As soon as a suitable number of the wise men had assembled, the king addressed them offering the reward that, if one of them could read the writing and show the interpretation, he would be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about his neck and become third ruler in the kingdom. 00:00. Cyrus, emperor of Persia, appoints Darius the Mede as viceroy in Babylon. Prophecy anticipating the fall of Babylon is found in both Isaiah and Jeremiah, written many years before. For the duration of the decade-long absence of his father, Belshazzar served as regent in Babylon. His grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken these cups from the Temple in Jerusalem. While the feast was in progress with its drinking of wine and shouting of praises to the gods of Babylon, suddenly there appeared the fingers of a mans hand which wrote on the plastered wall of the palace. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain He and all his nobles were slain together, in the midst of their feasting and revelling, as Herodotus, lib. Daniel 1:1-2, Jeremiah 25:1), Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin became king (2 Kings 24:6). Belshazzar died after Babylon fell to the Persian general Gobyras without resistance on Oct. 12, 539, and probably before the Persian king Cyrus II entered the city 17 days later. Even while Daniel was interpreting the writing on the wall, the prophecy was being fulfilled as the Medes and the Persians poured into the city. 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? 7. Daniel 5:30-31. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The word for doubts ( qitrin) is actually knots, joints, difficult problems. Nabonidus also had certain inscriptions made during the period of the regency edited to add prayers urging Belshazzar and the people of Babylonia to accept and receive Sn's blessing. Their confidence in their gods was bolstered by their confidence in their city. 248 James A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, p. 249. Many of the streets were lined with buildings three and four stories high. His son, Laborosoardoch, a mere boy, occupied it for nine months, when, owing to the depraved disposition which he showed, a conspiracy was formed against him, and he was beaten to death by his friends. Although such ancient records are notoriously inaccurate and at best are fragmentary, the argument of the critics was that Belshazzar never existed because his name did not appear in any of the ancient records. 114 ff. Belshazzar Babylonian King - Amazing Bible Timeline Nebuchadnezzar dies and is replaced by a succession of short-lived kings. On the other hand, such a careful scholar as Edward J. Daniel the Prophet of the Bible, His Life and Accomplishments He knew for instance that Daniel was of the captivity of Judah and that he was one of the captives which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of Jerusalem. Belshazzars predicament is another illustration of the insecurity and powerlessness of the rulers of this world when confronted by the power and wisdom of God. If the setting can be reconstructed, Nabonidus previously had gone forth from Babylon to fight the Medes and the Persians and had already been captured. 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 show 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. Daniel 3:13-15, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego continue to refuse to worship Nebuchadnezzars golden statue. All of this proved that God was greater than Nebuchadnezzar and held him responsible for his authority. It was hard for the Babylonians to believe that even the Medes and the Persians who had surrounded their beloved city could possibly breach the fortifications or exhaust their supplies which were intended to be ample for a siege of many years. 266 Herodotus, History of the Persian Wars, 1:178-83. [6] In the story, the conqueror who inherits Babylon is Darius the Mede, but no such individual is known to history, and the invaders were actually Persians. Freedman cites H. Louis Ginsberg (Studies in Daniel, pp. Q. 278 There is a remarkably close parallel to the language of 5:23 in the Prayer of Nabonidus found in Qumran Cave 4:See J. T. Milik, pp. How old was Daniel when Belshazzar was king? [25] In 546 BC, Cyrus the Great crossed the Tigris to invade Lydia, ostensibly a Babylonian ally, and though Belshazzar took up a defensive position with his army, perhaps expecting a sudden Persian attack against Babylonia itself, no aid was sent to the Lydians, who were swiftly conquered by Cyrus. It is possible that Belshazzar had campaigned against the Persians on Lydia's behalf a year prior, in 547 BC. Perhaps the full force of his wickedness in using the vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem had begun to dawn upon him, or the fears suppressed concerning the presence of the armies which surrounded Babylon may have now emerged. Like Nebuchadnezzar before him, Belshazzar was soon to experience divine judgment but without the happy ending. His concern was shared by the entire assembly. Scholars are not agreed as to the precise meaning of this term, but the suggestion is made that it may be a title for an office of honor which did not necessarily correspond precisely to the meaning of the word. The Jewish Encyclopedia. Those critical of the authenticity and accuracy of Daniel, especially those zealous to prove second-century authorship, proceed on the premise that Daniel must be in error until he is proved otherwise. Old Testament Table of Contents and reigned until 539 b.c. 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: Daniels reply to the king is properly called a sermon, and as King says, What a great sermon it is!276 Daniel begins by disavowing any interest in the gifts or rewards which the king offered. This implies a twofold difficulty. Belshazzar also lacked many of the prerogatives of kingship, most importantly he was not allowed to preside over and officiate the Babylonian New Year's festival, which was the exclusive right of the king himself. TEQEL means weighed, with the thought that Belshazzar has been put into the balances and found wanting, that is, short of true weight. [7] The story of Belshazzar's feast is historical fiction, and several details are not consistent with historical facts. When Nebuchadnezzar died, Daniel was one of the most powerful men in Babylon and doubtless had his own house and was well provisioned for retirement. Cf. Since there is little change in the prominent members of Neriglissar's and Labashi-Marduk's former household under Belshazzar, it is probable that Belshazzar becoming the master of the household was met with relatively little opposition. This would involve the premise that Nabonidus, although usually living at Teima, had returned to Babylon for a visit just prior to the siege of Babylon, had gone out to battle before Babylon was actually surrounded, and then was defeated, thereby permitting the Persians to besiege Babylon itself. That would make him about 85 to ninety years old at his death. Corrections? Belshazzar (Babylonian cuneiform: Bl-ar-uur,[1][2] meaning "Bel, protect the king";[3] Hebrew: .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-family:"SBL Hebrew","SBL BibLit","Taamey Ashkenaz","Taamey Frank CLM","Frank Ruehl CLM","Ezra SIL","Ezra SIL SR","Keter Aram Tsova","Taamey David CLM","Keter YG","Shofar","David CLM","Hadasim CLM","Simple CLM","Nachlieli",Cardo,Alef,"Noto Serif Hebrew","Noto Sans Hebrew","David Libre",David,"Times New Roman",Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans} Blaar) was the son and crown prince of Nabonidus (r.556539 BC), the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. and the fall of Babylon 539 B.C. Belshazzar was not allowed to officiate and oversee the Babylonian. 9. Daniel had not been assembled with the other wise men because he probably was in semiretirement and was no longer chief of the wise men. The Revised Standard Version, following the Vulgate, adds in verse 3 and silver vessels. This act of sacrilege was an intentioned religious gesture in praise of the gods of Babylon mentioned in descending order of importance as gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. That Belshazzar well knew the blasphemous character of his act is evident from Daniel 5:13, 22. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. Daniel 3:16-18, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are thrown into the furnace but are unharmed. This, however, is conjecture; and probably it is more natural to consider Belshazzar a son of Nabonidus himself. Much speculation has arisen concerning the expression that he offered them the position of being the third ruler in the kingdom. There is some question as to whether the Aramaic indicates specifically the third ruler. The ordinal numeral would be tlitay (as in Dan 2:39) whereas the Aramaic here is actually talti. According to the well-known narrative Belshazzar gave a splendid feast in his palace during the siege of Babylon (B.C. Belshazzar (Balthazar), on the other hand, disappeared from history around 540 BC, when Darius the Great would have been roughly ten years of age. Since Belshazzar was the main beneficiary of the coup, through confiscating and inheriting Labashi-Marduk's estates and wealth, it is likely that he was the chief orchestrator. There was plenty of water from the Euphrates River which bisected the city. That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed. Nabonidus appoints his son, Belshazzar, as his co-regent. Daniel 5:18-21 . The next four years Neriglisar occupied the throne. What Did Belshazzar Use In His Feast? - On Secret Hunt A Summary and Analysis of the Writing on the Wall at Belshazzar's Feast Daniel read the writing and Belshazzar made him the third ruler in the kingdom. [43], Regardless of any potential animosity between Nabonidus and Belshazzar, Belshazzar retained the status of crown prince and intended successor, as a handful of documents still reference the "son of the king". Belshazzar and Darius the Mede: Was Daniel Wrong? MENE could be considered equivalent to the maneh of Ezekiel 45:12; Ezra 2:69. Honoring of parents was characteristic of the Israelites (Ex 20:12; 1 Ki 2:13-20; 2 Ki 24:12-15). See also Keil, p. 179, citing Athenaeus, as does Young, p. 118. For his wisdom, Daniel was honored by King Nebuchadnezzar and placed in authority over all the wise men of Babylon. He praises God, and after seven months, his sanity is restored. Sermons and Outlines - Sermon Notebook 272 R. H. Charles, The Book of Daniel, pp. [24] Nabonidus made Tayma his provisional seat and he would stay there for about a decade, not returning to Babylon until September or October of 543 or 542 BC. Critics of the authenticity and historicity of Daniel accordingly were free to question whether any such person as Belshazzar existed. Probably before the babble of conversation in the banquet room had subsided, the king began to cry aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. Only three classes of wise men are mentioned, but it is doubtful whether any class was intentionally omitted as verse 8 refers to all the kings wise men. The astrologers were actually the magicians; the Chaldeans were a broad class of scholars and learned men in the lore of the Babylonians; and the soothsayers corresponded more closely to the modern concept of astrologers, although they may have also practiced sorcery.
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