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Section Introduction

The account of Belshazzar’s feast describes the events of the final evening of Babylonian power, as the city fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC. By this time, Daniel is an old man of around 80 years, having served in the court of Nebuchadnezzar for much of his life. From this account, it appears that Daniel was not known to Belshazzar. He had probably been in retirement since the death of Nebuchadnezzar in 562 BC.

For many years, no historical evidence for the existence of Belshazzar had been found. From historical records, the last king of Babylon was known to be Nabonidus, so the account in Daniel chapter 5 seemed to contradict history.

A foundation cylinder kept in the British Museum describes the restoration of the temple of the moon-god at Ur by King Nabonidus. The inscription concludes with a prayer for himself and his son Belshazzar, as follows: "And as for me, Nabonidus, the king of Babylon, protect me from sinning against your exalted god-head, and give me graciously a long life; and in the heart of Belshazzar, my first-born son, the off-spring of my loins, set the fear of your exalted god-head, so that he may commit no sin and that he may be satisfied with the fulness of life." This demonstrates that Nabonidus did have a son called Belshazzar.

The Chronicle of Nabonidus in the British Museum explains that Nabonidus was absent in Arabia for at least five years of his reign, and that his son, the crown prince, remained in Babylon. The seventh year of the chronicle (549 - 548 BC) says this: "The king (Nabonidus) stayed in Tema; the crown prince (Belshazzar), his officials and his army were in Akkad. The king did not come to Babylon for the new year ceremonies ...". Each of the following years of the chronicle also say that Nabonidus remained in Tema.

Belshazzar’s great festival (5:1)

King Belshazzar had invited a thousand of his lords to a great festival and feast, and was drinking a lot of wine, and became drunk. He must have known that the Persian army was approaching the city, so the feast was an act of bravado, getting drunk when they know that the time is limited before the city will be attacked by their enemy.

Drank wine out of temple vessels (5:2-4)

At the beginning of the book, we are told that when king Nebuchadnezzar captured the city of Jerusalem in 605 BC, he had taken the sacred vessels of gold and silver from the temple (1:2). It was normal practice for conquering kings to take any idols from captured nations and place them in the temple of their gods. This concept is explained further on the page about Holy War. This was done to show that the gods of the conquering nations were more powerful than the gods of the nations they had conquered. After drinking much wine during his banquet, Belshazzar commanded that these sacred vessels from the Jewish temple should be brought in and used for his guests to drink wine from. The motivation of this action was aimed to be a deliberate insult to the God of the Jews, as well as a reminder for them of past victories, so he and his guests, including his concubines, drank from these vessels and praised the gods of the Babylonians.

We should also remember that feasts like these often ended in an orgy, with prostitutes provided for the guests.

Writing on the wall, king terrified (5:5-9)

As soon as they started drinking out of the sacred vessels, a human hand appeared and was writing on the plaster of the wall in sight of the king and all his guests. The king was terrified, and called all his wise men to read and interpret the writing. As noted in the introduction, the person who could read the writing was offered third place in the kingdom (v16) because Nabonidus was the king (first place in the kingdom), Belshazzar was the crown prince or regent (second place), so the highest position he could offer was third place. As seen a number of times through the book, the Babylonian wise men were unable to provide the meaning what the king had seen. When Babylon was excavated, the king’s throne room was discovered, which had one wall covered with blue-glazed bricks, and the other three walls were plastered.

Queen suggests calling Daniel (5:10-12)

This queen was probably Nitocris, the queen mother, the wife of Nabonidus, and the mother of Belshazzar, who was not attending the banquet (the wives of Belshazzar were mentioned earlier (5:3)). It is evident that she was older, and could remember events in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, as she was his daughter. She recalls the fact that Daniel had been appointed chief of the wise men because he had interpreted dreams and visions. She also remembered that Daniel was endowed with a spirit of the holy gods (v11), the same description Daniel had been given by Nebuchadnezzar (4:9). She urges Belshazzar to call for Daniel, and is confident that he will be able to give the interpretation of the writing on the wall.

If read writing, made third in kingdom (5:13-16)

Daniel was brought in before the king. Belshazzar had not met Daniel before, but is aware that Nebuchadnezzar had brought him to Babylon as one of the exiles from Judah (1:1). Belshazzar refers to Nebuchadnezzar as his father (v13), even though Nabonidus was his father and Nebuchadnezzar was actually his mother’s father. It appears that the word 'father' can also refer to a direct or even indirect ancestor, and not always a physical father. Belshazzar explains that his wise men have been unable to interpret the writing, but he is sure that because Daniel has a spirit of the gods in him (v14), he will be succeed. He promises him the same reward as his wise men of third place in the kingdom, below himself and his father Nabonidus.

Belshazzar not humbled like Nebuchadnezzar (5:17-23)

In his reply, Daniel refuses the rewards, and promises to interpret the writing. Daniel reminds Belshazzar about what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar, as described in chapter 4. God had given him great power and glory, but his heart was hardened in pride. Because of this, he had been driven out from human society to eat grass like an ox until he learned that the Most High God had sovereignty over the kingdom of men (v21). Belshazzar knew this, but showed the same pride and arrogance in profaning the sacred vessels from the temple in Jerusalem. Instead of honouring the God who gave him his very breath, he honoured the idols of silver and gold, which cannot see or hear or know.

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN (5:24-28)

There is quite a debate over the meaning of the words written on the wall. From the account, it is clear that not only could no one understand the meaning of the words, they could not even read the words. The king offered rewards to any of his wise men who could read the writing and tell him the interpretation (v7,15,16). With the help of God, Daniel was able to both read the writing (v25) and give the meaning of the words (v26-28) . It seems that the writing was not in a language that the king or his wise men understood, which would suggest that it was not Aramaic, the major language of commerce and trade. It has been suggested that the words were scratched into the plaster of the wall in cuneiform, which Daniel then translated into Aramaic. It should be noted that "the fingers (plural) of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the wall" (v5). When God inscribed the ten commandments, it was with his finger (singular) (Ex 31:18, Deut 9:10). If the writing was scratched into the plaster with several fingers of a hand, then Daniel could read the marks as numbers in cuneiform. He then converted the numbers into the names of Babylonian weights represented by the numbers, and used word-play to bring their meaning. The fingers of the left hand curled in a fist scratching in the plaster would leave the cuneiform marks:

The vertical line can either represent 1 or 60, and the plus sign represents one half, so Daniel read it as the numbers 60, 60, 1, ½, giving the weights, 'Mina, Mina, Shekel, Peresh'. A mina was 60 shekels, and Peresh was half a shekel. In modern weights a Mina is about 600g, a Shekel about 10g, and a Peresh about 5g. It can also be read as the numbers 1, 1, 1, ½ added together to make 3½, which becomes a significant number as the basis of several of the visions that follow later in the book (7:25, 9:2, 12:7). It is interesting to consider whether the these visions are based on the writing on the wall, thus suggesting a unity between the narrative and visionary parts of the book. This cuneiform idea was suggested by David Instone Brewer: Tyndale Bulletin 42.2 (Nov 1991) p 310-316.

It has also been suggested that the three weights represent the three main Babylonian kings. The Mina, the heaviest weight, represented Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful king. Nabonidus was the Shekel, a sixtieth of the weight of Nebuchadnezzar, and the weak Belshazzar was the Peresh, half the weight of Nabonidus, and under one percent of the weight of Nebuchadnezzar.

In his interpretation, Daniel uses wordplay on the Aramaic words to explain the message to the king: 'Mina' is a weight, but also contains the root verb meaning 'numbered', so the 'Mina' means that God has numbered the days of Belshazzar’s kingdom and brought it to an end (v26). 'Tekel' comes from the root meaning 'weighed' or 'assessed', so the 'Tekel' means that Belshazzar has been weighed on the scales of God’s judgement and been found wanting (v27). 'Peres' (singular of 'Parsin') is a word-play on the word 'Persian' as well as the verb 'divided', so the 'Peres' means that his kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians (v28).

Daniel clothed in purple (5:29)

Even though Daniel had rejected the rewards (v17), he was clothed in majestic clothes of a high official in the Babylonian empire, and ranked as third in the kingdom (below Nabonidus and Belshazzar).

That night Belshazzar killed (5:30)

The account concludes with the fulfilment of God’s words of judgement through the words written on the wall. Evidently, during the occupation of the city by the armies of Cyrus, Belshazzar was killed, and Darius the Mede became king.

Belshazzar’s feast on the night that Babylon fell is mentioned by historians. Xenophon wrote this: "The Persians chose to attack during a certain festival when all Babylon was accustomed to drink and revel all night long." (Cryopaedia 7.5.15), and Herodotus said, "At this time they were dancing and making merry at a festival" (1.191).

Historical Evidence for Fall of Babylon

The Chronicle of Nabonidus says this:
"The 14th day, Sippar (north-west of Babylon) was seized without battle. Nabonidus fled. The 16th day ... the army of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle. Afterwards Nabonidus was arrested in Babylon when he returned ... in the month of Arahshamnu, the 3rd day, Cyrus entered Babylon, green twigs were spread in front of him - the state of peace was imposed on the city. Cyrus sent greetings to all Babylon."

This the account on the Cyrus Cylinder:
"Upon the Babylonian's complaints, the lord of the gods became terribly angry and departed from their region, the other gods living among them also left their mansions. But Marduk who, because the sanctuaries of all their settlements were in ruins and the inhabitants of Sumer and Akkad had become like living dead, turned back his anger and had mercy on them. He scanned and looked through all the countries, searching for a righteous ruler willing to lead him (Marduk) in annual procession. He pronounced the name Cyrus, king of Anshan, declared him to be ruler of all the world. Without any battle, Marduk made him enter Babylon, sparing the city any calamity. He (Marduk) delivered Nabonidus, who did not worship Marduk, into Cyrus's hands. All inhabitants of Babylon, Sumer and Akkad, princes and governors, bowed to Cyrus and kissed his feet, jubilant that he had received the kingship and with shining faces. Happily they greeted him as master through whose help they had come to life from death and that all had been spared damage and disaster, and they worshipped his name." "When I, well disposed, entered Babylon, I set up the seat of dominion in the royal palace amidst jubilation and rejoicing. Marduk the great god caused the big-hearted inhabitants of Babylon to .. me. I sought daily to worship him. My numerous troops moved about undisturbed in the midst of Babylon. I did not allow any to terrorise the land of (Sumer) and Akkad. I kept in view the needs of Babylon and all its sanctuaries to promote their wellbeing."

The prophet Isaiah predicted the coming of Cyrus by name
who says of Cyrus, "He is my shepherd, and he shall carry out all my purpose"; and who says of Jerusalem, "It shall be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid" Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes" (Is 44:28 - 45:1)

Herodotus's Account of the Fall of Babylon (Histories 1:190-191)

190. Having, however, thus wreaked his vengeance on the Gyndes, by dispersing it through three hundred and sixty channels, Cyrus, with the first approach of the ensuing spring, marched forward against Babylon. The Babylonians, encamped without their walls, awaited his coming. A battle was fought at a short distance from the city, in which the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian king, whereupon they withdrew within their defences. here they shut themselves up, and made light of his siege, having laid in a store of provisions for many years in preparation against this attack; for then they saw Cyrus conquering nation after nation, they were convinced that he would never stop, and that their turn would come at last.

191. Cyrus was now reduced to great perplexity, as time went on and he made no progress against the place. In this distress either some one made the suggestion to him, or he bethought himself of a plan, which he proceeded to put in execution. He placed a portion of his army at the point where the river enters the city, and another body at the back of the place where it issues forth, with orders to march into the town by the bed of the stream, as soon as the water became shallow enough: he then himself drew off with the unwarlike portion of his host, and made for the place where Nitocris dug the basin for the river, where he did exacted what she had done formerly: he turned the Euphrates by a canal into the basin, which was then a march, on which the river sank to such an extent that the natural bed of the stream became fordable. Hereupon the Persians who had been left for the purpose at Babylon by the river-side, entered the stream, which had now sunk so as to reach about midway up a man's thigh, and thus got into the town. Had the Babylonians been apprised of what Cyrus was about, or had they noticed their danger, they would never have allowed the Persians to enter the city, but would have destroyed them utterly; for they would have made fast all the streetgates which gave upon the river, and mounting upon the walls along both sides of the stream, would so have caught the enemy as it were in a trap. But, as it was, the Persians came upon them by surprise and so took the city. Owing to the vast size of the place, the inhabitants of the central parts (as the residents of Babylon declare) long after the outer portions of the town were taken, knew nothing of what had chanced, but as they were engaged in a festival, continued dancing and revelling until they learnt of the capture but too certainly. Such, then, were the circumstances of the first taking of Babylon."

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