DAN 5:1 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Several years later when Belshatstsar was king, he put on a feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine with them all.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his noblemen, and he drank wine in front of the thousand.

UST Several years later, Belshazzar became the king of Babylon. One day he invited a thousand of his officers to a big feast, and he drank a lot of wine with them.

5:1 Aramaic does not include Later. Some translators include Many years later to account for the time elapsed, probably about 30 years, since the previous chapter.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET King Belshazzar prepared a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of them all.

LSV Belshazzar the king has made a great feast to one thousand of his great men, and before the one thousand he is drinking wine;

FBV King Belshazzar held a great feast for one thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine with them.

T4T Several years later, Belshazzar became the king of Babylon. One day he invited 1,000 of his officers to a big feast, and he drank a lot of wine with them.

LEB Belshazzar the king made a great festival for a thousand of his lords,[fn] and _⌊in the presence of_⌋[fn] the thousand lords he was drinking wine.[fn]

5:1 Or “nobles”

5:1 Literally “to over against”

5:1 Or “the wine”

BBE Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, drinking wine before the thousand.

Moff King Belshazzar gave a great banquet to a thousand of his lords.

JPS Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

ASV Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

DRA Baltasar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his nobles: and every one drank according to his age.

YLT Belshazzar the king hath made a great feast to a thousand of his great men, and before the thousand he is drinking wine;

Drby Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his nobles, and drank wine before the thousand.

RV Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

SLT Belshazzar the king made great food for a thousand of his nobles, and before the thousand he drank wine.

Wbstr Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

KJB-1769 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

KJB-1611 ¶ Belshazzar the King made a great feast to a thousand of his LORDs, and dranke wine before the thousand.
(¶ Belshazzar the King made a great feast to a thousand of his LORD's, and drank wine before the thousand.)

Bshps King Balthasar made a great feast to a thousand of his princes, and dranke wine before the thousande.
(King Balthasar made a great feast to a thousand of his princes, and drank wine before the thousand.)

Gnva King Belshazzar made a great feast to a thousand of his princes, and dranke wine before the thousand.
(King Belshazzar made a great feast to a thousand of his princes, and drank wine before the thousand. )

Cvdl Balthasar the kynge made a greate bancket to his thousande lordes: withall these thousande he made greate cheare,
(Balthasar the king made a great bancket to his thousand lords: also/fully these thousand he made great cheer,)

Wycl Balthasar, the kyng, made a greet feeste to hise beste men a thousynde, and ech man drank aftir his age.
(Balthasar, the king, made a great feast to his best men a thousand, and each man drank after his age.)

Luth König Belsazer machte ein herrlich Mahl tausend seinen Gewaltigen und Hauptleuten und soff sich voll mit ihnen.
(king Belsazer made/did a splendid Mahl thousand his mighty_(ones) and captains and soff itself/yourself/themselves full/whole with to_them.)

ClVg Baltassar rex fecit grande convivium optimatibus suis mille: et unusquisque secundum suam bibebat ætatem.
(Baltassar king he_did big banquet optimatibus to_his_own a_thousand: and each_one/everybody after/second his_own bibebat age. )

SOTN 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.

5:1a

Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles,

¶ King Belshazzar invited a thousand of his nobles/officials to a banquet.
¶ One day, when Belshazzar was the king of Babylon, he made/organized a big feast for a thousand important men in his land.

Later: The text introduces the main character, Belshazzar, in the first clause. In some languages it may be natural to indicate first when these events happened. The word Later is not in the Aramaic text but the BSB has supplied it to indicate to the reader that the events that follow took place after the previously recorded events. The events in chapter 5 took place about thirty years after the events of chapter 4. Nebuchadnezzar had died in 562 B.C. This episode takes place in 539 B.C. So you may wish to supply a time phrase such as:

A number of years later (NLT)

One time

Later when Belshazzar was king

King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles: The king of Babylon ordered his servants to prepare a banquet for his guests. Here are some other ways to translate this:

King Belshazzar organized/prepared a big feast for a thousand of his high officials.

King Belshazzar invited a thousand noblemen to a great banquet (GNT)

King Belshazzar: The Aramaic expression that the BSB translates as King Belshazzar is literally “Belshazzar the king.” This is the first time the text has referred to this person. Your language may have a special way to introduce new people into a story.

King: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as King here refers to the son of the king, who was ruling in the king’s place. Belshazzar was probably acting as the king in the capital, while his father was living in another area of the empire. Use the normal word that you have used for king elsewhere in the book of Daniel.

great: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as great here means “big, large, generous.” There was a lot of food and drink for the guests to enjoy.

feast: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as feast literally means “bread.” Here it has the extended meaning of a meal. Use a word appropriate for a fine meal that a king might provide to important people on a special occasion. English versions also say:

festival (NRSV)

banquet (NIV)

a thousand of his nobles: The king may have had more than a thousand nobles. He invited one thousand of them to eat a meal at his palace. The number a thousand may be a round number for an impressive crowd rather than an exact head count.

nobles: The Aramaic title that the BSB translates as nobles refers to important men who participated in the king’s court. See the Notes at 4:33. Other ways to say this in English are:

lords (NRSV)

noblemen (GNT)

highest officials (CEV)

5:1b

and he drank wine with them.

The king drank wine there in the presence of his guests.
He celebrated and began to drink wine with the other men.

and he drank wine with them: wine was an alcoholic drink that people made from a fruit called grapes. People usually drank wine on special occasions, especially when there was a celebration or feast. If your culture is not familiar with wine, see the options of how to translate this expression in the Notes at 1:5a.

with them: The Aramaic expression that the BSB translates as with them is more literally “in front of” or “in the presence of.” However, this does not mean that the king was the only person drinking wine. He probably sat at a high table facing the nobles as he drank wine along with them all.

them: The Aramaic literally says “the thousand,” referring to the noblemen mentioned in 5:1a. Refer back to these nobles in a way that is natural in your language.

Parallel DAN 5:1

Section 5:1–31: God judged King Belshazzar

Paragraph 5:1–4

5:1a

5:1b