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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Belshazzar	בֵּלְשַׁאצַּ֞ר be.le.sha.Tzar	H1113	Belshatstsar · proper noun, a man's name
tasted	בִּטְעֵ֣ם bit.'Em	H2942	properly · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
wine	חַמְרָ֗א cham.Ra'	H2562	wine · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
commanded	אֲמַ֣ר 'a.Mar	H560	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
bring	לְהַיְתָיָה֙ le.hay.ta.Yah	H858	to arrive · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
golden	דַּהֲבָ֣א da.ha.Va'	H1722	gold · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
silver	וְכַסְפָּ֔א ve.khas.Pa'	H3702	silver (from its pale color) · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
vessels	לְמָאנֵי֙ le.ma.Nei	H3984	a utensil · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
father	אֲב֔וּהִי 'a.Vu.hi	H2	father · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Nebuchadnezzar	נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּ֣ר ne.vu.khad.ne.Tzar	H5020	Nebukadnetstsar (or -retstsar · proper noun, a man's name
taken	הַנְפֵּק֙ han.Pek	H5312	to issue · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
of	מִן min-	H4481	properly · preposition
temple	הֵיכְלָ֖א heikh.La'	H1965	a large public building · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
Jerusalem	בִירוּשְׁלֶ֑ם vi.ru.she.Lem	H3390	Jerusalem · preposition + proper noun, a place name
king	מַלְכָּא֙ mal.Ka'	H4430	a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
princes	וְרַבְרְבָנ֔וֹהִי ve.rav.re.va.No.hi	H7261	a magnate · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
wives	שֵׁגְלָתֵ֖הּ she.ge.la.Teh	H7695	a (legitimate) queen · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
concubines	וּלְחֵנָתֵֽהּ u.le.che.na.Teh	H3904	a concubine · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
drink	וְיִשְׁתּ֣וֹן ve.yish.Ton	H8355	to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine plural

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 1:2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shi…
2 Kings 24:13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vesse…
2 Kings 25:15 And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.
Ezra 1:7-11 Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put…
Jeremiah 27:16-22 Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unt…
Daniel 5:23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords,…
2 Samuel 9:7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land o…
2 Kings 8:25-27 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:1-9

We have here Belshazzar the king very gay, but all of a sudden very gloomy, and in straits in the fulness of his sufficiency. See how he affronts God, and God affrights him; and wait what will be the issue of this contest; and whether he that hardened his heart against God prospered. I. See how the king affronted God, and put contempt upon him. He made a great feast, or banquet of wine; probably it was some anniversary solemnity, in honour off his birthday or coronation-day, or in honour of some of their idols. Historians say that Cyrus, who was now with his army besieging Babylon, knew of this feast, and presuming that they then would be off their guard, somno vinoque sepulti - buried in sl…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 5:2

whiles he tasted the wine--While under the effects of wine, men will do what they dare not do when sober. his father Nebuchadnezzar--that is, his forefather. So "Jesus . . . the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Mat 1:1). Daniel does not say that the other kings mentioned in other writers did not reign between Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar, namely, Evil-merodach (Jer 52:31), Neriglissar, his brother-in-law, and Laborasoarchod (nine months). BEROSUS makes Nabonidus, the last king, to have been one of the people, raised to the throne by an insurrection. As the inscriptions show that Belshazzar was distinct from, and joint king with, him, this is not at variance with Daniel, whose statement…

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Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:2

Whiles he tasted the wine - He relished it, got heated by it, and when Wine got fully in, Wit went wholly out; and in consequence he acted the profane part of which we immediately read.

John Gill on Daniel 5:2

Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine,.... As he was drinking his cups, and delighted with the taste of the wine, and got merry with it: or, "by the advice of the wine" (h), as Aben Ezra and Jarchi interpret it, by a personification; as if that dictated to him, and put him upon doing what follows; and which often puts both foolish and wicked things into the heads of men, and upon doing them: then he commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; what these vessels were, and the number of them, we learn from the delivery of them afterwards to the prince of Judah by Cyrus, Ezra 1:9, these were put into the t…

The Church Fathers

The words "at the taste of the wine, [Belshazzar] said," that is, after he became drunk and unreasonable as a consequence of tasting wine.
— Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 5:2

The third kind of relative worship we give to objects dedicated to God, such as the holy Gospel and other books, for they have been written for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Obviously, patens, chalices, censers, candlesticks and altars should all receive respect. Remember how Belshazzar made his people serve wine in sacred vessels and how God brought his kingdom to an end.
— John Damascene, ON DIVINE IMAGES 3:35

In other words, intoxication confused his thinking, and intemperance gave rise to this insane action against God: the vessels consecrated to the worship of God, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had seized when God surrendered them but had honored in the way he thought fit and had kept from human use, this man presumed to use like ordinary vessels, not only giving the order but giving effect to the order.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 5:2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

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…
Father — A name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings…
Wine — The common Hebrew word for wine is yayin, from a root meaning “to boil up,” “to be in a ferment.” Others derive it from a root meaning “to tread out,” and hence the juice of the grape trodden out.…
Babylon · Inhabitants of: Profane and sacrilegious — Inhabitants of: Profane and sacrilegious
Belshazzar · King of Babylon — King of Babylon
Concubinage · Belshazzar — Belshazzar
Drunkenness · .Belshazzar — .Belshazzar
Feasts · Men and women atten — Men and women atten
Polygamy · Belshazzar — Belshazzar
Silver · Of the temple — Of the temple
Temptation · Often arises through: Worldly glory — Often arises through: Worldly glory

Daniel 5:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:1-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 5:2

Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:2

John Gill on Daniel 5:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Daniel 5:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:1-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 5:2

Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:2

John Gill on Daniel 5:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Daniel 5:2

Keil & Delitzsch on Daniel 5:1-3

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Daniel 5:2-4

Rashi on Daniel 5:2