Belshazzar 's feast - wikipedia Belshazzar 's feast For other uses, see Belshazzar 's Feast ( disambiguation ). `` The writing on the wall '' redirects here. For other uses, see The writing on the wall ( disambiguation ). John Martin, Belshazzar 's Feast, c. 1821 ; half - size sketch held by the Yale Center for British Art Belshazzar 's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall ( chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel ) tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple. A hand appears and writes on the wall. The terrified Belshazzar calls for his wise men, but they are unable to read the writing. The queen advises him to send for Daniel, renowned for his wisdom. Daniel reminds Belshazzar that his father Nebuchadnezzar, when he became arrogant, was thrown down until he learned that God has sovereignty over the kingdom of men. Belshazzar had likewise blasphemed God, and so God sent this hand. Daniel then reads the message and interprets it : God has numbered Belshazzar 's days, he has been weighed and found wanting, and his kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians. That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean ( Babylonian ) king was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom. -- Daniel 5 : 30 -- 31 The message of Daniel 5 is the contrast it offers between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar : Nebuchadnezzar is humbled by God, learns his lesson ( he acknowledges the ultimate kingship of the Jewish God ), and is restored to his throne ; Belshazzar, in contrast, learns nothing from Nebuchadnezzar 's example, blasphemes against God, and has his kingdom given to others. Contents 1 Summary 1.1 Narrative summary 1.2 Writing on the wall 2 Composition and structure 3 Historical background 4 In art and popular culture 4.1 Belshazzar 's Feast 4.2 Writing on the wall 5 See also 6 References Summary Rembrandt, Belshazzar 's Feast, 1635, ( National Gallery, London ). The message is written in vertical lines starting at the top right corner, with `` upharsin '' taking two lines. Narrative summary This summarizes the narrative, as found in C.L. Seow 's translation of the text in his commentary on Daniel. King Belshazzar holds a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and commands that the Temple vessels from Jerusalem be brought in so that they can drink from them, but as the Babylonians drink, a hand appears and writes on the wall. Belshazzar calls for his magicians and diviners to interpret the writing, but they are unable even to read them. The queen advises Belshazzar to send for Daniel, renowned for his wisdom. Daniel is brought in, and the king offers to make him third in rank in the kingdom if he can interpret the writing. Daniel declines the honour, but agrees to the request. He reminds Belshazzar that Nebuchadnezzar 's greatness was the gift of God, and that when he became arrogant God threw him down until he learned humility : `` the Most High God has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals, and sets over it whomever He will. '' Belshazzar has drunk from the vessels of God 's Temple and praised his idols, but he has not given honour to God, and so God sent this hand and wrote these words : מנא מנא תקל ופרסין ‎ Daniel reads the words `` MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN '' and interprets them for the king : `` MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end ; TEKEL, you have been weighed... and found wanting ; '' and `` PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made... that he should rank third in the kingdom ; ( and ) that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean ( Babylonian ) king was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom. '' Writing on the wall The Chaldean wise men are unable to read or interpret the writing on the wall, but Daniel does so by supplying vowels in two different ways, first reading them as nouns, then interpreting them as verbs. The nouns are monetary weights : a mənê, equivalent to a Jewish mina or sixty shekels ( several ancient versions have only one mənê instead of two ), a təqêl, equivalent to a shekel, and p̄arsîn, meaning `` half - pieces ''. The last involves a word - play on the name of the Persians ( pārās in Hebrew ), suggesting not only that they are to inherit Belshazzar 's kingdom, but that they are two peoples, Medes and Persians. Daniel then interprets the words as verbs, based on their roots : mənê is interpreted as meaning `` numbered '', təqêl, from a root meaning to weigh, as meaning `` weighed '' ( and found wanting ), and pərês ( פְּרַס ), the singular form of p̄arsîn, from a root meaning `` to divide '', denoting that the kingdom is to be `` divided '' and given to the Medes and Persians. If the `` half - pieces '' means two half - shekels, then the various weights -- a mənê or sixty shekels, another shekel, and two half - shekels -- add up to 62, which the tale gives as the age of Darius the Mede, indicating that God 's will is being worked out. Composition and structure Chapters of the Book of Daniel Chapter 1 : Induction into Babylon Chapter 2 : Nebuchadnezzar 's Dream Chapter 3 : The Fiery Furnace Chapter 4 : Nebuchadnezzar 's Madness Chapter 5 : Belshazzar 's Feast Chapter 6 : Daniel in the Lions 's Den Chapter 7 : The Four Beasts Chapter 8 : The Ram, He - Goat and Horn Chapter 9 : The Seventy Weeks Chapters 10 - 12 : Daniel 's final vision Additions to Daniel Song of the Three Holy Children Susanna and the Elders Bel and the Dragon Main article : Book of Daniel § structure It is generally accepted that the Book of Daniel originated as a collection of folktales among the Jewish community in Babylon in the Persian and early Hellenistic periods ( 5th to 3rd centuries BC ), and was later expanded in the Maccabean era ( mid-2nd century ) with the visions of chapters 7 -- 12. Modern scholarship agrees that Daniel is a legendary figure, and it is possible that his name was chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition. Chapters 2 -- 7 of the book form a chiasm ( a poetic structure in which the main point or message of a passage is placed in the centre and framed by further repetitions on either side ) : A. ( chapter 2 ) -- A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth B. ( chapter 3 ) -- Daniel 's three friends in the fiery furnace C. ( chapter 4 ) -- Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar C '. ( chapter 5 ) -- Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar B '. ( chapter 6 ) -- Daniel in the lions ' den A '. ( chapter 7 ) -- A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth Daniel 5 is thus composed as a companion - piece to Daniel 4, the tale of the madness of Nebuchadnezzar, the two giving variations on a single theme. This is spelled out in chapter 5 when Daniel draws a direct parallel between the two kings : the fate of Belshazzar illustrates what happens when a king does not repent. Daniel 5 does not divide neatly into scenes and scholars do not agree on its structure. The following is one possible outline : The king 's banquet and the mysterious oracle : the king desecrates the sacred vessels, the hand writes on the wall ( verses 1 -- 6 ) Attempts to interpret the oracle : the Chaldean sages fail, the queen recommends Daniel ( verses 7 -- 12 ) Daniel appears before Belshazzar : Daniel addresses and rebukes the king, interprets the oracle, and is rewarded ( verses 10 -- 12 ) Conclusion : Belshazzar 's death, Darius ' accession ( verses 30 -- 31 ) Historical background The story is set around the fall of Babylon, when on 12 October 539 BC the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great entered the city. Its last king, Nabonidus, was captured, and his fate is unknown, although he may have been exiled. Several details in the text do not match the known historical facts. Belshazzar is portrayed as king of Babylon and son of Nebuchadnezzar, but was actually the son of King Nabonidus, one of Nebuchadnezzar 's successors, and never became king. The conqueror is named as Darius the Mede, but no such individual is known to history ; and the invaders were not Medes, but Persians. This is typical of the story 's genre, in which historical accuracy is not an essential element. The constituent elements of the Book of Daniel were assembled shortly after the end of the Maccabean crisis, which is to say shortly after 164 BC. The tales making up chapters 2 to 6 are the earliest part, dating from the late 4th or early 3rd centuries. Their setting is Babylon, and there is no reason to doubt that they were composed in the Babylonian diaspora ( i.e., among the Jewish community living in Babylon and Mesopotamia under Persian and then Greek rule ). They reflect a society in which foreign rulers were not necessarily malevolent ( Belshazzar rewards Daniel and raises him to high office ) ; this is a marked contrast with the visions of chapters 7 -- 12, where the sufferings of the Jews are the result of actions by the evil 2nd century king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Belshazzar 's feast is a legend, conforming to the subgenre of the `` tale of court contest ''. This has been complicated by the inclusion of Daniel 's indictment of Belshazzar 's pride and his failure to honour the God of Israel ; as a result the tale has a double ending, in which Daniel is first showered with rewards and honours for interpreting the omen, and the king is then punished to fulfill the sentence pronounced by Daniel. Chapters 2 and 7 tell how all worldly kingdoms will come to an end and be replaced by the kingdom of God, and chapters 3 and 6 tell how pious Jews withstand the arrogance of earthly kings and are rescued by the God of Israel. Chapters 4 and 5 form the centre and carry the most important message in their parallel but contrasting tales of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. The first is humbled by God, learns his lesson ( he acknowledges the ultimate kingship of the Jewish God ), and is restored to his throne ; Belshazzar, in contrast, learns nothing from Nebuchadnezzar 's example, blasphemes against God, and has his kingdom given to others. In art and popular culture Belshazzar 's feast There are many depictions of `` Belshazzar 's Feast '' in the arts. These include, in chronological order : Visual arts 1635 : The painting Belshazzar 's Feast by Rembrandt 1821 : The painting Belshazzar 's Feast by the English artist John Martin 1817 -- 1843 : The painting Belshazzar 's Feast by the American artist Washington Allston 1983 -- 1984 : Belshazzar 's Feast, the Writing on Your Wall, installation artwork by artist Susan Hiller Music 13th -- 15th century : The Play of Daniel from Beauvais Cathedral 1745 : The oratorio Belshazzar by George Frideric Handel 1840 : The ballad Belsatzar by Robert Schumann 1860 : The cantata Belshazzar 's Feast. The Fall of Babylon : A Dramatic Cantata in Ten Scenes by Civil War - era songwriter George Frederick Root 1906 : The incidental music to Hjalmar Procopé 's play by Jean Sibelius 1931 : The choral work Belshazzar 's Feast by the English composer William Walton 1937 : Mene, Mene, Tekel song in the musical review Pins and Needles by Arthur Arent, Marc Blitzstein, Emmanuel Eisenberg, Charles Friedman, David Gregory, Joseph Schrank, Arnold B. Horwitt, John Latouche, and Harold Rome and music and lyrics by Harold Rome. 1957 : A song by Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two ( also covered but unreleased by Bob Dylan & The Band during the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions ) 1995 : Belshazzar 's Feast ( band ), Folk duo Paul Sartin ( vocals, violin, oboe and whistle ) and Paul Hutchinson ( accordion ). 1998 : The song God 's Magic Finger by The Residents, released on the album Wormwood 2006 : The song `` Writing On The Wall '' by Underoath 2007 : Belsatzar after Heine for Speaking Voice and Cello by Graham Waterhouse 2013 : Referenced in Sting 's song The Last Ship 2015 : The song Mene by Brand New ( band ) 2015 : `` Writing 's on the Wall '' ( Sam Smith song ), from the James Bond film Spectre Literature 1815 : The poem Vision of Belshazzar by Lord Byron in his Hebrew Melodies 1820s : The poem Belsazar by Heinrich Heine 1906 : The play by Hjalmar Procopé 1930s : In Howard Phillips Lovecraft 's novella, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, the character Zadok Allen says `` Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin '' to the narrator. Writing on the wall In The Hand - Writing upon the Wall ( 1803 ), James Gillray caricatured Napoleon in the role of Belshazzar. References to the `` writing on the wall '' include : The incident is recounted and illustrated in the Pearl Poet 's poem Cleanness. In John Cheever 's short story `` Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin, '' the narrator encounters graffiti ( one example running several pages ) in various public washrooms. In Robert Louis Stevenson 's book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll explains that his experience as Mr. Hyde was `` like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgment ''. In the musical revue Pins and Needles, a song entitled `` Mene, Mene, Tekel '' uses the tale as allegory describing contemporary social injustices. In Samuel Beckett 's Endgame, Hamm asks of Clov, `` and what do you see on your wall ? Mene, mene ? Naked bodies ? '' In Voltairine de Cleyre 's last poem, `` Written in Red '', the first verse begins : Written in red their protest stands, For the Gods of the World to see ; On the dooming wall their bodiless hands Have blazoned `` Upharsin, '' and flaring brands Illumine the message : `` Seize the lands ! Open the prisons and make men free ! '' Flame out the living words of the dead Written -- in -- red. In Jose Rizal 's second novel El Filibusterismo, Crisostomo Ibarra, disguised as Simoun, planted an explosive disguised as a kerosene lamp in a reception party in Captain Tiago 's house in an attempt to kill all high - ranking officials of the society and the church attending. He also leaves a note behind, `` Mene, Thecel, Pares '', plus his name in his own handwriting. In the novel City of Ashes, part of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, Clary uses her stele to write a rune on Valentine 's boat. Although the rune simply means `` Open '', Clary 's extraordinary powers amplify it so as to destroy the ship by ripping apart its bolts. Valentine looks on in awed horror and says, `` mene mene tekel upharsin '', because he realizes that Clary 's powers represent a massive change in the order of things, which will lead to the Clave 's, or his own, doom. In Philip K. Dick 's novel A Maze of Death, Seth and Mary Morley lived in `` Tekel Upharsin Kibbutz '' before moving to Delmak - O. In V. by Thomas Pynchon, Rachel leaves a written note on a wall to the schlemihl Benny Profane. In response to it, Stencil states to Profane, `` Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin '', implying his impending demise. ( Chapt. 15, pg 448 ) The Einstürzende Neubauten song Wüste also has the line `` mene, mene tekel, upharshin '' in the lyrics. `` The Writing on the Wall '' is the finale song of the musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The characters of Bertie and Aunt Dahlia discuss a reference to Belshazzar 's Feast in chapter 9 of the novel Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse The song `` Kodachrome '', also by Paul Simon, includes the lyric `` my lack of education has n't hurt me none / I can read the writing on the wall. '' In Chapter 119 ( The Candles ) of Moby - Dick by Herman Melville, Ishmael ominously describes the appearance of St. Elmo 's Fire ( `` The corpusants ! '' ) on their whaling ship, the Pequod, when he writes, `` when God 's burning finger has been laid on the ship, when His ' Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin ' has been woven into the shrouds and the cordage. '' In Defrage 's song `` Save Us from Religion '', the first song on their album Jackal, `` Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin '' is sung at 3 : 01. In Andrei Tarkovsky 's film Stalker, the Writer says `` Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin '' while talking to the Professor ( around 01 : 14 : 00, or in TV version - 2 episode, around 00 : 11 : 00 ). The song `` The Last Ship '' by Sting hyperbolically narrates the pilgrimage to Newcastle carried out most notably by the risen Jesus of Nazareth, and other guests haunted by the significance of the last ship sailing from Newcastle 's morbid shipbuilding industry, understanding the occasion as though it were `` that strange moving finger at Balthazar 's feast ''. In the episode `` Season 's Beatings '', from season 7 of American Dad !, Steve becomes an Apostate of Satan and repeats the phrases, `` Satana, Satana '', and `` Mene, Mene, Tekel, '' throughout the duration of his apostasy. The song Mene, by the American band, Brand New, references the idiom with the lyrics `` Written on the wall, the letters plain and tall ''. In the song `` Omen '' by The Prodigy, there is a line `` Now the writing 's on the wall, it wo n't go away ''. The post-hardcore band Underoath 's song `` Writings On The Walls '' Miklos Banffy 's The Transylvanian Trilogy consists of the volumes They Were Counted, They Were Found Wanting and They Were Divided. See also Babylon Fall of Babylon References Notes ^ Jump up to : Seow 2003, pp. 74 -- 75. ^ Jump up to : Albertz 2001, p. 178. Jump up ^ Seow 2003, pp. 75. Jump up ^ Seow 2003, p. 80. ^ Jump up to : Seow 2003, pp. 82 -- 83. Jump up ^ Seow 2003, pp. 83. Jump up ^ Seow 2003, p. 84. Jump up ^ Collins 1984, pp. 29, 34 -- 35. Jump up ^ Collins 1984, p. 28. Jump up ^ Redditt 2008, pp. 176 -- 77, 180. Jump up ^ Redditt 2008, p. 177. Jump up ^ Collins 1984, pp. 67, 70. Jump up ^ Newsom & Breed 2014, p. 165. Jump up ^ Waters 2014, pp. 44 -- 45. ^ Jump up to : Seow 2003, pp. 4 -- 6. Jump up ^ Collins 1984, p. 41. Jump up ^ Collins 2001, p. 2. Jump up ^ Seow 2003, p. 7. Jump up ^ Collins 1984, p. 67. Jump up ^ Ward, David ( 15 July 2002 ). `` David Ward, `` The six greatest works of William Walton ''. ' ' The Guardian ' ', 15 July 2002 ``. London : Guardian. Retrieved 2012 - 02 - 20. Bibliography Albertz, Rainer ( 2001 ). `` Social Setting of Daniel ''. In Collins, John J. ; Flint, Peter W. ; VanEpps, Cameron. The Book of Daniel : Composition and Reception. I. Brill. ISBN 9004116753. Collins, John J. ( 1984 ). Daniel : With an Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802800206. Collins, John J. ( 2001 ). `` Current Issues in the Study of Daniel ''. In Collins, John J. ; Flint, Peter W. ; VanEpps, Cameron. The Book of Daniel : Composition and Reception. I. Brill. ISBN 0391041274. Newsom, Carol A. ; Breed, Brennan W. ( 2014 ). Daniel : A Commentary. Presbyterian Publishing Corp. ISBN 9780664220808. Redditt, Paul L. ( 2008 ). Introduction to the Prophets. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802828965. Seow, C.L. ( 2003 ). Daniel. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664256753. Waters, Matt ( 2014 ). Ancient Persia : A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550 -- 330 BC. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107652729. Book of Daniel Bible Daniel 1 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Additions to Daniel Places Babylon Susa People Abednego Belshazzar Cyrus Daniel Darius Gabriel Meshach Michael Nebuchadnezzar Shadrach Jehoiakim Terms Abomination of desolation Belshazzar 's feast Four kingdoms Lion 's den Prophecy of Seventy Weeks Territorial spirit Writing on the wall Sources Hebrew Bible Septuagint Latin Vulgate Wycliffe Version King James Version American Standard Version World English Version ← Book of Ezekiel ( chapter 48 ) Book of Hosea ( chapter 1 ) → Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belshazzar%27s_feast&oldid=801341325 '' Categories : Book of Daniel chapters Book of Daniel Hebrew Bible events Jewish Babylonian history Hebrew Bible words and phrases Aramaic words and phrases Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български עברית Latina Polski Português Română Edit links This page was last edited on 19 September 2017, at 02 : 56. 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Question: which king saw the writing on the wall
Answer: Belshazzar