DAN 5:4 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.)

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 They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

UST They drank to praise their idols that were made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and even wood and stone.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

LSV they have drunk wine, and have praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

FBV As they drank wine they praised their gods—idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

T4T They drank to praise/honor their idols that were made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and even wood and stone.

LEB They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.[fn]

5:4 All these metals have the definite article that does not have to be translated into English to retain the meaning

BBE They took their wine and gave praise to the gods of gold and silver, of brass and iron and wood and stone.

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

JPS They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

ASV They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

DRA They drank wine, and praised their gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, and of wood, and of stone.

YLT they have drunk wine, and have praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

Drby They drank wine, and praised the [fn]gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

5.4 Elohim

RV They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

SLT They drank wine, and praised to the gods of gold and silver, brass, iron, wood and stone.

Wbstr They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

KJB-1769 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

KJB-1611 They drunke wine, and praised the gods of gold and of siluer, of brasse, of yron, of wood, and of stone.
(They drunk wine, and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.)

Bshps They drunke wine, & praysed the gods of golde, siluer, brasse, iron, wood, and stone.
(They drunk wine, and praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone.)

Gnva They drunke wine and praysed the gods of golde, and of siluer, of brasse, of yron, of wood and of stone.
(They drunk wine and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood and of stone. )

Cvdl They dronke wyne, and praysed their Idols of golde, syluer, copper, yron, wodde and stone.
(They dronke wine, and praised their Idols of gold, silver, copper, iron, wodde and stone.)

Wycl Thei drunken wyn, and herieden her goddis of gold, and of siluer, of bras, and of irun, and of tree, and of stoon.
(They drunken wine, and herieden her gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, and of iron, and of tree, and of stone.)

Luth Und da sie so soffen, lobten sie die güldenen, silbernen, ehernen, eisernen, hölzernen und steinernen Götter.
(And there they/she/them so soffen, praisedn they/she/them the golden, silvery, brazen, iron, woodenn and stone gods.)

ClVg Bibebant vinum, et laudabant deos suos aureos et argenteos, æreos, ferreos, ligneosque et lapideos.
(Bibebant wine, and praisebant the_gods his_own gold and argenteos, to_beos, to_carryos, ligneosque and stoneos. )

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.

5:4a

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.

Parallel DAN 5:4

Section 5:1–31: God judged King Belshazzar

Paragraph 5:1–4

5:4a

5:4b

General Comment on 5:4