References (8)
[It has been 25-30 years since Nebuchadnezzar's vindication at the end of the previous chapter. This chapter describes the events that took place on the evening of October 12, 539 BC. Nebuchadnezzar had died a natural death 23 years earlier in 562 BC. He was just over seventy years old. After several politically turbulent years with several changes of kings, Nabonidus came to power through a coup d'état in 556 BC. He is the last king of the Babylonian Empire. However, Nabonidus was not very interested in Babylon's greatest god, Marduk, and instead traveled extensively throughout the empire. He spent 10 years in the oasis of Teima in Arabia, where he worshipped the polytheistic god Sin and built many altars to other gods. As he was away from Babylon, he appointed his son Belshazzar as co-regent. Until the mid-19th century, there were no ancient sources, except for the Bible, that mentioned Belshazzar's name. Since then, several archaeological finds have been made, such as the Nabonidus Scroll, which confirms that Belshazzar was Nabonidus' son and co-regent.]
King Belshazzar [Nabonidus' son and co-regent] organized a great feast (banquet, a gala meal with religious elements) [in the city of Babylon] for a thousand nobles (high-ranking guests) and drank wine with them.
[The Babylonian Empire had its heyday under Nebuchadnezzar's rule, but after his death, the Medes and Persians began to take over more and more and were on their way to becoming the next great world power. While the feast was going on, the Persian army was outside the walls of Babylon. In recent weeks, they had advanced from the north and plundered several cities. This was not unknown to Belshazzar, but he took it in stride. Babylon had food supplies for 20 years. The outer wall was 9 miles long, 25 meters wide, and nearly 100 meters high. Inside it was another wall. Despite the siege, no one felt any danger—Babylon was impregnable! Nebuchadnezzar's testimony in chapter 4 concludes with God being able to humble the proud, see . Belshazzar's invitation to a wild party in the midst of a siege is the height of pride.]
While Belshazzar was drinking wine (under the influence of alcohol), he ordered that the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor (father, ancestor, perhaps grandfather) Nebuchadnezzar had plundered from the temple in Jerusalem be brought forth so that the king, his nobles, his wives, and concubines (mistresses) could drink from them.
[It was not customary for women to be present, see, for example, , . About 50 years earlier, at the same time that Daniel was taken away, Nebuchadnezzar took these sacred vessels from Jerusalem, see . Thousands of vessels had been taken away, a list of which can be found in .
The text emphasizes Belshazzar's connection to Nebuchadnezzar. The words father and son are often used in a broader sense for successors in ancient times. In an Assyrian text commonly referred to as "the black obelisk" of Shalmaneser III, Jehu is called "the son of Omri," even though he was not his son. He was from a completely different family. It is likely that Belshazzar was related to Nebuchadnezzar. There is reason to believe that Nabonidus married one of Nebuchadnezzar's daughters, which would make Belshazzar Nebuchadnezzar's grandson. He was well aware of the story of how the vessels came to Babylon, see . The fact that the holy vessels of the God of Israel were held as spoils of war in Babylon showed, in Belshazzar's mind, that the Babylonian gods were more powerful than the gods of other peoples. Desecrating and drinking from these vessels on this particular evening was probably considered by the alcohol-influenced Belshazzar to be an excellent idea to demonstratively show Babylon's power, see .]
King Belshazzar became even more terrified and turned pale (the color drained from his face). His nobles were also completely perplexed (shaken, stunned with fear because they did not understand what had happened).
But you, Belshazzar, his successor (son, descendant, perhaps grandson), have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.
[According to Babylonian historical texts, Belshazzar was an officer in the army under Neriglissar's rule as early as 560 BC. This means that Belshazzar was old enough to play an important role in the army only two years after Nebuchadnezzar's death. Belshazzar grew up in Babylon, where his father Nabonidus was one of the leaders. Belshazzar may well have met Nebuchadnezzar in person. Even though he had seen with his own eyes how God had restored Nebuchadnezzar after seven years of mental illness and had read the letter with the testimony that Nebuchadnezzar had sent to everyone in the kingdom, he chose a different path.]
At Belshazzar's command, Daniel was clothed in purple [given royal status], a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed to have the third highest position in the kingdom.
[Daniel knew that these were worthless gifts and titles in a kingdom that would fall in a few hours! It seems that Daniel nevertheless accepts the rewards that are foisted on him against his will, see . Perhaps protests in this situation would have led to him being accused of treason?]
That same night, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans [the Babylonian people], was killed.
In the first year of Belshazzar's reign [around 550 BC], Daniel had a dream and saw visions in his mind (in his head) while lying on his bed.
[Belshazzar was Nabonidus' eldest son. Nabonidus came to the throne in 556 BC and reigned until 539 BC. The Nabonidus Scroll mentions that they reigned together in Nabonidus' seventh year of reign, which is 549 BC. However, there are no records for years four, five, and half of the sixth year. Belshazzar's first year of reign is therefore somewhere between 553 and 550 BC. It is just over ten years since Nebuchadnezzar's death, see . Daniel is about 60-70 years old when he has this vision.]
He wrote down the main points of the dream.
[Chronologically, the visions in chapters 7 and 8 occur long before the events in chapter 5, which describes Belshazzar's feast. The fact that Daniel had had these visions more than ten years before that event helped him to interpret the writing on the wall. From chapter 8 until the end of the book, the text is written in Hebrew. The middle section, between 2:4 and 7:28, is written in Aramaic. The visions in chapters 2, 7, and 8 have several points of contact where the same kingdoms are described. The switch back to Hebrew, here in chapter 8, indicates that the vision here is directed specifically at the Jewish people. From dealing with general world events, it now describes in more detail how the great powers will affect Israel and the temple, see , .]
In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign [over Babylon, around 551-550 BC], I, Daniel, had another vision after the one I had seen before [two years earlier, see ].
