and never occupied the throne himself. As Nabuna'id, however, was much occupied with antiquarian pursuits Belshazzar w... [ Continue Reading ]
BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST Belshazzar, king of Babylon, holds a great feast, at which he profanely uses the sacred vessels taken by Nebuchadnezzar from the Temple at Jerusalem (Daniel 5:1). He is terrified at seeing part of a human hand writing mysterious words on the wall of the banqueting room, and vainl... [ Continue Reading ]
VESSELS] see Daniel 1:2. His father Nebuchadnezzar] another historical difficulty. Nabuna'id was the father of Belshazzar, and was a usurper, who did not belong to the same family as Nebuchadnezzar. It is possible that he may have married a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, but of this nothing is known. I... [ Continue Reading ]
SCARLET] RV 'purple': so in Daniel 5:16; Daniel 5:29. BE THE THIRD RULER] EM 'rule as one of three': so in Daniel 5:16; Daniel 5:29. The meaning is illustrated by the arrangement described in Daniel 6:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
HARD] RV 'dark.'... [ Continue Reading ]
JEWRY] RV 'Judah.'... [ Continue Reading ]
PEOPLE] RV 'peoples.' 25. The words are names of weights. The _U_ in _Upharsin_ stands for 'and,' and _P(h) arsin_ is the plural of _Peres_ (Daniel 5:28). The literal meaning of the writing was 'amina, a mina, a shekel, and half minas.' 26-28. The interpretation given by Daniel is connected with t... [ Continue Reading ]
CHALDEANS] here used in the national sense, as equivalent to 'Babylonians.' WAS BELSHAZZAR.. SLAIN] The traditions about the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, which classical historians have preserved, are now known from the inscriptions of Cyrus himself to be incorrect. The army of Cyrus occupied Babyl... [ Continue Reading ]
DARIUS THE MEDIAN (RV 'Mede')] presents the greatest historical difficulty in the book. In this v. he receives the kingdom of Babylon upon the death of Belshazzar. In Daniel 6:1; Daniel 6:25 he acts and speaks as a supreme sovereign; in Daniel 6:28 he appears as a predecessor of Cyrus the Persian; i... [ Continue Reading ]