17 Then hath Daniel answered and said before the king, `Thy gifts be to thyself, and thy fee to another give; nevertheless, the writing I do read to the king, and the interpretation I cause him to know;
18 thou, O king, God Most High, a kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and honour, gave to Nebuchadnezzar thy father:
19 and because of the greatness that He gave to him, all peoples, nations, and languages were trembling and fearing before him: whom he willed he was slaying, and whom he willed he was keeping alive, and whom he willed he was raising up, and whom he willed he was making low;
20 and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him,
21 and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses `is' his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it.
22 `And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known;
23 and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand `is' thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured.
24 `Then from before Him sent is the extremity of the hand, and the writing is noted down;
25 and this `is' the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided.
26 This `is' the interpretation of the thing: Numbered -- God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it.
27 Weighed -- Thou art weighed in the balances, and hast been found lacking.
28 Divided -- Divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians.'
29 Then hath Belshazzar said, and they have clothed Daniel with purple, and a bracelet of gold `is' on his neck, and they have proclaimed concerning him that he is the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 In that night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans is slain,
31 and Darius the Mede hath received the kingdom, when a son of sixty and two years.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Daniel 5
Commentary on Daniel 5 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 5
The destruction of the kingdom of Babylon had been long and often foretold when it was at a distance; in this chapter we have it accomplished, and a prediction of it the very same night that it was accomplished. Belshazzar now reigned in Babylon; some compute he had reigned seventeen years, others but three; we have here the story of his exit and the period of his kingdom. We must know that about two years before this Cyrus king of Persia, a growing monarch, came against Babylon with a great army; Belshazzar met him, fought him, and was routed by him in a pitched battle. He and his scattered forces retired into the city, where Cyrus besieged them. They were very secure, because the river Euphrates was their bulwark, and they had twenty years; provision in the city; but in the second year of the siege he took it, as is here related. We have in this chapter,
Dan 5:1-9
We have here Belshazzar the king very gay, but all of a sudden very gloomy, and in straits in the fulness of his sufficiency. See how he affronts God, and God affrights him; and wait what will be the issue of this contest; and whether he that hardened his heart against God prospered.
Dan 5:10-29
Here is,
Dan 5:30-31
Here is,