Daniel 5:31

And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Darius	וְדָרְיָ֙וֶשׁ֙ ve.da.re.Ya.vesh	H1868	Darejavesh · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
Median	מָֽדָאָ֔ה ma.da.ya'	H4077	a Madian or native of Madai · noun, gentilic both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
took	קַבֵּ֖ל ka.Bel	H6902	to acquire · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
kingdom	מַלְכוּתָ֑א mal.khu.Ta'	H4437	dominion (abstractly or concretely) · noun, common feminine singular determined + particle of affirmation
threescore	שִׁתִּ֥ין shi.Tin	H8361	sixty · cardinal number, masculine plural absolute
two	וְתַרְתֵּֽין ve.tar.Tein	H8648	two · conjunction + cardinal number, feminine dual absolute
years	שְׁנִ֖ין she.Nin	H8140	a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
old	כְּבַ֥ר ke.Var	H1247	a son · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct

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 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
Daniel 6:1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:30–end

Here is, 1. The death of the king. Reason enough he had to tremble, for he was just falling into the hands of the king of terrors, Dan 5:30. In that night, when his heart was merry with wine, the besiegers broke into the city, aimed at the palace; there they found the king, and gave him his death's wound. He could not find any place so secret as to conceal him, or so strong as to protect him. Heathen writers speak of Cyrus's taking Babylon by surprise, with the assistance of two deserters that showed him the best way into the city. And it was foretold what a consternation it would be to the court, Jer 51:11, Jer 51:39. Note, Death comes as a snare upon those whose hearts are overcharged with…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 5:31

Darius the Median--that is Cyaxares II, the son and successor of Astyages, 569-536 B.C. Though Koresh, or Cyrus, was leader of the assault, yet all was done in the name of Darius; therefore, he alone is mentioned here; but Dan 6:28 shows Daniel was not ignorant of Cyrus' share in the capture of Babylon. Isa 13:17; Isa 21:2, confirm Daniel in making the Medes the leading nation in destroying Babylon. So also Jer 51:11, Jer 51:28. HERODOTUS, on the other hand, omits mentioning Darius, as that king, being weak and sensual, gave up all the authority to his energetic nephew, Cyrus [XENOPHON, CyropÃ&brvbrdia, 1.5; 8.7]. threescore and two years old--This agrees with XENOPHON [CyropÃ&brvbrdia, 8.…

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Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:31

Darius the Median took the kingdom - This is supposed to be the same as Cyaxares, son of Astyages and maternal uncle of Cyrus, to whom he gave the throne of Babylon, after himself had had the honor of taking the city. Daniel speaks nothing of the war that raged between the Babylonians and the Medes; but Isaiah speaks particularly of it, chap. 13, 14, 45, Isa 46:1-13, Isa 47:1-15.; and so does Jeremiah, chap. 50, 51. I need not add, that it is largely spoken of by profane authors. The Medes and Persians were confederates in the war; the former under Darius, the latter under Cyrus. Both princes are supposed to have been present at the taking of this city. Mandane, daughter of Astyages, was mot…

The Church Fathers

And so Darius, who was called Ahasuerus, received the kingdom and "appointed one-hundred-twenty satraps and appointed three governors over them, whom Daniel was one of, for the satraps to give account that the king may not be overburdened. And Daniel was over them because a spirit abounded in him, and the king appointed him over his whole kingdom." [Daniel 5:31-6:3] For Darius the Mede, after hearing the things concerning him, both the wisdom which he acquired and his faith and piety from childhood, he appointed him to be first of all his friends and to rule all his kingdom, as Pharaoh did, having granted to Joseph second honor of the throne of his kingdom and assigning all the chiefs of the Egyptians to be obedient to him.
— Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 3.19.1-2

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…
Darius — The holder or supporter, the name of several Persian kings. (1.) Darius the Mede (Dan. 11:1), “the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes” (9:1). On the death of Belshazzar the Chaldean he…
Medes, Media — (middle land). Media lay northwest of Persia proper, south and southwest of the Caspian Sea, east of Armenia and Assyria, west and northwest of the great salt desert of Iran. Its greatest length was…
Median, The — Darius, “the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes,” (Daniel 9:1) or “the Mede,” ch. (Daniel 11:1) is thus denoted in (Daniel 5:31)
Babylon · Destroyed by the Medes — Destroyed by the Medes
Darius · 1. The Me — 1. The Me
Medes · Supremacy of, in the Chal — Supremacy of, in the Chal
Medo-Persian Kingdom · Kings of, mentioned in scripture: Darius Hystaspes — Kings of, mentioned in scripture: Darius Hystaspes
Persia · Darius — Darius

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).

Daniel 5:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:30–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 5:31

Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Daniel 5:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 5:30–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 5:31

Adam Clarke on Daniel 5:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Daniel 5:31

John Calvin on Daniel 5:30–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Daniel 5:31–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Daniel 5:31

Rashi on Daniel 5:28