He's also one of the most well-known Old Testament villains. 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. The implication in the clause whiles he tasted the wine is that Belshazzar in his right mind probably would not have committed this sacrilegious act. 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). Putting this together, we might expect Belshazzar to have been 40+ at the fall of Babylon when he was slain (539 BC). For his wisdom, Daniel was honored by King Nebuchadnezzar and placed in authority over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel spoke in measured tones the condemnation of that which was blasphemous in the sight of the holy God. The great Euphrates River flowed through the middle of the city in a general north-south direction and was bordered by walls on each side to protect the city from attack from the river. If she were the wife of Nabonidus who was in captivity she probably would not have desired to come alone. 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. Q. A plausible account of Berosus, in his third book, found in a fragment preserved by Josephus summarizes the history between Nebuchadnezzars death in 562 B.C. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. A great bridge spanned the Euphrates River, connecting the eastern section and the western or new section of the city. Even while Daniel was interpreting the writing on the wall, the prophecy was being fulfilled as the Medes and the Persians poured into the city. Who succeeded Belshazzar as king of Babylon? Daniel 5:18-21 . For discussion of Josephus account, see Keil, pp. Daniel experiences a vision of the four terrifying beasts but kept the vision to himself. [50] It is often assumed that Belshazzar was killed by the Persians at Babylon when the city fell, on 12 October. She had not attended the banquet. The next four years Neriglisar occupied the throne. . This, however, is conjecture; and probably it is more natural to consider Belshazzar a son of Nabonidus himself. The Babylonian chronicles describe the actions and conquests of Cyrus in detail throughout Belshazzar's regency. This omission, however, was later remedied, as mentioned above, by the discovery of the name of Bel-shar-usur (Belshazzar) on cylinders in which he is called the son of Nabonidus. Belshazzar - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - StudyLight.org Only Babylon with its massive walls and fortifications remained intact. Daniel 1:3-7, Daniel and his friends complete their three years of learning. As mentioned before, Belshazzar was the grandson of King Nebuchadnezzar. B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, pp. 248 James A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, p. 249. 5:31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old. Man may have the first word, but God will have the last word. Nebuchadnezzar's . 9. Belshazzar Babylonian King - Amazing Bible Timeline Daniel 1:1-2, Jeremiah 25:1), Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin became king (2 Kings 24:6). Daniel had a reputation among the Babylonian courts. [43], Regardless of any potential animosity between Nabonidus and Belshazzar, Belshazzar retained the status of crown prince and intended successor, as a handful of documents still reference the "son of the king". Daniel does not explain the difficulty in reading the writing on the wall, but the problem apparently was not that it was a strange language but rather what the words signified prophetically. Daniel 12:13, Cyrus allows the Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. All Rights Reserved. Sermons and Outlines - Sermon Notebook : heart) (and therefore) ordered him to march against his city Babylon He made him set out on the road to Babylon going at his side like a real friend. Belshazzars situation and his knowledge of Nebuchadnezzars humbling made all the more blasphemous his taking of the vessels captured in Jerusalem from the house of the Lord and using them to drink wine in praising the gods of Babylon. All of this proved that God was greater than Nebuchadnezzar and held him responsible for his authority. [45], Belshazzar partook in Babylon's defense against the invasion by Cyrus the Great in 539 BC. 254 For further discussion of this problem, see Young, pp. Are Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar the same? - Kembrel.com What happened to King Belshazzar in the book of Daniel? Who was Belchazzar? Babylonian King in the Bible - Bible Study Tools A parallel is found in Daniel 2:27, where Daniel addresses Nebuchadnezzar without formal greeting, and in Daniel 4:19, where Daniel replies to Nebuchadnezzar simply with the expression, My lord. This was hardly a time in any case for Daniel to greet Belshazzar with such an expression as he gave to Darius, O king, live for ever, when as a matter of fact, Belshazzars hours were numbered. How old was Daniel when Belshazzar was king? A Summary and Analysis of the Writing on the Wall at Belshazzar's Feast A solution of the problem has depended largely on the premises of the scholars dealing with it. 247 See Raymond P. Dougherty, Nabonidus and Belshazzar. Instead, documents from the period in which Belshazzar was regent continued to be dated after the years of Nabonidus's reign. Writing on the Wall - Mission Bible Class Cf. Daniel 10:2-3, Daniel dies at 84 years old. 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. The probability is that the writing was in Aramaic and therefore not entirely unknown to the wise men. In any event, there is no proof for the suggestion discussed by Keil that the classification of wise men mentioned purposely excluded Daniel. 2 Kings 25:1-3, Jerusalems wall breaks and the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem, setting fire to the temple and the palace. The Jewish Encyclopedia. How old was Daniel when he was taken into captivity? King Belshazzar gave a big party for 1000 of his officials. According to Berosus, Nebuchadnezzar died after a reign of 43 years and was followed by his son Evil-Merodach. Belshazzar's Impious Feast 1 Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. 279 In the end, even the critics accept either the interpretation of Daniel (mene, numbered; tekel, weighed; peres, divided); or the reading, a maneh, a maneh, a shekel, and a half-maneh, see exposition. . I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. 5:1-30) and during whose reign he received two visions (Dan. Having been interpreted to mean divided, it is also understood as a reference to the Aramaic word for Persian, thereby hinting a Persian victory over Babylon. and the fall of Babylon 539 B.C. When this took place, the Persians who were appointed to that purpose close to the stream of the river, which had now subsided to about the middle of a mans thigh, entered Babylon by this passage. He was 62 years old. Jeremiah is explicit, And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. . 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. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. He knew for instance that Daniel was of the captivity of Judah and that he was one of the captives which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of Jerusalem. Daniel read the writing and Belshazzar made him the third ruler in the kingdom. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. Belshazzar was not allowed to date documents after his own "regnal years". [49][51][52] He may have alternatively been killed already at the battle of Opis,[1] captured and executed, or exiled together with his father. He was known for his military might, the splendour of his capital, Babylon, and his important part in Jewish history. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: 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. How God holds in derision the rulers of the world who take counsel against Him (Ps 2:1-4)! Belshazzar (Babylonian cuneiform: Bl-ar-uur,[1][2] meaning "Bel, protect the king";[3] Hebrew: .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-family:"SBL Hebrew","SBL BibLit","Taamey Ashkenaz","Taamey Frank CLM","Frank Ruehl CLM","Ezra SIL","Ezra SIL SR","Keter Aram Tsova","Taamey David CLM","Keter YG","Shofar","David CLM","Hadasim CLM","Simple CLM","Nachlieli",Cardo,Alef,"Noto Serif Hebrew","Noto Sans Hebrew","David Libre",David,"Times New Roman",Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans} Blaar) was the son and crown prince of Nabonidus (r.556539 BC), the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. He was succeeded by Laborosoarchad, also known as Labashi-Marduk, a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, who was assassinated after less than a year. Belshazzar under Nabonidus was considered the second ruler, and the position of a third ruler would be the highest that he could offer. [29][1] The Verse Account of Nabonidus, a biased[13] document probably written after Nabonidus was deposed by Cyrus the Great, states that Nabonidus entrusted Belshazzar with the kingship, but there are no records of Belshazzar assuming the royal title. Daniel 4:27-37. 267 Cf. This prince, whose government was arbitrary and licentious, fell a victim to a plot, being assassinated by his sisters husband, Neriglisar, after a reign of two years. Keil, pp. 24-26) as holding that only three kings are referred to, viz., Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach and Belshazzar. Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made concerning him that he should rank third in the kingdom. Belshazzar was evidently in no mood to bargain but was terrified and desperately desired to know the meaning of the writing. Daniel 6:6-9, Daniel is spotted by the administrators while he is worshiping the Lord inside his house, and they report him to Darius. 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. This page was last edited on 31 March 2023, at 23:09. The word for doubts ( qitrin) is actually knots, joints, difficult problems. On his death Neriglisar, his murderer, succeeded to the throne and reigned four years. Daniel had not been assembled with the other wise men because he probably was in semiretirement and was no longer chief of the wise men. Most expositors disagree with Keil, who identifies Belshazzar with Evil-Merodach, preferring the identification of a son of Nabonidus, based on later evidence not available to Keil.255 The identifications of Leupold are more satisfactory.256. Since the publication of Raymond Doughertys scholarly research .on Nabonidus and Belshazzar, based on the Nabonidus Cylinder and other sources, there is no ground for questioning the general historicity of Belshazzar; and only the details of the scriptural account unverified by extrabiblical sources can be challenged by the critics.247 Montgomery states that the story is unhistorical but nevertheless contains indubitable reminiscences of actual history.248. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. 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. Midway in the long wall opposite the entrance there was a niche in front of which the king may well have been seated. One preserved document, which regards the granting of the privilege to cultivate a tract of land belonging to the Eanna temple in Uruk, is virtually identical to similar privileges issued by Nabonidus, though it is specified to have been issued by Belshazzar. - Daniel 5:5-29: Belshazzar is killed when Cyrus of Persia invades Babylon. This articleincorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Singer, Isidore; etal., eds. [48] Nabonidus was captured and possibly exiled to Carmania. Through his mother, he might have been a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar II (r.605562 BC), though this is not certain and the claims to kinship with Nebuchadnezzar may have originated from royal propaganda. [43] Belshazzar appears to have worked to restore Marduk's status in his father's absence. John F. Walvoord, long-time president of Dallas Theological Seminary, was one of the most prominent evangelical scholars of his generation. No documents are dated to the "reign of Belshazzar", and no documents mention both Belshazzar and Nabonidus as if there was a formal co-regency. J. (Cf. [5][6][7] Daniel's Belshazzar is not malevolent (he, for instance, rewards Daniel for his interpretation of "the writing on the wall"), but in later Jewish tradition Belshazzar was presented as a tyrant who oppresses the Jewish people.
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