DAN 5:31 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:1–31: God judged King Belshazzar

The author continued to write in the Aramaic language. He wrote about how King Belshazzar gave a big banquet and made use of the sacred treasures from the Jerusalem temple. Belshazzar saw a hand writing a mysterious message on the wall. Only Daniel was able to explain the message, that God was about to punish Belshazzar. That same night an army of Medes and Persians conquered the city and killed Belshazzar.

English versions give different headings to Daniel 5. These include:

The Handwriting on the Wall (GW)

The Writing on the Wall (NIV)

King Belshazzar’s Banquet (CEV)

In some languages it may be more natural to write the heading in the form of a clause. For example, you could say:

King Belshazzar saw a hand write on the wall.

King Belshazzar had/gave a banquet/feast.

Some versions give headings to the subsections of Daniel 5. For example, the NLT has two headings:

The Writing on the Wall (5:1)

Daniel explains the writing (5:13)

The NRSV has three headings:

Belshazzar’s Feast (5:1)

The Writing on the Wall (5:5)

The Writing on the Wall Interpreted (5:13)

You should decide the number of headings that is best in your translation. The purpose of headings is to help readers to follow the events of the story. Headings also help the reader understand the relationships between the different parts of the story. You should try not to have more headings than necessary.

Historical Background:

Nabonidus was the king of Babylon from 556 to 539 B.C. Historical records indicate that he married Nitocris, the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, and that Belshazzar was their oldest son.See the ancient Greek historian Herodotus and the Nabonidus Chronicles. While Nabonidus was absent from Babylon during the last ten years of his reign, Belshazzar acted as king in his place.

Daniel 5 describes the last night of the Babylonian empire. From other historic sources we know that Cyrus, the king of Persia, attacked the Babylonian army during the 7th month of the year 539 B.C. On the 15th day of that month, they attacked the town of Sippar and King Nabonidus fled. The next day Cyrus’ army entered the city of Babylon without any battle and killed its ruler, Belshazzar. Daniel 5 describes what Belshazzar was doing on the last day of the Babylonian empire.

Paragraph 5:30–31

A new topic begins at 5:30. The text summarizes what happened later that evening. The Medes and Persians attacked Babylon and killed King Belshazzar.

5:31a

and Darius the Mede received the kingdom

Darius the Mede became the new ruler of the kingdom/country.
A man named Darius the Mede then began to rule over the Babylonians.

5:31b

at the age of sixty-two.

He was sixty-two years old.
He was sixty-two years old at that time.

5:31

Some English versions number this verse as 6:1 (NJB, NJPS).Daniel 5:30 is 6:1 in the Aramaic text. These Notes follow the verse numbers in the BSB. It may be best to follow the verse numbers in the national translation of the Bible. You will want to discuss this issue with your consultant.

and Darius the Mede received the kingdom: Some different ways to translate this are:

And Darius the Mede became ruler of the Babylonian kingdom

And Darius the Mede became the king of the Babylonian kingdom.

Ancient records do not record the name or title Darius the Mede. Commentators differ as to who this person was.The Old Greek manuscripts say “Artaxerxes” or “Xerxes.”

Some scholars think that this was the throne name of Cyrus when he conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. Cyrus was the king who later freed the Jews from Babylon.2 Chronicles 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–8; 3:7; 4:5; 5:13–6:14; Isaiah 45:1.
Some scholars think that this was the name of the general who actually captured Babylon for Cyrus.This man’s name was Ugbaru. He apparently died a few weeks after taking Babylon.
Some scholars think that this is the name of a man called Gubaru, whom Cyrus appointed as governor of the territories of Babylon.The classical name for this man was Gobryas. Lucas (p. 135) cites Rowley as saying that there is no evidence that he was called Darius, that he was a Mede or that he bore the title king.

You should translate his name literally.

received the kingdom: In this context, the Aramaic phrase that the BSB literally translates as received the kingdom, indicates that Darius became king of Babylonia. Here are some other ways to translate this:

became the new king (NCV)

seized the royal power (GNT)

was given royal power

at the age of sixty-two: Darius the Mede was 62 years old when he became ruler of Babylon. Other ways English versions translate this are:

who was then sixty-two years old (GNT)

when he was sixty-two years old (NCV)

General Comment on 5:31

In some languages it may be natural to reorder the information in this verse. For example:

when he was 62 years old, Darius the Mede began to reign.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear DAN 5:31