thou · personal pronoun, 2nd person masculine singular
king
מַלְכָּ֑אmal.Ka'
H4430
a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
high
עִלָּאָ֔הi.la.ya'
H5943
supreme (i.e. God) · adjective, both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
God
אֱלָהָא֙'e.la.Ha'
H426
God · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
gave
יְהַ֖בye.Hav
H3052
to give (whether literal or figurative) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Nebuchadnezzar
לִנְבֻכַדְנֶצַּ֥רlin.vu.khad.ne.Tzar
H5020
Nebukadnetstsar (or -retstsar · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
father
אֲבֽוּךְ'a.Vukh
H2
father · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
kingdom
מַלְכוּתָ֤אmal.khu.Ta'
H4437
dominion (abstractly or concretely) · noun, common feminine singular determined + particle of affirmation
majesty
וּרְבוּתָא֙u.re.vu.Ta'
H7238
increase (of dignity) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular determined + particle of affirmation
glory
וִיקָרָ֣אvi.ka.Ra'
H3367
value · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
honour
וְהַדְרָ֔הve.had.Rah'
H1923
magnificence · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Daniel 2:37-38 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the m…
Daniel 4:22-25 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of t…
Deuteronomy 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according t…
Psalms 7:17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
Psalms 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
Psalms 47:2 For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
Psalms 92:8 But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:10-29
Here is, I. The information given to the king, by the queen-mother, concerning Daniel, how fit he was to be consulted in this difficult case. It is supposed that this queen was the widow of Evil-Merodach, and was that famous Nitocris whom Herodotus mentions as a woman of extraordinary prudence. She was not present at the feast, as the king's wives and concubines were (Dan 5:2); it was not agreeable to her age and gravity to keep a merry night. But, tidings of the fright which the king and his lords were put into being brought to her apartment, she came herself to the banqueting-house, to recommend to the king a physician for his melancholy. She entreated him not to be discouraged by the insu…
God gave--It was not his own birth or talents which gave him the vast empire, as he thought. To make him unlearn his proud thought was the object of God's visitation on him.
majesty--in the eyes of his subjects.
glory--from his victories.
honour--from the enlargement and decoration of the city.
Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:18
Nebuchadnezzar thy father - Or grandfather, as the margin reads, Dan 5:2. See the notes on Dan 5:1 (note).
John Gill on Daniel 5:18
O thou king,.... "Hear" (t), O king; so Aben Ezra supplies it; what he was about to say first, in order to prepare him for the meaning of the handwriting, and the cause of it; or, "thou knowest", as Saadiah supplies it; namely, what follows:
the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom: a very large one, which reached to the ends of the earth: this was not to be ascribed to his predecessor that left it to him; or to his victorious arms, which increased it; or to his idol gods, to whom he attributed it; but to the most high God, from whom promotion alone cometh; and who, being above all gods and kings, sets up, and pulls down, as he pleases; he gave him his large dominions:
an…
Do not think it was by relying on his own strength that your father subjected the whole world and brought under one kingdom the countless races of the nations speaking various tongues. It was, in fact, the Lord of all, maker of everything, wise governor of all things, who gave him the kingdom, and it was as a result of the divine decree that fear of your father possessed his subjects.
And in the Old Testament also this may be found, in that grace hath oftentimes wrought upon unworthy persons, that it might do good to others.… And why marvel if He hath bestowed gifts on men that have believed on Him, though without life suitable to their faith, when even on those who have fallen from both these, He is unquestionably found working? For so Salaam was an alien both from faith and from a truly good life; nevertheless grace wrought on him for the service of other men. And Pharaoh too was of the same sort: yet for all that even to him He signified the things to come. And Nebuchadnezzar was very full of iniquity; yet to him again He revealed what was to follow after many generations. And again to the son of this last, though surpassing his father in iniquity, He signified the things to come, ordering a marvellous and great dispensation. Accordingly because then also the beginnings of the gospel were taking place, and it was requisite that the manifestation of its power should be abundant, many even of the unworthy used to receive gifts. Howbeit, from those miracles no gain accrued to them; rather they are the more punished.
And in this way, having begun, he described to the king all the things which happened to his father in their order, and at the same time he thoroughly explained to him the things which happened, in order to cause him to understand not to brag, nor to be arrogant, but that one must be under the authority of God. And so he said to him, "God Most High gave to Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom and the majesty and the honor and the glory. And from the majesty which was given to him all peoples, tribes, and tongues were trembling and fearing from his face. Whom he wished, he did away with and whom he wished he struck and whom he wished he exalted and whom he wished he humbled. And when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was determined to act arrogantly, he was thrown down from the throne of his kingdom and honor was taken from him. And he was banished from men and his heart was given with beasts and his dwelling with the wild asses, they fed him grass like an ox, and from the dew of heaven his body was bathed, until he knew that the Most High reigns over the kingdom of men and he shall give it to whomever he esteems." [Daniel 5:18-21]
Dictionary and topics
Babel — (confusion), Bab’ylon (Greek form of Babel), is properly the capital city of the country which is called in Genesis Shinar, and in the later books Chaldea, or the land of the Chaldeans. The first…
Belshazzar — Bel protect the king!, the last of the kings of Babylon (Dan. 5:1). He was the son of Nabonidus by Nitocris, who was the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar and the widow of Nergal-sharezer. When still young…
Daniel — God is my judge, or judge of God. (1.) David’s second son, “born unto him in Hebron, of Abigail the Carmelitess” (1 Chr. 3:1). He is called also Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3). (2.) One of the four great…
Nergal-sharezer — Nergal, protect the king! (1.) One of the “princes of the king of Babylon who accompanied him in his last expedition against Jerusalem” (Jer. 39:3, 13). (2.) Another of the “princes,” who bore the…
Belshazzar · King of Babylon — King of Babylon
Daniel · .Courage and fi — .Courage and fi
Ingratitude · 2:6,7; — 2:6,7;
Ingratitude To God · Exemplified: Nebuchadnezzar — Exemplified: Nebuchadnezzar
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Daniel 5:18-20
Daniel 5:18-20
18. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:
18. O rex, [264] Deus excelsus imperium, et magnitudinem, et praestantiam, et splendorem dedit Nebuchadnezer patri tuo.
19. And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
19. Et ob magnitudinem quam dederat ei, omnes populi, gentes et linguae tremuerunt, et formidarunt a conspectu ejus: quem volebat, occidebat: [265] et quem volebat percutere, percutiebat: et quem volebat attol-lere, attoll…
Daniel is summoned, reminds the king of his sin, and reads and interprets the writing.
The counsel of the queen was followed, and without delay Daniel was brought in. העל, cf. העלּוּ Dan 5:15, is Hebr. Hophal of על = עלל, to go in, as הוּסף, Dan 4:33. The question of the king: Art thou Daniel ... ? did not expect an answer, and has this meaning: Thou art indeed Daniel. The address shows that Belshazzar was acquainted with Daniel's origin, of which the queen had said nothing, but that he had had no official intercourse with him. It shows also that Daniel was no longer the president of the magicians at the king's court (Dan 2:48.).
Dan 5:14
cf. Dan 5:11. It is not to be overlooked that here Be…
Daniel presented Nebuchadnezzar as an object lesson that should have guided his successors. Instead, Belshazzar had made the same mistake of exalting himself and dishonoring the Most High God.
Rashi on Daniel 5:17
and give your lavish gifts [as translated,] and give your lavish gifts.
give to someone else give to another person.
