Observation
Setting. About twenty-three years after Nebuchadnezzar’s death, Babylon is under siege by the Medes and Persians. Inside the walls, “Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand” (v1). It is October 539 BC, and this is Babylon’s last night. Daniel is now an old man, probably in his early eighties.
Structure:
- vv1–4 — the feast: while drinking, Belshazzar “gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem” (v2). The king, his nobles, wives and concubines drink from them (v3). “They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone” (v4).
- vv5–9 — the hand: “Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace” (v5). “the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together” (v6). He promises purple, a gold necklace and the position of “third ruler in the kingdom” to anyone who can read it (v7). The wise men can’t (v8).
- vv10–16 — the queen remembers Daniel: the queen enters: “There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods” (v11) — the one Nebuchadnezzar made chief of the wise men, who had “an extraordinary spirit” (v12). Daniel is brought in (v13). The king makes the same offer (vv14–16).
- vv17–24 — Daniel’s sermon: “Keep your gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king” (v17). Daniel reminds him of Nebuchadnezzar: God gave him greatness (vv18–19), but “when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed” (v20), until he recognized “that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind” (v21). “Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven” (vv22–23). “But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified” (v23). So the hand was sent (v24).
- vv25–28 — the writing: “MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN” (v25). “MENĒ — God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it” (v26). “TEKĒL — you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient” (v27). “PERĒS — your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians” (v28).
- vv29–31 — that same night: Daniel is clothed in purple and proclaimed third ruler (v29). “That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain” (v30). “So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two” (v31).
Repeated words: vessels (vv2, 3, 23); drank / drinking wine (vv1, 2, 3, 4, 23); gods of gold and silver … (vv4, 23); writing / inscription (vv5, 7, 8, 15, 16, 17, 24, 25); interpretation (vv7, 8, 12, 15, 16, 17, 26); third ruler (vv7, 16, 29); purple and a gold necklace (vv7, 16, 29); face / countenance changed (vv6, 9, 10); father (Nebuchadnezzar) (vv2, 11, 13, 18); the Most High God (vv18, 21).
Contrasts: a thousand drinking (v1) ⟷ one hand writing (v5). Holy vessels for God (v2) ⟷ used to praise idols (v4). The king’s knees knocking (v6) ⟷ Daniel calm, refusing gifts (v17). Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself (v21) ⟷ Belshazzar “knew all this” and didn’t (v22). Gods “which do not see, hear or understand” (v23) ⟷ “the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways.” Purple and gold for Daniel (v29) ⟷ death for the king that same night (v30).
Chapter theme (my words): Belshazzar knew what God had done to his grandfather and mocked Him anyway — on the last night of his life. God numbered his days, weighed his life, and gave his kingdom away before morning. Knowing the truth isn’t enough; I must humble my heart.
Interpretation
Who was Belshazzar? For centuries critics said Daniel was wrong: ancient lists named Nabonidus as Babylon’s last king, and no Belshazzar was known. Then cuneiform records — including the Nabonidus Cylinder and the Nabonidus Chronicle — turned up naming Belshazzar as Nabonidus’s eldest son, who ruled in Babylon as co-regent while his father lived for years in Arabia. Guzik dates the co-regency from about 553 BC to the fall of the city in 539. That explains the strange offer of “third ruler” (vv7, 16, 29): Nabonidus was first, Belshazzar second — the best he could give was third. “Father” (v2) is normal ancient usage for an ancestor or predecessor; Belshazzar may have been Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson through his mother.
A party under siege (vv1–4). The Medo-Persian army was outside the walls. Babylon’s walls were famous and its supplies huge, so Belshazzar threw a party. Then, drunk, he did what Nebuchadnezzar never did: he brought out the holy vessels from God’s temple to toast his idols. It was deliberate mockery — a statement that Babylon’s gods had beaten the God of Israel. Trapp, in Guzik, says drink takes “ale out of the pot, money out of the purse, and wit out of the head” (Eph 5:18; Prov 20:1).
The writing on the wall (vv5–9). Our phrase “the writing on the wall” comes from here. The hand writes on the plaster “opposite the lampstand” — in the brightest spot, where everyone could see. The king who mocked God falls apart: face pale, legs giving way, knees knocking. A guilty conscience knows when God has spoken (Prov 28:1). His wise men can’t read it — perhaps they could read the letters but not make sense of them, perhaps God veiled it until Daniel came.
The forgotten man (vv10–16). The queen — most likely the queen mother, perhaps Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter — remembers what the king has forgotten: Daniel. Guzik notes he seems to have been set aside, out of the current administration. Faithful men are often forgotten by the powerful until a crisis. Belshazzar’s words “I have heard about you” (v14; compare v16) show he has never sought Daniel out.
Daniel’s sermon (vv17–24). Daniel refuses the gifts — he can’t be bought, and he won’t soften the message to earn a reward. Then, before he reads a word, he preaches. He retells chapter 4: God gave Nebuchadnezzar everything, humbled him when he was proud, and restored him when he acknowledged the Most High. Then the charge: “you … have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this” (v22). Guzik: Belshazzar was judged by the light he had. He had the testimony of his own family, and he sinned against knowledge (Luke 12:47–48; James 4:17). And the deepest charge: the God who holds your every breath, you have not glorified (v23; Acts 17:25, 28; Rom 1:21).
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin (vv25–28). The words are Aramaic weights and measures — a mina, a shekel, and halves (parsin, plural of peres, “half”) — like writing “dollar, dollar, dime, half-dollars” on the wall. Daniel reads them as verbs:
- MENĒ — numbered. Repeated twice for certainty: God has counted the days of your kingdom and they are up.
- TEKĒL — weighed. You were put on God’s scales and came up short (1 Sam 2:3; Ps 62:9; Prov 16:2).
- PERĒS — divided. Your kingdom is broken and handed to the Medes and Persians. Peres also sounds like Paras, Persia.
Clarke, in Guzik, sums them up as numeration, weighing and division.
That same night (vv29–31). Belshazzar keeps his word and honors Daniel — and is killed hours later. Guzik cites Herodotus: Cyrus’s engineers diverted the Euphrates, which ran through the city, so his soldiers could walk into Babylon along the riverbed under the walls. Isaiah had named Cyrus as Babylon’s conqueror more than a century earlier, and spoke of drying up its rivers and opening its gates (Isa 44:27–45:2; compare Jer 50:38; 51:30–32, 39, 57). The city fell almost without a fight. The head of gold is gone; the silver kingdom of chapter 2 has arrived. Darius the Mede — about sixty-two — receives the kingdom; Guzik identifies him with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon. Daniel has outlived the whole Babylonian empire.
Word study (Aramaic):
- feast — lechem (H3900): bread, a feast, a banquet.
- vessels — maʾn (H3984): vessels, utensils.
- concubines — lechenah (H3904): a concubine.
- praised — shebach (H7624): to laud, praise, glorify.
- lampstand — nebrashta (H5043): a lamp, lampstand.
- plaster — gir (H1528): lime, plaster.
- interpretation — peshar (H6591): explanation, solution.
- third ruler — talti (H8523, v7) / telath (H8531, vv16, 29): third in rank.
- extraordinary — yattir (H3493): preeminent, surpassing.
- humbled — shephal (H8214): to bring low, humble.
- life-breath — nishma (H5396): breath, life.
- MENĒ — mene (H4484): numbered; a mina (a weight).
- TEKĒL — teqal (H8625): weighed; a shekel.
- PERĒS / UPHARSIN — peras (H6537): divided; a half-mina; plural parsin, with u- “and.”
- scales — moʾzenayaʾ (H3977): balances, scales.
- deficient — chassir (H2627): lacking, wanting.
Cross-references: Exod 20:7; Lev 10:1–3; 1 Sam 2:3; 2 Chr 36:7, 10, 18; Ezra 1:7–11; Ps 2:4; Ps 62:9; Prov 16:2, 18; Prov 20:1; Prov 28:1; Prov 29:1; Isa 13:17–22; Isa 21:1–10; Isa 44:27–45:2; Jer 25:11–12; Jer 50:38; Jer 51:30–32, 39, 57; Luke 12:16–21, 47–48; Acts 17:24–28; Rom 1:21; 1 Cor 10:20–22; Gal 6:7; James 4:17; Heb 9:27; Rev 18:10.
Application
Command to obey — humble your heart. “Yet you … have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this” (v22). Knowing isn’t enough. I know the stories, the verses, the warnings. The question is whether I’ve bowed. Today I’ll name one truth I know but haven’t obeyed, and humble myself in it. For the men I disciple, this is the man who has heard every sermon in rehab or prison and still won’t surrender.
Sin to confess — treating holy things as common. Belshazzar took what belonged to God and used it for his party. My body is a temple (1 Cor 6:19–20); my time, my gifts and the Lord’s Supper are holy. Where have I taken something God set apart and used it to serve myself? I’ll confess it and give it back to Him.
Warning to heed — weighed and found deficient. Every life will be weighed. On my own, I come up short (Rom 3:23). Belshazzar’s last night looked like any other party. There may be no warning but the one I already have (Prov 29:1; Heb 9:27). Only in Christ am I found complete (Col 2:10).
Promise to trust — God holds my breath. “The God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways” (v23). For the proud man that’s a warning; for the humble man it’s comfort. Every breath I take, every road I walk, is in His hand. I don’t need to grasp for control.
Example to follow — Daniel at eighty. Forgotten by the powerful, called in only when there was trouble, Daniel was still ready — still faithful, still unbought, still telling the truth with courage. I want to finish like that: not chasing gifts or position, but ready to speak God’s word when it’s needed.
Worship. The God who numbers kingdoms numbers my days too (Ps 90:12). He weighs nations on His scales, and He gives kingdoms to whom He wills. Babylon fell in a night; His kingdom never will.
Prayer. Lord of heaven, You hold my breath and all my ways. Forgive me for knowing the truth and not humbling my heart. Keep me from treating holy things as common. Teach me to number my days, find me clothed in Christ when I’m weighed, and keep me faithful like Daniel to the very end. Amen.