Belshazzar
The ruler of Babylon at its fall, described in Daniel as the son of Nebuchadnezzar and co-regent with his father Nabonidus. At a great feast he called for the gold vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem so that he and his lords, wives and concubines could drink from them while praising gods of gold and silver. Fingers of a human hand then wrote on the plaster of the wall, and Daniel read the words: numbered, weighed, divided. That night he was killed and the kingdom passed to the Medes and Persians.
What we know — and how we know it
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ArchaeologyLong doubted by critics, Belshazzar is confirmed by the Nabonidus Cylinder as son and co-regent of King Nabonidus — which explains why he could offer Daniel only 'third' place in the kingdom.
Carole Raddato — CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersXenophon tells how Babylon was taken by surprise during a night festival and its impious king killed — strikingly like the night of Daniel 5.
Where in scripture
DanielBelshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
Daniel 5:1
Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded that the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem be brought to him; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them.
Daniel 5:2
In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote near the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
Daniel 5:5 — The writing on the wall
Then king Belshazzar was greatly troubled, and his face was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed.
Daniel 5:9
“You, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this,
Daniel 5:22
Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Daniel 5:29
In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean King was slain.
Daniel 5:30
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head on his bed. Then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters.
Daniel 7:1
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
In their own words — 2 recorded sayings
“The king, crying out with a loud voice, said that the users of secret arts, the Chaldaeans, and the readers of signs, were to be sent for. The king made answer and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever is able to make out this writing, and make clear to me the sense of it, will be clothed in purple and have a chain of gold round his neck, and will be a ruler of high authority in the kingdom.” — Daniel 5:7
“Then they took Daniel in before the king; the king made answer and said to Daniel, So you are that Daniel, of the prisoners of Judah, whom my father took out of Judah. And I have had news of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and reason and special wisdom have been seen in you. And now the wise men, the users of secret arts, have been sent in before me for the purpose of reading this writing and making clear to me the sense of it: but they are not able to make clear the sense of the thing: And I have had news of you, that you have the power of making things clear, and…” — Daniel 5:13-16
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
Events
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In art
