Daniel 5:27 BSB — MannaFest

Daniel 5:27

TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

TEKEL; thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

KJV

TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

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Commentary

4 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

TEKEL,.... As for the meaning of this word, and what it points at, it is this: thou art weighed in the balances: of justice and truth, in the holy righteous law of God; as gold, and jewels, and precious stones, are weighed in the scales by the goldsmith and jeweller with great exactness, to know the worth of them: and art found wanting; found to be adulterated gold, reprobate silver, bad coin, a false stone; found to be a worthless man, a wicked prince, wanting the necessary qualifications of wisdom, goodness, mercy, truth, and justice.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

Jerome

St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FIVE (420)

Verses 25-28. "This is the inscription which has been set up: MANE, THECEL, PHARES. And this is the interpretation of the sentence: 'MANE' means that God has numbered thy kingdom and brought it to an end. 'THECEL' means it has been weighed in the scales and has been found deficient (Vulg.: thou hast been weighed and hast been found...). 'PHARES' means that thy kingdom has been removed and given to the Medes and Persians."

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Tekel - This word (תקל teqēl) is also, according to Gesenius, a passive participle (from תקל teqal - “to poise, to weigh”), and means “weighed.” It would be used with reference to anything placed in a balance to ascertain its weight; and hence, like the word “measure,” would denote that the extent, dimensions, true worth, or character of anything was ascertained. As by the use of scales the weight of anything is known, so the word is applied to any estimate of character or of actions, and a balance becomes the emblem of justice.

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

(1859)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

5 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
תְּקֵ֑ל	te.Kel	teqel	H8625 →
תְּקִ֥ילְתָּה	te.Ki.le.tah	you have been weighed	H8625 →
בְמֹֽאזַנְיָ֖א	ve.mo.zan.Ya'	in scales the	H3977 →
וְהִשְׁתְּכַ֥חַתְּ	ve.hish.te.Kha.chat	and you have been found	H7912 →
חַסִּֽיר׃	cha.Sir	lacking	H2627 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Corinthians 3:13
his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.
leads to
- 1 Peter 1:7
  so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 20:12
  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their…
- 1 Corinthians 3:14–15
  If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5
  Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each…
- Zechariah 13:9
  This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They…
Through
Psalms 62:9
Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
leads to
- Psalms 39:5
  You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
- Isaiah 40:15
  Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
- Isaiah 40:17
  All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

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About Daniel

Daniel Interprets the Writing on the Wall — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Daniel: the study guide →Read chapter 5 →The featured study →

Continue: Daniel 5 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Daniel

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Daniel