5 In that hour come forth have fingers of a man's hand, and they are writing over-against the candlestick, on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing;
`While the word is `in' the king's mouth a voice from the heavens hath fallen: To thee they are saying: O Nebuchadnezzar the king, the kingdom hath passed from thee,
That the singing of the wicked `is' short, And the joy of the profane for a moment,
A man often reproved, hardening the neck, Is suddenly broken, and there is no healing.
`In that hour the thing hath been fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar, and from men he is driven, and the herb as oxen he eateth, and by the dew of the heavens his body is wet, till that his hair as eagles' hath become great, and his nails as birds.'
`And now, caused to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that this writing they may read, and its interpretation to cause me to know: and they are not able to shew the interpretation of the thing:
`Then from before Him sent is the extremity of the hand, and the writing is noted down; and this `is' the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided. This `is' the interpretation of the thing: Numbered -- God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it. Weighed -- Thou art weighed in the balances, and hast been found lacking. Divided -- Divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians.'
for yourselves have known thoroughly that the day of the Lord as a thief in the night doth so come, for when they may say, Peace and surety, then sudden destruction doth stand by them, as the travail `doth' her who is with child, and they shall not escape;
and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and scrolls were opened, and another scroll was opened, which is that of the life, and the dead were judged out of the things written in the scrolls -- according to their works; and the sea did give up those dead in it, and the death and the hades did give up the dead in them, and they were judged, each one according to their works; and the death and the hades were cast to the lake of the fire -- this `is' the second death; and if any one was not found written in the scroll of the life, he was cast to the lake of the fire.
and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years, be resting, eat, drink, be merry. `And God said to him, Unthinking one! this night thy soul they shall require from thee, and what things thou didst prepare -- to whom shall they be?
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,