DAN 5:4 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 5:1–4

Daniel 5:1–4 introduces a new episode in the narrative. It identifies the time, place, and the major characters in this new episode.

5:4a

As they drank the wine,

As they drank the wine,
While drinking and drinking,

As they drank the wine: This clause repeats information from 5:3b. This repetition makes a strong connection between the drinking and the worship of the false gods. Here are some other ways to translate this:

While they drank from them (NLT)

During the drinking party

Drinking and drinking,

5:4b

they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

they praised their gods, idols made from gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
they praised the idols they worshiped. They had made these idols out of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

they praised: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as praised means “spoke well of.” The drinkers thought that their gods had given them victory over Israel and its God, and so they praised and honored them. The author used the same word in 2:23a when Daniel praised God, and in 4:34c when Nebuchadnezzar praised the God of heaven. See how you translated it there.

their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone: The Babylonians made idols from these different materials. Some idols were made from one material and some from another. The various materials were not combined in one idol.

In some languages it may be natural to supply a verb. either passive or active, and say:

the gods made from gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone

the idols their craftsmen had formed from gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood or stone

gods: The Babylonians worshiped many different false gods. These gods were represented by figures made from different materials. So the NLT translates this as:

idols (NLT)

gold: See the Notes at 5:2b.

and silver: See the Notes at 5:2b.

bronze: See the Notes at 2:32c. The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as bronze can refer to either bronze or copper. Most versions have bronze. bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. It is stronger than copper and has a reddish brown color. If your language does not have a word for bronze, you may:

use a national language word for bronze or copper
use a phrase like “a reddish-brown metal.”

iron: See the Notes at 2:33a. People valued iron for its superior strength. If you do not have a word for iron in your language you may:

use a national language word for iron.
use a phrase like “a very strong metal.”

wood: The Babylonians carved some of their idols out of wood.

and stone: The Babylonians sculpted some of their idols from different types of rock.

General Comment on 5:4

There are various ways to list and organize the materials mentioned in 5:4. For example:

gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone (NJB)

List these materials in the way that is most natural in your language.

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.