Daniel 5:5
in Daniel 5At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
KJV
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
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This verse in Daniel 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verseVerse 5. "At that same hour some fingers appeared as if they were of a human hand, writing something over against the lampstand upon the surface of the wall of the king's palace. And the king watched the joints of the hand as it wrote." He puts it nicely when he says, "At that same hour," just as we earlier read concerning Nebuchadnezzar, "While the saying was yet in the king's mouth." This was in order that the offender might recognize that his punishment was not inflicted upon him for any other reason but his blasphemy.
This site's exposition
fingers of a man’s hand
on Daniel 5:5-6
The fingers of a man's hand appear with no body attached, writing over against the candlestick where the light makes the writing plain to every eye in the hall, and the commentators mark the staging as itself a rebuke: the very lamp Belshazzar lit for his feast becomes the lamp by which his sentence is read. The king's countenance changes, his thoughts trouble him, and his knees smite one another, a physical collapse the older writers read as conscience answering before any word is interpreted. Keil notes the terror is proportioned to guilt rather than to the mystery, since a hand alone, without a voice, ought to be less terrifying than what it plainly is to this king.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Since, you see, he had sung the praises of the idols, deprived as they were of any power to move, and had scorned the God of all, the Lord of all gives him a lesson in his invisible and incorporeal nature by letting him see …
Accordingly after this happened, fingers of a man's hand came forth, and they wrote before the lamp upon the plaster of the wall of the house of the king. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar it said, "A holy one descended from heaven," [Daniel 4:13] here it says, "fingers of a hand came forth," [Daniel 5:5] Scripture signaling that this is the same Word which was about to be embodied in the end and to assume the figure of a man, so that he may never be looked at as through a form, but having become a man in the flesh and the will of the Father having dwelt with men, he is perfected. And so when the hand wrote writing on the wall, Scripture, in this, indicates this to be the law of God which was engraved on the mountain in tablets. As Scripture says, "and the tablets were written by the finger of God" [Exodus 31:18] and "the writing was the writing of God which was engraved on the tablets." [Exodus 32:16] And so in this way also here, the fingers of a hand were shown to the king alone, which flashed before the lamp, so that what was written there may be considered to be the writing of God. For the light of the hand, after dazzling the light of the lamp, dimmed the light of the lamp, so that the fingers which wrote on the wall might be seen.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, &c.
Note, God's written word is sufficient to put the proudest boldest sinners into a fright, when he is pleased to give it the setting on. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote, but saw not the person whose hand it was, which made the thing more frightful.
The interpretation of the mystical characters by Daniel, who was at length brought in to him, and dealt plainly with him, and showed him his doom written,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In the same hour - On the word “hour,” see the note at Dan 4:19. Came forth fingers of a man’s hand - Not the whole hand, but only the parts usually employed in writing. Not a man writing; not even an arm, but fingers that seemed to move themselves. They appeared to come forth from the walls, and were seen before they began to write. It was this that made it so impressive and alarming.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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). part of the hand--the anterior part, namely, the fingers.
Fingers of a man’s hand - The fingers were collected about the style or pen as in the act of writing.
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּהּ־ | bah- | at it | ||
| שַׁעֲתָ֗ה | shaatah' | moment the | H8160 → | 5 times |
| נְפַ֙קָה֙ | nefaku | they went forth | H5312 → | 11 times |
| אֶצְבְּעָן֙ | ʾetzbean | fingers | H677 → | 3 times |
| דִּ֣י | di | of | H1768 → | 345 times |
| יַד־ | yad- | a hand of | H3028 → | 17 times |
| אֱנָ֔שׁ | ʾenash | a human | H606 → | 25 times |
| וְכָֽתְבָן֙ | vekhatevan | and [they were] writing | H3790 → | 8 times |
| לָקֳבֵ֣ל | lokovel | <to> before | H6903 → | 29 times |
| נֶבְרַשְׁתָּ֔א | nevrashta' | candlestick the | H5043 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5922 → | 104 times |
| גִּירָ֕א | gira' | plaster the | H1528 → | |
| דִּֽי־ | di- | of | H1768 → | 345 times |
| כְתַ֥ל | khetal | [the] wall of | H3797 → | |
| הֵיכְלָ֖א | heikhla' | palace the | H1965 → | 13 times |
| דִּ֣י | di | of | H1768 → | 345 times |
| מַלְכָּ֑א | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| וּמַלְכָּ֣א | umalka' | and king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| חָזֵ֔ה | chazeh | [was] seeing | H2370 → | 31 times |
| פַּ֥ס | pas | [the] palm of | H6447 → | |
| יְדָ֖ה | yedah' | hand the | H3028 → | 17 times |
| דִּ֥י | di | which | H1768 → | 345 times |
| כָתְבָֽה׃ | khatevah | [was] writing | H3790 → | 8 times |
בַּהּ־at it
bah-
שַׁעֲתָ֗הmoment the
shaatah'H8160 →5 times
נְפַ֙קָה֙they went forth
nefakuH5312 →11 times
אֶצְבְּעָן֙fingers
ʾetzbeanH677 →3 times
דִּ֣יof
diH1768 →345 times
יַד־a hand of
yad-H3028 →17 times
אֱנָ֔שׁa human
ʾenashH606 →25 times
וְכָֽתְבָן֙and [they were] writing
vekhatevanH3790 →8 times
לָקֳבֵ֣ל<to> before
lokovelH6903 →29 times
נֶבְרַשְׁתָּ֔אcandlestick the
nevrashta'H5043 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5922 →104 times
גִּירָ֕אplaster the
gira'H1528 →
דִּֽי־of
di-H1768 →345 times
כְתַ֥ל[the] wall of
khetalH3797 →
הֵיכְלָ֖אpalace the
heikhla'H1965 →13 times
דִּ֣יof
diH1768 →345 times
מַלְכָּ֑אking the
malka'H4430 →180 times
וּמַלְכָּ֣אand king the
umalka'H4430 →180 times
חָזֵ֔ה[was] seeing
chazehH2370 →31 times
פַּ֥ס[the] palm of
pasH6447 →
יְדָ֖הhand the
yedah'H3028 →17 times
דִּ֥יwhich
diH1768 →345 times
כָתְבָֽה׃[was] writing
khatevahH3790 →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
Colossians 2:14having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
- Ephesians 2:14–16
For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Hebrews 8:13
By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
- 1 Peter 2:24
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- Isaiah 44:22
Through
Job 20:5the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
it leads to
- Psalms 37:35–36
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Psalms 37:35–36
Through
Daniel 4:31While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.
it leads to
- Acts 9:3–5
As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
- Luke 12:20
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
- Acts 9:3–5
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 3.14.5-9; 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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 5:5.