DAN 5:5 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) Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and started writing on the plaster on the king’s palace wall, opposite the lampstand. When the king saw the back of the hand that was writing,

5:5 OSHB variant note: נפקו: (x-qere) ’נְפַ֨קָה֙’: lemma_5312 n_1.3.1 morph_AVqp3fp id_27c3h נְפַ֨קָה֙

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 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, opposite the lampstand. The king saw the back of the hand that was writing.

UST Suddenly they saw a man’s hand writing on the plaster of the wall opposite the lampstand. The king also saw the hand as it was writing.

BSB At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote near the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. The king was watching the back of the hand that was writing.

LSV In that hour fingers of a man’s hand have come forth, and they are writing in front of the lampstand, on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing;

FBV Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared, writing on the plaster wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. The king watched the hand as it wrote.

T4T Suddenly they saw a man’s hand writing on the plaster of the wall opposite the lampstand. The king also saw the hand as it was writing.

LEB _⌊Immediately_⌋[fn] _⌊human fingers_⌋[fn] appeared and they wrote _⌊opposite_⌋[fn] the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, and the king was watching[fn] the palm of the hand that was writing.

5:5 Literally “In its the hour”

5:5 Literally “fingers of the hand of a man”

5:5 Literally “to over against”

5:5 Or “gazing at”

BBE In that very hour the fingers of a man's hand were seen, writing opposite the support for the light on the white wall of the king's house, and the king saw the part of the hand which was writing.

Moff That very hour, the fingers of a man’s hand appeared, writing on the plaster of the royal palace, opposite the lampstand. The king saw the palm of the hand as it wrote,

JPS In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote.

ASV In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

DRA In the same hour there appeared fingers, as it were of the hand of a man, writing over against the candlestick upon the surface of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king beheld the joints of the hand that wrote.

YLT In that hour come forth have fingers of a man's hand, and they are writing over-against the candlestick, on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing;

Drby In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

RV In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

SLT In the same moment went forth fingers of a man’s hand and wrote before the candlestick upon the lime of the wall of the temple of the king: and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote.

Wbstr In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

KJB-1769 ¶ In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

KJB-1611 ¶ In the same houre came forth fingers of a mans hand, and wrote ouer against the candlesticke vpon the plaister of the wall of the Kings palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
(¶ In the same hour came forth fingers of a mans hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the Kings palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.)

Bshps In the very same houre there appeared fingers of a mans hande wryting right ouer against the candlesticke vpon the plaster of the wall of the kinges palace, and the king sawe the knockles of the hande that wrote.
(In the very same hour there appeared fingers of a mans hand writing right over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the kings palace, and the king saw the knockles of the hand that wrote.)

Gnva At the same houre appeared fingers of a mans hand, which wrote ouer against the candlesticke vpon the plaister of the wall of ye Kings palace, and the King sawe the palme of the hand that wrote.
(At the same hour appeared fingers of a mans hand, which wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of ye/you_all Kings palace, and the King saw the palm of the hand that wrote. )

Cvdl In the very same houre there appeared fyngers, as it had bene of a mans honde writynge, right ouer agaynst the candelsticke vpon the playne wall in the kynges palace: and the kynge sawe the palme of ye honde yt wrote.
(In the very same hour there appeared fingers, as it had been of a mans hand writing, right over against the candlestick upon the plain wall in the kings palace: and the king saw the palm of ye/you_all hand it wrote.)

Wycl In the same our fyngris apperiden, as of the hond of a man, writynge ayens the candilstike, in the pleyn part of the wal of the kyngis halle; and the kyng bihelde the fyngris of the hond writynge.
(In the same our fingers appeared, as of the hand of a man, writing against the candlestick, in the plain part of the wall of the kings hall; and the king beheld the fingers of the hand writing.)

Luth Eben zur selbigen Stunde gingen hervor Finger, als einer Menschenhand, die schrieben, gegenüber dem Leuchter, auf die getünchte Wand in dem königlichen Saal. Und der König ward gewahr der Hand, die da schrieb.
(Eben to/for same hour went out finger, as one/a peoplehand, the wroteen, opposite to_him candlestick, on/in/to the getünchte wall in to_him royal room. And the/of_the king what/which aware the/of_the hand, the there wrote.)

ClVg In eadem hora apparuerunt digiti, quasi manus hominis scribentis contra candelabrum in superficie parietis aulæ regiæ: et rex aspiciebat articulos manus scribentis.
(In the_same hour they_appeared fingers, as_if hands of_man scribentis on_the_contrary candlestick in/into/on superficie parietis aulæ regiæ: and king aspiciebat articulos hands scribentis. )

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 5:5–6

The king suddenly saw a hand, writing a message on the wall.

5:5a

At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared

¶ Suddenly they saw the fingers of a man’s hand
¶ All of a sudden a man’s hand could be seen. Its fingers

At that moment: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as that moment means “a short space of time, at once.” Here it introduces an event that shocked and surprised the people at the banquet. The hand appeared out of nowhere, not gradually but instantaneously.See also 3:6,15; 4:16, 30. Other ways to translate this include:

At that very moment (NLT)

Just then (NJPS)

the fingers of a human hand appeared: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as appeared is literally “came forth.” Where the hand came from is not stated. It was apparently visible to everyone present. They could see what appeared to be a person’s hand. Other ways to translate this include:

the fingers of a human hand came into view/sight

a human hand was seen (CEV)

they saw the fingers of a human hand (NLT)

a hand became visible

the fingers of a human hand: The fact that these were fingers of a hand may be implied by the context. It may then be natural to say:

a man’s fingers

However, in some languages it may be necessary to mention the hand in order to distinguish between fingers and toes.

In other languages it may be more natural to leave the idea of fingers implicit. For example:

a human hand (GNT)

Translate in a way that is most natural in your language.

human hand: In this context the Aramaic word that the BSB translates as human can refer to either a man or a person in general. Use the expression that is most natural in your language:

a man’s hand (RSV)

a person’s hand (NCV)

5:5b

and wrote on the plaster of the wall,

writing on the white plaster wall
wrote some letters on the plaster wall

and wrote: The Aramaic verb that the BSB translates as and wrote can also be translated as:

began writing (NRSV)

began to write (NJB)

In some languages it may be necessary to also translate an object of the verb. For example:

It wrote something…

it wrote letters

on the plaster of the wall: plaster is a white substance that people made from mixing lime with water. People used it to cover walls and floors. Archeologists have discovered that the throne room in the palace of Babylon was covered with fine, white plaster.ISBE 3: 883. There are different ways to translate this expression:

If you do not have plaster in your culture, you may be able to say:

on the whitewashed surface of the inner wall

on white colored wall

Use an expression that is most natural in your language.

5:5c

near the lampstand in the royal palace.

by the lamp that stood in the king’s palace.
of the palace, where the lamp was shining.

near the lampstand: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as near describes the position of something relative to something else. English versions have translated it in different ways. For example, it can refer to something that is:

in front of something else. For example:
opposite the lampstand (RSV)
near something else. For example:
next to the lampstand (NRSV)
behind something else. For example:
directly behind the lampstand (NJB)

The exact translation of this preposition depends upon where the king was sitting in relation to the lampstand. This is uncertain. A good option is to translate the implied meaning of this expression. For example:

where the light from the lamps was shining most brightly (GNT)The GeCL97 has : « it was exactly in the place where the light of the lamp fell. »

where people could see it very clearlyTranslator’s Handbook on Daniel.

in the lamplight

the lampstand: There are at least two ways to interpret the definite article the in this phrase:

The definite article may refer to a particular lampstand. That is, it may refer to the one that was near the throne.
The definite article may imply that there was only one lampstand in the huge hall.

Interpretation (1) is probably best.

in the royal palace: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as palace refers to the residence of an important person. the royal palace, literally, “the palace of the king,” was the building or group of buildings where the king and his family lived. It included a throne room where the king met special visitors. There was a large courtyard in front of the throne and a special hall for banquets.

Palaces were very big and had beautiful, expensive furnishings and decorations. If people in your region are not familiar with palaces, you may be able to use a word or phrase that describes the residence of an important person. See the Notes at 1:4c.

5:5d

As the king watched the hand that was writing,

The king watched it writing.
The king observed carefully while the hand wrote the letters.

As: The Aramaic text connects 5:5d to 5:5a–c with the common conjunction that the BSB translates as As and the RSV translates as “and.” Here it introduces what happened at the same time as the hand wrote on the wall. You should connect this verse part to the previous verse part in a way that is natural in your language.

the king watched the hand that was writing: The Aramaic verb that the BSB translates as watched indicates continuous action. The king could see the hand all the time it was writing on the wall. The focus here is on the king, but he was probably not alone in what he could see. Avoid implying that he was the only one who could see the hand. Other ways to translate this include:

The king watched as the hand wrote (GW)

The king could see it writing (CEV)

The king himself saw the hand as it wrote (NLT)

the hand: The Aramaic expression that the BSB translates the hand is literally “the palm of the hand.” However, anyone watching could not see the palm of the hand while the hand was writing. So most English translations interpret this as referring to the hand as opposed to the lower arm. The point seems to be that the hand was not attached to an arm.Lucas (p. 120) explains that the expression pas yeḏah “denotes the hand itself, as distinct from simple yeḏah, which denotes the lower arm and the hand.” He adds “that the word pas usually refers to the palm, but ‘palm of the hand’ would not make good sense here. The implication here seems to be that it was only the hand that was seen, with no arm visible.” See also Goldingay, p. 101, note 5b.

that was writing: The Aramaic verb form that the BSB translates as was writing refers to continuous action. Use a verb form in your language that describes continuous action in the past. For example:

as it was writing

General Comment on 5:5a–d

In some languages it may be natural to reorder the information in 5:5a–d. For example:

^a-dSuddenly, a man’s fingers and hand appeared near the lamp. The king watched it as it wrote on the plaster wall of his palace.

^a-dJust at that time, the king saw a hand. The hand was writing on the white plaster wall of the palace, near to where the lamp was shining.