Daniel 5:4
in Daniel 5As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
KJV
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
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This verse in Daniel 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseVerse 4. "They were drinking wine and praising their gods of gold, of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone." How great was their folly! As they drank from golden vessels, they were praising gods of wood and of stone. As long as the vessels had been in the idol-temple of Babylon, God was not moved to wrath, for they had evidently consecrated the property of God to divine worship, even though they did so in accordance with their own depraved views of religion.
This site's exposition
made a great feast
on Daniel 5:1-4
Belshazzar's feast opens the chapter on the same stage where Nebuchadnezzar's pride was broken one chapter earlier, and the bench reads the placement as deliberate: a son who had every reason to know what pride costs a king in this book chooses that same night to send for the temple vessels his grandfather took from Jerusalem. Wine before a thousand lords sets the scene as revelry rather than state business, and Gill and Barnes both note the vessels are drunk from precisely because they are sacred, an act of contempt aimed at the God of Israel rather than mere carelessness. The gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and stone are praised in the same breath, idols that cannot see, hear, or know, which the chapter will use against Belshazzar directly at verse 23.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
While they were drunk, the king, being puffed up, commanded that the golden and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar his father had brought out from the Temple which was in Jerusalem, to be brought forth, that the magistrate and his mistresses may drink from them. Those vessels, which were dedicated to God for his glory and honor by other kings, they took with defiled hands, and made a drink offering in them and praised the lifeless and motionless idols.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Drunken worshippers, who are not men, but beasts, are the most proper for the service of dunghill deities, that are not gods, but devils. They have erred through wine, Isa. xxvii.
They drunk wine,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
praised--sang and shouted praises to "gods," which being of gold, "are their own witnesses" (Isa 44:9), confuting the folly of those who fancy such to be gods.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
And praised the gods of gold - They had gods of all sorts, and of all metals; with wooden gods, and stone gods, beside!
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, ... - Compare the note at Dan 5:1. Idols were made among the pagan of all the materials here mentioned. The word praised here means that they spake in praise of these gods; of their history, of their attributes, of what they had done. Nothing can well be conceived more senseless and stupid than what it is said they did at this feast, and yet it is a fair illustration of what occurs in all the festivals of idolatry.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִשְׁתִּ֖יו | ʾishtiv | they drank | H8355 → | 5 times |
| חַמְרָ֑א | chamra' | wine the | H2562 → | 6 times |
| וְ֠שַׁבַּחוּ | veshabachu | and they praised | H7624 → | 5 times |
| לֵֽאלָהֵ֞י | lelahei | <obj.> [the] gods of | H426 → | 95 times |
| דַּהֲבָ֧א | dahava' | <the> gold | H1722 → | 23 times |
| וְכַסְפָּ֛א | vekhaspa' | and <the> silver | H3702 → | 13 times |
| נְחָשָׁ֥א | nechasha' | <the> bronze | H5174 → | 9 times |
| פַרְזְלָ֖א | farzela' | <the> iron | H6523 → | 20 times |
| אָעָ֥א | ʾaa' | <the> wood | H636 → | |
| וְאַבְנָֽא׃ | veavna' | and <the> stone | H69 → | 8 times |
אִשְׁתִּ֖יוthey drank
ʾishtivH8355 →5 times
חַמְרָ֑אwine the
chamra'H2562 →6 times
וְ֠שַׁבַּחוּand they praised
veshabachuH7624 →5 times
לֵֽאלָהֵ֞י<obj.> [the] gods of
lelaheiH426 →95 times
דַּהֲבָ֧א<the> gold
dahava'H1722 →23 times
וְכַסְפָּ֛אand <the> silver
vekhaspa'H3702 →13 times
נְחָשָׁ֥א<the> bronze
nechasha'H5174 →9 times
פַרְזְלָ֖א<the> iron
farzela'H6523 →20 times
אָעָ֥א<the> wood
ʾaa'H636 →
וְאַבְנָֽא׃and <the> stone
veavna'H69 →8 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 17:29Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:25
“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
- Exodus 20:4
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Isaiah 46:5–6
To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
- Psalms 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Habakkuk 2:19–20
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
- Isaiah 40:25
Through
Daniel 5:23Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised…
it leads to
- Job 12:10
The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.
- Daniel 4:37
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in…
- Job 12:10
Through
Habakkuk 2:19Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
it leads to
- Psalms 135:17
they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths.
- Psalms 135:17
Where this verse is studied
About Daniel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Daniel; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 3.14.4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FIVE; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.