Daniel 5

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:18-19

Daniel 5:18-19. O thou king Before Daniel reads the writing, he judges it proper to remind the king of God’s dealings with Nebuchadnezzar, his progenitor, and of those remarkable instances of divine providence, both in mercy and in judgment, which were intended to be an instructive lesson, as to all princes that should hear of them, so especially to all the descendants of that great monarch. He also, with great fidelity and seriousness, sets Belshazzar’s profane conduct before him, that he... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:20-23

Daniel 5:20-23. But when his heart was lifted up The expressions here have a peculiar force, in marking the haughty insolence of King Nebuchadnezzar. His authority, as mentioned in the last verse, had been raised to the highest pitch; and on that account we find here that his mind was elated, and his spirit grown obdurate in pride and arrogance; instead of his ascribing all his honours and advantages to the real giver of them, the true God, whom he had been brought to acknowledge, and to... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:24-28

Daniel 5:24-28. Then was part of the hand sent from him The LXX. read, Δια τουτο εκ προσωπου αυτου απεσταλη αστραγαλος χειρος , και την γραφην ταυτην ενεταξε . “On this account hath the joint, or part of a hand, been sent from his presence, and hath formed this writing.” The reading in the Vulgate is to the same purpose. Houbigant translates the verse, “Therefore is the hand sent from him, the fingers whereof have formed this writing.” And this is the writing, MENE, &c. In the Arabic... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:29

Daniel 5:29. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel The king was so struck with his superior wisdom, and conceived himself so bound by the promise he had made before his nobles, that he ordered the prophet to be rewarded immediately with the honours he had promised him, which he was forced to accept, and which probably prepared him for a more easy reception by the succeeding monarch. “Nor let it be matter of wonder that Daniel is said to be clothed as it were immediately, for... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:30-31

Daniel 5:30-31 . In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain He and all his nobles were slain together, in the midst of their feasting and revelling, as Herodotus, lib. 1., and Xenophon, inform us. The latter relates the story thus, Cyropæd., lib. 7. “That two deserters, Gadatas and Gobryas, having assisted some of the Persian army to kill the guards, and seize upon the palace, they entered into the room where the king was, whom they found standing up in a posture of... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Daniel 5:1-31

Belshazzar’s feast (5:1-31)The events of this chapter took place in 539 BC. If Daniel was about fifteen years of age when taken captive to Babylon in 605 BC, he would now be over eighty. Nebuchadnezzar had long been dead. The present king, Nabonidus, was absent in distant territories for much of his reign, and the rule of the country was largely in the hands of his son Belshazzar. The queen who appears in the story (v. 10) was probably the queen mother, wife of Nabonidus. Nebuchadnezzar is... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar . He was the son of Nabonidus. The inscriptions show that he was made co-regent while he (Nabonidus) went to meet Cyrus. See note on verses: Daniel 5:2 , Daniel 5:7 , Daniel 5:1 . a great feast . The hall in which it was held has lately been excavated. It Isaiah 60:0 feet wide and 172 feet long, the walls being beautifully decorated with painted stucco designs. See Records of the Past, vol. i, part v, p. 160. lords = great ones, or nobles. Chaldee. rabreban, same as "princes" in... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 5:2

vessels . Compare Daniel 1:2 ; and see 2 Kings 25:15 . 2 Chronicles 36:10 . father Nebuchadnezzar . No "historical difficulty". Critics should tell us what word Daniel could have used, seeing there is no word in Chaldee or Hebrew for "grandfather". The word "father" is used by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species), App-6 , for ancestor. Compare 1 Kings 15:11-13 , where David is called the "father" of Asa, and Maachah is called his mother (compare 2 Kings 15:1 , 2 Kings 15:2 with 11-13).... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 5:5

In the same hour = At the same moment. See note on "hour", Daniel 3:5 . man's . Chaldee ' enash . App-14 . candlestick = larnpstand. saw = was gazing on. the part = the end: i.e. the fingers. read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 5:6

countenance = bright looks. read more

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:18-19

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:20-23

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:24-28

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:29

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 5:30-31

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Daniel 5:1-31

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 5:1

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 5:2

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 5:5

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 5:6

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