Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Twelve months later, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon,

“At the first announcement of the coming judgment he was alarmed, as Ahab (1Ki 21:27), but did not thoroughly repent; so when judgment was not executed at once, he thought it would never come, and so returned to his former pride (Ec 8:11).”

the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my…

“Scarcely a figure in stone, or tablet, has been dug out of the rubbish heaps of Babylon, whereas Nineveh abounds in them; fulfilling Jer 51:37, "Babylon shall become heaps."”

But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me.

“Nebuchadnezzar's looking up towards heaven was the first symptom of his "understanding" having "returned." Before, like the beasts, his eyes had been downward to the earth.”

Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

“Belshazzar was joint king with his father (called Minus in the inscriptions), but subordinate to him; hence the Babylonian account suppresses the facts which cast discredit on Babylon, namely, that Belshazzar shut himself up in that city and fell at its capture; while it records…”

Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that…

“BEROSUS makes Nabonidus, the last king, to have been one of the people, raised to the throne by an insurrection.”

At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace.

“It is significant, that on the same wall on which the king was accustomed to read the flattering legends of his own magnificence, he beholds the mysterious inscription which foretells his fall (compare Pr 16:18; Ac 12:21-23).”

The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me…

“The world wishes to be deceived and shuts its eyes against the light [CALVIN]. The Hebrews think the words were Chaldee, but in the old Hebrew character (like that now in the Samaritan Pentateuch).”

In response, Daniel said to the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else.

“For here he declares his interpretation of the words is not from the desire of reward. The honors in Da 5:29 were doubtless urged on him, without his wish, in such a way that he could not with propriety refuse them.”

As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor.

“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.”

PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

“Peres--the explanation of "dividers" (Da 5:25), the active participle plural there being used for the passive participle singular, "dividers" for "divided." The word "Peres" alludes to the similar word "Persia." divided--namely, among the Medes and Persians [MAURER]; or, "severed" from thee [GROTIUS].”

Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

“As the capture of the city by Cyrus was not till near daylight, there was no want of time in that eventful night for accomplishing all that is here recorded.”

and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

“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 Da 6:28 shows Daniel was not…”

Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

“Hence the very expression used by the queen mother on that occasion (Da 5:12) is here used, "because an excellent spirit was in him."”

All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any…

“They evidently exaggerated the case of the weak king, as if their request was that of all the officers in the empire. den of lions--an underground cave or pit, covered with a stone.”

Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

“Such a despotic decree is quite explicable by remembering that the king, as the incarnation of Ormuzd, might demand such an act of religious obedience as a test of loyalty. Persecuting laws are always made on false pretenses.”

Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day…

“To Christ in the heavenly temple let us turn our eyes in prayer, from this land of our captivity (1Ki 8:44, 48; Ps 5:7). chamber--the upper room, where prayer was generally offered by the Jews (Ac 1:13).”

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions.

“Thy God . . . will deliver thee--The heathen believed in the interposition of the gods at times in favor of their worshippers. Darius recognized Daniel's God as a god, but not the only true God.”

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and sleep fled from him.

“He is sorry for the evil which he himself had caused, yet takes no steps to remedy it. There are many such halters between good and bad, who are ill at ease in their sins, yet go forward in them, and are drawn on by…”

So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

“It was in the third year of Cyrus that Daniel's visions (Da 10:1-12:13) were given. Daniel "prospered" because of his prophecies (Ezr 1:1, 2). -- JFB27B.HTM --”

In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed.

“Belshazzar--Good Hebrew manuscripts have "Belshazzar"; meaning "Bel is to be burnt with hostile fire" (Jer 50:2;”

Suddenly another beast appeared, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.

“English Version is the result of a slight change of a Hebrew letter. The idea then would be, "It lay on one of its fore feet, and stood on the other"; a figure still to be seen on one of the stones of Babylon [MUNTER…”

While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it.

“The "mouth" and "eyes" are those of a man, while the symbol is otherwise brutish, that is, it will assume man's true dignity, namely, wear the guise of the kingdom of God (which comes as the "Son of man" from above), while it is really…”

Then I kept watching because of the arrogant words the horn was speaking.

“Here is set forth the execution on earth of the judgment pronounced in the unseen heavenly court of judicature (Da 7:9, 10). body . . . given to . . . flame-- (Re 19:20).”

As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was removed, but they were granted an extension of life for a season and a time.

“The reason is: Christ's kingdom now is not of this world (Joh 18:36); and only at the second advent of Christ does it become an external power of the world.”

‘These four great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth.

“Compare Da 7:23, "fourth kingdom"; Each of the four kings represents a dynasty. Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Antiochus, and Antichrist, though individually referred to, are representatives of characteristic tendencies.”