Daniel 5:14 NIV

F. B. Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary - Daniel 5:1-99

Daniel 5 THE PERIOD OF Babylonian supremacy was comparatively brief, and the 'head of gold' had to give place to the 'breast and arms of silver.' As we begin to read chapter 5, we find ourselves transported to the last hours of that period. The great city was still marked by scenes of wealth and much voluptuous splendour. Years ago, learned critics claimed that the Book of Daniel was largely legendary and written several centuries after the events it related. Belshazzar, they regarded as an... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Daniel 5:1-16

The Feast and the Handwriting. v. 1. Belshazzar, the king, the son of Nabonidus, either natural or adopted, and coregent with him, apparently the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand, the banquet becoming a drunken orgy. He was in command of the capital at that time and excelled in most of the vices for which Oriental rulers were known. v. 2. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, sitting before them on a platform or... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - Daniel 5:1-31

5. Belshazzar’s feast, and Daniel’s foreshadowing of the downfall of the Chaldœan Empire, based upon the mysterious handwriting on the wallDaniel 5:1-301Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank 2wine1 before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he tested [in the taste of] the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father2 Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that [and] the king and his princes [lords], his... read more

Frederick Brotherton Meyer

F.B. Meyer's 'Through the Bible' Commentary - Daniel 5:1-16

the Handwriting on the Wall Daniel 5:1-16 The name of Belshazzar has been deciphered in inscriptions found at Babylon, from which it is inferred that he was associated with his father in the kingdom, and was left to defend Babylon. He was therefore a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, the word “father,” Daniel 5:11 , being used in the sense of “ancestor.” The great walls of the banqueting hall covered with sculptures and sumptuous decorations; the tablets covered by cuneiform descriptions of the... read more

G. Campbell Morgan

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible - Daniel 5:1-31

The next scene is cast in the reign of Belshazzar. He had succeeded to the throne of his father, and was a man of profligate habits. No details are given of his reign, but a graphic picture is set before us of the carousal which revealed the man, and was the occasion of the final manifestation of his sin, and of the consequent judgment of God. Having gathered together a thousand of his lords, his wives, and his concubines, he was guilty of the unutterable folly of using in drunken revelry the... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Daniel 5:13-16

‘Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah? I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in you. And now the wise men and enchanters have been brought in before me, that they might read this writing and make its interpretation known to me. But they could not show the... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Daniel 5:1-31

Daniel 5. Belshazzar, who is represented as king of Babylon, makes a great feast, using the vessels which his father had brought to Babylon from the Temple at Jerusalem. During the feast the fingers of a man’ s hand are seen, writing on the wall. Daniel explains the handwriting and tells the king that his days are numbered and that his kingdom is to be given to the Medes and Persians. That night the king is murdered and Darius the Mede assumes the throne. The motive of the chapter is again... read more

Joseph Exell

Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary - Daniel 5:1-31

HOMILETICSSECT. XVII.—BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST (Chap. 5.)This chapter deservedly a favourite with general readers [126]. The magnificence, excitement, and revelry of the royal feast; the profligate king, when heated with wine, calling for the sacred vessels of the Temple, and, with his princes, wives, and concubines, drinking out of them to the honour of heathen deities; the sudden appearance, in the midst of the carousal, of a weird hand, tracing distinct but unintelligible characters on the wall;... read more

William Nicoll

Sermon Bible Commentary - Daniel 5:1-31

Daniel 5:1-31 I. Belshazzar's feast was characterised by great intemperance. II. It was characterised by great profanity. III. This night was one of supernatural visitation. IV. This was a night of terrible retribution. W. M. Taylor, Daniel the Beloved, p. 98. References: Daniel 5:1-31 . W. M. Taylor, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 240. Daniel 5:5 . R. Payne-Smith, Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 158. Daniel 5:10-23 . Ibid. p. 220. read more

Chuck Smith

Chuck Smith Bible Commentary - Daniel 5:1-31

Shall we turn now in our Bible to Daniel, chapter 5.Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousands ( Daniel 5:1 ).There are men who call themselves Bible scholars and they belong to a school known as "higher criticism." And for years these men declared that the book of Daniel was not valid. And one of their reasons for this declaration was that in secular history they had not discovered the name Belshazzar. But one of ancient historians,... read more