Daniel 5:1-31
605 BC Nebuchadnezzar begins to reign
604 Nebuchadnezzar has the dream of the statue in chapter
2
603 Nebuchadnezzar builds the golden image of chapter 3
586 Nebuchadnezzar
burns
570 Nebuchadnezzar dreams of the great tree (Dan. 4:1-27)
569 Nebuchadnezzar is driven from his palace (Dan.
4:28-33)
562 Nebuchadnezzar is restored to throne (Daniel
4:34-37), he writes Daniel chapter 4 and dies later that year
561 Nebuchadnezzar's son Evil Merodach begins to reign,
he releases 55 year old Jehoiachin from prison; Daniel is 62
559 Neriglissar, a senior officer at
556 Nebuchadnezzar's daughter, Nitocris, is married to
Nabonidus who becomes king of
554 Nabonidus moves to Harran to work on a temple to the
moon god Sin and leaves
555 Cyrus and Nabonidus make a treaty and conquer
552 Nabonidus moves into Arabia; In the next ten years
551 Daniel chapter 8, the vision of the goat and the ram
549 Cyrus and Darius unite.
547 Medes cross
Elamites overrun southern
546 Cyrus defeats Croesus of Lydia,
545 Nabonidus returns to
539 Nabonidus flees south 11 miles to Borsipppa
September - Cyrus defeats
October 12 - Daniel chapter 5, Daniel is 84
years old
October
29, Cyrus enters
5:1
Belshazzar is not recorded
in history but in Daniel and sources that use Daniel like Josephus. Herodotus
(400's BC) and Xenophon (300's BC) knew nothing of Belshazzar. If the book of
Daniel had been written in the 200's then Nabonidus would be the last king and
not Belshazzar. Multiple sources in archaeology have confirmed Belshazzar's
existence and his position as king of
"Great Banquet" -
Persian kings recorded as entertaining 15,000, Alexander had 10,000 guests at a
wedding, Xerxes had a large gathering from his empire for 180 days (6 months).
Both Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon write of this same party the night
The date is October 12, 539
BC. According to the "Nabonidus Chronicle"
Nabonidus Chronicle that
records the Babylonians had suffered a major defeat a few days before the party
of October 12, 539 BC. One of the statements on this says, “The king was in Tema;
the king’s son, courtiers and army were in
Nabonidus Cylinder says: “Belshazzar
the firstborn son, the offspring of my heart.”
The reason for the feast
appears to be an annual celebration that the Persians took advantage of and
Belshezzar used to boost morale. The city was protected by water which gave
them a vast supply. Heroditus says they had enough stored food to last for
several years.
View of
More options: http://www.maquettes-historiques.net/P102.html
5:2
"He gave orders to
bring the gold . . . .from the temple in
5:3
The women were present and
were being encouraged to drink
5:4
The holy vessels were used
to toast the pagan gods. The king was showing his superiority over the gods and
YHWH whom
Belshazzar may have been
mocking:
A. Daniel's prophecy of
B. Isaiah prophecy of Cyrus' coming in Isaiah 44:28 and
45:1
5:5
"hand" is palm of
the hand
The wall was "plaster"
made of chalk or lime. Excavations of the throne room in 1899 revealed that the
walls were washed over with white gypsum. This banquet room also appears to
have been excavated and located.
5:25,26
Mene - Numbered -
Belshazzar's evil life and rule would soon be over
Tekel - Weighed -
"wanting" or "lacking, deficient" in moral worth
Parsin - Divided - his
kingdom would be divided into pieces or destroyed, dissolved
Herodotus andXenophon tell
us that the two sets of double walls extending for 17 miles and 40 feet high,
but the water was diverted into a swamp and the soldiers waded through the
river under the walls
Gobryas, Cyrus' commander,
led soldiers into the palace where they found the king holding a dagger to kill
himself. The king and attendants were overpowered and killed. Nabonidus was
later captured and deported.