Daniel 5

Belshazzar was a co-regent, according to ancient Babylonian records, not a king. He was more of an Associate King. His father, Nabonidus, was king. But he preferred to live in Arabia. His son Belshazzar served as co-regent from 555-539 BC, when Persian invaders from what is now Iran captured the city of Babylon and executed him. He was 41 years old. One Greek history writer from the 300s BC, Xenophon, described Belshazzar as out of control, cruel, and with no interest in gods.

There’s a hint in the context that he has tipped the wine goblet too many times.

It’s unclear why the writer of Daniel called Belshazzar the son of Nebuchadnezzar. Documents from that era confirm he was the oldest son of Nabonidus. Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar didn’t seem to be related. Perhaps he was the son in the sense that he was a successor in Babylon’s family tree of kings.

Concubines were women—often slaves—who lived with a man in a legally binding relationship as secondary wives. They had less social status than a primary wife, along with fewer privileges and probably more chores. The reason for having a concubine wasn’t necessarily for the pleasure of it, but for the sons of it. People wanted kids. Especially boys. Big families provided more security. They worked together and took care of each other.

Okay, “cheers” may be a stretch, but the people were drinking from holy cups. They were holy because they were reserved for use in the service of God. They were anointed (Exodus 40:9) and devoted to sacred use for God’s pleasure, but these people were using them for their own pleasure.

The writer describes the group of advisors the king called, but with terms that aren’t clear. That’s why Bible translations handle the terms differently. Translators used terms such as: enchanters, astrologers, fortune-tellers, exorcists, diviners, and Chaldeans. Chaldea was a small territory in what is now southeastern Iraq. It followed the shores of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the northern tip of the Persian Gulf. The king may have used the name to refer to a particular kind of royal advisor who lived in Chaldea, such as an astrologer or fortune-teller.

The text literally says the king would promote the person to the third highest position in the kingdom. Belshazzar wasn’t in the number one position. His dad was, Nabonidus. Belshazzar as co-regent while his dad lived in Arabia, held the number two spot. The best he could offer his spirit guide was the number three spot.

[1] 5:11. It’s unclear if the king is referring to God or gods. The description is most often translated as “holy gods,” in the plural. But the phrase works either way: singular or plural. Some translate it as “holy deity.”

It’s unclear if the king is referring to God or gods. The description is most often translated as “holy gods,” in the plural. But the phrase works either way: singular or plural. Some translate it as “holy deity.”

It’s literally mene, tekel, parsin. These were numbers for an accountant. Ancient coins carry these names. A mene was 50 shekels in Judah or 60 in Babylon. A royal shekel was 11.5 grams or 0.4 ounces. A lighter shekel was  9.5 grams or 0.33 ounces. Tekel means one shekel. Parsin was the plural of peres, which means half or divided. There’s irony in the word parsin. It sounds like “Persian.” And it’s the Persians who are at the city gates and about to come in and kill Belshazzar.

Media was a nation of people known as the Medes. They united with the Persians to defeat the Babylonian Empire. They lived in what is now northern Iran, just south of the Caspian Sea. Mount Ararat lies within this region. That’s where a Bible writer says Noah’s boat ran aground after the Great Flood (Genesis 8:4).

Bad timing for Daniel it would seem, with the Persian army at the city gate and intent on erasing Babylon’s Empire and claiming it for themselves.

Darius the Mede or King Darius the Great? Medes were from the Midian Empire in what is now northern Iran. Darius the Mede, reported here, takes over at the death of Belshazzar. King Darius the Mede hasn’t shown up in history outside the Bible. And on the timeline of most scholars, it seems, there’s no room for him. The Book of Daniel says he was the king of Babylon after Belshazzar but before Cyrus the Great. Yet ancient documents say Cyrus took over when his army invaded, and Belshazzar was executed. In histories outside the Bible, the first Darius to rule the Persian Empire was Darius the Great, third emperor of the Achaemenid Dynasty. He reigned over the Persian Empire from 522-486 BC. He started about 83 years after Daniel was taken from Jerusalem to Babylon.