216-17, who discusses this quotation from Pusey. Problems of his relationship will be considered at the proper place in the exposition, including the possibility that Belshazzars mother was a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar and thus in the royal line, whereas Nabonidus was not. The Cross And Unjust Suffering (1 Peter 2:19-25). TEQEL could be considered as representing the Hebrew shekeL PERES could be read as PERAS, or a half-maneh, although this identification is questionable. Daniel 6:1-6, The administrators who are envious of Daniel tricks Darius to issue a decree prohibiting anyone to worship in the next thirty days or be thrown to the lions den. The disaster of the world, however, does not overtake the child of God; Daniel survives the purge and emerges triumphant as one of the presidents of the new kingdom in chapter 6. 267 Cf. In many respects, Babylon was the most fabulous city of the ancient world both for the beauty of its architecture and for the safety of its huge walls and fortifications. Having stationed his forces and given these directions, he himself marched away with the ineffective part of his army; and having come to the lake, Cyrus did the same with respect to the river and the lake as the queen of the Babylonians had done; for having diverted the river, by means of a canal, into the lake, which was before a swamp, he made the ancient channel fordable by the sinking of the river. Her address is courteous, O king, live for ever, but directly to the point. Hearing the unusual clamor at the banquet and learning of the distress of her son, because of her position she was able to enter the banquet hall freely and speak to the king. When Daniel was brought before the king, he addressed a natural question to reassure himself of the identity of Daniel. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Still, orders by Nabonidus superseded orders by Belshazzar. In his reign the walls of Babylon abutting on the river were magnificently built with baked brick and bitumen. Belshazzar may have been the son of the king who is said in the same chronicle to have commanded the Babylonian army in Accad from the 6th to the 11th year of Nabunaid I; or, possibly longer, for the annals before the 6th and after the 11th year are broken and for the most part illegible. [16] The sources suggest that while he was part of the conspiracy, Nabonidus had not intended, nor expected, to become king himself and he was hesitant to accept the nomination. 251 H. H. Rowley, The Historicity of the Fifth Chapter of Daniel, Journal of Theological Studies 32:12. Prior to and after Belshazzar's regency, surviving texts only contain references to offerings to the king (i.e. Daniel 6:10-15, Darius orders Daniel to be thrown into the lions den and wishes Daniel that he be saved by his God. As Nabonidus assumed the throne in 556 B.C., only six years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar was probably at least a teenager when Nebuchadnezzar diedif he was old enough to be coregent with Nabonidus in 553 B.C. it is possible that he was a genuine son of Nebuchadnezzar and that his mother, after Nebuchadnezzars death, was married to Nabonidus. Keil and Leupold both consider her to be a wife of Nebuchadnezzar and the mother of Belshazzar.273 As the wives of the lords and the king himself had earlier been declared to be at the banquet (v. 3) one who had the role of queen would most probably be Belshazzars mother. He believed that Babylon was safe. Old Testament Table of Contents Whether, therefore, someone else made the suggestion to him in his perplexity, or whether he himself devised the plan, he had recourse to the following stratagem. See J. T. Milik, Priere de Nabonide et autres ecrits dun cycle de Daniel, Revue Biblique 63:407-15. About seventy years had elapsed since the capture of Jerusalem recorded in Daniel 1. To be clothed in scarlet and to wear a chain of gold about the neck were special tokens of the kings favor and certainly would have been coveted by any of the wise men. As in the previous instances in Daniel 2 and 4, the wisdom of the world is demonstrated to be totally unable to solve its major problems and to understand either the present or the future. The Verse Account of Nabonidus states that Nabonidus campaigned in Arabia with the "army of Akkad" (possibly referring to troops of Babylonian origin) whereas Belshazzar was entrusted at home with the "army of all the lands" (possibly referring to troops of foreign origin). Yet this empire was to have as its last official act the honoring of one of these captives who by divine revelation predicted not only the downfall of Babylon but the course of the times of the Gentiles until the Son of man should come from heaven. Some have found, in the six materials mentioned, a typical reference to the number of the world amenable to judgment because of its hostility to God.264 In the original, the gods of gold and silver are separated by the conjunction and, not true of the listing of the gods of brass, iron, wood, and stone, as if there were two classes of deities. 5:29-31 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. Merrill F. Unger, Ungers Bible Dictionary, pp. 9. And thus Babylon was taken for the first time.285, Keil discusses at length both Herodotus account and that of Xenophon in his Cyropaedia, which is similar, and summarizes the arguments of Kranichfeld discounting these records. While in ordinary discourse the lack of vowels could normally be supplied rather easily, in a cryptic statement such as this the addition of vowels is a problem. The effect upon the king and his associates was immediate. Daniel read the writing and Belshazzar made him the third ruler in the kingdom. Daniel 5:5-29, Belshazzar is killed when Cyrus of Persia invades Babylon. He's also one of the most well-known Old Testament villains. The word MENE means numbered, and Daniel interprets this in verse 26 as indicating God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. It is in keeping with the idea that mans days are numbered, and the repetition of the word twice is probably for emphasis. A great bridge spanned the Euphrates River, connecting the eastern section and the western or new section of the city. It is possible that Belshazzar had campaigned against the Persians on Lydia's behalf a year prior, in 547 BC. [13], Belshazzar's father was proclaimed as king in May 556 BC,[14] and by the end of June, tablets recognising Nabonidus are known from across Babylonia. See also Keil, p. 179, citing Athenaeus, as does Young, p. 118. If Belshazzar began his reign in 553 b.c, when Nabonidus went to Teima, the visions of chapters 7 and 8 actually occurred about twelve years before the events of chapter 5. After a decisive victory at the battle of Opis, the Persian army, on 12 October,[48] led by Ugbaru, entered Babylon without a fight. feast at which the writing appeared on the wall, Belshazzar was killed and Darius the Mede took over Babylon (Daniel 5:30). In one case, sacred garments that Belshazzar ordered to be granted to a temple in Uruk were held back because Nabonidus had given a contrary order before departing for Tayma. Charles, for instance, suggests that the writing was in unfamiliar ideograms.272 This, however, is mere conjecture. His grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken these cups from the Temple in Jerusalem. 208-14. Nebuchadnezzars humiliating experience in chapter 4 had been followed by his death in 562 b.c. Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield (Is 21:4-5). Although the size of the banquet is not amazing, the situation was most unusual. He appears on the Bible Timeline Poster right before the fall of Babylon. Daniel proclaims to Darius that God had sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions. Belshazzar goes on in verse 14 to repeat what his mother had said concerning Daniels wisdom. It is not at all surprising that the former king (or regent in this case, as Nabonidus was technically still king) was killed by the conquering power. [45] Otherwise his status and position after Nabonidus's return is never made clear. 254 For further discussion of this problem, see Young, pp. (Daniel 5) and predicted the assassination of the corrupt King Belshazzar (her grandfather) by Medean spies. Although there are alternative explanations and some dates vary, this succession of kings and identification of characters seems to have reasonable justification. Belshazzar's fate is not known, but is often assumed that he was killed during Cyrus the Great 's Persian invasion of Babylonia in 539 BC, presumably at the fall of the capital Babylon on 12 October 539 BC. PERES means divided, and is merely another form for UPHARSIN as in verse 25 having the u, which is equivalent to the English and, with PHARSIN being the plural of PERES. 407-15. Nabonidus fleeing Babylon went to Borsippa but was forced to surrender to Cyrus. Daniel 10:2-3, Daniel dies at 84 years old. [26] The purpose for this prolonged stay, effectively self-exile, in Tayma are unclear and debated. The outer wall seems to have been only seventeen miles in circumference, instead of about fifty-six as Herodotus claimed, with much fewer towers and gates; and probably even the towers were not more than 100 feet tall. Daniel as the prophet of God is the channel through which divine revelation would come, and Belshazzar in his extremity was willing to listen. Much as Babylon fell on that sixteenth day of Tishri (Oc. There was plenty of water from the Euphrates River which bisected the city. Daniel spoke in measured tones the condemnation of that which was blasphemous in the sight of the holy God. [8] The later authors of the Talmud and the Midrash emphasize the tyrannous oppression of his Jewish subjects, with several passages in the Prophets interpreted as referring to him and his predecessors. [35] These include: The events that transpired in Babylonia during Belshazzar's regency are not well known, owing to a lack of surviving sources. Belshazzar is made to understand that Babylon will be given to the Medes and the Persians. Through proclaiming his father as the new king, Belshazzar also made himself the first-in-line to the throne. 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. He is considered perhaps the world's foremost interpreter of biblical prophecy.John is perhaps best known for his bestselling work on Bible prophecy, Armageddon More. In the quarter of a century which elapsed between chapter 4 and chapter 5, the further revelations given to Daniel in chapters 7 and 8 occurred. Herodotus pictures hundreds of towers at appropriate intervals reaching another 100 feet into the air above the top of the wall.266, Modern interpreters view Herodotus figures as greatly exaggerated, with the real dimensions only about one-fourth of what Herodotus claimed. In vain did he pled that he was the king. Daniel read the writing and Belshazzar made him the third ruler in the kingdom. As Keil points out, the king was ready to listen to anyone who could interpret the writing.269. This was not prompted by disrespect nor by the evident fact that they would be short-lived. There are actually so many plausible possibilities in Daniels account, supported by the evidence cited, that the storm of objections can hardly be taken seriously.254. 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. Now, in chapter 5, this prophecy is about to be fulfilled. With what eloquent scorn Daniel declares that Belshazzar, his lords, wives and concubines had drunk wine from these sacred vessels and had praised 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.278. 5:17-23 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. It is related by the people who inhabited this city, that, by reason of its great extent, when they who were at the extremities were taken, those of the Babylonians who inhabited the centre knew nothing of the capture (for it happened to be a festival); but they were dancing at the time, and enjoying themselves, till they received certain information of the truth. One possibility, suggested by Paul-Alain Beaulieu, is that Belshazzar was put in charge of Babylonia's defense and was moving with the army along the northern and eastern border. Did Daniel have a wife in the Bible? Midway in the long wall opposite the entrance there was a niche in front of which the king may well have been seated. Apprised of his coming, Nabonnedus led his army to meet him, fought and was defeated, whereupon he fled with a few followers and shut himself up in the town of Borsippa. 184-85. With only the fingers of the hand visible and producing writing upon the wall, the spectacle immediately attracted attention. This explains why Belshazzar in the lineal descent from Nebuchadnezzar was honored as a coruler under Nabonidus. Daniel 1:18-20, Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzars dream about a statue made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay.
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