DAN 5:22 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) “Yet you, Belshatstsar, his son, haven’t humbled yourself despite already knowing all that.

5:22 OSHB variant note: ו/אנתה: (x-qere) ’וְ/אַ֤נְתְּ’: lemma_c/607 morph_AC/Pp2ms id_274wk וְ/אַ֤נְתְּ

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 Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.

UST Now, Belshazzar, you have become the king. You also knew all those things, but you have not made yourself humble.

BSB But you his son,[fn] O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE “You, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET “But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, although you knew all this.

LSV And you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though all this you have known;

FBV But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, even though you knew all this.

T4T Now, Belshazzar, you have become the king. You also knew all those things, but you have not made yourself humble.

LEB “But you his _⌊successor_⌋,[fn] Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart _⌊even though_⌋[fn] you knew all this.

5:22 Literally “son”

5:22 Literally “all of because that”

BBE And you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not kept your heart free from pride, though you had knowledge of all this;

Moff Yet you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this;

JPS And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this;

ASV And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this,

DRA Thou also his son, O Baltasar, hast not humbled thy heart, whereas thou knewest all these things:

YLT 'And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known;

Drby And thou, Belshazzar, his son, hast not humbled thy heart, although thou knewest all this;

RV And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
(And thou/you his son, Oh Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine/your heart, though thou/you knew all this; )

SLT And thou his son, O Belshazzar, didst not humble thy heart because that thou knewest all this;

Wbstr And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this;

KJB-1769 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
(And thou/you his son, Oh Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine/your heart, though thou/you knew all this; )

KJB-1611 And thou his sonne, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps And thou his sonne, O Balthasar, hast not submitted thyne heart, though thou knewest all these thinges:
(And thou/you his son, Oh Balthasar, hast not submitted thine/your heart, though thou/you knew all these things:)

Gnva And thou his sonne, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all these things,
(And thou/you his son, Oh Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine/your heart, though thou/you knew all these things, )

Cvdl And thou his sonne (o Balthasar) for all this, hast not submitted thine hert, though thou knewest all these thinges:
(And thou/you his son (o Balthasar) for all this, hast not submitted thine/your heart, though thou/you knew all these things:)

Wycl And thou, Balthasar, the sone of hym, mekidest not thin herte, whanne thou knewist alle these thingis;
(And thou/you, Balthasar, the son of him, mekidest not thin heart, when thou/you knewist all these things;)

Luth Und du, Belsazer, sein Sohn, hast dein Herz nicht gedemütiget, ob du wohl solches alles weißt,
(And you(sg), Belsazer, be son, have your(s) heart not humiliated, if/whether you(sg) probably/well such all/everything you_know,)

ClVg Tu quoque, filius ejus Baltassar, non humiliasti cor tuum, cum scires hæc omnia:
(You(sg) too, son his Baltassar, not/no you_humbled_me heart your(sg), when/with to_knows these_things everything: )

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 5:22–24

Daniel continued speaking to King Belshazzar in 5:22, but he changed the topic. He began to rebuke the king.

5:22a

But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart,

¶ “But you^(sing), Belshazzar, his son, have not lived/acted with humility
¶ “King Belshazzar, you^(sing) are his successor and you acted in the same way and did not live in submission to God ,

But: There are two ways to interpret and translate the Aramaic conjunction that the BSB translates as But:

It introduces a contrast between what happened to Nebuchadnezzar (in 5:20–21) and what Belshazzar chose to do. For example:
Yet (NASB) (BSB, NASB, NJPS, NIV, NJB, GW, REB, GNT, NET)
It introduces the next event. For example:
and (ESV) (RSV/NRSV, NLT, CEV, NCV, ESV, KJV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). In spite of the fact that Belshazzar knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar, he had not honored God.

you his son, O Belshazzar: Daniel addressed the king by his name and called him the son of Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar was in fact not a biological son, but a successor and possibly grandson, of Nebuchadnezzar. See the Notes on “your father” at 5:11b. Translate this in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

you, Belshazzar, his descendant

you, Belshazzar, who are king after him

you, Belshazzar, are in his royal line

have not humbled your heart: The Aramaic verb phrase that the BSB translates as humbled your heart is literally “made low your heart.” It contains the same verb that is used in 5:19e and 4:37d. In this context it refers to recognizing/acknowledging God and submitting to him. Here are some other ways to translate this:BFrCL88 “You did not adopt a more humble attitude.” GeCL97 “You did not guard yourself against arrogance.”

did not remain humble (GW)

continued to act in a proud way

General Comment on 5:22a

This verse part refers to Belshazzar in three ways: by name, by the pronoun “you,” and as Nebuchadnezzar’s “son.” This serves to emphasize Belshazzar’s identity. His identity increased his responsibility and his guilt. Emphasize the king’s identity in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

But you, Belshazzar, who are his son, you have not humbled your heart (NJB)

But you, Belshazzar, you who are king in Nebuchadnezzar’s line/place, you have not humbled yourself.

5:22b

even though you knew all this.

even though you^(sing) knew about all these events.
even though you^(sing) knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar.

even though you knew all this: The Aramaic connector that the BSB translates as though here introduces a concessive clause, a fact that makes the following statement surprising or unexpected. In spite of the fact that Belshazzar knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar, he was arrogant and did not honor God. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

though you knew all this (NIV)

although you knew all this (REB)

in spite of knowing all this (NJB)

you knew all this: This clause tells why the king should not have acted this way. He knew the lesson that God had taught Nebuchadnezzar. The pronoun this refers in general to what Nebuchadnezzar had done and what had happened to him (5:18–21). In some languages it will be necessary to add this implied information.

you knew all that happened to Nebuchadnezzar

you knew that God had taught Nebuchadnezzar not to act arrogantly.

General Comment on 5:22a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of the clauses. For example:

^bEven though you knew all this, ^ayou, Nebuchadnezzar’s successor, still did not humble yourself.

^bBut although you knew all this, ^ayou, his son Belshazzar, did not humble your heart. (REB)