HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  24“So from his presence the hand was sent and this writing was inscribed. 25And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. 26This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days ofe your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27TEKEL, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; 28PERES,f your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

  29Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made concerning him that he should rank third in the kingdom.

  30That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed. 31g And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

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  a Theodotion Vg: Aram lacks and silver

  b Or a holy, divine spirit

  c Aram adds the king your father

  d Or a divine spirit

  e Aram lacks the days of

  f The singular of Parsin

  g Ch 6.1 in Aram

  5.1–31 The contest here involves the interpretation of mysterious writing, not a dream (chs. 2, 4). The sovereignty of God is asserted against a king who is unrepentant in his arrogance and sacrilege. The repetitive style of vv. 1–23 contrasts with the economical style of vv. 24–31. The Old Greek translation of this chapter is much shorter. Direct references to earlier chapters, especially to ch. 4, suggest a late date. As in all of chs. 1–6, historical information is unreliable.

  5.1 King Belshazzar, a new king whose name in Babylonian means “Bel, protect the king.” A person named Belshazzar existed in this period, but he was never king of Babylon, only regent while Nabonidus was at Teima; see note on 4.28–33; see also 7.1; 8.1. A great festival. See Esth 1.3–8.

  5.2 Under the influence of wine. See Esth 1.7–9. Vessels…of the temple in Jerusalem. See 1.2. His father Nebuchadnezzar. See vv. 11–12, 22; Bar 1.11. Belshazzar’s father was actually Nabonidus. The king…concubines. A listing as in, e.g., 3.2, 5, 21; 4.7. Women attend the banquet, in contrast to Esth 1.9. Some biblical texts speak of two classes of women in royal harems (see 1 Kings 11.3; Song 6.8): wives, queenly consorts (see Neh 2.6; Ps 45.9), and concubines, lower-rank women.

  5.3–4 Belshazzar profanes the temple vessels by having his whole retinue, including his concubines, drink from them and commits a sacrilege by using them in the praise of idols; both acts mock the power and sovereignty of God, as v. 23 makes explicit.

  5.4 The gods of…stone, a list of elements very similar to one in the Prayer of Nabonidus (4Q242) from Qumran, in which Nabonidus is indicted for idolatry. It recalls elements of the statue in Dan 2. See 5.23; Deut 4.28; Pss 115.4–8; 135.15–18.

  5.5 Immediately, swiftness of response similar to the speed of punishment in v. 30. Fingers of a human hand, a popular marvelous motif in folktales; see Ex 31.18.

  5.6 See v. 9. Here fear is so intense it has physical manifestations; see Ps 69.23; Isa 21.3; Ezek 21.7; Nah 2.10.

  5.7–8 The double task of reading and interpreting the writing (see 2.2–9). As usual, the Babylonian wise men fail; see 2.2–11; 4.7, 18. Political reward is promised those who are successful (see vv. 16, 29; 2.6) but there is no threat of punishment for failure (see 2.5, 9, 13).

  5.7 Purple, a sign of dignity and/or royalty; see Esth 8.15; Song 3.10; 1 Macc 10.20; 14.43–44; 2 Macc 4.38; 1 Esd 3.6; Mt 27.28. Chain, lit. “collar,” a Persian ornament signifying rank; see Gen 41.42. Rank third, be a high official; see 2.48; 5.16, 29; 6.2; Gen 41.40–41; Ezek 23.23.

  5.10 The queen, usually regarded as queen mother rather than queen consort because of her position of influence and power, her use of your father, King Nebuchadnezzar (v. 11), and her knowledge of Daniel’s high position in Nebuchadnezzar’s court; see 2.48; 4.9; 1 Kings 15.13; 2 Kings 10.13; 24.12. O king, live forever! See note on 2.4.

  5.11 Holy gods. See note on 4.8. Chief of the…diviners. See 2.48; 4.9.

  5.12 Excellent spirit…solve problems. See 1.17, 20; 4.9, 18; Gen 41.38. Explain riddles. See Prov 1.5–6; Sir 39.1–3. Whom the king named Belteshazzar. See 1.7.

  5.13 The new king does not seem to know Daniel; see vv. 11–12; Ex 1.8.

  5.17–21 See 4.22–27, 30–33.

  5.18–19 Gave emphasizes the king’s sovereignty as a gift from the Most High God; see ch. 4.

  5.19 Peoples, nations, and languages. See note on 3.4. He killed…degrade, a surprising description of royal power more usually reserved for God alone; see Deut 32.39; 1 Sam 2.6–7; Job 5.11; Ps 75.7–8; Tob 4.19; Sir 7.11.

  5.22–23 Repetition of you/yours focuses the rebuke forcefully on Belshazzar, who is quite unlike Nebuchadnezzar; see 4.37; Jer 22.15–19.

  5.23 The gods of…stone. See note on 5.4; gold and silver are reversed here.

  5.24–28 A succinct interpretation contrasts with lengthy preliminary remarks.

  5.25 MENE…PARSIN, units of monetary weight or value in Aramaic: the mina, shekel, and half-mina. A mina was worth between 50 and 60 shekels.

  5.26–28 The enigmatic words require further interpretation; Daniel’s explanation is allegorical, not literal, and creates puns by reading the Aramaic nouns as similar-sounding verbal roots; see Am 8.1–2.

  5.26 MENE sounds like mn’, “to number” see Ps 90.12.

  5.27 TEKEL sounds like tkl, “to weigh” see Job 31.6; Prov 16.2; 21.2; 24.12.

  5.28 PERES sounds like prs, “to divide” there is a second pun on the word Persians. Medes, people of Media, an obscure kingdom with its capital at Ecbatana. Media played a role in the Babylonian conquest of the Assyrians at Nineveh in 612 BCE but was incorporated into the Persian Empire by 550/49 BCE; see 7.5; 8.3–4; 9.1. Persians, people in the territory roughly corresponding to modern Iran; they defeated the Medes in 550/49 BCE; in 331 BCE their empire fell to Alexander the Great; see 6.8, 12, 15; 7.6; 8.3–4; 9.1.

  5.29 Daniel accepts the reward spurned earlier (v. 17); see 2.48; Gen 41.40–45; Esth 8.15.

  5.30 Punishment is swift and severe with no chance for repentance; see Isa 13.17–22; 21.1–10; Jer 51.8–16, 39–46.

  5.31 Darius the Mede is not a historical figure; Babylon was conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BCE, not by the Medes, despite the prophecies of Isa 13.17–22; 21.1–10; Jer 50.9, 41;51.11, 28; see Dan 9.1. There were three kings of Persia named Darius, of whom the first ruled 522–486 BCE.

  DANIEL 6

  The Plot against Daniel

  1It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred twenty satraps, stationed throughout the whole kingdom, 2and over them three presidents, including Daniel; to these the satraps gave account, so that the king might suffer no loss. 3Soon Daniel distinguished himself above all the other presidents and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom. 4So the presidents and the satraps tried to find grounds for complaint against Daniel in connection with the kingdom. But they could find no grounds for complaint or any corruption, because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption could be found in him. 5The men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

  6So the presidents and satraps conspired and came to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever prays to anyone, divine or human, for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions. 8Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9Therefore King Darius signed the document and interdict.

  Daniel in the Lions’ Den

  10Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his
knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. 11The conspirators came and found Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God. 12Then they approached the king and said concerning the interdict, “O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human, within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions?” The king answered, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13Then they responded to the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the interdict you have signed, but he is saying his prayers three times a day.”

  14When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him. 15Then the conspirators came to the king and said to him, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”

  16Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!” 17A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

  Daniel Saved from the Lions

  19Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. 20When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” 23Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

  25Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world: “May you have abundant prosperity! 26I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel:

  For he is the living God,

  enduring forever.

  His kingdom shall never be destroyed,

  and his dominion has no end.

  27He delivers and rescues,

  he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth;

  for he has saved Daniel

  from the power of the lions.”

  28So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

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  6.1–28 A legend similar in structure and style to the one in ch. 3. Despite an unusually benevolent king, conflict with jealous rivals puts Daniel in a life-threatening situation from which he is wondrously delivered by an angel. The underlying issue is again God’s sovereignty, which is introduced in v. 7 and culminates in vv. 26–27. Extensive use is made of repetition and elaboration (e.g., vv. 3–4, 7–8, 12). A different form of this story is preserved in the Old Greek.

  6.1 Darius. See note on 5.31. Satraps, officials who administered large regions called satrapies, which were subdivided into provinces ruled by governors (see 3.2); only twenty to thirty satrapies are known from Persian records, so the number here may include provinces (see Esth 1.1; 8.9; 1 Esd 3.2). Darius I of Persia was noted for organizing the satrapies.

  6.2 Three might be an allusion to third in 5.7, 16, 29; see Gen 41.41–42; 1 Esd 3.9. Presidents. No such officials are known from Persian documents.

  6.3 An excellent spirit. See 5.12. Appoint…kingdom. See Gen 41.41–44.

  6.5 The conspiracy is politically, not religiously, motivated.

  6.6 O King Darius, live forever! See note on 2.4.

  6.7 A typically fanciful plan, but it makes sovereignty the central issue of the conflict. Prefects…governors. See note on 3.2. Whoever prays…O king. The king is the only lawfully worshiped deity. When the king agrees to make this law (v. 9), he unwittingly challenges the sovereignty of God. Den, a pit or subterranean area with a small opening (see v. 17); there is no evidence of lions being kept this way, though the hunting and caging of lions is well documented in Mesopotamian inscriptions and art. The danger posed by the lions’ power took on symbolic value. See 1 Kings 13.24; Pss 22.21; 58.6; 91.13; Ezek 19.2–9.

  6.8 Cannot be revoked, a folkloristic motif, not a Persian custom. The scheme is designed to trap both Daniel and the king; see Esth 1.19; 8.8. Medes, Persians. See note on 5.28.

  6.10 Windows. See Tob 3.11. Upper room. See Judg 3.20; 1 Kings 17.19–20; 2 Kings 1.2;4.10; Jer 22.14; Acts 1.13. Praying toward Jerusalem was especially important in the exilic and postexilic periods; see 1 Kings 8.35–44; Pss 5.7; 138.2; 1 Esd 4.58. Down on his knees. Jews ordinarily stood for public prayer but during the postexilic period began the custom of kneeling for private prayer; see 1 Kings 8.54; 2 Chr 6.13; Ezra 9.5; Lk 22.41; Acts 9.40; 20.36. Three times a day. See 9.21; Ps 55.17; Jdt 9.1; Acts 3.1.

  6.12 Approached, in the sense of “bringing a charge” in a legal manner; see Isa 41.1; Mal 3.5.

  6.14 The king is remarkably sympathetic to Daniel; see vv. 16, 18–19, 23. He is distressed at Daniel’s plight and the realization he had been tricked; see 2.1; 3.13; 4.5; 5.6. Despite his royal power, the king cannot save Daniel; only the power of God will save him; see vv. 16, 22–23, 27.

  6.17 The king sealed…lords, an assurance that no human help could be given. Seals were made by pressing the signet into clay and were regularly used on official correspondence; see 1 Kings 21.8; Esth 3.12; 8.8, 10.

  6.20–22 The king does not observe the angel himself, unlike in ch. 3.

  6.20 The living God. See Deut 5.26; Ps 42.2; Jer 10.10; 23.36.

  6.21 O king, live forever! See note on 2.4.

  6.22 Daniel insists on his legal innocence; see Ps 91.9–16; 1 Macc 2.60. Angel. Postexilic Jewish writers increasingly depicted divine-human encounters as mediated through heavenly beings; see 3.28; 2 Kings 1.3; 1 Chr 21.12; Ps 91.11; Zech 3; Tob 5.4.

  6.24 Punishment for false witness. See Deut 19.16–19; Esth 9.25; Ps 140.9–11. As the property of men, children and…wives could be punished along with them; see Num 16.25–33; Josh 7.24; Judg 20.48; 21.10; 2 Sam 21.5–9; Esth 9.12–14.

  6.25 Peoples and nations of every language. See note on 3.4.

  6.26a Darius’s edict goes even further than that of Nebuchadnezzar (3.29) in ordering all to revere God.

  6.26–27 The rationale for the edict is a doxology, as in 4.3, 34–35, 37, recognizing the sovereignty of God.

  6.26 The living God. See 6.20. Enduring forever…no end. See 4.3, 34; Ex 15.18; Pss 10.16; 29.10; 66.7; 102.12.

  6.27 Signs and wonders. See 4.2–3.

  6.28 Cyrus the Persian allowed Jewish exiles to return home in 539 BCE, exhibiting moderation and religious sensitivity toward conquered peoples; see 5.31; 10.1; Ezra 1.1–4; 6.3–5; Isa 44.28; he is called the Lord’s anointed (or messiah) in Isa 45.1.

  DANIEL 7

  Visions of the Four Beasts

  1In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream:a 2I,b Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, 3and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then, as I watched, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a human being; and a human mind
was given to it. 5Another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, had three tusksc in its mouth among its teeth and was told, “Arise, devour many bodies!” 6After this, as I watched, another appeared, like a leopard. The beast had four wings of a bird on its back and four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns. 8I was considering the horns, when another horn appeared, a little one coming up among them; to make room for it, three of the earlier horns were plucked up by the roots. There were eyes like human eyes in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly.

  Judgment before the Ancient One

  9As I watched,

  thrones were set in place,

  and an Ancient Oned took his throne,

  his clothing was white as snow,

  and the hair of his head like pure wool;

  his throne was fiery flames,

  and its wheels were burning fire.

  10A stream of fire issued

  and flowed out from his presence.

  A thousand thousands served him,

  and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.

  The court sat in judgment,

  and the books were opened.

  11I watched then because of the noise of the arrogant words that the horn was speaking. And as I watched, the beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 13As I watched in the night visions,