They said, "Has not the king ordered us to put to death anyone who attempts to enter the palace, though he claims to be the king himself?" At his death his son Laborosoarchod, who was only a child, reigned for nine months until a conspiracy resulted in his being beaten to death. 5:13-16 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. [45] Otherwise his status and position after Nabonidus's return is never made clear. 282 Since Prince, who wrote his commentary in 1899, many others have followed the suggestion of Clermont-Ganneau (Journal Asiatique) 1886, that the inscription contained a string of weight names. A handwriting appears on the wall and Belshazzar calls for Daniel who interprets it as a judgement from God. Although the Scriptures do not state so expressly, it is probable that the message of Daniel to the king was heard by the entire company. If the setting can be reconstructed, Nabonidus previously had gone forth from Babylon to fight the Medes and the Persians and had already been captured. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. Because his rule was arbitrary and licentious, he was assassinated by Neriglisar after he had reigned only two years. The Babylonian chronicles describe the actions and conquests of Cyrus in detail throughout Belshazzar's regency. He eventually led his forces into Arabia, conquering several cities, including the city of Tayma. Like Nebuchadnezzar before him, Belshazzar was soon to experience divine judgment but without the happy ending. His son, Laborosoardoch, a mere boy, occupied it for nine months, when, owing to the depraved disposition which he showed, a conspiracy was formed against him, and he was beaten to death by his friends. Problems of his relationship will be considered at the proper place in the exposition, including the possibility that Belshazzars mother was a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar and thus in the royal line, whereas Nabonidus was not. 268 Cf. Suiting the action to the word, Cyrus and Darius grasped a heavy ornament forming part of a candelabrum, and with it shattered the skull of their royal master (Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah 3:4).[58]. Instead, in verse 18 he recognizes him as king but then immediately delivers his prophetic message of condemnation. How old was Daniel when Belshazzar was king? - Daniel 5:5-29: Belshazzar is killed when Cyrus of Persia invades Babylon. This, however, is conjecture; and probably it is more natural to consider Belshazzar a son of Nabonidus himself. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. Cyrus, emperor of Persia, captures Babylon. Daniel 6:26-27, Daniel prays and fasts about what lies ahead and the Jewish peoples indifference to their captivity. In vain did he pled that he was the king. It was hard for the Babylonians to believe that even the Medes and the Persians who had surrounded their beloved city could possibly breach the fortifications or exhaust their supplies which were intended to be ample for a siege of many years. This, no doubt, prepared the way for the co-regency under Nabonidus which probably began 553 B.C., supporting Daniel 5. The queen urged, however, that now he be brought in to solve the present problem. If, however, the Babylonians had been aware of it beforehand, or had known what Cyrus was about, they would not have suffered the Persians to enter the city, but would have utterly destroyed them; for, having shut all the little gates that lead to the river, and mounting the walls that extend along the banks of the river, they would have caught them as in a net; whereas the Persians came upon them by surprise. Keil, pp. This prince, whose government was arbitrary and licentious, fell a victim to a plot, being assassinated by his sisters husband, Neriglisar, after a reign of two years. Knowing Daniel was a wise elder statesman, the new leaders gave him a prestigious place in their government (Daniel 6:1-2). Belshazzar 's surviving heir is his granddaughter, Vashti. Although such ancient records are notoriously inaccurate and at best are fragmentary, the argument of the critics was that Belshazzar never existed because his name did not appear in any of the ancient records. [15] Belshazzar's father came to the throne as a result of a conspiracy that saw the deposition and murder of the previous king, Labashi-Marduk. He delivered into his (1:e., Cyrus) hands Nabonidus, the king who did not worship him (i.e., Marduk).287. Daniel experiences a vision of the four terrifying beasts but kept the vision to himself. [54] Belshazzar is killed that night, and Darius the Mede takes the kingdom. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. After a decisive victory at the battle of Opis, the Persian army, on 12 October,[48] led by Ugbaru, entered Babylon without a fight. The probability is that the writing was in Aramaic and therefore not entirely unknown to the wise men. [13], Belshazzar's father was proclaimed as king in May 556 BC,[14] and by the end of June, tablets recognising Nabonidus are known from across Babylonia. Transliterated into English, they are given as MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. There has been almost endless critical discussion as to what the meaning of this inscription is, and the interpretation is complicated by a number of factors.279 In the book of Daniel the words are given in Aramaic, but some have questioned this.280 If it was written in Aramaic script, however, only the consonants may have appeared. In the Neo-Babylonian Empire, oaths were typically sworn by the king, and several gods, by individuals who were going to conduct various services. 114 ff. 257 Montgomery mentions a marriage feast of Alexander with 10,000 guests (Montgomery, p. 250). Nebuchadnezzars humiliating experience in chapter 4 had been followed by his death in 562 b.c. E. G. Kraeling (The Handwriting on the Wall, Journal of Biblical Literature 63 [1944]: 11-18) assuming that five kings are in viewi.e., mene is given twice and the upharsin equals two half-minassuggests that the five kings following Nebuchadnezzar were intended, viz., Evil-Merodach, Neriglissar, Labashi-Marduk, Nabonidus and Belshazzar. Daniel 3:19-25, Nebuchadnezzar experiences visions of a tree and being driven away from people and losing his sanity. Young in his discussion on this point gives J. Dymeley Prince282 the credit for the suggestion that the maneh refers to Nebuchadnezzar, the shekel (of much less value) to Belshazzar, and the half-minas refers to the Medes and the Persians.283 Daniels explanation, however, is far more cogent and reasonable, and does not give any indication that the words mean other than he indicates. Athenaeus quotes Heracleides of Cumae, the author of Persian History, in describing in detail the custom of drinking to excess after dinner.259 The luxury of both the drinking and the eating is also illustrated in Athenaeus in describing dinners among the Persians of high station as follows: For one thousand animals are slaughtered daily for the king; these comprise horses, camels, oxen, asses, deer, and most of the smaller animals; many birds also are consumed, including Arabian ostrichesand the creature is largegeese, and cocks.260. Having stationed his forces and given these directions, he himself marched away with the ineffective part of his army; and having come to the lake, Cyrus did the same with respect to the river and the lake as the queen of the Babylonians had done; for having diverted the river, by means of a canal, into the lake, which was before a swamp, he made the ancient channel fordable by the sinking of the river. Even while Daniel was interpreting the writing on the wall, the prophecy was being fulfilled as the Medes and the Persians poured into the city. The Jewish Encyclopedia. (30-31) The death of Belshazzar and the rise of Darius the Mede. With only the fingers of the hand visible and producing writing upon the wall, the spectacle immediately attracted attention. 252 N. W. Porteous, Daniel: A Commentary, p. 76. In many respects, modern civilization is much like ancient Babylon, resplendent with its monuments of architectural triumph, as secure as human hands and ingenuity could make it, and yet defenseless against the judgment of God at the proper hour. As Nabonidus was relatively old at the time, his reign could be expected to be brief and transitional, meaning that Belshazzar could expect to inherit the throne within a few years.[23]. [17] After the accession of his father, Belshazzar emerges in the sources as a prominent businessman and the head of a wealthy household, a role that was typically not picked up by members of the royal family in the Neo-Babylonian period. 208-14. After his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar died, his uncle had reigned for two years, only to be murdered by a brother-in-law. There was, however, nothing insolent or discourteous in Daniels address to the king; and the charges were stated in a factual and objective way. Daniel had not been assembled with the other wise men because he probably was in semiretirement and was no longer chief of the wise men. There may have been a division of the Babylonian army. Drinking bouts such as characterized Babylon were also common among other peoples, such as the Persians. As he could lease out temple land, this suggests that Belshazzar, in administrative matters, could act with full royal power. Belshazzar had been known only from the biblical Book of Daniel (chapters 5, 78) and from Xenophons Cyropaedia until 1854, when references to him were found in Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions. While the dimensions may be questioned, the magnificence of the city was not seriously exaggerated.267. Although the size of the banquet is not amazing, the situation was most unusual. It is possible in the decline of the Babylonian Empire that the number of the wise men was far more limited at this point in history than it was under Nebuchadnezzars reign. In the midst of this atmosphere of consternation, apprehension, and fear, Daniels countenance alone reflected the deep peace of God founded on confidence in God and His divine revelation. Daniel 3:12, Nebuchadnezzar confronts Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego about their disobedience. A great bridge spanned the Euphrates River, connecting the eastern section and the western or new section of the city. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. [43], Regardless of any potential animosity between Nabonidus and Belshazzar, Belshazzar retained the status of crown prince and intended successor, as a handful of documents still reference the "son of the king". 250 Cf. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. It does imply, however, that Belshazzar was in descent from Nebuchadnezzar. 287 J. This was not prompted by disrespect nor by the evident fact that they would be short-lived. 275 Arthur Jeffery, The Book of Daniel, Introduction and Exegesis, in The Interpreters Bible, 6:426. This omission, however, was later remedied, as mentioned above, by the discovery of the name of Bel-shar-usur (Belshazzar) on cylinders in which he is called the son of Nabonidus. Yet this empire was to have as its last official act the honoring of one of these captives who by divine revelation predicted not only the downfall of Babylon but the course of the times of the Gentiles until the Son of man should come from heaven. Belshazzar was the first-born son of Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Jeremiah 52:7-14, 2 Kings 25:4-10, Nebuchadnezzar makes a golden statue and orders everyone to worship it or be thrown into the furnace. In any case, the king was in no position to dispute with Daniel, even though Daniels words brought even greater fear and apprehension to his heart. It seems likely that skirmishes along the border were frequent from then until Babylon's fall. The word for doubts ( qitrin) is actually knots, joints, difficult problems. [54] Daniel interprets the writing as a judgment from Yahweh, the god of Israel, foretelling the fall of Babylon. The latter relates the story thus, Cyropd., lib. [50] It is often assumed that Belshazzar was killed by the Persians at Babylon when the city fell, on 12 October. Man may have the first word, but God will have the last word. Following Cyrus decree, around 50,000 Jews return home to Judea, led by Zerubbabel. when conquered by the Medes. Ezra 1:1-4. 258 M. E. L. Mallowan, Nimrud, in Archaeology and Old Testament Study, p. 62. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. J. It may even have been Belshazzar who convinced his father to stay away from Babylonia in the first place, fearing a confrontation with the Babylonian oligarchy and clergy over his father's religious beliefs. Daniel 12:13, Cyrus allows the Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Nabonidus was absent from Babylon from 553 BC to 543 or 542 BC, in self-imposed "exile" at Tayma in Arabia, for unknown reasons. 67-68. They were said to have had enough food stored up for 20 years. Approximately twenty-three years elapsed between chapter 4 and chapter 5. The expression drunk wine before the thousand indicates that Belshazzar was probably on a platform at a higher level than other guests and led them in drinking toasts to their deities. In the ruins of Nebuchadnezzars palace archeologists have uncovered a large throne room 56 feet wide and 173 feet long which probably was the scene of this banquet. The downfall of Babylon is in type the downfall of the unbelieving world. The interpretation of Daniel is clear and much more satisfactory than the alternatives offered by some expositors. Daniel 3:13-15, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego continue to refuse to worship Nebuchadnezzars golden statue. Much has been made of the reference of Belshazzars relationship to Nebuchadnezzar, who is described as his father in verse 2; and even Keil is influenced by this to consider Belshazzar a literal son of Nebuchadnezzar.261 This is not entirely impossible, of course, for as Leupold shows,262 Nabonidus could have married a widow of Nebuchadnezzar who had a son by Nebuchadnezzar who then could be adopted by Nabonidus by way of strengthening his own hold upon the throne. Darius notes Daniels good qualities and plans to elevate him to the highest administrative position. Although the precise identity of Belshazzar may continue to be debated, available facts support accepting Daniels designation of Belshazzar as king. : heart) (and therefore) ordered him to march against his city Babylon He made him set out on the road to Babylon going at his side like a real friend. Daniels excellent qualities manifested themselves in an excellent spirit, unusual knowledge and understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, difficult sentences, and dissolving of doubts, that is, solutions to problems. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire (Jer 51:57-58). They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. PERES means divided, and is merely another form for UPHARSIN as in verse 25 having the u, which is equivalent to the English and, with PHARSIN being the plural of PERES. The king was drinking wine with them. TEQEL could be considered as representing the Hebrew shekeL PERES could be read as PERAS, or a half-maneh, although this identification is questionable. 248 James A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, p. 249. The effect upon the king and his associates was immediate. [41] As Nabonidus's stay in Tayma continued, Belshazzar as became acutely aware of the threat presented by the Achaemenids, as he is recorded as having expended resources at projects in Sippar and nearby defenses. The next four years Neriglisar occupied the throne. He believed that Babylon was safe. In any case Daniel read the writing as Aramaic, and the suggestion of puns in the language (see later discussion) depends upon the Aramaic. In the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible, Belshazzar is referred to as Nebuchadnezzar's (grand)son. As in the previous instances in Daniel 2 and 4, the wisdom of the world is demonstrated to be totally unable to solve its major problems and to understand either the present or the future. Montgomery, p. 253, citing Koldewey, Das wieder erstehende Babylon; and E. G. Kraeling, Rand McNally Bible Atlas, p. 327. [26] The purpose for this prolonged stay, effectively self-exile, in Tayma are unclear and debated. 249 According to J. Not only the record in Daniel but also the external evidence is now sufficient to support the conclusion that Belshazzars coregency is almost beyond question.
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