Daniel 5:5

(5) In the same hour—i.e., suddenly and unexpectedly. (Comp. Daniel 3:6.) Observe that it was only a portion of the hand that the king saw (comp. Daniel 5:24), and that we are not told whether the guests saw the hand or not. That the writing was visible to all is plain from Daniel 5:8. We remark here, as in other supernatural manifestations recorded in Scripture, that a portion only has been witnessed by many, while the whole has been seen only by one or by a few. (Comp. John 12:28-29; Acts 9:7.)

Candlestick.—This, of course, would make both the hand and the writing more distinctly visible to the king.

Plaister.—This was invariably used in the inner chamber of the Assyrian and Babylonian palaces. (See Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 529.)