DAN 5:29 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) Then Belshatstsar gave an order, and they placed a purple robe over Daniel’s shoulders and a gold chain was placed around his neck, and a proclamation was made that he would now be the third-highest ruler in the kingdom.

5:29 OSHB variant note: ו/המונכ/א: (x-qere) ’וְ/הַֽמְנִיכָ֥/א’: lemma_c/2002 morph_AC/Ncmsd/Td id_27cjX וְ/הַֽמְנִיכָ֥/א

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 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple. A chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he would be the third ruler in the kingdom.

UST Then Belshazzar did what he had promised . He put on me a purple robe like the one he himself wore. He put a gold chain around my neck. And he proclaimed that there would be only two others who would be more important than me in his kingdom.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.

LSV Then Belshazzar has spoken, and they have clothed Daniel with purple, and a bracelet of gold [is] on his neck, and they have proclaimed concerning him that he is the third ruler in the kingdom.

FBV Then Belshazzar gave the order and Daniel was clothed in purple and had a gold chain placed around his neck. He was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

T4T Then Belshazzar did what he had promised. He put on me a purple robe like the one he himself wore. He put a gold chain around my neck. And he proclaimed that there would be only two others who would be more important than me in his kingdom.

LEB Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple and placed a necklace of gold around his neck, and they made a proclamation concerning him that he would be the third ruler in authority in the kingdom.

BBE Then, by the order of Belshazzar, they put a purple robe on Daniel, and a gold chain round his neck, and a public statement was made that he was to be a ruler of high authority in the kingdom.

Moff Then, by order of Belshazzar, Daniel was robed in purple, a chain of gold was hung round his neck, and proclamation was made that he was to rank as third within the realm.

JPS Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should rule as one of three in the kingdom.

ASV Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

DRA Then by the king’s command Daniel was clothed with purple, and a chain of gold was put about his neck: and it was proclaimed of him that he had power as the third man in the kingdom.

YLT Then hath Belshazzar said, and they have clothed Daniel with purple, and a bracelet of gold [is] on his neck, and they have proclaimed concerning him that he is the third ruler in the kingdom.

Drby Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and [put] a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

RV Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

SLT At that time Belshazzar said, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and a necklace of gold upon his neck, and they cried out concerning him, for him to rule the third in the kingdom.

Wbstr Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

KJB-1769 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

KJB-1611 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chaine of gold about his necke, and made a Proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdome.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)

Bshps Then commaunded Balthasar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and a chayne of golde about is necke, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdome.
(Then commanded Balthasar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and a chain of gold about is neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.)

Gnva Then at the commandement of Belshazzar they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chaine of golde about his necke, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdome.
(Then at the commandment of Belshazzar they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. )

Cvdl Then commaunded Balthasar, to cloth Daniel with purple, to hange a cheyne off golde aboute his necke, and to make a proclamacion concernynge him: that he shulde be the ruler off the thirde parte off his kyngdome.
(Then commanded Balthasar, to cloth Daniel with purple, to hang a chain off gold about his neck, and to make a proclamacion concerning him: that he should be the ruler off the third part off his kingdom.)

Wycl Thanne, for the kyng comaundide, Daniel was clothid in purpur, and a goldun bie was youun aboute in his necke; and it was prechid of hym, that he hadde power, and was the thridde in the rewme.
(Thanne, for the king commanded, Daniel was clothed in purple, and a golden buy was given about in his neck; and it was preached of him, that he had power, and was the third in the realm.)

Luth Da befahl Belsazer, daß man Daniel mit Purpur kleiden sollte und güldene Ketten an den Hals geben; und ließ von ihm verkündigen, daß er der dritte Herr sei im Königreich.
(So commanded/ordered Belsazer, that man Daniel with purple_(stuff) dress(v) should and golden chains at/to the neck/throat give; and left/let from him announce, that he the/of_the third Lord be in_the kingdom.)

ClVg Tunc, jubente rege, indutus est Daniel purpura, et circumdata est torques aurea collo ejus: et prædicatum est de eo quod haberet potestatem tertius in regno suo.
(Then, commanding king, dressed it_is Daniel purple, and circumdata it_is torques gold neck his: and preachum it_is from/about by_him that would_have power third in/into/on kingdom his_own. )

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 5:29

The king rewarded Daniel for interpreting the writing on the wall.

5:29a

Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple,

Then Belshazzar commanded that Daniel be given purple clothes to wear
¶ Immediately King Belshazzar ordered his servants to honor Daniel. They dressed Daniel in a valuable/beautiful purple robe.

Then: The Aramaic connector that the BSB translates as Then here introduces what happened next, immediately afterwards. Here is another way to translate this:

Immediately (GNT)

Belshazzar gave the command: The Aramaic expression that the BSB translates as Belshazzar gave the command is literally “Belshazzar said.” In some languages it may be more natural to include the implied object. For example:

Belshazzar ordered his servants (GNT)

Belshazzar commanded his men.

they clothed Daniel in purple: The Aramaic clause is literally, “They clothed Daniel with purple.” See the Notes at 5:7d, 5:16c. There are different ways to translate this:

Using a passive verb. For example:
Daniel was dressed in purple (NJB)
Using an active verb. For example
they (indefinite) gave Daniel purple clothes to wear
his servants dressed Daniel in a robe of royal purple

purple: In the Ancient Near East, purple clothes were extremely expensive. See the Notes at 5:7d, 5:16c. Usually only kings and queens wore clothes that were purple. Some translations supply this implied information. For example:

robes of royal purple (GNT)

purple clothes fit for a king (NCV)

expensive clothes

5:29b

placed a gold chain around his neck,

and a gold chain to go around his neck.
His servants also honored Daniel by giving him a gold chain to wear on his neck/shoulders.

placed a gold chain around his neck: See the Notes at 5:7e, 5:16d. The NIV translates this expression as a passive clause, and the BSB translates this as an active clause. If it is more natural to translate this as an active clause, some other ways to do this are:

and they (indefinite) put a gold chain on his neck

and his servants put a gold chain around his neck

and hung a gold chain of honor around his neck.

a gold chain: The phrase a gold chain indicates that this chain was made of solid gold. Such a chain was very expensive. It was an ornament, a symbol of honor. The purpose of the chain was not to keep Daniel imprisoned but to honor him. In some languages, it may be important to include this implied information. For example:

a gold chain of honor (GNT)

a beautiful necklace made of gold

5:29c

and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

He made a proclamation that Daniel was to be the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
The officials then proclaimed Daniel as the third most powerful person in the kingdom.

and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom: The Aramaic clause is literally, “They proclaimed about him that he will be ruling third in the kingdom.” The pronoun “They” is indefinite. The king’s officials proclaimed or announced this message publicly. When they proclaimed or announced this, Daniel actually became the third highest ruler. The proclamation caused this to happen. In some languages it may be necessary to make this clear by saying:

by proclamation he was made the third highest ruler in the kingdom

it was announced that he was now the third highest ruler in the kingdom

Use the verb form that is most natural in your language. You may:

use a passive verb. For example:
a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom (ESV)
proclamation was made that he should rank third in the kingdom (REB)
use an active verb. For example:
He made Daniel the third-highest ruler in the kingdom. (GW)
The royal officials proclaimed him the third ruler in the kingdom
Then his officials announced that Daniel was now the third-highest ruler of the land.

the third highest ruler in the kingdom: See the Notes at 5:7f, 5:16e. Translate it here the same way you did there.

kingdom: See also the Notes at 5:26b. In this context the Aramaic word that the BSB translates as kingdom refers to the territory or empire of Babylonia.

General Comment on 5:29

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

^cBelshazzar gave a command for Daniel to be made the third most powerful man in his kingdom ^aand to be given a purple robe ^band a gold chain. (CEV)