Daniel 5

VBL · Chapter 5/12

¹El rey Belsasar celebró un gran banquete para mil de sus nobles, y estuvo bebiendo vino con ellos.

²Bajo la influencia del vino, Belsasar ordenó a sus siervos que trajeran las copas y los cuencos de oro y plata que su padre Nabucodonosor había tomado del Templo de Jerusalén para que él y sus nobles, sus esposas y concubinas, bebieran de ellos.

³Así pues, trajeron las copas y los vasos de oro que habían sido tomados del Templo de Dios en Jerusalén. El rey y sus nobles, sus esposas y concubinas, bebieron de ellos.

⁴Mientras bebían vino, alababan a sus dioses: ídolos de oro, plata, bronce, hierro, madera y piedra.

⁵Al instante aparecieron los dedos de una mano humana que escribía en la pared de yeso del palacio del rey, frente al candelabro. El rey observó la mano mientras escribía.

⁶Su rostro palideció, y se asustó mucho. Sus piernas cedieron y sus rodillas se golpearon.

⁷El rey gritó: “¡Traigan a los encantadores, astrólogos y adivinos!” Les dijo a estos sabios de Babilonia: “El que pueda leer esta escritura y explicármela será vestido de púrpura y se le pondrá una cadena de oro al cuello, y se convertirá en el tercer gobernante del reino”.

⁸Sin embargo, después de que entraron todos los sabios del rey, no pudieron leer la escritura ni explicarle lo que significaba.

⁹Esto hizo que el rey Belsasar se asustara aún más y su rostro se puso más pálido. Sus nobles también entraron en pánico.

¹⁰Cuando la reina madre oyó el ruido que hacían el rey y los nobles, se dirigió a la sala de banquetes. Le dijo a Belsasar: “¡Que su majestad el rey viva para siempre! ¡No te asustes! ¡No estés tan pálido!

¹¹Hay un hombre en tu reino que tiene el espíritu de los dioses santos en él. En la casa de tu padre tiempo se encontró que tenía entendimiento y perspicacia, y una sabiduría como la de los dioses. El padre de Su Majestad, el rey Nabucodonosor, lo puso a cargo de los magos, encantadores, astrólogos y adivinos. Tu padre hizo esto

¹²porque Daniel, (llamado Beltsasar por el rey) fue encontrado con una mente excelente, llena de entendimiento y perspicacia, y también capaz de interpretar sueños, explicar misterios y resolver problemas difíciles. Llama a Daniel y que te explique lo que esto significa”.

¹³Así que Daniel fue llevado ante el rey. El rey le preguntó: “¿Eres tú Daniel, uno de los prisioneros que mi padre el rey trajo de Judá?

¹⁴He oído hablar de ti, que el espíritu de los dioses está en ti, y que se ha descubierto que tienes entendimiento, perspicacia y gran sabiduría.

¹⁵Hace poco trajeron ante mí a los sabios y a los encantadores para que leyeran esta escritura y me la explicaran, pero no pudieron hacerlo; no pudieron decirme qué significaba.

¹⁶Sin embargo, me han dicho que tú eres capaz de dar interpretaciones y resolver problemas difíciles. Si puedes leer esta escritura y explicármela, te vestirán de púrpura y te pondrán una cadena de oro al cuello, y llegarás a ser el tercer gobernante del reino”.

¹⁷Daniel respondió al rey: “Guarde sus regalos y dele recompensas a otro. De todos modos leeré el escrito ante Su Majestad y le explicaré lo que significa.

¹⁸Su Majestad, el Dios Altísimo le dio a su padre Nabucodonosor este reino, y poder, gloria y majestad.

¹⁹A causa del poder que le dio, los pueblos de todas las naciones y lenguas temblaron de miedo ante él. A los que quiso matar los mató, y a los que quiso que vivieran los dejó vivir. Los que quiso honrar fueron honrados, y los que quiso humillar fueron humillados.

²⁰Pero cuando se volvió arrogante y duro de corazón, actuando con orgullo, fue removido de su trono real y su gloria le fue quitada.

²¹Fue expulsado de la sociedad humana y su mente se volvió como la de un animal. Vivió con los asnos salvajes y comió hierba como el ganado, y fue empapado con el rocío del cielo hasta que reconoció que el Altísimo gobierna los reinos humanos y que se los da a quien él quiere.

²²“Pero tú, Belsasar, su hijo, no te has humillado, aunque sabías todo esto.

²³Has desafiado con arrogancia al Señor del cielo y has hecho que te trajeran las copas y los cuencos de su Templo. Tú y tus nobles, tus esposas y concubinas, bebisteis vino de ellos mientras alababas a dioses de plata, oro, bronce, hierro, madera y piedra que no pueden ver ni oír ni saber nada. Pero no han honrado a Dios, que tiene en su mano su propio aliento y todo lo que hacen.

²⁴Por eso envió la mano a escribir este mensaje.

²⁵“Lo que estaba escrito en la pared era esto ‘Contado, pesado y dividido’.

²⁶A continuación el significado. Numerado: Dios ha contado tu reinado y lo ha llevado a su fin.

²⁷Pesado: has sido pesado en la balanza y has sido hallado falto de peso.

²⁸Dividido: tu reino ha sido dividido y entregado a los medos y a los persas”.

²⁹Entonces Belsasar dio la orden y Daniel fue vestido de púrpura y se le puso una cadena de oro al cuello. Fue proclamado tercer gobernante del reino.

³⁰Esa misma noche Beltsasar, rey de los babilonios, fue asesinado

³¹y a Darío el Medo se le dio el reino a la edad de sesenta y dos años.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

King Belshazzar holds a profane banquet using the sacred vessels from the Jerusalem temple, when a mysterious hand writes on the wall words that only Daniel can interpret: Belshazzar's kingdom has been numbered, weighed, and divided. That very night, the king is killed and the kingdom falls to the Medes and Persians.

Explanation

The profane use of the sacred temple vessels, taken by Nebuchadnezzar decades earlier, represents the height of arrogance and spiritual disrespect, especially coming from someone who already knew the story of his predecessor's forced humbling (mentioned explicitly by Daniel in v.22). The mysterious writing ('Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin') uses words that were also names of units of weight and currency, creating a powerful wordplay: the king was literally being 'weighed' and found too light to continue reigning. Babylon's fall that very night to the Medo-Persian Empire is confirmed by independent historical records, showing how the announced judgment was fulfilled immediately, without delay.

Fun facts

Historical and archaeological records, including the Cyrus Cylinder and the Nabonidus Chronicle, confirm that Belshazzar was co-regent with his father Nabonidus, who was absent from the capital — which explains why Belshazzar could only offer the 'third place' in the kingdom (v.16), since the second place was already his own.
Babylon's fall to the Persians, led by the general Cyrus, is described by ancient historians such as Herodotus as having occurred through the diversion of the course of the Euphrates River, allowing troops to enter along the dry riverbed beneath the city walls.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Daniel 5:1Belshazzar, mentioned here as king, was in practice a co-regent while his father (or predecessor) Nabonidus was away from the capital — Babylonian records outside the Bible confirm this ruler’s historical existence.
Daniel 5:2Drinking wine from the gold vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem, toasting gods of metal and wood, was a deliberate act of disrespect: using a conquered people’s sacred objects as party goblets was a public way of humiliating them and asserting power.
Daniel 5:3Drinking from the sacred vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem, decades after Nebuchadnezzar had carried them off, is a gesture of calculated mockery: using a conquered people’s religious objects as ordinary party goblets.
Daniel 5:4Praising gods made of metal and wood right after drinking from vessels stolen from the temple sets up the contrast that will explode in the next verse, with the hand that writes on the wall.
Daniel 5:5The hand writes on the wall lit by a lampstand, likely so that every guest at the banquet could see the phenomenon the moment it happened, leaving no doubt about what was going on.
Daniel 5:6The physical description of the king’s panic, his ‘knees smote one against another,’ is far more graphic than usual in biblical narratives, a vivid way of showing that his terror was uncontrollable.
Daniel 5:7Offering the post of ‘third ruler in the kingdom’ makes sense within the real political structure: Belshazzar himself ruled as second, under his absent father, so third place was the highest rank he had the power to grant.
Daniel 5:8The repeated failure of the court’s wise men, already seen in chapters 2 and 4, reinforces a pattern in the book: every time Babylon’s methods of divination fail, that is exactly when Daniel enters the scene.
Daniel 5:9The panic now spreads from the king to the whole audience of nobles, showing that the mystery of the writing affected not only the man on the throne, but the entire elite gathered at the banquet.
Daniel 5:10This ‘queen’ was probably not Belshazzar’s wife, since his wives were already at the feast, but a queen mother or grandmother who remembered Nebuchadnezzar’s time, which explains why she knows of Daniel’s existence.
Daniel 5:11The queen’s description of Daniel — ‘an excellent spirit,’ able to interpret dreams and solve riddles — repeats the same kind of praise used about him back in chapter 2, decades earlier; the text suggests his reputation at court lasted across different reigns.
Daniel 5:12The queen lists the same qualities already mentioned about Daniel in earlier chapters, a sign that his reputation, built decades before under Nebuchadnezzar, was still remembered at court.
Daniel 5:13Calling Nebuchadnezzar ‘father’ of Belshazzar is probably an old way of saying ‘predecessor’ or ‘ancestor on the throne,’ since historical sources outside the Bible indicate that Belshazzar’s literal father was Nabonidus.
Daniel 5:14Belshazzar repeats almost word for word what the queen had already said about Daniel, confirming that he listened carefully to her recommendation before sending for him.
Daniel 5:15The king sums up, for Daniel himself, the wise men’s failure already narrated in the previous verses — a common device of repetition in the book’s Aramaic narrative style.
Daniel 5:16The offer of reward repeats almost exactly the promise made to the other wise men in verse 7 — Belshazzar does not change his strategy, only his candidate, now that the earlier methods have failed.
Daniel 5:17Turning down the gifts before even knowing the content of the message is a strong gesture: Daniel makes clear he will not soften the interpretation in exchange for reward, especially knowing the news will be bad.
Daniel 5:18Before reading the writing, Daniel goes back over Nebuchadnezzar’s whole history, including his fall and restoration in chapter 4, as necessary background for the judgment about to come against Belshazzar.
Daniel 5:19Describing Nebuchadnezzar’s absolute power over life and death sets up the following contrast: even a power that great was eventually brought down when the king’s heart filled with pride.
Daniel 5:20Daniel sums up in one sentence the whole episode of chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar’s fall through pride, as a direct argument that arrogance has consequences already demonstrated within Belshazzar’s own family.
Daniel 5:21Repeating the details of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness, eating grass, living among wild animals, serves as a vivid reminder that Belshazzar knew this family history well and still failed to learn the lesson.
Daniel 5:22The central point of Daniel’s accusation is not only Belshazzar’s sin, but the fact that he knew his own father’s experience and still repeated the same mistake of arrogance.
Daniel 5:23Daniel builds the accusation as a direct contrast: gods of metal and wood ‘which see not, nor hear, nor know,’ against the living God who literally holds the king’s own breath in His hand.
Daniel 5:24Only after laying out the whole historical and moral background does Daniel finally return to the starting point: the hand that wrote on the wall, whose origin he now clearly attributes to God.
Daniel 5:25‘MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN’ is a wordplay in Aramaic built on terms of weight and measure: the text itself explains the meaning — numbered, weighed and found wanting, divided — without leaving the puzzle for the reader to solve.
Daniel 5:26‘Mene’ sounds like the Aramaic word for ‘to count’ or ‘to number’ — this sound-alike wordplay is part of how Daniel builds his interpretation of each mysterious word written on the wall.
Daniel 5:27‘Tekel’ points to the word for ‘to weigh,’ evoking the image of a market scale: Belshazzar’s reign was placed on the scales of divine judgment and ‘found wanting.’
Daniel 5:28‘Peres’ sounds like ‘to divide’ and also like the Aramaic word for the Persians — a single wordplay that both announces the kingdom’s division and names who will seize it.
Daniel 5:29Calling Nebuchadnezzar ‘father’ of Belshazzar is an old, looser use of the word, meaning ‘predecessor’ or ‘ancestor on the throne’ — historically, Belshazzar’s actual father was Nabonidus, not Nebuchadnezzar, but this way of speaking of earlier kings as ‘fathers’ was common in the region.
Daniel 5:30Belshazzar’s fall happens that same night of the banquet, with no gap at all between Daniel’s warning and its fulfillment — one of the swiftest judgments narrated in the whole book.
Daniel 5:31‘Darius the Median’ is one of the most debated historical figures in the book: there is no clear outside record of a Persian king by that exact name reigning right after Babylon’s fall, and various proposals try to identify him with other known rulers of the period — the matter remains unresolved among historians.