Belshazzar

Who Belshazzar is

Belshazzar the king makes a feast for a thousand of his lords and, while tasting the wine, orders the gold and silver vessels his father Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem, so that he, his princes, wives and concubines can drink from them while praising gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and stone. Fingers of a man's hand write on the wall, and his countenance changes, his loins are loosed and his knees knock. He offers scarlet, a gold chain and third rule to whoever reads it; the wise men cannot, and he is greatly troubled. On the queen's advice he sends for Daniel, asks if he is the Daniel of the captivity his father brought from Jewry, and repeats the offer. Daniel tells him the most high God gave his father the kingdom and humbled him, that Belshazzar knew this and did not humble his heart, that he lifted himself against the Lord of heaven with the vessels and praised gods that see not, and that the writing means his kingdom is numbered, weighed and divided to the Medes and Persians. Belshazzar has Daniel clothed and proclaimed third ruler, and that night he is slain. His first and third years also date Daniel's visions of the four beasts and of the ram and goat.

Cited passages: Daniel 5:1, Daniel 5:2, Daniel 5:4, Daniel 5:6, Daniel 5:7, Daniel 5:9, Daniel 5:13, Daniel 5:22, Daniel 5:23, Daniel 5:28, Daniel 5:29, Daniel 5:30, Daniel 7:1, Daniel 8:1

Historical setting

Belshazzar appears only in Daniel. He is called king of Babylon in the date of chapter 7 and king of the Chaldeans at his death. The text calls Nebuchadnezzar his father in four voices, the narrator's, the queen's, his own and Daniel's, and calls him Nebuchadnezzar's son; it supplies no mother, no other relatives and no length of reign beyond a third year. The queen who advises him is not said to be his wife or mother, and his wives are listed separately at the feast. His name should not be confused with Belteshazzar, the Babylonian name of Daniel, which the same chapter uses. The text does not say who kills him or how, only that it happens that night and that Darius the Median takes the kingdom. The offer of third rule is his; the text does not explain why third. His knowledge of Nebuchadnezzar's humbling is asserted by Daniel, not shown by the narrator.

Cited passages: Daniel 7:1, Daniel 5:30, Daniel 5:11, Daniel 5:18, Daniel 5:10, Daniel 5:3, Daniel 5:12, Daniel 5:31, Daniel 5:16, Daniel 5:22

How the story is told

Belshazzar is drawn as the son who did not learn. Daniel's speech to him spends most of its length on Nebuchadnezzar, so that Belshazzar's offence is measured against his father's story. The vessels his father carried off become the instrument of his own judgment, and the list of gods he praises, metal by metal, answers the image of chapter 2 that his father saw. His physical terror, loosed loins and knocking knees, is narrated before any word is spoken, and his reward to Daniel is carried out in full even after Daniel has read him his end, a detail the narrator records without comment. The chapter closes with his death in a single sentence. As a date-mark for chapters 7 and 8, his reign frames Daniel's first two visions, so the reader meets his fall in chapter 5 before reading what Daniel saw in his first and third years.

Cited passages: Daniel 5:18, Daniel 5:21, Daniel 5:23, Daniel 5:6, Daniel 5:29, Daniel 5:30, Daniel 8:1

Story moments

1. The feast for a thousand (Daniel 5:1). Belshazzar drinks wine before a thousand of his lords.
2. Temple vessels called for (Daniel 5:2). He orders the vessels his father took from Jerusalem brought to the feast.
3. Knees knocking (Daniel 5:6). The writing hand leaves the king shaking before anyone speaks.
4. Art thou that Daniel (Daniel 5:13). Belshazzar asks the man his father brought from Jewry to read the writing.
5. Thou hast not humbled thine heart (Daniel 5:22). Daniel tells Belshazzar he knew his father's story and ignored it.
6. Slain that night (Daniel 5:30). Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans is killed the same night.

Key passages

Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

Daniel 5:2

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.

Daniel 5:9

Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.

Daniel 5:22

And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;

Daniel 5:29

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.

Daniel 5:30

In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

King James Version. 8 indexed passages in total.

For reflection

Belshazzar keeps his promise to reward Daniel after hearing that his kingdom is finished. What might it mean to honour a word once the news it bought is already bad?

Books Belshazzar appears in

• Daniel

Related people

• Daniel
• Nebuchadnezzar