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Daniel 5

KJ3 Literal Translation — Chapter 5 of 12

1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his nobles. And he drank wine before the thousand.

2 When tasting the wine, Belshazzar commanded the golden and silver vessels brought, those his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink with them.

3 Then they brought the vessels of gold that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was in Jerusalem. And the king, his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank with them.

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Chapter Summary

Belshazzar's impious feast. A handwriting, unknown to the magicians, Daniel reads it.

Key Hebrew Words

מִשְׁתֶּה feast H4961 · TWOT 3051a
כְּתָב writing H3792 · TWOT 2805a
פְּשַׁר interpretation H6591 · TWOT 2949a
תְּקַל weighed H8625 · TWOT 3063
מְנֵא numbered (mina) H4484 · TWOT 2835a
פְּרַס divided H6537 · TWOT 2945

People & Context

Belshazzar

King of Babylon whose feast desecrates the temple vessels; terrified by the writing, he is slain that night.

Daniel

Judean exile summoned to read and interpret the handwriting on the wall, foretelling the kingdom's fall.

the queen

Royal woman who recalls Daniel's gift of interpretation and urges Belshazzar to summon him.

Nebuchadnezzar

Belshazzar's predecessor (called his father), whose humbling by the Most High Daniel recounts as warning.

Darius the Mede

Receives the kingdom after Belshazzar is killed, at sixty-two years old.

Timeline

The Writing on the Wall

King Belshazzar held a great feast and proudly drank wine from the sacred golden vessels taken from the Jerusalem temple. A mysterious hand appeared and wrote on the plaster, and Daniel interpreted the message to mean God had numbered and finished Belshazzar's kingdom, leading to the king being killed that very night [24-26].

Daniel 5:1-30

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