mh_parser/vol_split/27 - Daniel/Chapter 5.xml

<div2 id="Dan.vi" n="vi" next="Dan.vii" prev="Dan.v" progress="69.86%" title="Chapter V">
<h2 id="Dan.vi-p0.1">D A N I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Dan.vi-p0.2">CHAP. V.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Dan.vi-p1" shownumber="no">The destruction of the kingdom of Babylon had been
long and often foretold when it was at a distance; in this chapter
we have it accomplished, and a prediction of it the very same night
that it was accomplished. Belshazzar now reigned in Babylon; some
compute he had reigned seventeen years, others but three; we have
here the story of his exit and the period of his kingdom. We must
know that about two years before this Cyrus king of Persia, a
growing monarch, came against Babylon with a great army; Belshazzar
met him, fought him, and was routed by him in a pitched battle. He
and his scattered forces retired into the city, where Cyrus
besieged them. They were very secure, because the river Euphrates
was their bulwark, and they had twenty years; provision in the
city; but in the second year of the siege he took it, as is here
related. We have in this chapter, I. The riotous, idolatrous,
sacrilegious feast which Belshazzar made, in which he filled up the
measure of his iniquity, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.1-Dan.5.4" parsed="|Dan|5|1|5|4" passage="Da 5:1-4">ver.
1-4</scripRef>. II. The alarm given him in the midst of his jollity
by a hand-writing on the wall, which none of his wise men could
read or tell him the meaning of, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.5-Dan.5.9" parsed="|Dan|5|5|5|9" passage="Da 5:5-9">ver.
5-9</scripRef>. III. The interpretation of the mystical characters
by Daniel, who was at length brought in to him, and dealt plainly
with him, and showed him his doom written, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.10-Dan.5.28" parsed="|Dan|5|10|5|28" passage="Da 5:10-28">ver. 10-28</scripRef>. IV. The immediate
accomplishment of the interpretation in the slaying of the king and
seizing of the kingdom, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.30-Dan.5.31" parsed="|Dan|5|30|5|31" passage="Da 5:30,31">ver. 30,
31</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Dan.vi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5" parsed="|Dan|5|0|0|0" passage="Da 5" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Dan.vi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.1-Dan.5.9" parsed="|Dan|5|1|5|9" passage="Da 5:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.vi-p1.7">
<h4 id="Dan.vi-p1.8">Belshazzar's Feast; The Hand-writing on the
Wall. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.vi-p1.9">b. c.</span> 538.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.vi-p2" shownumber="no">1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a
thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.   2
Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the
golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken
out of the temple which <i>was</i> in Jerusalem; that the king, and
his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
  3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out
of the temple of the house of God which <i>was</i> at Jerusalem;
and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank
in them.   4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold,
and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.   5
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.   6
Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled
him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees
smote one against another.   7 The king cried aloud to bring
in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. <i>And</i>
the king spake, and said to the wise <i>men</i> of Babylon,
Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation
thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and <i>have</i> a chain of
gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
  8 Then came in all the king's wise <i>men:</i> but they
could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the
interpretation thereof.   9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly
troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords
were astonied.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p3" shownumber="no">We have here Belshazzar the king very gay,
but all of a sudden very gloomy, and in straits in the fulness of
his sufficiency. See how he affronts God, and God affrights him;
and wait what will be the issue of this contest; and whether he
that hardened his heart against God prospered.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p4" shownumber="no">I. See how the king affronted God, and put
contempt upon him. He <i>made a great feast,</i> or <i>banquet of
wine;</i> probably it was some anniversary solemnity, in honour of
his birth-day or coronation-day, or in honour of some of their
idols. Historians say that Cyrus, who was now with his army
besieging Babylon, knew of this feast, and presuming that they then
would be off their guard, <i>somno vinoque sepulti—buried in sleep
and wine,</i> took that opportunity to attack the city, and so with
the more ease made himself master of it. Belshazzar upon this
occasion invited <i>a thousand of his lords</i> to come and drink
with him. Perhaps they were such as had signalized themselves in
defense of the city against the besiegers; or these were his great
council of war, with whom, when they had well drunk, he would
advise what was further to be done. And they were to look upon it
as a great favour that he <i>drank wine before</i> them, for it was
the pride of those eastern kings to be seldom seen. He drank wine
before them, for he made this feast, as Ahasuerus did, to show the
<i>honour of his majesty.</i> Now in this sumptuous feast, 1. He
put an affront upon the providence of God and bade defiance to his
judgments. His city was now besieged; a powerful enemy was at his
gates; his life and kingdom lay at stake. In all this the hand of
the Lord had gone out against him, and by it he called him to
<i>weeping, and mourning, and girding with sackcloth.</i> God's
voice cried in the city, as Jonah to Nineveh, <i>Yet forty
days,</i> or fewer, <i>and Babylon shall be destroyed.</i> He
should therefore, like the king of Nineveh, have proclaimed a fast;
but, as one resolved to walk contrary to God, he proclaims a feast,
and behold <i>joy and gladness, slaying oxen, killing sheep, eating
flesh, and drinking wine,</i> as if he dared the Almighty to do his
worst, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.22.12-Isa.22.13" parsed="|Isa|22|12|22|13" passage="Isa 22:12,13">Isa. xxii. 12,
13</scripRef>. To show how little fear he had of being forced to
surrender, for want of provisions, he spent thus extravagantly.
Note, Security and sensuality are sad presages of approaching ruin.
Those that will not be warned by judgments of God may expect to be
wounded by them. 2. He put an affront upon the temple of God, and
bade defiance to his sanctuary, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.2" parsed="|Dan|6|2|0|0" passage="Da 6:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. <i>While he tasted the wine, he
commanded to bring the vessels of</i> the temple, that they might
drink in them. When he tasted how rich and fine the wine was, "O,"
said he, "it is a pity but we should have holy vessels to drink
such delicious wine as this in," which was looked upon as a piece
of wit, and, to carry on the humour, the vessels of the temple were
immediately sent for. Nay, there seems to have been something more
in it than a frolic, and that it was done in a malicious despite to
the God of Israel. The heart of his people was very much upon these
sacred vessels, as appears from <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.16 Bible:Jer.27.18" parsed="|Jer|27|16|0|0;|Jer|27|18|0|0" passage="Jer 27:16,18">Jer. xxvii. 16, 18</scripRef>. Their principal care,
at their return, was about these, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.1.7" parsed="|Ezra|1|7|0|0" passage="Ezr 1:7">Ezra
i. 7</scripRef>. Now, we may suppose, they had an expectation of
their deliverance approaching, reckoning the seventy years of their
captivity near a period; and some of them might perhaps have given
out some words to that purport, that shortly they should have the
vessels of the sanctuary restored to them, in defiance of which
Belshazzar here proclaims them to be his own, will keep them in
store no longer, but will make use of them among his own plate.
Note, That mirth is sinful indeed, and fills the measure of men's
iniquity apace, which profanes sacred things and jests with them.
This ripened Babylon for ruin—that no songs would serve them but
the <i>songs of Zion</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.137.3" parsed="|Ps|137|3|0|0" passage="Ps 137:3">Ps. cxxxvii.
3</scripRef>), no vessels but the vessels of the sanctuary. Let
those who thus sacrilegiously alienate what is dedicated to God and
his honour know that he <i>will not be mocked.</i> 3. He put an
affront upon God himself, and bade defiance to his deity; for
<i>they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver,</i>
<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.4" parsed="|Dan|6|4|0|0" passage="Da 6:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. They gave that
glory to images, the work of their own hands and creatures of their
own fancy, which is due to the true and living God only. They
praised them either with sacrifices offered to them or with songs
sung in honour of them. When their heads were giddy, and their
hearts merry, with wine, they were in the fittest frame to
<i>praise the gods of gold and silver, wood and stone;</i> for one
would think that men in their senses, who had the command of a
clear and sober thought, could not be guilty of so gross an
absurdity; they must be intoxicated ere they could be so
infatuated. Drunken worshippers, who are not men, but beasts, are
the most proper for the service of dunghill deities, that are not
gods, but devils. <i>They have erred through wine,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.7" parsed="|Isa|27|7|0|0" passage="Isa 27:7">Isa. xxvii. 7</scripRef>. They drank wine, and
praised their idol-gods, as if they had been the founders of their
feast and the givers of all good things to them. Or, when they were
drinking wine, they praised their gods by drinking healths to them;
and the king <i>drank wine before</i> them (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.1" parsed="|Dan|6|1|0|0" passage="Da 6:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), that is, he began the health,
first to this god, and then to the other, till they went through
the <i>bead-roll</i> or <i>farrago</i> of them, those of <i>wood
and stone</i> not excepted. Note, Immorality and impiety, vice and
profaneness, strengthen the hands and advance the interests one of
another. Drunken frolics were an introduction to idolatry, and then
idolatrous healths were a shoeing-horn to further drunkenness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p5" shownumber="no">II. See how God affrighted the king, and
struck a terror upon him. Belshazzar and his lords are in the midst
of their revels, the cups going round apace, and all upon the merry
pin, drinking confusion, it may be, to Cyrus and his army, and
roaring out huzzas, in confidence of the speedy raising of the
siege; but the hour had come when that must be fulfilled which had
been long ago said of the king of Babylon, when his city should be
besieged by the Persians and Medes, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.2-Isa.21.4" parsed="|Isa|21|2|21|4" passage="Isa 21:2-4">Isa. xxi. 2-4</scripRef>. <i>The night of my pleasures
has he turned into fear to me.</i> The mirth of this ball at court
must be spoiled, and a damp cast upon their jollity, though the
king himself be master of the revels; immediately, when God speaks
the word, we have him and all his guests in the utmost confusion,
and the end of their mirth is heaviness. 1. There appear the
<i>fingers of a man's hand writing on the plaster of the wall,</i>
before the king's face (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.5" parsed="|Dan|6|5|0|0" passage="Da 6:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>), "the angel Gabriel," say the rabbin, "directing
these fingers and writing by them." "That divine hand" (says a
rabbi of our own, Dr. Lightfoot) "that had written the two tables
for a law to his people now writes the doom of Babel and Belshazzar
upon the wall." Here was nothing sent to frighten them which made a
noise, or threatened their lives, no claps of thunder nor flashes
of lightning, no destroying angel with his sword drawn in his hand,
only a pen in the hand, writing upon the wall, <i>over-against the
candlestick,</i> where they might all see it by the light of their
own candle. Note, God's written word is sufficient to put the
proudest boldest sinners into a fright, when he is pleased to give
it the setting on. The king saw <i>the part of the hand that
wrote,</i> but saw not the person whose hand it was, which made the
thing more frightful. Note, What we see of God, the part of the
hand that writes in the book of the creatures and the book of the
scriptures (<i>Lo, these are parts of his ways,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.26.14" parsed="|Job|26|14|0|0" passage="Job 26:14">Job xxvi. 14</scripRef>), may serve to possess
us with awful thoughts concerning that of God which we do not see.
If this be <i>the finger of God,</i> what is his arm made bare? And
what is he? 2. The king is immediately seized with a panic fear
(<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.6" parsed="|Dan|6|6|0|0" passage="Da 6:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>His
countenance was changed</i> (his colour went and came); <i>the
joints of his loins were loosed,</i> so that he had no strength in
them, but was struck with a pain in his back, as is usual in a
great fright; <i>his knees smote one against another,</i> so
violently did he tremble like an aspen leaf. But what was the
matter? Why is he in such a fright? He perceives not what is
written, and how does he know but it may be some happy presage of
deliverance to him and to his kingdom? But the business was <i>his
thoughts troubled him;</i> his own guilty conscience flew in his
face, and told him that he had no reason to expect any good news
from Heaven, and that the hand of an angel could write nothing but
terror to him. He that knew himself liable to the justice of God
immediately concluded this to be an arrest in his name, a summons
to appear before him. Note, God can soon awaken the most secure and
make the heart of the stoutest sinner to tremble; and there needs
no more to do it than to let loose his own thoughts upon him; they
will soon play the tyrant, and give him trouble enough. 3. The wise
men of Babylon are immediately called in, to see what they can make
of this writing upon the wall, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.7" parsed="|Dan|6|7|0|0" passage="Da 6:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. The king <i>cried aloud,</i> as one in haste, as one
in earnest, to bring the whole college of magicians, to try if they
can <i>read this writing,</i> and <i>show the interpretation of
it;</i> for the king and all his lords cannot pretend to it, it is
out of their sphere. The study of divine revelation (such as they
had, or thought they had) and converse with the world of spirits
were by the heathen confined to one profession, and no other
meddled with it; but what is written to us by the finger of God is
legible to all; whoever will may read the mind of God in the
scriptures. To engage these wise men to exert the utmost of their
skill in this matter, and provoke them to an emulation in the
attempt, he promised that whoever would give him a satisfactory
account of this writing should be dignified with the highest
honours of the court. He knew what these pretenders to wisdom aimed
at, and what would please them, and therefore promised them a
<i>scarlet robe</i> and a <i>gold chain,</i> glorious things in the
eyes of those that know no better. Nay, he should be <i>primus par
regni—chief minister of state, the third ruler</i> in the kingdom,
next to the king and his heir apparent. 4. The king is disappointed
in his expectations from them; they can none of them <i>read the
writing,</i> much less interpret it (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.8" parsed="|Dan|6|8|0|0" passage="Da 6:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), which increases the king's
confusion, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.9" parsed="|Dan|6|9|0|0" passage="Da 6:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. He
likes the thing yet worse and worse, and fears that mischief is
towards him. <i>His lords</i> also, that had been partners with him
in his jollity, are now sharers with him in his terrors; they also
were <i>astonished</i> at their wits' end; and neither their
numbers nor their refreshment by wine would serve to keep up their
spirits. The reason why the wise men could not read the writing was
not because it was written in any language or characters unknown to
them, but God either cast a mist before their eyes or put such
confusion upon their spirits that they could not read it, that the
honour of expounding this mystical writing might be reserved for
Daniel. Note, The terror of an awakened convinced conscience may
justly be increased by the utter insufficiency of all creatures to
give it ease or satisfaction.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Dan.vi-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.10-Dan.5.29" parsed="|Dan|5|10|5|29" passage="Da 5:10-29" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.vi-p5.9">
<h4 id="Dan.vi-p5.10">Daniel Brought before
Belshazzar. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.vi-p5.11">b. c.</span> 538.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.vi-p6" shownumber="no">10 <i>Now</i> the queen, by reason of the words
of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: <i>and</i>
the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy
thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:  
11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom <i>is</i> the spirit of
the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and
understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in
him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, <i>I
say,</i> thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers,
Chaldeans, <i>and</i> soothsayers;   12 Forasmuch as an
excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of
dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts,
were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar:
now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.
  13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. <i>And</i>
the king spake and said unto Daniel, <i>Art</i> thou that Daniel,
which <i>art</i> of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom
the king my father brought out of Jewry?   14 I have even
heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods <i>is</i> in thee, and
<i>that</i> light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found
in thee.   15 And now the wise <i>men,</i> the astrologers,
have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing,
and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could
not show the interpretation of the thing:   16 And I have
heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve
doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me
the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and
<i>have</i> a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third
ruler in the kingdom.   17 Then Daniel answered and said
before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards
to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make
known to him the interpretation.   18 O thou king, the most
high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and
glory, and honour:   19 And for the majesty that he gave him,
all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him:
whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he
would he set up; and whom he would he put down.   20 But when
his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was
deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
  21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was
made like the beasts, and his dwelling <i>was</i> with the wild
asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with
the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the
kingdom of men, and <i>that</i> he appointeth over it whomsoever he
will.   22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled
thine heart, though thou knewest all this;   23 But hast
lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought
the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy
wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast
praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and
stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand
thy breath <i>is,</i> and whose <i>are</i> all thy ways, hast thou
not glorified:   24 Then was the part of the hand sent from
him; and this writing was written.   25 And this <i>is</i> the
writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.   26
This <i>is</i> the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath
numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.   27 TEKEL; Thou art
weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.   28 PERES;
Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.  
29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet,
and <i>put</i> a chain of gold about his neck, and made a
proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in
the kingdom.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p7" shownumber="no">Here is, I. The information given to the
king, by the queen-mother, concerning Daniel, how fit he was to be
consulted in this difficult case. It is supposed that this queen
was the widow of Evil-Merodach, and was that famous Nitocris whom
Herodotus mentions as a woman of extraordinary prudence. She was
not present at the feast, as the king's <i>wives and concubines
were</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.2" parsed="|Dan|6|2|0|0" passage="Da 6:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>); it
was not agreeable to her age and gravity to keep a merry night.
But, tidings of the fright which the king and his lords were put
into being brought to her apartment, she came herself to the
banqueting-house, to recommend to the king a physician for his
melancholy. She entreated him not to be discouraged by the
insufficiency of his wise men to solve this riddle, for that there
was <i>a man in his kingdom</i> that had more than once helped his
grandfather at such a dead lift, and, no doubt, could help him,
<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.11-Dan.6.12" parsed="|Dan|6|11|6|12" passage="Da 6:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. She
could not undertake to read the writing herself, but directed him
to one that could; let <i>Daniel be called</i> now, who should have
been called first. Now observe, 1. The high character she gives of
Daniel: He is a <i>man in whom is the spirit of the holy gods,</i>
who has something in him more than human, not only the <i>spirit of
a man,</i> which, in all, is the <i>candle of the Lord,</i> but a
divine spirit. According to the language of her country and
religion, she could not give a higher encomium of any man; she
speaks honourably of him as a man that had, (1.) An admirably good
head: <i>Light, and understanding, and wisdom, like the wisdom of
the gods, were found in him.</i> Such an insight had he into things
secret, and such a foresight of things to come, that it was evident
he was divinely inspired; he had <i>knowledge</i> and
<i>understanding</i> beyond all the other wise men for
<i>interpreting dreams,</i> explaining enigmas or hard sentences,
untying knots, and resolving doubts. Solomon had a wonderful
sagacity of this kind; but it should seem that in these things
Daniel had more of an immediate divine direction. <i>Behold, a
greater than Solomon</i> himself <i>is here.</i> Yet what was the
wisdom of them both compared with the treasures of wisdom hidden in
Christ? (2.) He had an admirably good heart: <i>An excellent spirit
was found in him,</i> which was a great ornament to his wisdom and
knowledge, and qualified him to receive that gift; for God <i>gives
to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and
joy.</i> He was of a humble, holy, heavenly spirit, had a devout
and gracious spirit, a spirit of zeal for the glory of God and the
good of men. This was indeed an excellent spirit. 2. The account
she gives of the respect that Nebuchadnezzar had for him; he was
much in his favour, and was preferred by him: "<i>The king thy
father"</i> (that is, thy grandfather, but even to many generations
Nebuchadnezzar might well be called the father of that royal
family, for he it was that raised it to such a pitch of grandeur),
"<i>the king,</i> I say, <i>thy father, made him master of the
magicians.</i>" Perhaps Belshazzar had sometimes, in his pride,
spoken slightly of Nebuchadnezzar, and his politics, and the
methods of his government, and the ministers he employed, and
thought himself wiser than he; and therefore his mother harps upon
that. "<i>The king,</i> I say, <i>thy father,</i> to whose good
management all thou hast owing, he pronounced him chief of, and
gave him dominion over, all the wise men of Babylon, and <i>named
him Belteshazzar,</i> according to the name of his god, thinking
thereby to put honour upon him;" but Daniel, by constantly making
use of his Jewish name himself (which he resolved to keep, in token
of his faithful adherence to his religion), had worn out that name;
only the queen-dowager remembered it, otherwise he was generally
called <i>Daniel.</i> Note, It is a very good office to revive the
remembrance of the good services of worthy men, who are themselves
modest, and willing that they should be forgotten. 3. The motion
she makes concerning him: <i>Let Daniel be called, and he will show
the interpretation.</i> By this it appears that Daniel was now
forgotten at court. Belshazzar was a stranger to him, knew not that
he had such a jewel in his kingdom. With the new king there came in
a new ministry, and the old one was laid aside. Note, There are a
great many valuable men, and such as might be made very useful,
that lie long buried in obscurity, and some that have done eminent
services that live to be overlooked and taken no notice of; but,
whatever men are, God is not unrighteous to forget the services
done to his kingdom. Daniel, being turned out of his place, lived
privately, and sought not any opportunity to come into notice
again; yet he lived near the court and within call, though Babylon
was now besieged, that he might be ready, if there were occasion,
to do any good office, by what interest he had among the great
ones, for the children of his people. But Providence so ordered it
that now, just at the fall of that monarchy, he should by the
queen's means be brought to court again, that he might lie there
ready for preferment in the ensuing government. Thus do <i>the
righteous shine forth out of obscurity,</i> and <i>before honour is
humility.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p8" shownumber="no">II. The introducing of Daniel to the king,
and his request to him to read and expound the writing. Daniel was
<i>brought in before the king,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.13" parsed="|Dan|6|13|0|0" passage="Da 6:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. He was now nearly ninety years
of age, so that his years, and honours, and former preferments,
might have entitled him to a free admission into the king's
presence; yet he was willing to be conducted in, as a stranger, by
the master of the ceremonies. Note, 1. The king asks, with an air
of haughtiness: <i>Art thou that Daniel who art of the children of
the captivity?</i> Being a Jew, and a captive, he was loth to be
beholden to him if he could help it. 2. He tells him what an
encomium he had heard of him (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.14" parsed="|Dan|6|14|0|0" passage="Da 6:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>), <i>that the spirit of the gods was in him;</i> and
he had sent for him to try whether he deserved so high a character
or no. 3. He acknowledges that all the wise men of Babylon were
baffled; they could not <i>read this writing,</i> nor <i>show the
interpretation,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.16" parsed="|Dan|6|16|0|0" passage="Da 6:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. But, 4. He promises him the same rewards that he had
promised them if he would do it, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.16" parsed="|Dan|6|16|0|0" passage="Da 6:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. It was strange that the
magicians, when now, and in Nebuchadnezzar's time, once and again,
they were nonplussed, did not attempt something to save their
credit; if they had with a good assurance said, "This is the
meaning of such a dream, such a writing," who could disprove them?
But God so ordered it that they had nothing at all to say, as, when
Christ was born, the heathen oracles were struck dumb.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p9" shownumber="no">III. The interpretation which Daniel gave
of these mystic characters, which was so far from easing the king
of his fears that we may suppose it increased them rather. Daniel
was now in years, and Belshazzar was young; and therefore he seems
to take a greater liberty of dealing plainly and roundly with him
than he had done upon the like occasions with Nebuchadnezzar. In
reproving any man, especially great men, there is need of wisdom to
consider all circumstances; for they are <i>the reproofs of
instruction</i> that are <i>the way of life.</i> In Daniel's
discourse here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p10" shownumber="no">1. He undertakes to read the writing which
gave them this alarm, and to show them the interpretation of it,
<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.17" parsed="|Dan|6|17|0|0" passage="Da 6:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. He slights the
offer he made him of rewards, is not pleased that it was mentioned,
for he is not one of those that <i>divine for money;</i> what
gratuities Nebuchadnezzar gave him afterwards he gladly accepted,
but he scorned to bargain for them, or to read the <i>writing to
the king</i> for and in consideration of such and such honours
promised him. No: "<i>Let thy gifts be to thyself,</i> for they
will not be long thine, and <i>give thy fee to another,</i> to any
of the wise men whom thou wouldst have most wished to earn it; I
value it not." Daniel sees his kingdom now at its last gasp, and
therefore looks with contempt upon his gifts and rewards. And thus
should we despise all the gifts and rewards that this world can
give did we see, as we may by faith, its final period hastening on.
Let it give its perishing gifts to another; there are better gifts
which we have our eyes and hearts upon; but let us do our duty in
the world, do it all the real service we can, read God's writing to
it in a profession of religion, and by an agreeable conversation
make known the interpretation of it, and then trust God for his
gifts, his rewards, in comparison with which all the world can give
is mere trash and trifles.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p11" shownumber="no">2. He largely recounts to the king God's
dealings with his father Nebuchadnezzar, which were intended for
instruction and warning to him, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.18 Bible:Dan.6.21" parsed="|Dan|6|18|0|0;|Dan|6|21|0|0" passage="Da 6:18,21"><i>v.</i> 18, 21</scripRef>. This is not intended for
a flourish or an amusement, but is a necessary preliminary to the
interpretation of the writing. Note, That we may understand aright
what God is doing with us, it is of use to us to review what he has
done with others.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p12" shownumber="no">(1.) He describes the great dignity and
power to which the divine Providence had advanced Nebuchadnezzar,
<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.18-Dan.6.19" parsed="|Dan|6|18|6|19" passage="Da 6:18,19"><i>v.</i> 18, 19</scripRef>. He had
<i>a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour,</i> for aught we
know, above what any heathen prince ever had before him; he thought
that he got his glory by his own extraordinary conduct and courage,
and ascribed his successes to a projecting active genius of his
own; but Daniel tells him who now enjoyed what he had laboured for
that it was the <i>most high God, the God of gods and Lord of
kings</i> (as Nebuchadnezzar himself had called him), that gave him
<i>that kingdom,</i> that vast dominion, that majesty wherewith he
presided in the affairs of it, and that <i>glory and honour</i>
which by his prosperous management he acquired. Note, Whatever
degree of outward prosperity any arrive at, they must own that it
is of God's giving, not their own getting. Let it never be said,
<i>My might,</i> and <i>the power of my hand, have gotten me this
wealth,</i> this preferment; but let it always be remembered that
it is <i>God that gives men power to get wealth,</i> and gives
success to their endeavours. Now the power which God gave to
Nebuchadnezzar is here described to be very great in respect both
of ability and of authority. [1.] His ability was so strong that it
was irresistible; such was the majesty that God gave him, so
numerous were the forces he had at command, and such an admirable
dexterity he had at commanding them, that, which way soever his
sword turned, it prospered. He could captivate and subdue nations
by threatening them, without striking a stroke, for <i>all people
trembled and feared before him,</i> and would compound with him for
their lives upon any terms. See what force is, and what the fear of
it does. It is that by which the brutal part of the world, even of
the world of mankind, both governs and is governed. [2.] His
authority was so absolute that it was uncontrollable. The power
which was allowed him, which descended upon him, or which, at
least, he assumed, was without contradiction, was absolute and
despotic, none shared with him either in the legislative or in the
executive part of it. In dispensing punishments he condemned or
acquitted at pleasure: <i>Whom he would he slew, and whom he would
he saved alive,</i> though both were equally innocent or equally
guilty. The <i>jus vitæ et necis—the power of life and death</i>
was entirely in his hand. In dispensing rewards he granted or
denied preferment at pleasure: <i>Whom he would he set up, and whom
he would he put down,</i> merely for a humour, and without giving a
reason so much as to himself; but it is all <i>ex mero motu—of his
own good pleasure,</i> and <i>stat pro ratione voluntas—his will
stands for a reason.</i> Such was the constitution of the eastern
monarchies, such the manner of their kings.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p13" shownumber="no">(2.) He sets before him the sins which
Nebuchadnezzar had been guilty of, whereby he had provoked God
against him. [1.] He behaved insultingly towards those that were
under him, and grew tyrannical and oppressive. The description
given of his power intimates his abuse of his power, and that he
was directed in what he did by humour and passion, not by reason
and equity; so that he often condemned the innocent and acquitted
the guilty, both which are an <i>abomination to the Lord.</i> He
deposed men of merit and preferred unworthy men, to the great
detriment of the public, and for this he was accountable to the
most high God, that gave him his power. Note, It is a very hard and
rare thing for men to have an absolute arbitrary power, and not to
make an ill use of it. Camden has a distich of Giraldus, wherein he
speaks of it as a rare instance, concerning our king Henry II of
England, that never any man had so much power and did so little
hurt with it.</p>
<verse id="Dan.vi-p13.1" type="stanza">
<l class="t1" id="Dan.vi-p13.2">Glorior hoc uno, quod nunquam vidimus unum,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Dan.vi-p13.3">Nec potuisse magis, nec nocuisse minus—</l>
<l class="t1" id="Dan.vi-p13.4"/>
<l class="t1" id="Dan.vi-p13.5">Of him I can say, exulting, that with the same power</l>
<l class="t1" id="Dan.vi-p13.6">to do harm no one was ever more inoffensive.</l>
</verse>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p14" shownumber="no">But that was not all. [2.] He behaved
insolently towards the God above him, and grew proud and haughty
(<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.20" parsed="|Dan|6|20|0|0" passage="Da 6:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>His heart
was lifted up,</i> and there his sin and ruin began; his <i>mind
was hardened</i> in pride, hardened against the commands of God and
his judgments; he was willful and obstinate, and neither the word
of God nor his rod made any lasting impression upon him. Note,
Pride is a sin that hardens the heart in all other sins and renders
the means of repentance and reformation ineffectual.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p15" shownumber="no">(3.) He reminds him of the judgments of God
that were brought upon him for his pride and obstinacy, how he was
deprived of his reason, and so <i>deposed from his kingly
throne</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.20" parsed="|Dan|6|20|0|0" passage="Da 6:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>),
<i>driven from among men,</i> to <i>dwell with the wild asses,</i>
<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.21" parsed="|Dan|6|21|0|0" passage="Da 6:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. He that would
not govern his subjects by rules of reason had not reason
sufficient for the government himself. Note, Justly does God
deprive men of their reason when they become unreasonable and will
not use it, and of their power when they become oppressive and use
it ill. He continued like a brute till <i>he knew</i> and embraced
that first principle of religion, <i>That the most high God
rules.</i> And it is rather by religion than reason that man is
distinguished from, and dignified above, the beasts; and it is more
his honour to be a subject to the supreme Creator than to be lord
of the inferior creatures. Note, Kings must know, or shall be made
to know, that the most high God rules in their kingdoms (that is an
<i>imperium in imperio—an empire within an empire,</i> not to be
excepted against), and that he appoints over them whomsoever he
will. As he makes heirs, so he makes princes.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p16" shownumber="no">3. In God's name, he exhibits articles of
impeachment against Belshazzar. Before he reads him his doom, from
the hand-writing on the wall, he shows him his crime, that God may
be <i>justified when he speaks, and clear when he judges.</i> Now
that which he lays to his charge is, (1.) That he had not taken
warning by the judgments of God upon his father (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.22" parsed="|Dan|6|22|0|0" passage="Da 6:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): <i>Thou his son, O Belshazzar!
hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this.</i> Note,
It is a great offence to God if our hearts be not humbled before
him to comply both with his precepts and with his providences,
humbled by repentance, obedience, and patience; nay, he expects
from the greatest of men that their hearts should be humbled before
him, by an acknowledgment that, great as they are, to him they are
accountable. And it is a great aggravation of the unhumbledness of
our hearts when we know enough to humble them but do not consider
and improve it, particularly when we know how others have been
broken that would not bend, how others have fallen that would not
stoop, and yet we continue stiff and inflexible. It makes the sin
of children the more heinous if they tread in the steps of their
parents' wickedness, though they have seen how dearly it has cost
them, and how pernicious the consequences of it have been. Do we
know this, do we know all this, and yet are we not humbled? (2.)
That he had affronted God more impudently than Nebuchadnezzar
himself had done, witness the revels of this very night, in the
midst of which he was seized with this horror (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.23" parsed="|Dan|6|23|0|0" passage="Da 6:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): "<i>Thou hast lifted up thyself
against the Lord of heaven,</i> hast swelled with rage against him,
and taken up arms against his crown and dignity, in this particular
instance, that thou hast profaned the <i>vessels of his house,</i>
and made the utensils of his sanctuary instruments of thy iniquity,
and, in an actual designed contempt of him, hast <i>praised the
gods of silver and gold, which see not, nor hear, nor know</i>
anything, as if they were to be preferred before the God that sees,
and hears, and knows every thing." Sinners that are resolved to go
on in sin are well enough pleased with gods that <i>neither see,
nor hear, nor know,</i> for then they may sin securely; but they
will find, to their confusion, that though those are the gods they
choose those are not the gods they must be judged by, but one to
whom <i>all things are naked and open.</i> (3.) That he had not
answered the end of his creation and maintenance: <i>The God in
whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not
glorified.</i> This is a general charge, which stands good against
us all; let us consider how we shall answer it. Observe, [1.] Our
dependence upon God as our creator, preserver, benefactor, owner,
and ruler; not only from his hand our breath was at first, but
<i>in his hand our breath is</i> still; it is he that <i>holds our
souls in life,</i> and, if he <i>take away our breath, we die.</i>
Our times being <i>in his hand,</i> so is our breath, by which our
times are measured. <i>In him we live, and move, and have our
being;</i> we live by him, live upon him, and cannot live without
him. <i>The way of man is not in himself,</i> not at his own
command, at his own disposal, <i>but his are all our ways;</i> for
our hearts are in his hand, and so are the hearts of all men, even
of kings, who seem to act most as free-agents. [2.] Our duty to
God, in consideration of this dependence; we ought to glorify him,
to devote ourselves to his honour and employ ourselves in his
service, to make it our care to please him and our business to
praise him. [3.] Our default in this duty, notwithstanding that
dependence; we have not done it; for we have <i>all sinned, and
come short of the glory of God.</i> This is the indictment against
Belshazzar; there needs no proof, it is made good by the notorious
evidence of the fact, and his own conscience cannot but plead
guilty to it. And therefore,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p17" shownumber="no">4. He now proceeds to read the sentence, as
he found it <i>written upon the wall: "Then</i>" (says Daniel)
"when thou hast come to such a height of impiety as thus to trample
upon the most sacred things, <i>then</i> when thou wast in the
midst of thy sacrilegious idolatrous feast, then was <i>the part of
the hand,</i> the writing fingers, sent <i>from him,</i> from that
God whom thou didst so daringly affront, and who had borne so long
with thee, but would bear no longer; he <i>sent them,</i> and
<i>this writing,</i> thou now seest, <i>was written,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.24" parsed="|Dan|6|24|0|0" passage="Da 6:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. It is he that now
<i>writes bitter things against thee,</i> and <i>makes thee to
possess thy iniquities,</i>" <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.13.26" parsed="|Job|13|26|0|0" passage="Job 13:26">Job
xiii. 26</scripRef>. Note, As the sin of sinners is written in the
book of God's omniscience, so the doom of sinners is written in the
book of God's law; and the day is coming when those <i>books shall
be opened,</i> and they shall be judged by them. Now the writing
was, <i>Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.25" parsed="|Dan|6|25|0|0" passage="Da 6:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. It is well that we have an
authentic exposition of these words annexed, else we could make
little of them, so concise are they; the signification of them is,
<i>He has numbered, he has weighed, and they divide.</i> The
Chaldean wise men, because they knew not that there is but one God
only, could not understand who this <i>He</i> should be, and for
that reason (some think) the writing puzzled them. (1.)
<i>Mene;</i> that is repeated, for the thing is certain—<i>Mene,
mene;</i> that signifies, both in Hebrew and Chaldee, <i>He has
numbered and finished,</i> which Daniel explains thus (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.26" parsed="|Dan|6|26|0|0" passage="Da 6:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>): "<i>God has numbered
thy kingdom,</i> the years and days of the continuance of it; these
were numbered in the counsel of God, and now they are finished; the
term has expired for and during which thou wast to hold it, and now
it must be surrendered. Here is an end of thy kingdom." (2.)
<i>Tekel;</i> that signifies, in Chaldee, <i>Thou art weighed,</i>
and, in Hebrew, <i>Thou art too light.</i> So Dr. Lightfoot. For
this king and his actions are weighed in the just and unerring
balances of divine equity. God does as perfectly know his true
character as the goldsmith knows the weight of that which he has
weighed in the nicest scales. God does not give judgment against
him till he has first pondered his actions, and considered the
merits of his case. "But thou art <i>found wanting,</i> unworthy to
have such a trust lodged in thee, a vain, light, empty man, a man
of no weight or consideration." (3.) <i>Upharsin,</i> which should
be rendered, <i>and Pharsin,</i> or <i>Peres.</i> <i>Parsin,</i> in
Hebrew, signifies the <i>Persians; Paresin,</i> in Chaldee,
signifies <i>dividing;</i> Daniel puts both together (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.28" parsed="|Dan|6|28|0|0" passage="Da 6:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): "<i>Thy kingdom is
divided,</i> is rent from thee, and <i>given to the Medes and
Persians,</i> as a prey to be divided among them." Now this may,
without any force, be applied to the doom of sinners. <i>Mene,
Tekel, Peres,</i> may easily be made to signify <i>death,
judgment,</i> and <i>hell.</i> At death, the sinner's days are
<i>numbered</i> and <i>finished;</i> after death the judgment, when
he will be <i>weighed in the balance and found wanting;</i> and
after judgment the sinner will be <i>cut asunder,</i> and given as
a prey to the devil and his angels. Daniel does not here give
Belshazzar such advice and encouragement to repent as he had given
Nebuchadnezzar, because he saw the decree had gone forth and he
would not be allowed any space to repent.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p18" shownumber="no">One would have thought that Belshazzar
would be exasperated against Daniel, and, seeing his own case
desperate, would be in a rage against him. But he was so far
convicted by his own conscience of the reasonableness of all he
said that he objected nothing against it; but, on the contrary,
gave Daniel the reward he promised him, put on him the <i>scarlet
gown</i> and the <i>gold chain,</i> and proclaimed him the <i>third
ruler in the kingdom</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.vi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.29" parsed="|Dan|6|29|0|0" passage="Da 6:29"><i>v.</i>
29</scripRef>), because he would be as good as his word, and
because it was not Daniel's fault if the exposition of the
hand-writing was not such as he desired. Note, Many show great
respect to God's prophets who yet have no regard to his word.
Daniel did not value these titles and ensigns of honour, yet would
not refuse them, because they were tokens of his prince's
good-will: but we have reason to think that he received them with a
smile, foreseeing how soon they would all wither with him that
bestowed them. They were like Jonah's gourd, which came up in a
night and perished in a night, and therefore it was folly for him
to be <i>exceedingly glad</i> of them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Dan.vi-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.30-Dan.5.31" parsed="|Dan|5|30|5|31" passage="Da 5:30-31" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.vi-p18.3">
<h4 id="Dan.vi-p18.4">Daniel Deals Plainly with Belshazzar;
Interpreting of the Writing on the Wall. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.vi-p18.5">b.
c.</span> 538.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.vi-p19" shownumber="no">30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the
Chaldeans slain.   31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom,
<i>being</i> about threescore and two years old.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vi-p20" shownumber="no">Here is, 1. The death of the king. Reason
enough he had to tremble, for he was just falling into the hands of
the <i>king of terrors,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.30" parsed="|Dan|6|30|0|0" passage="Da 6:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>. <i>In that night,</i> when his heart was merry with
wine, the besiegers broke into the city, aimed at the palace; there
they found the king, and gave him his death's wound. He could not
find any place so secret as to conceal him, or so strong as to
protect him. Heathen writers speak of Cyrus's taking Babylon by
surprise, with the assistance of two deserters that showed him the
best way into the city. And it was foretold what a consternation it
would be to the court, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.51.11 Bible:Jer.51.39" parsed="|Jer|51|11|0|0;|Jer|51|39|0|0" passage="Jer 51:11,39">Jer. li.
11, 39</scripRef>. Note, Death comes as a snare upon those whose
hearts are overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness. 2. The
transferring of the kingdom into other hands. From the head of gold
we now descend to the breast and arms of silver. <i>Darius the Mede
took the kingdom</i> in partnership with, and by the consent of,
Cyrus, who had conquered it, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.31" parsed="|Dan|6|31|0|0" passage="Da 6:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>. They were partners in war and conquest, and so they
were in dominion, <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.28" parsed="|Dan|6|28|0|0" passage="Da 6:28"><i>ch.</i> vi.
28</scripRef>. Notice is taken of his age, that he was now
sixty-two years old, for which reason Cyrus, who was his nephew,
gave him the precedency. Some observe that being now sixty-two
years old, in the last year of the captivity, he was born in the
eighth year of it, and that was the year when Jeconiah was carried
captive and all the nobles, &amp;c. See <scripRef id="Dan.vi-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.24.13-2Kgs.24.15" parsed="|2Kgs|24|13|24|15" passage="2Ki 24:13-15">2 Kings xxiv. 13-15</scripRef>. Just at that time
when the most fatal stroke was given was a prince born that in
process of time should avenge Jerusalem upon Babylon, and heal the
wound that was now given. Thus deep are the counsels of God
concerning his people, thus kind are his designs towards them.</p>
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