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Daniel 5:15

in Daniel 5

Now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this inscription and interpret it for me, but they could not give its interpretation.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.

KJV

And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:

This verse in Daniel 5

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

one of the exiles

on Daniel 5:13-16

Belshazzar names Daniel by his exile, and knows him by report: “I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you”. His offer repeats verse 7 word for word, purple, “a gold chain,” and “the third highest ruler in the kingdom”.

This site's exposition

the wise men and enchanters

The king admits to Daniel what his court has shown. Matthew Henry saw God's hand in the silence of Babylon's experts and compared it to the pagan oracles falling dumb at Christ's birth. Hippolytus of Rome held that only those trained from childhood in God's law could read God's writing.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Hippolytus of Rome

Commentary on Daniel 3.17.1 · Written before 235.

proposed

Then accordingly after the king heard the things concerning him he commanded Daniel to be brought and he said to him, "Are you Daniel who is from the sons of the captivity of Judea, whom my father Nebuchadnezzar brought? I have heard concerning you that you are able to interpret questions. And so now if you are able to read this writing and to make known its interpretation to me you shall be clothed in purple and a golden necklace shall be upon your neck and you shall be the third position in my kingdom." [Daniel 5:13-16]

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And now the wise men; the astrologers, have been brought in before me,....

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וּכְעַ֞ןand now

    ukheanH3705 →13 times

  • הֻעַ֣לּוּthey have been brought

    hualuH5954 →14 times

  • קָֽדָמַ֗יbefore me

    kadamaiH6925 →42 times

  • חַכִּֽימַיָּא֙wise men the

    chakimaiya'H2445 →14 times

  • אָֽשְׁפַיָּ֔אconjurers the

    ʾashefaiya'H826 →6 times

  • דִּֽי־that

    di-H1768 →345 times

  • כְתָבָ֤הwriting the

    khetavah'H3792 →12 times

  • דְנָה֙this

    denahH1836 →58 times

  • יִקְר֔וֹןthey will read aloud

    yikronH7123 →11 times

  • וּפִשְׁרֵ֖הּand interpretation its

    ufishrehH6591 →31 times

  • לְהוֹדָעֻתַ֑נִיto make known to me

    lehodautaniH3046 →47 times

  • וְלָֽא־and not

    vela'-H3809 →82 times

  • כָהֲלִ֥ין[they were] able

    khahalinH3546 →4 times

  • פְּשַֽׁר־[the] interpretation of

    peshar-H6591 →31 times

  • מִלְּתָ֖אmatter the

    mileta'H4406 →24 times

  • לְהַחֲוָיָֽה׃to declare

    lehachavayahH2324 →14 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Isaiah 47:12

    So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!

    it leads to

    • Acts 13:8–12

      But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

    • Nahum 3:4

      because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the seductive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft.

    • Isaiah 47:9–10

      These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the…

    • Jeremiah 2:28

      But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O…

    • Isaiah 19:3

      Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and…

Where this verse is studied

About Daniel

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

This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 3.15.1; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 3.17.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.