Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Daniel
Chapter 5: Weighed in the Balances
Belshazzar throws a drunken feast for a thousand of his lords and, in a deliberate act of defiance, calls for the sacred vessels stolen from the temple in Jerusalem so he and his guests can toast their idols from the cups of the living God. In that same hour a bloodless hand appears and writes four words on the plaster wall, and the terrified king watches his own knees knock together. His wise men cannot read it, but Daniel can. The old prophet refuses the king's rewards, rehearses how God humbled his father Nebuchadnezzar, and delivers the verdict Belshazzar had earned by never humbling his heart: 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN', numbered, weighed, and found wanting. That very night the empire fell and the king was slain. It is the most sobering party in Scripture, and a warning to every heart that knows God and will not glorify Him.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Daniel chapter 5, Belshazzar's feast and the writing on the wall. For each section you will find the KJV text, key word studies, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The chapter is written in Aramaic, so the word studies note Aramaic terms. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Holy Vessels Profaned
The king toasts his idols from the cups of God's temple.
Fingers on the Wall
A bloodless hand writes, and the king's knees knock together.
Thou Hast Not Glorified God
He knew how God humbled his father, yet would not humble himself.
Found Wanting
Numbered, weighed, divided, and Babylon falls that night.
Fingers of a Man's Hand (Daniel 5:1-16)
Belshazzar profanes the temple vessels to toast his idols; a hand appears and writes on the wall; his wise men cannot read it; and at the queen's word he summons Daniel, who once interpreted for his father.
They Could Not Read the Writing
"Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied. Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry? I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom."
Word Study
"the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple... drank in them." Belshazzar's sin is deliberate sacrilege. He takes the holy vessels dedicated to the LORD and turns them into party cups to toast "the gods of gold, and of silver." It is calculated contempt for the God of heaven, using what is holy to honor idols "which see not, nor hear, nor know" (verse 23). To profane the sacred for the sake of the world's pleasures always provokes God, "be not deceived; God is not mocked" (Galatians 6:7).
"In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand." Judgment breaks into the party at its height, "in the same hour." A disembodied hand writes on the wall by the lampstand, and the king who moments before mocked God now shakes so hard that "the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." This is the sudden reversal Scripture warns of: "when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them" (1 Thessalonians 5:3). The revelry of the proud can end in a single hour.
Explanation
Belshazzar throws "a great feast to a thousand of his lords." Drunk and defiant, he calls for "the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple" in Jerusalem, and he and his court drink from them while praising their idols. It is a deliberate insult to the living God. And "in the same hour" a hand appears and writes on the wall. The king's bravado collapses instantly; his face goes pale and his knees knock.
He offers lavish rewards, scarlet, a gold chain, the rank of "third ruler in the kingdom", to anyone who can read the writing, but his wise men "could not read the writing." As terror grips the hall, the queen (likely the queen mother) remembers Daniel, "in whom is the spirit of the holy gods," who served Nebuchadnezzar with "an excellent spirit." Daniel is summoned. The world's wisdom is baffled again, and again God's servant is called for when all else fails.
Gospel Focus
Belshazzar's feast is a portrait of a life lived in defiance of God, and of how quickly it can be brought to account. He used the holy things of God to serve his idols, and God is never mocked. Notice how fast the mood changed: one hour he was toasting his gods; the next his knees were knocking before a message he could not read. The pleasures of sin are loud but fragile, "in the same hour" they can turn to terror. This is the warning of the rich fool who tore down his barns to feast, only to hear, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee" (Luke 12:20). And notice, too, that the wisdom of the world "could not read the writing." When the real reckonings of life and death come, human cleverness is helpless; only God's truth, through God's servant, can interpret them. Do not build your joy on cups you have stolen from God. And when the writing appears on your wall, do not run to the world's wise men, but to the Word of the living God.
Thou Art Weighed in the Balances (Daniel 5:17-31)
Daniel refuses the rewards, rebukes the king for not humbling his heart though he knew how God abased his father, and reads the writing: God has numbered the kingdom, weighed the king and found him wanting, and given Babylon to the Medes and Persians, that very night.
The God in Whose Hand Thy Breath Is
"Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old."
Word Study
"MENE... TEKEL... PERES." The four words are Aramaic terms for weights and the verbs behind them. Mene ("numbered"): "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it." Tekel ("weighed"): "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." Peres ("divided," a play on both "to divide" and "Persia"): "Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." God had put Belshazzar on the scales, and he came up light. It is the image of every soul's reckoning, "to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity" (Psalm 62:9), for "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
"the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified." Here is the heart of the charge. Belshazzar's breath, his very next heartbeat, was in God's hand, "in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10), for "in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Yet he never "glorified" that God. This is the root sin of all mankind: "when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful" (Romans 1:21). To receive breath and blessing from God and refuse Him glory is the crime that hung over the whole feast.
Explanation
Daniel, now an old man, will not be bought: "Let thy gifts be to thyself." Then he preaches the sermon Belshazzar needed. He recounts how "the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar" his greatness, and how, "when his heart was lifted up... in pride," God abased him to live like a beast "till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men." The lesson was on record. But, Daniel says, "thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this." Knowing the story of his father, he still "lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven," profaned the holy vessels, praised dead idols, and "the God in whose hand thy breath is... hast thou not glorified."
Then Daniel reads the writing: "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN." God has "numbered" the kingdom and finished it; the king is "weighed in the balances, and art found wanting"; the kingdom is "divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." The verdict is final. Belshazzar keeps his word and honors Daniel, but it is too late for himself: "In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain," and Darius the Mede took the kingdom. The party ended in a funeral, exactly as the hand had written.
Gospel Focus
Belshazzar's condemnation was not ignorance but hardness: "thou... hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this." His father's humbling was a sermon he had watched but never heeded. This is the peril of privilege, "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required" (Luke 12:48), and the danger of every heart that knows the truth and will not bow to it, "he, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed" (Proverbs 29:1). At the center of his sin, and ours, is the failure to glorify "the God in whose hand thy breath is." We owe Him everything, and the least He is owed is glory. And then there is the scales: "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." This is the verdict on all human righteousness apart from Christ, for "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Every one of us, weighed by our own goodness, comes up light. The only hope is to be found not in our own righteousness but in Christ's, clothed in "the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21), so that on the day the scales are set we are not found wanting but found in Him. Glorify the God who holds your breath now, and be found in Christ, before the writing appears on the wall.
Chapter 5 in Review
Daniel 5 tells of Belshazzar's feast and the writing on the wall. In drunken defiance the king drinks from the holy temple vessels to toast his idols, and "in the same hour" a hand writes four words on the plaster. His wise men cannot read them, but Daniel, refusing all reward, does. He rebukes the king for never humbling his heart "though thou knewest all this" about his father's fall, and for failing to glorify "the God in whose hand thy breath is." Then he reads the verdict: "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN", numbered, weighed and "found wanting," divided and given to the Medes and Persians. "In that night" Babylon fell and the king was slain.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is a solemn call. It warns against knowing the truth and refusing to bow to it; Belshazzar had every reason to humble himself and did not. It exposes the root sin of the human race, receiving breath and blessing from God while refusing Him glory. And it holds up the image no one escapes: "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." Measured by our own righteousness, all of us come up light. But the gospel offers what Belshazzar never sought, to be clothed not in our own goodness but in the righteousness of Christ, so that in the great weighing we are "found in him." The party of the proud ends in a single night; the humble who glorify God and hide in Christ will not be found wanting. Glorify the God who holds your breath, and be found in Jesus.
- Profaning the holy for the world's pleasures provokes God, who is not mocked (5:2-4; Galatians 6:7).
- The revelry of the proud can turn to terror "in the same hour" (5:5-6; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Luke 12:20).
- Knowing the truth and not humbling the heart is a deadly hardness (5:22; Proverbs 29:1; Luke 12:48).
- The root sin: failing to glorify "the God in whose hand thy breath is" (5:23; Romans 1:21; Acts 17:28).
- "Weighed in the balances, and found wanting" is the verdict on all human righteousness (5:27; Romans 3:23; Psalm 62:9).
- The only hope is to be found in Christ's righteousness, not our own (2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9).
Questions for Reflection
- Are you using anything holy, time, gifts, truth, to serve your own idols instead of glorifying God?
- Belshazzar "knew all this" and still would not humble himself. Is there truth you know but have not bowed to?
- Your breath is in God's hand. Have you glorified Him as the giver of your very life?
- If you were weighed by your own righteousness today, would you be "found wanting"? Where is your hope?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Daniel 5 is in Aramaic; the wall words are weight-terms: mene ("numbered"), tekel ("weighed"), peres/upharsin ("divided," with a wordplay on "Persia"), verses 25-28. The profaned temple vessels: 2 Chronicles 36:7, 10, 18; Daniel 1:2. God not mocked; sudden judgment: Galatians 6:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Luke 12:16-21; Proverbs 29:1. Greater knowledge, greater accountability: Luke 12:47-48; James 4:17. The God who holds our breath: Job 12:10; 34:14-15; Acts 17:24-28; Isaiah 42:5. The root sin of not glorifying God: Romans 1:21. Weighed and found wanting; the judgment: Psalm 62:9; Job 31:6; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:12-13. Righteousness only in Christ: Romans 3:20-23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9. The fall of Babylon fulfilling prophecy: Isaiah 13; 47; Jeremiah 50-51. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Belshazzar's feast, the profaned vessels, and the hand on the wall: Daniel 5:1-16; Galatians 6:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Luke 12:20.
- Daniel's rebuke and the verdict, numbered, weighed, divided, and Babylon falls: Daniel 5:17-31; Romans 1:21; 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21.