---
title: "Bullinger"
description: "Belshazzar . He was the son of Nabonidus. The inscriptions show that he was made co-regent while he (Nabonidus) went to meet Cyrus. See note on verses: D"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/daniel/5"
---

**Belshazzar** . He was the son of Nabonidus. The inscriptions show that he was made co-regent while he (Nabonidus) went to meet Cyrus. See note on verses: [Daniel 5:2](../../../kjv/daniel/5/2) , [Daniel 5:7](../../../kjv/daniel/5/7) , [Daniel 5:1](../../../kjv/daniel/5/1) .
**a great feast** . The hall in which it was held has lately been excavated. It [Isaiah 60](../../../kjv/isaiah/60) feet wide and 172 feet long, the walls being beautifully decorated with painted stucco designs. See *Records of the Past,* vol. i, part v, p. 160.
**lords** = great ones, or nobles. Chaldee. *rabreban,* same as "princes" in verses: [Daniel 5:2](../../../kjv/daniel/5/2) , [Daniel 5:3](../../../kjv/daniel/5/3) .
**wine** . Chaldee. *chamra'.* Same as Hebrew. *chemer.* App-27 .

**vessels** . Compare [Daniel 1:2](../../../kjv/daniel/1/2) ; and see [2 Kings 25:15](../../../kjv/2-kings/25/15) . [2 Chronicles 36:10](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/36/10) .
**father Nebuchadnezzar** . No "historical difficulty". Critics should tell us what word Daniel could have used, seeing there is no word in Chaldee or Hebrew for "grandfather". The word "father" is used by Figure of speech *Synecdoche* (of Species), App-6 , for ancestor. Compare [1 Kings 15:11-13](../../../kjv/1-kings/15/11-13) , where David is called the "father" of Asa, and Maachah is called his mother (compare [2 Kings 15:1](../../../kjv/2-kings/15/1) , [2 Kings 15:2](../../../kjv/2-kings/15/2) with 11-13). In [2 Kings 14:3](../../../kjv/2-kings/14/3) the same is said of Amaziah; and in [2 Chronicles 34:1](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/1) , [2 Chronicles 34:2](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/2) , of Josiah. Compare [Romans 9:10](../../../kjv/romans/9/10) , where Paul speaks of "our father Isaac". But [Jeremiah 27:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/27/7) explains the matter fully: "all nations shall serve him (i.e. Nebuchadnezzar), and his son (Nabonidus), and his son's son (Belshazzar), until the very time of his land come". See note on [Daniel 7:1](../../../kjv/daniel/7/1) .
**taken out** = brought forth. Compare [Ezra 1:7](../../../kjv/ezra/1/7) .
**princes** . Chaldee. *rabreban* , as in [Daniel 5:3](../../../kjv/daniel/5/3) , same as "lords" in verses: [Daniel 5:1](../../../kjv/daniel/5/1) , [Daniel 5:9](../../../kjv/daniel/5/9) , [Daniel 5:10](../../../kjv/daniel/5/10) , Dan 1:23 . Elsewhere, only in this book, in [Daniel 4:36](../../../kjv/daniel/4/36) , and [Daniel 6:17](../../../kjv/daniel/6/17) .
**wives** . Showing that the "queen" mentioned in [Daniel 5:10](../../../kjv/daniel/5/10) must have been his mother.

**In the same hour** = At the same moment. See note on "hour", [Daniel 3:5](../../../kjv/daniel/3/5) .
**man's** . Chaldee ' *enash* . App-14 .
**candlestick** = larnpstand.
**saw** = was gazing on.
**the part** = the end: i.e. the fingers.

**countenance** = bright looks.

**astrologers, &c** . See note on [Daniel 2:2](../../../kjv/daniel/2/2) .
**scarlet** = purple.
**be the third ruler** = rule as one of three: i.e. the third: Nabonidus being the first, and Belshazzar the second.

**the king's** . Some codices read "Babylon's".

**astonied** = dumbfoundered.

**the queen** . Nitocris, the daughter in law of Nebuchadnezzar, and mother of Nabonidus.
**came into, &c** . She was not present among the "wives" of [Daniel 5:2](../../../kjv/daniel/5/2) .

**man:** or, grandee. Chaldee. *g* ebar. Same as App-14 .
**spirit** . Chaldee. *ruach.* App-9 .
**holy** . See note on [Exodus 3:5](../../../kjv/exodus/3/5) .
**gods** . Chaldee. *'elahin* (plural) App-4 .
**made master of the magicians** . See [Daniel 2:48](../../../kjv/daniel/2/48) . See note on [Daniel 2:2](../../../kjv/daniel/2/2) .

**hard** = dark.
**Belteshazzar** . See note on [Daniel 1:7](../../../kjv/daniel/1/7) .

**Art thou, &c . . . ?** Showing that the king had no personal knowledge of Daniel, or had disregarded him.
**children** = sons.
**Jewry** = Judah.

**the gods** . Some codices, with seven early printed editions, and Syriac, read "the holy gods", as in [Daniel 5:11](../../../kjv/daniel/5/11) , and [Daniel 4:18](../../../kjv/daniel/4/18) .

**interpretation** . Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read "interpretation thereof".

**the MOST HIGH** . Same as Hebrew. *'elyon.* App-4 .

**people** = peoples.
**whom he would, &c** See note on "inferior" ([Daniel 2:39](../../../kjv/daniel/2/39) ).

**mind** = spirit. Chaldee. *ruach* . App-9 .

**driven, &c** . Compare [Daniel 4:32](../../../kjv/daniel/4/32) .
**wet** = drenched.

**his son.** See note on "father", [Daniel 5:2](../../../kjv/daniel/5/2) .

**the Lord** . Chaldee. *mare.* The equivalent for the Hebrew Adonai. App-4 . Compare *Maran* in " *Maranatha* " ([1 Corinthians 16:22](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/16/22) ).
**which see not, &c** . Compare [Psalms 115:4-8](../../../kjv/psalms/115/4-8) ; [Psalms 135:15-17](../../../kjv/psalms/135/15-17) . [Isaiah 37:19](../../../kjv/isaiah/37/19) ; [Isaiah 46:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/46/6) , [Isaiah 46:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/46/7) .
**in Whose hand, &c.** Compare [Genesis 2:7](../../../kjv/genesis/2/7) . [Job 12:10](../../../kjv/job/12/10) ; [Job 34:14](../../../kjv/job/34/14) , [Job 34:15](../../../kjv/job/34/15) .[Psalms 104:29](../../../kjv/psalms/104/29) .
**breath** . Chaldee. *nishma'.* Same as Hebrew. *neshamah.* App-16 .
**and Whose, &c** . Compare [Job 31:4](../../../kjv/job/31/4) .[Psalms 139:3](../../../kjv/psalms/139/3) .[Proverbs 20:24](../../../kjv/proverbs/20/24) .[Jeremiah 10:23](../../../kjv/jeremiah/10/23) .

**this writing** . The Divine prophetic meaning could not be *known* or *understood* till interpreted by Daniel.
**written:** or graven.

**MENE, MENE** = NUMBERED, NUMBERED. Figure of speech *Epizeuxis* ( App-6 ), for great emphasis. Chaldee. *mene', mene* ' = numbered [yea] ended. See note on [Jeremiah 27:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/27/7) .
**TEKEL** = WEIGHED. Chaldee. *tekel* (compare Hebrew. *shekel* . App-51 .)
**UPPHARSIN** = AND DIVIDED (or BROKEN). Chaldee. *upharsin* (the " *u* " being the conjunction = and), from Chaldee. *paras =* to break. See note on [Daniel 4:27](../../../kjv/daniel/4/27) . There is a further reference, by the Figure of speech *Syllepsis* (or combination), App-6 , to the *Persians,* by whom the kingdom of Babylon was broken up.

**made a proclamation** . See note on "herald", [Daniel 3:4](../../../kjv/daniel/3/4) .

**that night.** Compare [Daniel 5:1](../../../kjv/daniel/5/1) .
**Belshazzar** . See note on [Daniel 5:2](../../../kjv/daniel/5/2) .
**the Chaldeans** . Here spoken of in the national sense, not of a special class. See note on [Daniel 1:4](../../../kjv/daniel/1/4) .
**slain** . Either by the Persians, or it may have been by assassination by one of his own followers, or accidentally in the tumult. Chaldee. *k* etal, used of a violent death. Compare [Daniel 5:19](../../../kjv/daniel/5/19) . This was on the third of the month Marchesvan. On the eleventh, Belshazzar's wife died, perhaps from grief. See *Encycl. Brit* , vol. iii, p. 711, 712, 11th (Cambridge) edition. See App-57 .

**Darius the Median** . Through not noting the fact that "Darius" was an appellative denoting "the Maintainer", and used by Xerxes and others, modern critics have denied the existence of such a king. ASTYAGES was called "Darius". CYRUS (his son) was co-regent. His general GOBRYAS took the city in the name of CYRUS. See [Isaiah 45:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/45/1) . Compare [Jeremiah 51:30](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/30) , [Jeremiah 51:31](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/31) . See notes there. Consult App-57 .
**took** . Chaldee. *k* ebal = to take from another. Compare [Daniel 7:18](../../../kjv/daniel/7/18) . Not the same word as in verses: [Daniel 5:5](../../../kjv/daniel/5/5) , [Daniel 5:2](../../../kjv/daniel/5/2) , [Daniel 5:3](../../../kjv/daniel/5/3) , which is *nephak* = to take out; or [Daniel 5:20](../../../kjv/daniel/5/20) , which is *'adah* = remove.
**threescore and two** . Born 488 B.C. Herodotus states that CYRUS was about forty years of age at the taking of Babylon (in 426 B. c). At that age his father ASTYAGES ("Darius the Median") was about "threescore and two years old" ([Daniel 5:31](../../../kjv/daniel/5/31) ). Cyrus would therefore be just forty, according to the chronology of App-60 , having been born in 466 B.C.

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